A/N: Warning. This story is currently on hiatus or whatever you could call it. It's taking a relaxing break for a while. I'm going to be making a few quite major changes to the themes and also a LOT of changes to the main characters personality to make him more different from Tsuna, as right now people seem to find them to be identical. I will probably rapid-fire out a few more daily life chapters when it returns soo... look forward to that i guess. :P thank you for your patience and enjoy. :D
This story takes place in the new future created by Tsuna and his guardians after defeating Byakuran. However, we're another 20 years in the future. I'm going off of the assumption that in the future the box weapons become widely used in the mafia and the dying will flames keep being used as a power source. Also since Byakuran hasn't been using his power to rule the world in the new future and therefore technology hasn't advanced much. This is simply to age the original cast.
Clear to cloudy
Target 1: Next Vongola?
Our story begins at Namimori middle school. At the back of the gymnasium is a giant glass wall and in front of said wall is a boy.
He has his shirt off and by his side is a music player spouting some energetic music. The boy is very tall, has short blonde hair and some very prominent facial features. From simply looking at his upper body one could easily deduce that he's very well-trained. His only visible clothing consists of some loose-fitting blue exercise pants as well as modern thin black slip-on shoes with a yellow rim around the bottom.
The boy is dancing by to the fast-paced music from his music player. But not any kind of dancing. Breakdancing. Airflairs, headspins and so on. He ends in a cool one-hand handstand and flips himself back on his feet, grabbing a water bottle near him. After drinking a bit, he lets out a satisfied sigh and stretches himself a bit.
"Phew! That was a good one, Ren. Let's see… there's always room for improvement. Let's do it again," He stretches a little more before starting the same routine over once more.
Meanwhile, someone is watching him nearby. A random girl around the corner appears to be spying on him. "He's so cool. Ren…" She blushes a bit to herself.
"I just wish you would notice me," She says sighing and the boy, Ren, hears her and pauses briefly in the middle of a spin and looks in her direction while still upside down. The girl hides quickly before he notices blushing furiously as he almost spotted her too. Ren shrugs it off and starts spinning again. Meanwhile, behind the wall, the girl is panting contemplating whether it's safe to look again or not. After a little she calms herself concluding, it's safe to look. However just as she does so, Ren walks around the corner and stops to look at her. He's wearing his, simple white t-shirt, which had lied discarded while he practiced, and he has a towel around his shoulders, his water bottle in hand and music player in his pocket. She gets really scared looking at the tall boy thinking he'll be appalled by the fact that she's just standing and staring around the corner where he just was. However much to her surprise, instead of getting mad or disgusted Ren simply smiles at her kindly.
"Hello there. Can I… help you with something?" The girl starts sweating.
"N-n-n-n-no! I'm fine! Thank you. No need to stop because of me," She tries but Ren stops anyway.
"Are you new here? I… don't think I've seen you in the hallways before. Sorry if I just don't remember you," he says chuckling lightly rubbing the back of his neck. "I try my hardest to remember most of my fellow students, but… you know… there're a lot of you,"
The girl nods so fast her neck might snap.
"Y-yeah. I just started here a couple of weeks ago," Ren let's out a bit of a relieved sigh.
"Well I'm glad it isn't just that I don't remember your face," He says quickly sending her another smile, before walking off towards the school gate. As soon as he's gone the girl exhales heavily.
"That was lucky," She says to herself blushing. "I can't believe THE Ren Niruo talked to me,"
Ren looks back at the girl wondering what she was doing there, but just shrugs it off. He folds his hands behind his head looking up at the sky, which seems to start getting filled with clouds. He suddenly trips over something rather large and human-shaped falling flat on his stomach. The person he tripped over is laying on the ground looking at the sky much like Ren was before impact. He has short, incredibly messy, black hair with a single long tuft falling in front of his face. He's wearing the school's uniform consisting of a long-sleeved white shirt with a dark blue tie and the boy has chosen to wear the complimentary black jacket over. However unlike what one would expect the uniform seems really lazily put on. The tie isn't tied properly and one of the sleeves if half rolled up, but not quite good enough to be practical. The boy looks at Ren, who looks right back and they seem to recognize each other, leading Ren to smile widely while the boy just seems a bit surprised.
