Disclaimer: Yes, I still do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Shocker there.
So, because I wanted a quick release schedule, I actually wrote a backlog of issues before releasing the first. That would be why this is up so soon. The regular release schedule will be Saturday every week from now on until I can't manage that anymore (probably around chapter 13 or 14 when my backlog runs out). Thanks to the two reviewers! I love you guys! :) Keep it up! As for the rest of you, I hope this chapter inspires you to drop a review!
Sn0wk1ty: My first reviewer! Thank you for the kind words! I hope the title meets your expectations.
Guest: You should make an account so I can properly thank you! :) And of course, I always enjoy what I write. Otherwise, what's the point? As for Sora, well, I'll let the chapter speak for itself. I certainly wanted him - and this title in general - to be very recognizable and appropriate for the KHR Universe, yet also very different and new. So, you'll see traits and themes that are all too familiar, and others that are completely new. That's all I'll say for now. Well, actually I want to add that some characters may seem...disappointing or overly familiar at first. For example, I introduce a character this issue that appears to be incredibly stereotypical for a shonen anime/manga, but please realize not everything is as it seems. I'm very aware of archetypes and stereotypes and I want to break a lot of those with this title. I can't say more for fear of spoiling anything.
...
Reborn! Again
Target 2 - Introducing Nakamura Sora!
The sun shined brightly upon Namimori Middle School as a certain boy lay asleep at his desk. His unruly blond hair stood out amongst the mostly dark haired crowd of students. His peaceful expression could cause any baby…well, nearly any baby to fall asleep just by looking at him. However, his slumber was not to last.
"Sora! Nakamura Sorahakai! Wake up!" the teacher slammed a ruler in front of the boy's face, causing him to jump in his seat.
"What the hell was that for?" Sora stared daggers at the teacher. The middle aged man remained unfazed by the boy's rude response.
"Work harder next time. I expect more, even from a delinquent like you," the teacher dropped a piece of paper onto Sora's desk. The blond groaned upon realizing what it was. Yet another graded test, and yet another zero. The teen leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. The sky looked so peaceful, so open. He wished his life could be the same. The blond recognized that was an odd way of viewing things, particularly in relation to an infinite constant like the sky, and yet the thought continued to prod his mind as he struggled through class. Alas, peace and freedom weren't in his future. Not in the slightest.
Eventually the time came for the bell to ring and, ultimately, for the school day to end. Sora couldn't express with words how grateful he was to be free of that hellhole.
After quickly packing his bag, ignoring most of his textbooks and worksheets while he did so, Sora trudged out of the three-story school building and towards the gate. On his way there, a pretty brunette intercepted him. Akamine Hikari, student council president and overall outstanding person, stood just half a foot away from Sora.
"Hi, Sora-san!" Hikari greeted, her shoulder length dark brown hair flowing in the wind.
Sora groaned, taking a step back. She followed him everywhere. Lord only knew why a perfect student like her would want to be involved with a delinquent like him.
"What is it?" Sora impolitely asked.
Hikari blushed. She looked down at her feet, shifting her weight back and forth.
"You know how tonight's the big game with Izanami Middle, right? I was, um, wondering if you wanted to help me get the gym ready for the game."
Of course Sora knew about the game. It was the second most anticipated basketball game of the season, only after the heated rivalry match with Kokuyo Middle. But….
"I can't do it," Sora simply stated, shrugging. He continued on past Hikari towards the gate. The girl's cheeks reddened further and she stared at the ground. Sora had no intention of hurting her feelings. In truth, he had only one reason for saying 'no.'
'The work would be a pain. Definitely not worth it.'
"I'm really sorry for bothering you!" Hikari apologized.
Sora continued on without saying a word, but he could practically see the girl's beaten expression in the back of his mind. Could he really leave her there like that? Even he could tell how hurt she was.
With a sigh, Sora stopped and reluctantly turned back around, "Hikari…I'm sorry. I just…" He looked at her face, her defeated expression, and he knew what he had to do. "I can help you."
Hikari's expression instantly brightened. She looked up, smiling, "Really?"
"Yeah," Sora forced a smile, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly, "I don't think it'll be a problem."
"Awesome!" Hikari cheered. She grabbed Sora's hand, causing him to blush, and pulled him towards the gym, "C'mon, let's get started!"
"Whoa, Hikari, slow down! You're going to pull my arm off!" Sora pleaded.
"Sorry!" Hikari apologized. However, she still continued on as fervently as ever, dragging Sora after her.
