Author's note: So here I go again, starting stories when I have unfinished ones *sigh. Funny though, this was written a year ago but I only managed to finish the last part of the story today. And another funny thing, even before I knew that Reborn's real name is Renato Sinclair, I had already used Renato for this story, since the name Renato means 'reborn' in Italian (at least, according to my research). So, hurray for my lucky guess. But whatever, you're here for the story, not some mindless author babble. So off you go now. remember to leave a nice little review and do point put mistakes should you see one.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own KHR. Duh.
Tsuna sat behind his elegant mahogany desk. His eyes scanned the reports on the table, with his right hand, he held a pen for signing documents, his left hand, holding a stamp for marking said documents. Five years after the Representative Battle, he's finally the official head of Vongola (though him being instated was brought about by a certain baby-turned-adult hitman holding him at gunpoint, but deep (very deep, very ,very deep, like Vindice prison deep) in his heart, the brunette knew he wants to be Decimo, for the sake of protecting his friends and family, for the sake of reforming Vongola, for the sake of protecting the innocent and the weak [oh Dio, he sound just like his ancestor, Giotto]).
The young don sighed. For the umpteenth time, his eyes read a report concerning repair costs for something his guardians destroyed (they swore it was an accident, that was what they tell him every single time, but it seems to the brunette that they're having a competition to see who can procure the most amount of damage, which translates to a huge amount of paperwork. His Cloud and Mist Guardians seem to be in a tight competition for the number one spot). He loves his guardians and his family dearly, yes, but he sometimes wishes (okay, most of the time) they would grow up from their destructive nature and do their jobs with the least amount of damage (because completely eliminating the damage is so unlike his guardians).
Quickly scanning the entire document, he sighed and signed the paper with his signature. Getting a sticky note, he wrote a quick apology and stuck it on the upper right corner of the document. On the bottom of the page, he stamped a "Received" and closed the folder, filing it under "Accomplished". He got the next folder from his diminishing stack of paperwork (which he was glad for. He doesn't want to pull another all-nighter just for paperwork). This time, the report contains a business report for one of the business branch of Vongola. Unlike the repair forms and damage reports, he read the report carefully, absorbing every detail written, noting points of concern and areas for improvement. His features held utmost concentration as he continued to read the report.
This was the scene Reborn had walked into. He opened the door to his student's (and boss', not like he'll ever say it out loud) study and entered in the same manner. He leaned on the door frame and crossed his arms across his chest, one hand holding a report regarding his latest mission. He eyed his student as he did his work, a sense of pride overcoming him, bubbling in his chest. He was able to raise a good boss. There's nothing more he can be proud of.
"Welcome back, Reborn. How was your trip?" the brunette said, not looking up from his documents. The hitman smirked. Yep. He really did a good job raising a student if he can detect the hitman's presence. The baby-turned-adult hitman and ex-Arcobaleno smirked and walked towards Tsuna's desk.
"It was nice. The accommodations were up to Vongola's standards." The hitman said as he strode over to his student's desk. The brunette, on the other hand, rose from his seat to get his tutor a cup of his favorite espresso (he'd been keeping a pot of the dark liquid to keep him energized during his fight with his paperwork). Reborn eyed his student as he sat in one of the seats in front of the desk. He would never say it out loud, but the kid knew how to make a damn good espresso (and that's saying something because Reborn's compliments are very hard to earn).
"That's nice to hear. In all honesty, it's hard to live up to your standards. Here. Just the way you like it." Tsuna said, placing the cup of espresso in front of the hitman, who only tipped his fedora in thanks. The brunette knew that it was one of the hitman's ways of saying thank you. Knowing him for almost 7 years, the brunette gradually learned more about his tutor: his favorite dish, how he likes his espresso, what ticks him off, his favorite brand of suit, etc. Only from being side by side with the hitman for quite some time that he was able to find these little bits of information regarding one of the most feared men in the mafia world and one of the men he trusts with his life. But there is still something more to learn, something more to discover about the hitman, especially concerning the hitman's past.
Handing over his report, Reborn took a sip of Tsuna's espresso. Not too strong, not too weak either. Just the perfect blend. The don took the folder with a grateful smile on his face.
"So, how was the mission?" Tsuna said, a small smile in his lips as he scanned through the Reborn's report. Tsuna sent Reborn to raid a syndicate that has been known to kidnap and traffic children. Normally, the don would have entrusted such jobs to his guardians but because of the amount of hooligans trying to do their monkey business in his turf, the Tenth Generation Vongola Guardians have a lot going on their own plates (in reality, Tsuna just wanted to escape from the piles of paperwork his guardians bring in their wake).
