Hi friend~. I'm trying to figure out for my fic how Reborn would handle Ryohei being the chosen person to bond with over himself (especially as he grows more accepting of Tsuna being the Sky Arcobaleno). Like, would that man feel jealous? Can he feel jealous? Or is it more ego?
Hi there, thank you for your ask!
"Can he feel jealous? Or is it more ego?" < ZJZKSJS don't do my man like that. 😂 he can feel jealous all right if you ask me. and i just know he's so annoying and unreasonable about it too when he decides to act on it lmao. but i don't think it'd happen in this case, on account of ryohei only being 15 years old. and i mean, you can be jealous of anyone regardless of their age, of course, but also, you're supposed to be able to keep a hold of it and/or do away with it entirely through emotional self-regulation (? possibly not the right word for what i'm trying to express zfsdfs) as you grow older, especially when the target of your jealousy is much younger than you, you know? so yeah, however much he might feel jealous on the inside, which i wouldn't put past him and don't think would be out of character either, reborn's only human too in the end after all, it wouldn't show outwardly in the way he acts or interacts with ryohei, nor would he make it ryohei's problem (or tsuna's) to deal with.
as for his ego, reborn's definitely a man of ego, yeah. and i know sometimes he's made to have an inflated one (which i do think can be fun and isn't necessarily out of character depending on how it's framed and how it comes across), but tbh i think his ego is exactly as big as you'd expect someone of reborn's caliber to be. 🤷🏽♀️ like, imo one of reborn's core character traits is his self-awareness of exactly who he is and what he's capable of and how much he's already achieved and how impressive it is he has. he also knows exactly where he stands in comparison to others, especially when he's also really good at figuring out exactly what others are worth in their own right. that he then acts accordingly with others and views himself accordingly, well. he IS, in fact, all that, and has put in the work to be, so it's well within his right, really lol.
but because of that same logic, i also think it's rare for him to find himself caught up in his ego or for it to end up bruised and whatnot. in this case specifically, because again, ryohei's just 15 years old. which i also don't think is actually relevant to whether he can challenge reborn's ego or not lol, especially when we know reborn acknowledges his skills and how impressive they are and how impressive he is in his own right. but i just think having your ego bruised by a 15yo when you're a whole-ass grown man in and of itself is kind of embarrassing, and reborn's ego is just too classy to allow that to happen lmao.
mostly tho, there's the context of reborn being on a job as all this is happening. and reborn's nothing but a professional, prides himself on it. so if ryohei is the right sun to bond with tsuna? i just can't see him letting personal feelings interfere with it, let alone letting them lead him to sabotage it from happening. he simply wouldn't allow himself to take it personally however much personally he feels about it.
now that's all rational and all, but reborn, too, can't help but deal with emotions at times. and so i think that despite himself, he WOULD, in fact, end up treating ryohei a little differently than the other guardians. not the typical way you could expect, but the one way i could see it happen is for reborn to hold him to a higher standard than the others when it comes to training (because if he's gonna be tsuna's sun in his stead, he better do a damn good job at it and be deserving of it). not too high, but just that little higher it'd be noticeable by others, and by ryohei himself first and foremost. and the second way (lol) i could also see it happen is that when not training, although reborn wouldn't treat him any colder than the others, he would keep him at a greater distance compared to them. again, not by too much, but just enough it'd be noticeable. to give some examples, he'd stay in his company only as long as needed, and would avoid having to see him with tsuna as much as possible.
as for what happens inwards, yeah, he feels jealous for sure. tho not in a way that'd come across as... childish? or maybe immature. by which i mean, it wouldn't be along the lines of "it should be me, why can't it be me, he's stealing what should be mine from me, i could do so much better than him in his stead", but more along the lines of "why can't i have it just as easily as him, i could be his sun just as well as him too, he can't want to be tsuna's sun as badly and desperately as me". so like. there'd be a lot of bitterness and resentment (towards his own circumstances, that is, not directed at ryohei) to it i think, what with the arco curse and what it meant for his bond with luce and the scars (if not wounds, and maybe even ones that are still open and bleeding) it left him.
speaking of which, i think there'd also be some fears and insecurities, which would halt/slow down his own developing bond with tsuna. fears and insecurities along the lines of "does tsuna even want me as his sun? why would anyone want me the way i am now? would he even choose me over ryohei if he could, if i'd let him? what if i regret it once i become his sun? what if i go for it and it ends badly again?" which is why i believe tsuna would have to be the first one to take the first step of "let's give it a try, let's make it work". imo, the way you seem to have set up their dynamic so far within the overall context of your story, i think only after tsuna has given him the confidence of "of course i want you too, just as you are now, of course i'd always choose you over anyone else", reborn would allow himself to fully reach back in turn.
at which point, i like to believe he'd make sure to have a conversation with ryohei first before they make it official (< whatever that'd mean zfdsgfsd). (tsuna as well.) not anything overly serious or dramatic, but a simple matter of honesty and respect. "i didn't set out to steal your sky from you, but it's only fair for you to still resent me for it anyway" + "you may not believe me now, but trust me when i say you'll find yourself wanting to shine in another sky again". maybe some comfort and reassurance too. "you aren't lacking as a sun, but tsuna's simply grown much faster than you" + "you have yet to reach your full potential as a sun, and once you do, no one will even dare to think of stealing your sky from you". and of course, "i'm grateful you allowed tsuna to bask under your light and didn't leave him in complete darkness while we had yet to meet, and i'm forever in your debt for it".
and that should be all i can think of. which is already a lot of words zqfezqf, sorry if this is a little too much. but basically, as much as reborn couldn't help show some signs of his inner conflict, he'd mostly be able to keep it in check and wouldn't treat ryohei all that differently from canon. which is admittedly the narratively boring route to take haha, so feel free to take it in a completely different direction instead.
actually, depending on what you want to do with your fic and where you want to take it, not all of this or even any of it might apply or be right for it, so also feel free to pick and choose or even disregard everything i said as needed! but i do hope this was still helpful in some way haha.