-XI-
A little over an hour later, Sora returned home, finished with preparing the gym for the basketball game. Hikari had begged him to stay for the game, but he couldn't do it.
'How the hell can a person talk that much?' Sora wondered. 'I mean, she just leaves you feeling so exhausted and happ…' Sora blushed and shook the thought away.
The teen unlocked the front door and pushed it open, carelessly shouting, "Yo, Mom, Kori, I'm home!"
Nobody answered. Sora looked around for signs of movement. His little brother was not waiting in the other room to surprise him. His mother was not leaving the kitchen to scold him for yet again failing a test. Weird. Very weird.
And that's when Sora noticed the baby.
Reborn, dressed in his standard black suit, tie and fedora, stood just a few feet from the teen.
"Ciaossu!" Reborn greeted.
Sora frowned, "Who are you?"
He thought back to breakfast. His mom hadn't said anything about having any guests over. Whose kid was this?
"I'm Reborn," the baby answered, "A hitman."
Sora rubbed his temples, something he had a habit of doing whenever he tried to hold back anger. He really was not in the mood to deal with a baby.
"A…hitman? What type of game is this?"
Reborn had no chance to respond as Sora's mother and little brother came rushing out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Sora-kun, you're home," Suzume noticed.
Sora looked first at his mother, and then at Reborn. He pointed to the infant, "Who the heck is he?"
Suzume turned to Reborn, as if remembering he was there, and then said, smiling, "He's your new home tutor, Reborn-chan!"
Sora's entire world turned upside down. This…child was his home tutor?
"But he's a baby!" Sora exclaimed.
"Isn't that the funniest thing?" Sora's little brother, a pre-teen of twelve, laughed. "Haha! Onii-chan's going to be tutored by an infant!"
Nakamura Hokori was tall for his age, reaching up to about his older brother's height. The two were quite often mixed up, as Hokori looked to be the standard delinquent. He had the ruggedly attractive appearance, muscular build, and outlandish dyed-pink hair that practically screamed 'trouble maker.' However, it could not be further from the truth. Hokori was everything his brother was not: smart, athletic and popular.
Sora snapped upon hearing his brother's statement. He rolled up his sleeves and got into Kori's face. "What the hell did you say, little punk?"
Hokori just continued to laugh, as if this was a standard occurrence, which, in fact, it was.
Before Sora had a chance to say something else, Reborn jumped up and kicked his cheek, knocking him to the ground.
"Gah! What the hell was that for?" Sora asked, rubbing his cheek. Yet again, Reborn kicked him, this time on the opposite cheek.
"Language!" Reborn chided. Sora looked back up, a tear in his eye. The baby was a monster. How did he kick so hard?
"I don't need a tutor!" Sora argued, attempting to find a way out of the situation.
"You know that isn't true," Reborn refuted his statement by pulling out his report card. "Not a grade higher than a 30."
"Wah-! Where'd you get that?" Sora cried, attempting to take the report card from Reborn. The baby jumped over him, hopping on his head once as he did so.
"I have connections," Reborn simply stated.
"What does that mean?" Sora asked. Reborn didn't answer.
"Well, it looks like you two get along well." Suzume smiled, appearing absolutely bubbly.
Sora sweat dropped. "What the hell gave you that idea?"
Yet again, Reborn kicked him.
"Agh! Are you guys just going to let him do that to me?" Sora cried. Suzume and Hokori nodded at once.
"Don't tell me a baby like that can actually hurt you," Hokori chuckled, happy-go-lucky as usual.
"You're just playing a game, right?" Suzume agreed.
Sora sobbed comedically in the corner, "My family's abandoned me!"
"Mafia bosses don't cry," Reborn said. He grabbed Sora's ear and began dragging him back out the door.
"Gah! What does that even mean?" Sora shouted, struggling to escape Reborn, but he had no such luck. Reborn tossed the teen out the door.
The infant turned back to Suzume, and politely said, "We're going to get started, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Suzume beamed.
"Thank you, Mama," Reborn said, and then left, shutting the door after him.
Meanwhile, Sora nursed his injuries on the sidewalk. Immediately after seeing the teen, Reborn hit his chin with an uppercut, knocking him up onto his feet. "Mafia bosses don't mope!"
"Agh!" Sora yelled out. The teen massaged his chin, warily taking a few steps back from Reborn. "There you go with that mafia boss stuff again! What is this? A game?"