"Hardly any challenge. I dropped the fools to the authorities. The police are more than delighted to accommodate some of Italy's most wanted criminals in their cells. The children who were orphaned were sent to Vongola's orphanage and those who were abducted are to be sent back to their parents. They all are to undergo therapy for the trauma they've experienced." Reborn said, summarizing what his report contains.
"I see. Thank you." Tsuna said, his eyes still on the report, a silence blanketing the two of them. A full minute passed and the hitman sighed. The man knew his student well enough to know when his student is troubled.
"If there's something bothering you, spit it out, Dame-Tsuna. I didn't raise you to beat around the bush." Reborn said, eyeing, calculating his student. The brunet looked up sheepishly from the report he's been reading, albeit embarrassed that he's been caught drifting off, and scratched his cheek.
"Well, it's just that we've know each other for quite some time…" the don trailed off, unsure of how he'll continue.
"And?" the tutor prodded, waiting for his student to finish his thought.
"I was just thinking that I practically know nothing about you." Tsuna said, slightly going red from embarrassment.
"What are you talking about, Dame-Tsuna? You know me very well enough to know how I like my espresso." The hitman said, leaning on his seat.
"That's not what I mean. I don't know anything about you before you became an Arcobaleno. Like, did you have a family? What was your childhood like? Why did you become a hitman? I don't even know your real name. I guess I was curious about those things…" Tsuna trailed off, scratching his cheek.
"What brought this on?" the hitman asked with narrowed eyes.
"N-nothing, really. I was just curious. Y-you don't have to answer it if you don't want to," the brunet squid, stuttering under the scrutiny of his tutor.
"Stop stuttering, Dame-Tsuna. You're no longer 13."
There was silence for a while, and Tsuna tried hard to look anywhere except the hitman. The brunet was about to wave his question off when Reborn suddenly spoke.
"Renato Sinclair." Reborn said, his voice soft and forlorn.
"I'm sorry?" the brunet said, not quite catching what the hitman said.
"Renato Sinclair. That was my name before." Reborn said, the forlorn tone still in his voice. The don remained silent for a while, unsure of what he'll say or what he'll do. The feeling of sadness in the hitman's voice was not something he was accustomed to hearing. Sure, he'd always hear Reborn being snarky and sarcastic, but hearing the hitman's sad tone is something new to him. Before he could decide what his course of action should be, the hitman spoke again.
"I lived in Ragusa with my parents. We were poor, but we were happy. My parents made sure I had good manners and a proper education. My father did odd jobs while my mother washed clothes for money. I would help by selling newspapers in the morning. They strived to put me to school, but that ended in vain because even if the three of us worked, we could barely keep food on the table.
Eventually though, things became rough. And so, to escape death by starvation, my father joined the mafia as a hired blade. Everything was fine then. We ate more than three meals a day, we were able to pay off our debts, and we had money to buy things that we wanted to buy. I was able to go to school. We were at peace despite my father's affiliation with the mafia.
But as you know, the mafia is not an ideal place for a child to grow up. My father taught my mother and I how to defend ourselves should someone attack. I was taught how to use a gun at the age of 6. Since then, I was never without it. 'You need to be able to always defend yourself,' that's what my father would always say. Being an assassin for a mafia familigia, a lot of people were after his blood.
But even if he had taught me how to shoot and to fight, he never wanted me to become a part of the mafia. He wanted to shield me from the blood and gore and death that came with being a mafioso. He wanted me to grow up normal.
"But in our world, once you're connected to the mafia, no matter how small the connection is, you're already part of it and there's no escaping it. No matter how hard one tries to hide his non-mafia affiliations, one way or another, the Mafiosi will unearth those you dearly protect.
When I was 8, on Christmas Eve, my parents were brutally killed inside of our house. It happened when I was out doing an errand for my mother. When I came back to our house, the door was out of its hinges, our things were on the floor, broken. Then I saw a pool of blood. I saw the bodies of my parents, mutilated to the point that it was nearly unidentifiable. I stared at the remains.
I didn't know what to do. I panicked then I ran out of the house. I didn't know where I was running towards, but I ran. It didn't matter then. I ended up in an alley and there I cried my eyes out. I wanted nothing more than to erase the pictures that burned in my mind. Ever since that day, I lived on the streets. I can't stomach the idea of going back to our house. I can't stand to remember the way my parents' bodies were dismembered. The gun my father gave me stayed with me as a memento of my parents, though I didn't use it. So I lived as a pickpocket. It was tough but I have to live. I knew no other family so the streets became my new home.
