Katekyo Hitman Reborn fic

The Vongola X Records: The Era of Military Power and How It Came to an End

Plot: To be honest, this is a plotless, directionless fic that I'm pretty much winging. I'll update only when I'm inspired (or bored) or saw something I want to steal from comments. This will be AU and slightly futuristic, and I'm seriously going to downplay the whole 'friendship = power up's' thing. There will be some form of BL eventually, I just don't know when yet. Just warning you.
Author's Note: It's been quite a while since I picked up the thought of publishing a fic again. My grammar and spelling obviously did not improve since my last attempt, but I'm not going to care much. I was pretty worried about how my love for KHR was dwindling with every new chapter, so I figured I need to do something to keep it up. Something like guilt, I guess.

Prologue: The Beginning of Every Hero's Journey

The story is pretty simple. You've seen this pattern in numerous other stories you have read.

Boy goes through boring and maybe even painful life. Boy meets a magical fairy (or a wise sage, or a talking animal, or all of them combined) that gives him some ridiculously difficult life goal. Boy bemoans his fate, eventually (and I do mean eventually) sucks it up and find comrades. The evil is defeated in the end, and everyone lives happily after (probably in the companies of beautiful princesses they saved along the way as well).

However boring and redundant readers think that kind of story is, we must also admit that there is a tasty sort of sweetness in such horribly cliché plots. We easily sympathize with the hero's dull, normal existence, and synchronizes with him as he rises above his own character flaws to reach the end of the journey.

And... to be honest, we're all suckers for happy endings, aren't we?

Well.

Let's talk about our hero for this story.

Tsunayoshi Sawada has, in fact, lived the majority of his short life in pain.

But so has many others of his time.

War tends to bring pain to everyone. Pain and death.

When he saw his family home alight with flames, the remaining pillars of the structure that survived the bombing creaking under pressure before finally collapsing into an indistinguishable pile of blackened cinder and charcoal, he was still just a small child. Sometimes memories from that day would explode in horribly vivid spectrums in his dreams, and other times the event remains a dull ache in his chest. Time doesn't seem to heal as they say it would.

It was a cold October day like many others, the sky was a murky gray and the air crisp with the scent of approaching winter. The only thing that kept five years old Tsunayoshi warm on such a day was simply the knowledge that it was his birthday today and the warm coat his mama made him from bits of materials she saved up. Papan had taken a day off from work as a construction worker down south of Namimori city, and his mama had bought the ingredients for all his favorite foods. It was going to be great. Papan had given him some allowance, 'to buy whatever my boy wants!' He had said so, while laughing heartily, before shooing little Tsuna out of the house so they can prepare for the not-so-surprising-surprise party.

With the totally awesome and brand new lion figurine toy clutched in his small grip, little Tsuna was racing along the mysteriously crowded street back to his house when it all started. There was a shrill sound in the air, and instantly he -as well as anyone living in that town would- knew what it meant. It was an air siren.

The scary planes are coming.

His parents and teachers had always told him to find an adult or shelter when the planes come. Under their house there is something his papa calls a 'bomb shelter', and when the siren rings for 'practice drills', the whole family would go down there. Mama would bring snacks, and papa his totally manly helmet with the cool flashlight on it. They would stay there until the siren stops. Once, when they were all down there and Tsuna was sitting on his father's laps, he heard the sound of distant thunder. He asked his parents if it was going to rain. They exchanged a look, the kind that Tsuna still didn't understand at the time, the secretive adult look when they don't tell kids things, and mama agreed that it is indeed going to rain.

It rained on his birthday.

It rained fire and ashes. The ground shook and screamed. People screamed too. Everywhere there were screams as it kept raining. Tsuna didn't have time to run back home, so instead he managed to dive between the small space between curb-stones outside of the Minamoto house. The scent of something bitter and something metallic quickly blossomed left and right as the town shook, but Tsuna remembered what his mother said about hiding outside, and kept his head down. He hugged his new lion figurine tightly, not wanting the soot and dirt to make it dirty before he shows Natsu to his parents. He's naming his new friend Natsu, and it has nothing to do with the spiky, spinny shape of it's mane.

