8 Chapter 8

"And how was your day?" Stranger-san tells him as soon as he opens the door of his apartment. For some reason, Huo-san is there too, sipping a cup of tea with a small frown on his face.

Tsuna ignores that for the moment and tries to will away the aneurysm he feels forming. "I went out first! And I was on a bike! How did you—" He breathes out and closes his eyes. Makes his mind go as blank as he can. "It doesn't matter; I'll just go and take a bath."

Maybe meditation is not so bad. The disappointed pout on Stranger-san's face is so satisfying to see. The image is enough to feed a couple of nightmares but still satisfying. He turns to Huo-san. "Did your… job go well?"

That at least lifts some of Huo-san's humor. "As well as it can be, Ozora." He nods at him. "You're controlling your emotions better. Well done."

He smiles proudly and nods back. Also, meditation has given him ideas to help him reign in his flames better and because of that, he's calmer. He can feel the synchronization with his intuition improve a bit and if he relaxes enough, sometimes it feels like nothing can surprise him as if his mind were in constant Hyper Dying Will mode. Probably that's why his guard against weird things is almost completely down when he comes out of the bathroom, feeling peaceful.

Tsuna is so distracted he doesn't see anything wrong when Stranger-san says, "That's a nice necklace you wear."

His hand instantly goes to brush the soft texture of the necklace, as usual. The action is instinctive as he constantly checks he's wearing it. He really doesn't want a repeat of the day he met Huo-san, as much as he likes the man.

"It was a gift," he says. Technically right; it's not like he had the option to deny it when the other person disappeared before Tsuna could say a word. And it's not as if he can afford to not use it if he doesn't want every flame user in his vicinity on his—

Wait.

He remembers when he had received it. "She will hide your flames as she hides, too," he had said.

Right. He hasn't taken it off even while bathing and while it's true that it's currently over his shirt, no one should be able to see it.

He slowly looks up to meet Stranger-san's smug gaze. He holds it for a couple of long seconds, notices the real glare on Huo-san's face, and shrugs. Frankly, it doesn't surprise him anymore how Stranger-san just knows things.

"You take all the joy out of being right."

"Good," he says before serving himself some tea.

"Aren't you going to tell me what are you hiding, little Ozora?"

"Stop it," Huo-san says when Tsuna visibly winces, his voice almost resembling a growl.

Tsuna places a hand on Huo-san's arm. He concentrates on the faint feeling that's Yamamoto's flames and pulls at them to calm the Storm flames constantly seething under Huo-san's restraint. Some to calm himself, too.

Piccolo Ozora, that's what uncle Kawahira called him before sending him to this time.

He takes a deep breath and his fingers ghost over the metal around his neck. Poking at his intuition doesn't get him anything. Looking at Stranger-san's face tells him nothing either. It's guarded unlike the usual blank face he wears to have the upper hand. That little change should be enough, would have been enough for his younger self, but… he doesn't even know his real name.

He doesn't know yours either, a voice inside his head says, but it sounds like his own guilt talking. Tsuna knows he can't reveal his real name to anyone. He's Natsu and Ozora first and only Tsuna in the confines of his mind. Natsu is shy whenever talking in Italian and hardworking; he's the one who thinks of the rent and food, the one who worries. Ozora is the one who lives among the crazy stuff, accepting all with amused resignation. Neither one is No-Good and bullied like Tsuna and they're both a bit more confident in himself.

Names are important. They're connected to the self of a person. Tsuna knows this and it's because of that he always refers to himself as Tsuna in his mind and tries to make his personas more like the kid who always trips and flails around, because that's the one who has precious friends and is willing to sacrifice himself for them.

Natsu and Ozora are Tsuna, but who is Stranger-san? In this time where cellphones are not common and letters are, names and addresses are important. Huo-san chose Fire as his name because his life is too dangerous to give his real one out. Maybe one day he will but for now, Tsuna is happy to have a postal code to send him a letter in case he needs to contact him unlike Stranger-san, whose name was chosen by Tsuna.