Reborn shook his head. That was the only answer he gave Sora.
The teen sighed, crossing his arms, "Alright, let's just get to it. Why are you really here? I mean, you can't actually expect me to believe I'm going to be tutored by a stupid baby…"
Reborn jumped up onto Sora's shoulder and punched him.
"Respect your elders, stupid Sora," Reborn ordered.
"But you're younger than me!"
Reborn hopped back off Sora and onto the pavement. He looked up at the teen with his big, black eyes and asked, "You want to know why I'm here?"
"Yes!" Sora shouted exasperatedly, "That's what I've been saying the entire time!"
"Well then," Reborn began, "I'm here to train you to become to the eleventh boss of the Vongola, the fiercest mafia family in the world."
Sora stood there for a brief second, allowing the comment to register. He met Reborn's gaze…and then he broke out laughing. "Hahaha! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I mean, me…the head of the mafia? Hahaha!"
Reborn gave him no slack. The infant's chameleon transformed into a hammer, which Reborn used to smash Sora's toes.
"Agh!" Sora cried, hopping around to hold onto his injured foot. "What is that thing?" the teen asked, indicating the chameleon-turned-hammer.
"Leon, a shape-changing chameleon," Reborn answered, and as if to emphasize the point Leon morphed back into a lizard.
"Wha-?! Those exist?!" Sora wondered.
"Of course not," Reborn shot back.
Sora deadpanned, "You're contradicting yourself."
Reborn never gave Sora the chance to think over the statement further. He got right to the point, "So, are you going to stop whining now?"
Sora looked away, uncomfortable. Was he really supposed to believe this? 'I mean, everything I've seen so far has been weird, but…me? A Mafia boss? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!'
"If you're telling the truth then...why me? Why am I supposed to be a mafia boss? I'm nobody."
"Not true," Reborn replied, "Your father is from Italy, correct?" Sora's gaze returned to Reborn. How did the baby know that? The teen nodded, but he could tell that the supposed-hitman's questions was rhetorical.
"You aren't saying…?" Sora couldn't believe it. Thinking it over, it made sense. His father was the head of a mysterious corporation in Italy. He was almost never home. Could he be the Vongola boss?
"Of course not," Reborn quickly put his fears down, causing Sora to comedically collapse to the ground.
"Then why'd you make the situation so tense?"
Reborn ignored Sora's question. "Your father is related to Vongola Terzo, and your mother is a direct descendent of Vongola Primo. With double the Vongola heritage, you're the perfect pick for Undicesimo."
Sora's eyes widened in amazement. He was descended from Mafia bosses? Who would have thought?
But still… "That doesn't matter."
"Huh?" Reborn inquired.
"I…I don't want to be the mafia boss. I don't really want to be anything," Sora explained, eyes sunken, "I'm just a no-good student. I'm not smart. I'm always picked last for teams in PE. I…I'm not really good at anything. Truth is, I figure I'll just barely get by in school, and when the time comes and I have to pick a profession, I'll get a boring office job working for some stupid corporation. I'll live my life alone—because that's all I'm good for. If you're looking for someone to be 'Undiche-whatever' then talk to my brother. He's smart, the star member of the archery club, and a total chick magnet."
"Hm…" Reborn sighed, before jumping up and punching Sora, "Mafia bosses must be confident!"
"Ow!" Sora's eyes lit up with fury as he looked down at the hitman, "I told you…"
"Shut up."
Reborn stared at Sora with the fiercest expression he could muster. The teen didn't know how to respond. What was he supposed to do?
"AIIEEE!"
Sora and Reborn immediately turned their attention to the screamer. Just down the block, near the edge of the street, three older teens—they looked like upperclassmen to Sora—were ganging up on an innocent girl. Sora thought he recognized the girl. She looked familiar. The shoulder length dark brown hair…where had he seen it before? And that's when it hit him.
"Hikari-chan…" Sora whispered.
"It's time for a test," Reborn announced, "Looks like you have your chance to prove if you're worthy to become Vongola's boss."
"What?" Sora sweat dropped, "I never said I wanted to be involved with the mafia! And what am I-" Sora sighed, looking regretfully back at Hikari. "What am I supposed to do anyway?"
"What do you think?" Reborn chided, "Save her."
"I can't!" the teen protested, "I…I don't fight!"
"What?"
Sora looked down at his feet, embarrassed, "It's not that I'm scared. It's just…it's a personal thing."