"Oh… hi Ren… what're you doing on the ground?" The boy asks and Ren lays down next to his fellow student.
"I tripped over you. Didn't you feel it?" the boy seems to recall their earlier 'interaction'.
"Ah! Sokaaaa…" he says lazily dragging out the soka. (Soka means 'I see' as in 'I understand') Ren just chuckles.
"What're you doing here so late?" Ren says causing his friend to look back at the sky.
"I dunno…" he simply answers.
"That's so like you, Reishiro!" Ren says chuckling leading Reishiro to blankly stare at him.
"It is…?"
"Yeah. It is…"
"Ah! Sokaaaa…"
"So um… want to walk home together? We could talk about our homework maybe. I know you always have an easy time with that right?" Ren asks sitting up making Reishiro do the same.
"We have homework?" Ren stands giving the black-haired boy a hand.
"We do. Math homework," he says as he starts walking as Reishiro instinctively follows him. Reishiro walks a bit like a zombie, slightly hunched over with his arms hanging lifeless down his sides.
"I have math?" He asks tilting his head in wonder with a big metaphorical questionmark over his head.
"You do. It shouldn't be hard… I hope," Ren says and they walk and talk for a bit. Though it's not really a talk as Ren seems to be the only one talking. They come to a fork in the road and Reishiro points down the road.
"I'm… that way…" He says and Ren grins pointing the other way.
"And I'm this way. Like always," He says happily and Reishiro seems to realize.
"Ah! Sokaaaa… well… I'll see you tomorrow then," He says before splitting with the blonde. Ren gets lost in thought at all the homework he'll need to do once he gets home.
After walking for just a few minutes he hears a voice from behind him. "Ren! Wait up!" It says and naturally the blonde stops and looks behind him seeing a person he easily recognizes. He looks a little younger than Ren and in facial shape he shares some similarities with the blonde. He has green round eyes and short black hair with three little tufts falling to the left of his forehead. He has no idea why it does that, it's just always fallen like that, no matter what their parents tried. His uniform is very neat and well-kept unlike Reishiro's. He stops panting and Ren raises a bit of an eyebrow as the two begin walking.
"Hey lil' bro… what happened to your forehead?" He asks noting the band aid on the younger brother's forehead. The younger brother attempts to look at it, which is obviously impossible. He then starts chuckling nervously.
"Y-yeaaaah… that's um…" He says thinking back to P.E. earlier.
-NII-
They're playing basketball. 45 to 43. The younger brother is in the perfect position with only seconds remaining on the clock. "Kotsu!" One of his teammates yells and he receives. 'Alright… I just need to make this one shot and we win!' He thinks to himself. There's no blockers right in front of him. He's really nervous. For once he might actually be the MVP in a sport! That would be incredible! He jumps and time slows down as he tosses the ball. The form was perfect! ALRIGHT! This might actually hit! He lands right as the ball crashes bluntly against the hoop. He blinks a couple of times before the ball crashes straight into his forehead in almost cartoonish perfection. He falls backwards as the clock goes off. He slowly sits up shaking his head as a girl from the class comes running.
"Are you alright!? Kotsu-kun!?" She yells and before she even spoke, Kotsu knew exactly who it was as there's only one girl in class who'd come help him. Fumie. A childhood friend. She moves his hair out of the way to see if he's alright. He's slightly bleeding and she helps him up. "You're bleeding! Come on! Let's get you to the nurse's office!" She says helping him up and as the two walk out of the gymnasium, Kotsu naturally overhears the slight sighs of disappointment from his teammates.
"I don't know what I was expecting… but it wasn't that…"
"I guess his brother really DID get all the athletic abilities huh?"
-NII-
"So yeah… looks like I still suck at sports…" Kotsu finishes his little explanation, neglecting to mention the horribly embarrassing classes afterwards where he once more failed to answer the most basic of questions.
Ren just ruffles his hair. "Don't worry about it lil' bro! Someday you'll find your calling! Who knows!? Maybe you should try breakdancing like me! It quickly gets your blood pumping!"
Kotsu just sighs at his brother's outgoing happy-go-lucky attitude. "Um… I don't think that's for me… requires too much… coordination with all your limbs…"
The two walk home together eventually reaching a house in a quiet neighborhood. Ren pokes his head over the fence of the house next door. An old lady is working in her yard and she stops as she sees his face.