What does that even mean?

He asks to know what he's hiding, but what has Tsuna done to gain his trust? What has Stranger-san done to gain his?

Being a Sky has become a large part of his own identity in the last few months; one of the few couple things Ozora, Natsu, and Tsuna all have in common. It's a strength, but in a time where most Skies are already part of a Family, it can be a weakness. It's the type of information that's dangerous in the wrong hands and Tsuna doesn't need his intuition to know Stranger-san is the kind of person that will use another person's weakness against them.

The question here is if he'll use it against him.

With an oddly silent intuition, Tsuna lets go of Huo-san's arm and make his fingers brush the scaly texture of the necklace. His eyesight sharpens on Stranger-san as he holds the necklace between his hands, letting him know his determination is bleeding through. Tsuna doesn't stop it. He wants his gaze to reveal how much trust he's giving. He wants Stranger-san to be aware of what he's implying with his actions.

"Prove to me I'm not wrong. Don't make me regret it," he thinks as he pulls the necklace off and places it on top of the table between them.

The silence grows between them. Stranger-san looks more contemplative than surprised.

"You're a Sky," he says slowly as if testing the words, careful and surprisingly delicate. The word Sky on his lips sounds like a precious treasure he's cautious to let go of and not a type of flame. "You aren't simply aware of your flames; you know how to use them."

It's not a question but Tsuna still nods. He inhales and lets the calm of Hyper Dying Will mode set in. Not enough to set his hands ablaze, but still enough to make a flame appear on his forehead.

A hand grips his shoulder. "Stop."

Tsuna jumps slightly. Stranger-san moved really fast. One second he was sitting in front of him and the next... The fedora shades his eyes but Tsuna is sure he's more than a little surprised then. It makes him wonder how rare Skies must really be for him to look so ruffled (or as ruffled as he can be).

With a soft exhale, Stranger-san moves away and just then Tsuna notices the tight grip Huo-san has on his upper arm, making the suit crinkle under it. But he lets go when Stranger-san doesn't do anything else but grab the necklace from the table and inspect it.

Tsuna is actually surprised he hasn't gotten bitten.

Completely ignoring Tsuna's dumbfounded looks, Stranger-san walks around his chair until he's standing behind it. He tries glancing over his shoulder but Stranger-san takes hold of his head to keep it in place.

"You know, right?" Stranger-san says, but it doesn't feel like he's talking to him. "It explains why you're hovering around him. After all, a young, powerful Sky who hasn't harmonized is never just anyone."

"Who says I haven't harmonized?" Tsuna mumbles moodily.

"Not counting that man you call Huo, all your visits have been made by neighbors and the weird person who always leaves your breakfast. If you had Guardians, they wouldn't leave you in the conditions you're living in. Not to mention they wouldn't let you leave their sight if they could."

He hears a soft hissing from behind him as Stranger-san lets the necklace hover over his shoulders before letting it go. Tsuna shivers slightly when the necklace moves on its own and brushes against his skin until it's settled comfy around his neck. "The… 'necklace' hides your nature; makes you look unassuming. But you're still a Sky, one with a great flame purity, and Sky attraction is such a powerful thing. It's no wonder you managed to snare even me."

Tsuna is honestly hurt by that. "I-I thought my coffee was really good."

"It is good." Stranger-san ruffles his hair a little too strongly before he returns to his seat, looking relaxed. "And that's the only compliment you'll ever receive from me."

He honestly wants to beam at his words. He knows how rare it is for people like Stranger-san to compliment someone, but… he can't. He remembers the day Reborn explained to him about the famous Sky attraction and how he thought he was joking because—people orbiting around him? No-good Tsuna? It was too funny to not laugh and he expected to be kicked as usual for not taking Reborn's lessons seriously, but the baby was surprisingly silent.

"Look around you, Tsuna. Don't you see how people are orbiting around you? You're not the only one with bad grades in your school nor the worst, but you are the only one they pay attention to. People look at you, always at you, and unconsciously expect to see something greater, something more because you're a Sky."