When the Millefiore air troops finally stopped, Namimori was nothing but ruins and smothering remains. Our young hero could do nothing as he stands outside of his house premise, where the last ambers dances across what used to be his home. He hadn't managed to keep Natsu clean, and the poor figurine suffered a chipped mane as a result of the air raid. The young boy's hand trembled, and hot tears flowed down his cheeks along with his cries.

That, was the start of our story. While not entirely the start of Tsunayoshi Sawada's story, it was still, nonetheless, a beginning.

The world is currently at war. As it has been since more than a decade ago. In a time ruled by mafia, the famiglias all over the world are no longer working in the shadow of the government like their precedents. As of now, they replace the government. Charted quite nicely all over the world, countries are pulled under the protection of powerful famiglia alliances until only two standing superpowers remain. The Vongola, and the Millefiore. There is no peace treaties, because with too much already lost, no one will accept the terms of Vongola's total annihilation. Vongola's goals are equally clear, there must be no continuation of the Millefiore legacy. That war loving bunch.

Or at least, that's how the world sees the situation.

Of course, the war effort is vigilant on both sides. Communication networks are heavily monitored, and even emails are inspected if the need arises. There are multiple training academies for future soldiers across Vongola territories, annually dispatching new soldiers to aid the front lines on all frontiers.

Like some twisted version of the phoenix rising from its ashes, the newest military academy was erected over the town of Namimori exactly ten years after the bombing of Namimori that killed a good two-third of it's population. Standing in the location of the former Nami-chu, and spanning over fifty kilometers on all sides (without counting the mountain ranges behind the campus). Vongola Military Academy – Namimori division holds its establishment as a new powerhouse for the Vongola power. Because not only are the facilities new and advance, the staff of the school are hand selected by the current Capo of Vongola himself. The students will be taught by the best of the best, so it's only reasonable that the rest of the world are anxious and expectant about the degree of soldiers this new program will generate.

And here we have our protagonist and setting all sorted out. Our hero boy Tsunayoshi Sawada, and the newly revitalized Namimori.

Now we just need a magical fairy.

Chapter 1: Finding Tsunayoshi Sawada

Reborn stared impassively at the accumulating crowd of students piling in from the main gates. The dark uniforms the students wear reminds the hitman of herds of grazing cattle as they fill the courtyard, and the dark-haired man supposed that they are sort of like cattles, considering how 90% of these students will be nothing but cannon fodders in the future. He sighed, look away from the large glass panel briefly to glance down at the thin file in his hands. Dark onyx eyes gazed solemnly at the old family portrait of three. In his hand is one of the last mission files still documented analogically among the Vongola archives, and this will be the last time the mission is open for execution before it joins the others of its kind in the ashes of the furnace. The Vongola Nono, current head of the famiglia, has sent the best of his forces to see this mission off. The leader of Vongola, despite his intellect and uncanny insight, grows old and weary by the day. Giving this impossible mission to the world's best hitman embodied the last ounces of hope he can afford to yield. If there was any more hope left for anyone to find Vongola's legitimate last heir, Timoteo doesn't want to depend on it.

With a smart snap, Reborn closes the folder before stowing it away in his briefcase. He was not pleased that the Ninth would give him a mission that he is almost entirely sure to fail, but even he cannot deny the reality that there is still a slim sliver of hope. Reborn never gambles without confidence that he will win, however...

"Tsunayoshi Sawada..."

In the folder, a seemingly document of student application sits with the name Tsuna Sawada*. The young man in the picture bore reasonable resemblance to the small child in the Sawada family portrait, and even the age fits into the estimate of how old the potential Vongola Decimo should be if he is alive. There was only one inconsistency in the documents, and Reborn is determined to undermine it.