"Good evening miss Konohana!" He says to the old lady leading her to smile back at him.
"Well good evening to you too Ren-chan. Kotsukiba-chan How was school today?" She says and Kotsu leans over the fence with an exhausted look.
"It was really hard… and I failed in P.E. again," He says pointing to his forehead and Konohana laughs a typical old lady laugh.
"I'm sure it was just a fluke dear. You'll make it fine in life I'm certain of it,"
Kotsu sighs. "Thank you miss Konohana," The two boys go next door where they both live. "But I don't even know what I want to do yet. Why can't someone just… tell me what to be…?" Kotsu says to Ren, but mostly himself as he opens the door.
Ren chuckles and pats him on the head again. "Don't worry lil' bro. You just haven't found out the thing just for you yet,"
Just as they close the door a man appears in front of them standing just at the door. He's in a suit and wears a matching fedora with an orange ribbon. On his hat is a little green lizard.
Both Kotsu and Ren blink a couple of times, confused as to who the man is.
"Chaos," The adult says in cool fashion and Kotsu looks around frantically all of the sudden.
"Mom… who is this guy in our house…?" He starts and both Ren and Kotsu's eyes widen when there is no answer. "What did you do to our mom!?" Kotsu yells looking quite scared while Ren reaches for their houseline phone and the man flicks Kotsu in the forehead.
"Shut up. I put her to sleep," He says and Kotsu's eyes fill with dread.
"Y-you… killed her…?" They both gulp since he looks perfectly capable of doing such a thing.
"No. What…? She just got home from her job and was looking absurdly tired. So I put her to bed. Don't jump to such horrifying conclusions kid," He says putting his hands in his pockets.
"Y-you did…?" Kotsu begins again and lets out a sigh of relief, Ren putting down the phone. "But… who are you…?" Kotsu tries when the man just ignores him.
"Now that that's settled… which of you is Kotsukiba?"
Kotsu jumps and points to himself. "T-that would be me…"
The man in front of the two brothers grunts getting their attention again. Kotsu quickly gets his shoes off since their mother is very strict about that. "Do you have somewhere we can talk without disturbance?" He says and Ren takes off his shoes as well and gives the man a friendly smile and a bow.
"Thank you for helping our mother sir. I will do some housework," He says and enters the livingroom. "You can tell me what this is all about later lil' bro!"
The man glares sharply at Kotsu frightening the young boy. "Where can we talk I asked? I hate repeating myself," He says coldly again and Kotsu cowers a bit at his demanding posture and intimidating glare.
"My… my room. I guess," He says and leads the man upstairs trying to make himself as small as possible while the two go up to Kotsu's small room which is right next to Ren's.
The man leans against one of Kotsu's posters of a cartoon character while the young boy sits on the bed. "W-Who are you anyway and why would you want to see me instead of Ren? H-he's usually the one people want to talk to," he says as he pouts.
"You're jealous of him," The man simply states after judging Kotsu's expression quickly.
Kotsu gasps. "W-what!? No I'm not! He's family! Jealousy has no place in a family! But… maybe just a little bit. Ren's a good guy and he isn't trying to be popular… He's just-" He starts before quickly snapping back to the man. "HEY! Don't avoid the question!" He yells annoyed causing the man to tip his hat up in the most intimidating way Kotsu has seen in his entire life.
"The name's Reborn and there're three things you need to know about me," he points to the lizard sitting comfortably on his hat. "First: This is Leon. Second: I'm the world's number one hitman… and three: I HATE being bossed around. Especially by a little kid like you,"
Kotsu falls back on the bed crawling backwards until he hits the wall. "H-hitman!? W-Were you sent here to kill me!? W-why would anyone want me dead? PLEASE DON'T HURT MEEEE!" Reborn strides up before roughly hitting Kotsu over the head.
"Don't be stupid. If I wanted you dead you would've been dead for a few hours and no one would find your body," Kotsu looks up thinking that it doesn't really improve his perception of the man. "I was sent here to tell you that the neo-good-Primo is stepping down early as boss of the Vongola family and you've been chosen as his successor. So, therefore, I will be your tutor," He explains still with a tipped back hat and Kotsu just looks strangely at him for a while not buying into it at all.