"… but I'm just No-Good Tsuna," he'd answered back then and Reborn kicked him with a smile and told him how it was his job to fix that. He wanted to ask him if he was a bad Sky for being No-Good, wanted to ask if it was the seal on his flames that made him 'No-Good', but perhaps Reborn was able to read his thoughts because he sent him to help with the dinner in the next moment and they hadn't brought the topic up again after that.

Now he wonders if the friendships he's gained were because of himself as a person or if they were caused by the so-called Sky Attraction.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to, um, snare you? But I don't know how to turn it off. I'm… Not Good with all of this."

"Figures you would be a Sky without self-confidence," Stranger-san grumbles before poking him hard on the forehead.

Huo-san leans forward until he can meet his eyes. "You unconsciously use your flames to harmonize with your surroundings and when you do that, the flames that leak from you harmonize with the others around you. An active flame user can instinctively feel it and sometimes without knowing, they search for the source because they want that, too. That's Sky Attraction and its part of your nature, you shouldn't apologize for something you don't really have control over."

"Oh." Tsuna murmurs as he looks down at his hands, feeling honestly a bit more relieved. "So it feels nice to be around me?"

"In short," Stranger-san says even with Huo-san in the background saying 'That's not all'. "Though one doesn't need to harmonize with a Sky to feel 'comfortable' around them. The purer the flame of the Sky is, the stronger the flames they will be able to harmonize are. I can tell your flame purity is high because you're pulling me into harmonization even with that necklace working to hide you."

Tsuna immediately backs away, out of reach. "I didn't know. I really, really didn't know. But you feel… c-comfortable with me?" he says the last part with what he thinks is a healthy amount of disbelief.

"I don't completely ignore you, do I?" he says as if that's explanation enough and the smirk Stranger-san gives him is not doing anything to calm his nerves either. But then he remembers that in contrast with other flames, the purity of a Sky is not only based on their determination but also their personality—the capacity they've to be accepting. And that eases somewhat the knot of insecurity inside him.

There have been people commenting on how powerful his flames are, how pretty. And as he's been associated with less than flattering titles all his life that is sometimes hard to think of his flames as a part of him.

He wonders if his friends feel good around him, too. If he concentrates hard, he sometimes can feel his bond with them, but no answers come to his questions.

"How does it feel?" he asks both of them, honestly curious. Curious enough to ignore the smug know-it-all look Stranger-san gives Huo-san for some reason as he twirls a sideburn with a finger.

"Everyone feels the need to be part of something, brat. It doesn't matter if one is the most antisocial being, people are always searching for something to give them a purpose; it's in our nature. Some join groups to fill this gap, others seek religion. And that helps them some." He stops to take a sip of his espresso but makes a face immediately after. He leaves it on the table with a frown. "The difference between a flame active and one who doesn't even know they exist is that the excess of energy caused by our flames makes us more restless than the rest. Most of us already have a purpose, a goal, or something to focus our determination on. However, how we're so attuned with our flames, we constantly feel this gap inside us, this disharmony. Something that has nothing to do with purpose."

Tsuna narrows his eyes in thought. "That still doesn't explain how it feels though."

Before Stranger-san's glare can get any darker, Tsuna stands up to make more coffee.

"If you want poetry ask that suitor of yours."

"Huo-san is not my suitor!"

The fact that Huo-san is not denying it, is worrisome. Maybe that's why Stranger-san huffs in amusement. "You're right; he's only flame-courting you. That's worse."

Tsuna stops from where he's grinding the coffee and makes a face as he looks over his shoulder. "You're not… courting me, right?"

"I am," Huo-san says with a smile.

"I only come for the atmosphere and the coffee." He meets his eyes and raises an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you don't have any Guardians yet. You're almost past the age when your body releases flames to search for the best flames suited for you, after all."

That's not strange at all. "You make it sound like… mating season."

It's after saying it that he realizes what he just said. He leaves the kettle on the stove and buries his face on his hands, pointedly ignoring the amused looks he feels on his back.