"There were times when I fought, wanting to live and get back at the people who killed my parents. Other times, I just want to sleep and never wake up. The weight the world placed on my shoulders was too much for me to carry. Every day was a struggle for survival, and for a boy of barely 9 years, that was too much. I just wanted everything to end and be done with it.
"One day, when the drive to kill myself became too much, there had been a shootout on the area I was in. I was terrified. I had nowhere to run. Then a man entered the alley I was in and pointed a gun at me, ready to shoot me, to kill me. I froze. Half of me wanted to die, half of me wanted to live on. I didn't know what to do.
But in an instant, the man dropped dead, a bullet hole in his head. Behind where the man once stood, a figure clad in a black suit and a fedora on his head was standing, a smoking gun in his hand. He asked me if I was alright and checked me for any injuries. I remember remaining silent. I remember thinking whether this man is also going to kill me. He approached me, his gun still in his hand. At that moment, I really thought he was going to shoot me. But instead, he just patted me on the head and assuring me that everything's going to be alright. When he said that, I cried my eyes out and I remember telling the man about my parents, about how I just wanted everything to end. He just sat there, patting my head and reassuring me that everything will be alright.
"I remember him taking me with him into his apartment. He told me that from that day onwards, I'll be living with him. Turns out, he was in the same familigia as my father. I don't know whether it was out of pity or a sense of obligation, but he took me in, treated me like his son. I remember feeling relieved about the fact that no longer do I have to live on the streets. I didn't have to feel alone anymore. Finally, after almost a year on the streets, I have somewhere I can call home. I felt safe again.
"Though they shared many similarities, Zio Salvatore was different from my father. He didn't try to shelter me from the mafia. Rather, he brought me into the world that my father had fought so hard to keep me away from. He introduced me to the familigia as his protégé. He showed me the ropes and taught me everything he knew. As compared to living on the streets and loving a life as a pickpocket, the mafia was heaven-sent to me. So I took every lesson to heart, and soon, I started garnering the respect of my colleagues.
"But despite everything, I never forgot the murder of my parents. I gathered any information I could get my hands on about the family that murdered the only people I had. I swore that when an opportunity presents itself, I will finish them.
"And that golden opportunity came when I was 19. My boss, we call him Padre, called me to his office and gave me a mission; an assassination of the head of a certain familgia. Then he said the words that I only dreamt of hearing; 'This is the familigia that killed your parents,' that's what he said. I froze, and looked at the man in the eye. He had no reason to lie to me and he would not use underhanded tactics just to make his subordinates do what he wants. No, he was telling the truth, and was giving me the opportunity-no, the privilege, of avenging my parents. I took the mission, with the intent of destroying the familigia that destroyed everything that I had. Zio Salvatore was asked to accompany me, along with a small team. That was the day I got my revenge, and the day that I lost everything I had for the second time.
"At first, we didn't notice it, but by the time we're waist-deep in their territory, we we're way outnumbered. We were confused and angry, because this was supposed to be mission not needing numbers. By the time we reached the boss' room, it was just Zio and I. And as if mocking us, the boss decided it to be a good idea to wait for us and give us a speech. He told us of how we had been sold by one of our own and that we're about to die a pitiful death, and about how he will destroy our familigia. You know, typical villain speech. And so he walked away laughing, leaving with us his lackeys.
"'Renato, go after that idiota,' Zio told me. Of course I refused. But he gave me a hard look and said that it's in our mission description to assassinate the boss, and how we never failed a mission, and this would not be an exception. I remembered arguing with him that he can't face the men by himself and that we'll have a better chance if it were the two of us. He said that by then, the enemy would have long since been gone. And he just smiled and said, 'This might be the last time we see each other, kid. Don't forget everything I taught you. Go live and exceed me.' Then he pushed me out a window as he faced the men
"I gritted my teeth in frustration but decided to do my uncle's last order. I gave everything I had to chase the boss. Nothing mattered to me at that moment. Forget about the mission. All I cared about was getting revenge on the man that took everything away from me. In my rage and grief, I managed to take down his bodyguards, and in a second's time, the bastardo was pinned under me, a bullet between his eyes. I didn't give him the chance to beg. I didn't give him the opportunity to talk. I walked away, with the mansion blazing behind me, and made my way back to our base.