"S-so why are you really here?"
Reborn hits him again making him rub the spot which has now been hit twice in the span of a few minutes. "I just told you. Listen when your tutor is talking," He says as he casually leans against the wall.
Kotsu just doesn't believe any of it. "That's… that can't be right! Why me?"
Reborn smiles and looks out the window letting out a small sigh. "I asked myself that too. Why would Tsuna choose someone who's just as useless as himself?"
Kotsu falls down comically. "Who do you think you are? Coming into my house and telling me I'm useless!"
Reborn doesn't even look at him simply holding a piece of paper. "Tell me. What's your plan in life?"
Kotsu starts fidgeting with his hands a little. "W-well I… I don't know okay!? I guess… if I had to choose then I'd want something that pays well to help my mother out…"
Reborn snickers a little. "Yeah… let me tell you right now…" he turns the paper. It's a test with 23/100 written on it. "Grades like this don't secure well-paying jobs,"
"Hey! That's my test. Leave it alone!" Kotsu tries. "I'll get smarter!"
Reborn stops his leaning against the wall, standing a bit away from the wall holding out the paper. "I think we'll begin your training immediately. Here's the deal. If you can take this test from me, I'll leave you alone for a week. Understood?"
Kotsu jumps at Reborn as soon as he explains the 'rules', but Reborn simply moves the paper to the side causing Kotsu to crash into the wall. "I said give it back!" He jumps at Reborn again.
"Don't be stupid. And keep it down will you, your mother is tired," Reborn holds out his hand and holds Kotsu's head in place stopping him from going any further. Kotsu tries to helplessly get his test back and Reborn just sighs. "You really are as no good as Tsuna. This will take time," He says, sighing as he hands Kotsu the test back. They go back downstairs and Reborn casually sits at the dinner table as if he lives there.
Kotsu's mom has gotten out of bed, her wavy dark brown hair looking rather messy and she has little bags under her eyes. "Oh! hey dear… I see you've met Reborn-san…" She says coughing a little forcing a smile and Kotsu looks down a little bit almost afraid to look her in the eyes.
"Mom you're working too hard… You have to relax sometimes! You'll get sick…" he says with a worried look on his face and his mom just giggles rather tiredly and pats him on the head on her way to the coat-rack.
"Don't be silly now dear. I'm not going to get sick… If I get sick I won't be able to work and THEN who will pay for you and Ren's education?" She asks as she goes to grab her coat again. "Well boys! I will get going to work. I didn't mention this but… it seems someone has hired Reborn-san to be your home tutor so it's not us who pays him. Isn't that wonderful Kotsu? I've wanted to get you a home tutor, looking for a third job, but this solves that issue," She says kissing them goodbye and Ren and Kotsu wave her off, both looking rather sad as she grabs her bicycle and sets off to her second job. Things weren't always like this after all.
"Kirara is quite a hard-working woman…" Reborn says watching in the background. She seems almost relieved to have some of her worries lifted off her shoulders by Reborn's arrival.
Kotsu looks to Reborn with a little bit of a grateful look. "Thanks… for saving her that third job…" He says bowing and Reborn looks quite surprised. That was not a reaction he was expecting. It's almost the complete opposite of what it was a few minutes earlier. "But wait…" he looks up and jumps back. "WAIT! You're not a home tutor! You're a hitman! You can't teach me ANYTHING relating to school!" He declares with an accusing point of the finger.
Reborn tilts his head back. "Don't get cocky Kotsu. I'll be teaching you EVERYTHING you need to know, including how to become a mafia boss! So you'd better prepare yourself! Now come on,"
As soon as the front door closes Leon jumps onto Reborn's finger and transforms into a bell. "Now then! Let's continue where we left off. Take this bell from me," Reborn says holding it out.
"W-wait a minute what subject is this?" The young boy asks confused.
Reborn sighs and holds out the bell. "I said take it from me. Do it or I will get mad. I already said I hate repeating myself, which means I repeated it so you're on thin ice now," He says as intimidating as possible, making Kotsu even less willing to approach him to grab the bell, however he does so as the alternative is most likely even worse. Reborn looks to the sky. 'Why would you choose to step off now Tsuna…? when you're in your prime? Just what are you so afraid of… or rather… who…?'