"Hm…" Was that a smile on Reborn's face? "A delinquent that doesn't like to fight…?"
"Too bad." And without another word from the hitman, Leon transformed into a pistol.
"What are you going to…holy shit!" Sora cried as he looked down the muzzle of the gun. The last thing he saw before the bullet was fired was Reborn's cold expression, almost scolding him for being a coward.
"Die." Reborn fired.
The bullet made contact, hitting Sora right between the eyes. As the boy died, he regretted his actions. 'I'm going to die now. If…if only I knew that…I would have spent my last moments saving Hikari-chan. I would have fought for her with my dying will!'
"RE-BORN!" Sora hopped up off the ground, his eyes blank with rage. A large, explosive flame burned on his head, almost like a literal representation of his anger. "I will save Hikari-chan with my dying will!"
Only after shouting his intentions did Sora notice the majority of his clothes had burnt away, leaving him in but his boxers. Sora shrugged it off, "I'll worry about my appearance later!"
The teen charged the upperclassmen, fueled by a mysterious power.
"What the hell…?" One of the upperclassmen noticed the blond, "…A pervert?"
Sora shut the older teen up by punching him in the face, sending the upperclassman flying into a wall.
"That piece of shit just knocked out Kisuke-kun!" Another thug roared.
"Kill him!" The last declared. They charged at Sora. The blond ducked under their attack and punched them both in the groin. As they rolled on the ground in pain, he jumped up and simultaneously stamped on both of their stomachs.
"Gah!" They cried in unison. One continued the thought after a moment of wallowing in misery, "Forget this!"
Both shot up onto their feet, holding their stomachs, and ran off, leaving their friend behind. Sora's rage and the mysterious flame that came along with it only disappeared after the older teenagers had left. It was at that moment of complete serenity that the embarrassment hit Sora.
"Ahh! My clothes!"
"Sora-san…" Hikari finally seemed to realize who her savior was. She joyfully hug-tackled him to the ground, "Sora-san! You saved me!"
Sora blushed furiously as the girl landed atop him. After seeing the blond's face, Hikari realized the position they were in. She backed off quickly, embarrassed.
"What are you doing here?" Hikari wondered, trying to get both of their minds off of what had just happened.
"I'm asking myself the same question," Sora answered, rubbing his head embarrassedly. "Who were those guys?"
Hikari looked surprised, as if she had forgotten about the older boys who had assaulted her. "They were Izanami High students," she explained, "We won the game 54-52 thanks to a last second shot by Kagome-senpai. After finding out who I was," indicating her status as Nami Middle student council president, "They attacked me."
Sora sighed. This was all because of a stupid basketball game. He wondered if Kagome Hideaki-sempai should have just thrown the game. Izanami High was known for its troublesome students. Sora was sure this incident would be just the first of many.
"Well, I'm glad you're safe," Sora thought out loud, before quickly realizing what he'd said. The teen looked away and put on the toughest expression he could muster. "Uh...just kidding. Not that there's anything wrong with you being safe, but-" Hikari's lips curled up into a smile as the boy continued his tangential excuse.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to the girl. She shot up onto her feet and held out her hand to Sora. The teen reluctantly took it, and the two stood eye-to-eye.
"Promise you'll be at school tomorrow," Hikari said.
"What?" Sora blushed. "I can't…I mean…"
"Promise."
Sora sighed and scratched the back of his head. He nodded. "Fine."
Hikari beamed and hugged Sora, causing the boy to blush an even darker shade of red. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sora-san!"
"Bye…" Sora muttered.
He watched Hikari go, the two waving at one another, before he made his way home. During his trek back, he noticed Reborn was nowhere to be found. Where had the baby gone?
Sora looked up at the sky, thinking. Was what Reborn had said about him really true? And if it was…
'What's going to happen next?'
...
That's it! I hope you enjoyed the first real chapter in Reborn! Again!
If anyone's curious, I imagine Sora looks something like Asakura Hana from Shaman King: Flowers. Not totally the same—for example, Sora has considerably shorter hair and blue eyes—but it's a good reference point. Also, please review!
…
NEXT TIME ON REBORN! AGAIN: The Hammer of Wrath
?- AAAAHHHH!
Reborn- Who's that?
Sora- That's Saito Katsuro. He's in Class 2-A, like me.
Reborn- He's a good fighter, perfect for the Family.
Sora- Wha-! 'The Family'?!
Reborn- You heard me. Go recruit him.
Sora- But…!
Reborn- No buts!