The young teen jolted in his stride, spiky brown hair bouncing slightly with the sudden movement as he turns towards the class buildings with a mildly puzzled expression on his face. He had felt an odd twinge just a second ago, a sense of foreboding in the face of impending events, much like the sensation he relies on in order to run from the authorities in the past. It was something like an intuition, or just animalistic instincts of someone that's desperate to survive. Tsuna assumes it's the latter.

For a long time after he was orphaned in the air raid a decade ago, Tsuna was left to roam the ruined streets of Namimori along with others of his kind. The damage done to the population was heavy, and the number of homeless children exploded over less than a month after the bombing. In the time interval between the tragedy and when the reinforcement and crisis-aid finally arrive from Vongola, Tsuna had been ushered into a group of street children that took shelter in the outskirt of town along the warehouses. His luck of being picked up by Kawahira was a main reason he's still alive today. The group of mismatched children had worked together, doing what they can to salvage useful items from the carcass of the city and helping as many of their members to survive as they can. Their activities continued even after the arrival of large ships with the Vongola emblem on the hulk side arrived, because despite the mafia's intervention, there are only so many mouths that can be fed. Before paying mind to the numerous children stealing and running around town, the primary effort was placed into cleaning up the ruins and burying dead bodies before an epidemic springs out.

With the arrival of help from the famiglia, came not only supplies, but also strife. The original residence of Namimori, the surviving ones, have banded up in various groups since the disaster. While smaller groups like the one held together by Kawahira -consisting of only defenseless children trying to survive- were relatively neutral, there were also other gangs forming. The most powerful one was namely the Namimori Discipline Committee. There was some sort of fall out between the more powerful organizations, until a compromise was established and now the Discipline Committee functions as Namimori's rule enforcement force.

But Tsuna wouldn't know much about that. In fact, he tries to stay away from any mess that was going on in town. Sure, he observes them, but that was only for the sake of knowing where trouble will brew next and evade that area completely. Kawahira has a principle of keeping the group out of sight and out of reach, and the man has quite a talent in doing so too. He always seem to be able to tell when there are people near their hideouts, and when he tells all the children to stay inside and keep quiet, no one seem to be able to find them. Some of their members didn't like how cowardly Kawahira's methods seemed, and eventually left to join local gangs impulsively. Tsuna doesn't want to talk badly of people he grew up with, but personally he thought them as fools to have abandoned safety for their pride. Did they not notice that almost none of the children under Kawahira's care died in conflict with other groups, even though their main source of supply comes from stealing and looting?

So even after he had to leave the group when a bunch of them were old enough to qualify for low-income housing and work in exchange for enlisting under the Vongola military forces, Tsuna had kept to the lifestyle of keeping to the down-low, and staying out of trouble. If he is lucky, he will survive the four years of mandatory service after graduation and live out the rest of his life in peace. He doesn't want trouble, and his intuition has been doing him good to avoid it so far. Tsuna sighs, and finally looks away from the pristinely white outer walls of the academy.

"Tsuna? Are you okay?"

Turning to his left, the brunette flashed a small, embarrassed smile at the speaker. He had almost forgotten that Takeshi was talking idly to him just before he got distracted. The much taller teen was something like a childhood friend to him, and possibly one of the only friends he has that aren't obligated by the ties shared from Kawahira's group. Takeshi Yamamoto had lost his mother during the bombing of the shop, and both his father and young Takeshi were devastated. It wasn't a pleasant story to remember, and Tsuna knows better than to openly share painful stories about people's pasts. The attack had left scarring wounds in everyone, and the shorter brunette was just happy that Takeshi has chosen to live and is still alive next to him.