"It does sound like it," Huo-san with a chuckle. "I'm not sure why Skies do that; I'm not one after all. Though that makes me curious… You asked how it feels for the other flames, but how does it feel for a Sky?"

Tsuna looks up, still red, and grumbles, "No one actually gave me an answer for that."

Stranger-san snorts. "Humans are imperfect beings searching for a place to belong and to obtain an internal balance. Skies offer both, so they seek them."

"It worries me how you talk as if you weren't human."

When he doesn't receive an answer, he turns to Huo-san who is carrying an empty kettle to the sink.

"There's some truth in what he says. Obtaining harmony is no small thing. Neither is it to be accepted so completely and having someone to call home may not sound like much, but it really is all. When there's no option of rejection, one can lower their guard and be themselves. Look at us for example, I've dealt with Stranger-san here without you around and I can confirm he's not as comfortable as he is now. Neither am I, really."

Huo-san then hums into consideration before leaning down until his forehead touches the side of his head and his breath ghosts over his ear.

"Remember that time in the warehouse?" When Tsuna flushes, he smiles. "It was the most at peace I've ever felt. You're a really warm person, Ozora."

"I'm a Sun; my senses are better than any other flame. I can literally hear everything you say."

Tsuna is suddenly really glad that the kettle whistles at that moment. It keeps him from fainting from all the blood going to his head. He turns off the stove, trying to ignore Huo-san's laugh as he returns to his seat.

"And you're a Storm, of course, you would say that. A Sky can deal with your natural aggression and give you a point of focus. Though that is the reason why Skies tend to be the boss of any group. They can guide others into being better, make them want to excel to their full potential while inspiring loyalty."

Huo-san nods, the implied insult seemingly flowing off him. Though considering there were a couple of 'thud' sounds that come from hitting someone when he turned around, maybe Huo-san isn't as unaffected. He looks over his shoulder, but the sounds are gone and they're again sitting in their seats as if nothing has happened.

"Your turn. How it is for Skies?"

Tsuna doesn't like the way Stranger-san's eyes glint but he ignores it in favor of trying to mull over an answer to give that will feel right. He comes up with nothing, as usual. Though he doesn't think he's a good person to answer. Almost immediately after unsealing his flames, he gained his 'Guardians', after all, so he doesn't know how it feels to be Guardian-less.

Maybe it's something similar to how he currently feels?

"Well, I can't exactly say I know how Skies work. I've had my flames sealed for a long time and during that time I was the opposite of what one can consider a person with 'harmony' in their lives. I mean, my hand-eye coordination was so horrible, I constantly resembled a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time. It's been a while but I'm still learning about them." He blows out a breath as he pours the water on the coffee. "The first time I came here I was so hyper-aware of those around me though. So maybe that was me trying to harmonize with my surroundings, I guess? I could know if a person across the street hadn't fed their cat that day just by being near, for example. And I couldn't just go and tell them because it would be weird. I had to ignore it but it made me so anxious and, well. At least now I can kind of turn that off, so it's all good."

He grabs the jar and twirls it as he walks to his living room/bedroom. He places a new cup in front of Stranger-san and thinks of what he just said. "Um, I'm not too sure if that's related to the Sky Attraction thing as I still constantly met unsavory people and got involved in a lot of trouble."

Huo-san takes the jar with coffee from him and sets it on the table. He motions him to sit with a frown. "I wasn't aware there was a method to seal someone's flames."

"I think I heard a rumor in passing about it," Stranger-san adds with the same dark tone.

Crap.

"It's okay! My dad authorized it because he didn't want me to be pulled into the mafia—" Not that it worked. "—And now it's gone so I'm a Sky again."

The looks that they exchange don't promise anything good. Stranger-san hasn't even served himself some espresso, but Tsuna takes his hostility as him promising he'll keep his secret safe. So with false cheer, he ends up serving him a cup.

Luckily he has work to go to soon; a good excuse to go to the bathroom and start getting ready.