owo b I'm really glad you guys like the start of this story. owo b


Two truths and a lie:

1) Reborn's parents are dead.

2) He is Italian.

3) He hates his parents.

Do you see the lie?


Truth: Reborn's parents are dead.

Ask anyone who knew Reborn. Those closest to him, Luce long dead, Nono an old friend, Shamal the doctor, Dino his student, Bianchi the not quite lover, and the Arcobaleno through shared connections knew this as a fact. They do not know the whole story, but together they do. The story of a mother dead to illness and a father gunned down in the streets. How Reborn lived on the streets until his first assassination, setting himself on the road to be the World's Greatest Hitman. Reborn had no family to be used as leverage against him; his few friends were equally deadly and the only living lover (which was less of a lover and more like a fond affection/student) was the Poison Scorpion herself.

Yes, Reborn's parents were dead.

Renato's parents were not.


Partially True: He is Italian.

Renato's father was full Italian, born and raised under the golden sun. Renato's mother was something. Yet despite this, Renato's birthland was Japan. He grew up along the coast in a small discreet village. They moved to France when he was ten (where Reborn would pick up his favorite last name alias: Sinclair) and occasionally spent summers in Italy.

So Nana's request to be called Mama was acceptable (or Mamma per Italian). Her original request for kaasan was rejected. Renato has a kaasan, even if he did not say it.


Lie: He hates his parents.

Renato loved his parents.

His parents were the type to let him do as he pleased, expecting him to learn from his mistakes. When he was eleven and wanted to eat dessert all the time, he paid the price and suffered through hours at the dentist office with his cavities. (Incidentally, he now swore off sweets for the rest of his life, except on special occasions.) When he was sixteen and got caught stealing for a third time, he didn't get bailed out of jail, instead served time for three months. (It wasn't that bad. Renato could fend for himself; his mother made sure of that. But somewhere in France, Ryan Beaumont has a juvenile record. Though as far as France was concerned, Ryan Beaumont was dead.)

Unorthodox parenting methods aside, Renato learned from his mistakes. It taught him to plan for everything, how to predict how people would react, how to scheme his way out of the worst situations and how he couldn't always rely on someone to bail him out. (Though he would only need to ask his parents for help and they would do everything in their power to help.) More importantly, the consequences for his actions.

So when Renato entered the mafia world as Reborn the Hitman, he wiped all connections to his past. This meant in order to protect his parents, he cut off all communication with them. Sure, they disapproved (very loudly and for the first time he saw his mother upset to the point where she couldn't form words), but ultimately they let him go, understanding that he wanted to do this and the consequences he reaped were from the seeds he had sown.

That, of course, didn't stop them from stalking him, sending gifts on his (real) birthday and cards for the holidays. All untraceable and unsigned, but Reborn knew.

His parents might be okay with him going out and letting him dealing with his mistakes, to suffer his own consequences, but only on their terms and with them acting as a safety net. (Reborn knew how many bullets he should have had and how many enemies he was up against. 10 bullets, 12 enemies, so where had the extra bullets come from?) (That wound had been fatal, but instead of bleeding out in the alleyway, he woke up in a hospital twenty seven miles away). His parents. Overprotective to a fault.

But, because of this habit of theirs, Reborn knew exactly what to say next to his mother.

"I know you're somewhere in or near Namimori," Reborn said. They would have dropped everything and moved to or near Namimori the minute Reborn accepted the job to tutor Tsuna.

His mother was quiet on the other side.

Thankfully, she did not question why Reborn's voice was that of a child instead of the post-puberty teen she should have known when Renato had left all those years ago. Just another reason why Reborn was thankful that he cut his parents out of the picture. How could he ever explain his latest blunder caused him to be cursed? Even if they were most likely aware of the situation at this point. Or at least aware that their child had returned to the physical age of 1.

"I need help," Reborn forced out. He hated asking for help.

"I'll be there," his mother said. "Namimori General Hospital correct?"

"Yes," Reborn said. (Sometimes he wondered if his mother had him implanted with a GPS tracker when he was born. He wouldn't put it pass her.) "Thank you," he said before hanging up.

Now all there was to do was to wait.


Just to explain, you're going to see me flip flop between Reborn/Renato throughout this story. For the most part, our favorite hitman will still be called Reborn. I tend to refer to him as Renato when event/memory belongs to Renato solely or when his motivation/thinking would be different as Renato compared to Reborn (i.e. as shown in this chapter, Reborn will say his parents are dead, Renato will not.). Similar to the way fandom treats Tsuna's "Boss" Mode or even certain interpretations of HDWM. I hope that make sense?

We'll meet Reborn's mom next chapter. -ninja-