"It's nothing, Takeshi. I was just distracted." Gesturing silently towards the direction the duo were originally heading to, along with the rest of the new students, Tsuna shared a muted nod with his friend as they rejoin the stream. "But still," picking up his hanging conversation once more, Tsuna frowned lightly before giving Takeshi a confused glare. "You never told me you were attending VMA too..."

Takeshi blinked, a fixed sunny smile on his face as he watched his best friend glance at him with a slightly betrayed look in his eyes. Tsuna probably doesn't think of him as a best friend, Takeshi realizes this. The shorter brunette has an overwhelmingly low self-esteem, and he probably thinks the reason Takeshi didn't say anything about the matter with VMA was because he didn't think of him as important enough, or that he didn't see the point to share that information with dame-Tsuna. Dame-Tsuna, that's what a lot of people call his best friend. It irks Takeshi quite a lot whenever he hears that. It wasn't Tsuna's fault that he didn't get a chance to further his education because he has to work to make a living, and it also wasn't Tsuna's fault that he doesn't seem to ever get enough to eat so he's always tiny. Well, it could also be a genetic thing instead, his father did mentioned that Tsuna looks like the splitting image of his mother, Nana.

"Haha," Reaching over to ruffle the smaller brunette's hair, earning a disgruntled squeak from the other as the weight of his arm forces Tsuna to bend forward slightly. "It's not like that, Tsuna. I just want to" The subtle light of despair in Tsuna's honey-colored eyes was not to be missed by a Tsuna-expert like Takeshi. Many students that joined Military Academies now a days don't have a choice. The benefits provided for students were extremely appealing. Free dormitory and meals, all health checks and school necessities are provided for, with bonuses according to school performance. And the cream of the crop, as well as the reason Tsuna joined VMA as far as Takeshi knows, is a free unit housing and health insurance for life. Being enlisted in the military simply has too many benefits for the average war orphan to ignore.

However, Takeshi wasn't an orphan. His father owns a sushi house that does good business, and if Takeshi wants to continue the family business, he probably won't have to worry about housing and jobs in the nearby future. Takeshi wasn't the prideful type, he doesn't think violence was the way to go in most situations, he would have wanted to join the army for medals of honor. There was just no reason for Takeshi to join the military.

Tsuna's frown deepened slightly at the hanging silence, "Takeshi?" It seemed like the taller teen doesn't want to disclose any information, but he also wasn't emitting any signs that he might be angry at Tsuna for asking. There are three usual expressions on his friend's face, and Takeshi's cheery smile is telling him there was more to this than what he's interpreting.

"Hm?" Takeshi's light-hearted reply confirmed Tsuna's suspicion.

Shaking his head with a slight smile in defeat, Tsuna looks up at the grandiose double door arch standing as the entrance to the assembly hall. As far as he knows, the entire school was built with special materials meant to withstand heavy artilleries. All the glass windows are paneled by bullet-proof glass, and it doesn't have to be said to know that this academy probably cost Vongola a fortune to built.

Only the best of the best for their future little soldiers, of course.

Adjusting his fedora, Reborn surveys the rows of students filing into the auditorium seats from behind the stage curtains. Three out of the seven Acrobalenos were supposed to show up for the opening ceremony of the Namimori branch of VMA, along with all the instructors assigned here. Among the huge crowd from children to young adults, Reborn wondered how much of his pride as the world's greatest hitman he can put on the line to pinpoint a single face among all of this. There were more students than he had expected, then again, he hadn't actually paid that much attention to the stacks of information the secretary have given him about the academy two months ago. Scanning across the quietly chattering student rows one last time, Reborn sighed and pulls his fedora down further before walking over to where the instructors are sitting on the stage.

A large monitor lowers itself in the center of the stage, and the students seated below quickly stiffens in silence. Not many of them knows what the academy entails nor expects, but just that fact that even patrolling guards have guns plus the fact that MVA is the most advanced military academy in the history yet was enough to let them know that full respect is to be given here. Or else.