"Except there really wasn't a base for me to return to. What I came back to was a blazing building. Not really thinking, I ran inside the building, shrugging off the arms that tried to keep me away. I searched for any survivors, but the deeper I went, the more bodes littered. Then I heard a groan. It was Padre. With a strength I didn't know I have, I carried him out of the building just before it collapsed. I shouted for the medics but Padre stopped me. He told me who the perpetrator is, and told me to always value everything I have. Then he breathed his last and lay dead on the cold pavement. I shed tears for all that I've lost. I don't know how long I grieved on the pavement, but I stood up, and immediately carried out the last mission my boss gave me. The traitor was not hard to find. He was gloating in his house about how he finally took the thorn out of his side. I sneaked behind him and slit his Achilles heel so he won't be able to run. Then I shot his hands so he won't be able to use them. This time, I took my time with the traitor, for the sake of the honor of those he betrayed. Then I set his house on fire and walked away."
Tsuna didn't know whether he imagined it or not, but he saw Reborn's eyes become glassy. He held his silence as he waited for the hitman to collect himself, and listen as the man continued his tale. If he heard a slight waver in his tone, the brunet pretended to not have noticed it.
"I returned to Zio's apartment not long after that. I packed everything I had and took the guns Zio owned. It was clear that he'll never be coming back, so I burned all of his possessions and cleaned the house of any valuables. I left, leaving behind the fate of the house to time.
"Once again, I wandered around, though not as lost as I was the first time. I found an abandoned cabin just on the outskirts of the town and decided to set camp there while I figured out what to do with my life. I decided to start a farm and live outside of society. After that, I only did small hits so that I'll have enough to get by and to save for the materials needed for starting a farm. But then, Vongola contacted me to retrieve something for them. For a retrieval, the reward was good, so I took it, thinking that it would help me save up faster. So I accomplish the job, took the reward and walked away, thinking that it'll be the last time I'll hear from Vongola. Except this time, I got contacted again, this time as a bodyguard. Seeing that I could use the coin, I took it. By this time, Nono had been the boss for 10 years. So in commemoration of his tenth year, the Vongola held a party. And as you know, these parties can be a bit messy. There were those trying to assassinate the biggest name in the underworld, but of course, they were killed before they even carried out the first phase of their mission.
"That night, the Ninth called me aside and asked me if I want to do hits for Vongola. 'What makes you think I'll be tied down by you?' I asked. 'But you don't need to be tied down to me. I can see in your eyes that you're not someone to be tied down,' he said. 'But you have the Varia for that.' 'Ah, but there are hits that I want done without it being traced back to Vongola. So, will you take me up on my offer?'
"In all honesty, I was tempted to say yes right there and then, but I remember the pain and the burden of being a hitman. So I asked for time to think about it. Of course, that time, I have been thinking that I'll turn down the offer. But the more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me. So I returned to Nono, and he has this twinkle in his eyes that said that he knew I would accept. So that time, I accepted hits from Vongola while not really being a part of it. Oftentimes, I would be joined by Shamal for hits that would require an illusionist. That's how Shamal and I got to know each other.
"Everything was smooth sailing then. I would do hits for Vongola while doing jobs for other families allied to Vongola. On my free days, I tended my small farm. Everything was peaceful, but then, I received an offer from Checkerface. That time, I only thought of the thrill of the jobs, and not really the consequences. If I only knew before that I would become an Arcobaleno, I would have refused. Though looking back at it now, I really wouldn't have it any other way."
Reborn paused and let a small, genuine smile grace his face.
"So I became an Arcobaleno. I had Shamal erase everything about 'Renato Sinclair' and I started to live my life as 'Reborn'. Did I answer every single one of your questions, Dame-Tsuna?"
The hitman looked at his student, who in turn quietly answered the question with a yes. The hitman rose from his seat and thumped the brunet with his fist.
"Ow. What was that for, Reborn?" Tsuna asked as he rubbed the spot where Reborn had hit him.
"You really need to pay attention to when someone is telling a story and not be swayed by it. That story just now was made up. If I were an enemy and you fell for that sob story, you'd probably be dead or on your way to being kidnapped. Looks like you still need more tutoring even after all these years," Reborn said.
"U-uhm, no. I think I got it. Hahaha," the brunet laughed nervously at the prospect of having another tort-tutoring session with the hitman.
"Hmph. Remember that well, Dame-Tsuna. I'll be heading out first. If you're not finished with the paperwork by tomorrow, you'll be in for a lesson."
"Yes, yes. I got it. Goodnight, Reborn." And as he watched the pitman's back as he exited the room, he knew that the story he heard is true and the threat the hitman gave was a show of trust that Tsuna will keep his secret safe. The brunet smiled as he opened the folder containing Reborn's mission report, only to find out that a huge amount of money would have to be spent for repairs.
"REBORN!"