After a few moments of silence, the screen flickered to life, revealing the oversea broadcast of an aged man donning a pinstripe suit with many expensive, impressive looking brooches along his collar. Timateo, the Ninth Vongola boss since the famiglia's creation, is a kind and quiet looking old man. Contrary to most people's image of men in black wielding guns, Vongola Ninth looks neither hard-boiled nor menacing. In fact, had the Vongola insigma not been imprinted on the tapestry behind the elder, most people would just think of him as a warm and kindly grandfather.

"Greetings, students."

In slightly accented Japanese, with English subtitles running along the bottom of the screen, Vongola Ninth crinkled his face in a welcoming smile at the scene of students being sent back to him through livestream. "I am Vongola Nono Timateo, and the principle for all the Vongola Military Academies around the world."

None of the students made any noises, and all of them remained silent as Timateo continued his address. "Here, in the Namimori Branch of VMA, we strive to produce the finest, in both quality as well t quantity, of soldiers in our war against the Millefiore. Many of you have come from war-torn backgrounds, many of you are here because of unspoken circumstances, and many of you will meet an untimely death because of battle."

Timateo paused, as though for more suspense in his words. However, among the audience, Tsuna recognized fickers of something similar to regret and sadness in the old man's eyes. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"I grief to send children into war, but all of you must know that war is war. While hesitation and sympathy may kill you, trust and companionship can save your life. In the next three years, please grow not only in skills, but also in the mind and heart." The old man paused again, his eyes searching into the cold camera in front of him. "I pray the war ends as soon as possible, before the younger generation have to suffer any more."

With another long drawn silence, Vongola nodded a parting bit before the monitor switches to the beginning of a slide show presentation with the first slide bolded with 'Vongola Military Academy Orientation'. There was a quick buzz of noises from the students in front of the stage, but all was quiet again when an instructor picked up the microphone to start another opening speech.

Reborn snorted softly, pulling his hat down so the shadow looms over his eyes, hiding the fact that he is ignoring the ongoing presentation and is actually searching for a certain face among the crowd again. While he respects and obeys Vongola Ninth, sometimes he wonders if old age causes the old man to be useless sentimental. Perhaps the capo held more expectation for this mission than he let on, but Reborn not to let that affect his own feelings. It was just going to be the standard protocol: he'll search out this Tsuna Sawada, confirm his background, and if he's not who they thought he is, the mission will end.

The mission will end, and the famiglia will be passed onto Xanxus.

Giotto's direct bloodline, passed on by a miraculously slim heritage, would finally end.

Vongola as it is now would change as well, and any traces of peace will be eradicated from the famiglia's way of operation.

Reborn sighed, and idly tapped his finger against his lap.

It would also mean that the cute little boy from all those years ago is really gone.

So much for being a good 'big brother'.

Jolting slightly in his seat, Reborn's eyes quickly sharpened into focus. The black-haired man frowned, feeling the muscles in his body grow needlessly taunt at what's in his sight. No one should have been able to tell that he is staring at the students, with the thick shadow cast over his face from the fedora and all. However, his eyes is unmistakably making contact with a pair of brown ones. Its owners seated somewhere towards the middle of the auditorium, small in comparison to the other students sitting around him, and large doe eyes glimmered like honeyed chocolate on a small, pale face.

Tsuna gasped softly when he realized that he was staring at an specific instructor like person on the stage, the one a neighboring student had gossiped as 'the best hitman in the world', and quickly broke away his gaze just to be polite.

However, for the rest of the orientation, the pair of piercing onyx eyes never left the brunette's face.

'I found him.'

*Tsunayoshi Sawada is originally 沢田 綱吉in kanji. However, in this story, Tsuna's name was changed to 澤田 ツナ because of a mistake when Kawahira took in the kids and later helped them file for rations and such. Since much of the town was destroyed, so was most of the orphans' records. That was the accidental mistake that made the Vongola believe Tsuna was missing and dead from the bombing.