Disclaimers: Shara: Any events related to KHR RP events aren't our ideas!
Cielo: The idea belongs to anons that lurk there and their fickle minds...and also the RPers, of course.
Shara: And this one isn't beta'd. Sorry, can't get ahold of my usual betas.
Cielo: Feel free to notify us about the typos...we'll fix the grammar later.
Shara: Also, we don't own the characters too!
Cielo: If they belong to her *points at Shara* there will be lot of tuna pastas, chocolate marshmallows, pizza burger, strawberry lolipops-
Shara: -and the Byakuran's ancestor doesn't belong to us either.
Cielo: Enjoy the story.
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Chapter 7: Best Box Weapon, Best Guardian, and Best Vongola Boss
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"You haven't prepared two readers for the next session?"
The two producers nodded and grinned innocently at Reborn, who sighed in disappointment. Only ten minutes before the commercial break end, and these two came to him, saying that they hadn't come up with a couple to become the nomination readers for the next session.
"We're busy!" the female one said, "The preparations for gala dinner after this event end took our time!"
"And we're running out of good couples," the male one added. "If you don't mind with a pair that would surely mind-rape your brain, we'll ask them to do so."
"Sure. As long as we can finish this event faster," replied Reborn nonchalantly. It seemed like he has truly grown bored and annoyed.
"Alright. Cielo, go contact them. I'll tell her to prepare the machine and the bullets."
"Roger that."
Reborn frowned. "Wait, what machine? What bullets? You're not involving Verde in this, right?"
The female producer grinned widely. "Nope, not Verde. But we know someone that's around the same level with him."
The black-clad hitman had no chance to question them further about this acquaintance of them, because they had disappeared from his sight. Sighing, he could only hope that they wouldn't do something crazy.
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COMMERCIAL BREAKS END
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"Welcome back to the Reborn Awards."
As if on cue, the audiences began clapping their hands and cheering loudly. Instead of Famiglia played as the opening theme, we can hear Jingle Bell version Vongola (means the Vongola sang the song) echoed throughout the hall. In addition, said hall now decorated with Christmas decorations, such as ribbons, mistletoes, Christmas trees, colorful light bulbs, etc. It is amazing how this event might last until New Year…but that's not the point.
All attentions were directed to Reborn and Fran, who were forced to wear Babbo Natale—or widely known as Santa Claus—costume. It seemed like the producers intended to make this current session as a kiss festival. Or something like that.
"Ciaossu, and Buon Natale, everyone," Reborn greeted them.
"I can't believe that we have to work right after Christmas," Fran sighed, though his expression remained stoic. "I hadn't open all presents from my fans…"
"You can do that after we call the nomination readers for this session."
"Fine, fine…" the teal-haired boy glanced at his cue card for a moment, before he frowned and asked, "Reborn-san, what's with this weird arrangement?"
Reborn shrugged. "The producers' choice."
"Well…alright. Please come onto the stage: Daemon Spade, Vongola Secondo, and…Dio."
Daniela and some fangirls that support RicardoDaemon pair immediately squealed, but they froze when they saw a white-haired man followed the other two. Mukuro and Xanxus frowned as they saw their looks-a-like walked with…Byakuran's looks-a-like?
"My, my, it seems everything in this era isn't any different than the First era…or should I say, the Second era?" Byakuran smirked.
His looks-a-like grinned and raised a thumb. "Ciao, descendant. Yeah, you're right—we're from Secondo's era, and like you, I'm in love with a guy that has fruit-like hair style."
"Nufufu…a love declaration in front of everyone? My, I'm flattered," Spade sarcasmed.
"You know I'll always love you, Spade, my little devil."
"Aren't we supposed to read these nominations?" Ricardo's statement stopped the other two's arguments. He was reluctant to accept this job again. Reading the nominations with Daniela was enough. Damn producers and their infernal threats!
Byakuran's ancestor, Dio, smirked. "Jealous, Signore Ricardo?"
"Why would I?"
"Because I'm all lovey-dovey with Spade~"
"I wouldn't say we're lovey dovey, Dio. Nufufu~"
"And the first category is Best Vongola Boss!" Ricardo exclaimed, once again stopping their useless arguments.
Both Dio and Spade snickered, satisfied with their little prank. At the same time, the rest of the Vongola Bosses stiffened. They wished they could win, but then again, with Giotto's and Tsuna's name written in the list, they knew they couldn't possibly outmatch the duo's popularity. Nevertheless, listening to the result excite them. Which one is the best, the ancestor or the descendant?
Dio opened the envelope which contained the nominee card. His eyebrows raised as he read said card. "Wow…there are only five bosses nominated? How sad…"
"Really now?" Spade peeked over the albino's shoulder and smirked, "Oya…you're right. What a pity…nufu~"
"Ah, Signor Ricardo mustn't read this!" Dio grinned, hiding the card when Ricardo tried to look at it also. "For this category, Spade and I will read the nominees, based on the total vote count they obtained!"
Fans cheered, calling out their favorite boss' names. Tsuna grimaced a little as he heard people shouted his name—he hoped he wouldn't win this category. On another note, it seemed that a lot of people supported Giotto, thus causing war of yell between the audiences.
"Alright, alright, settle down, please," Dio clapped his hands on the microphone, causing its sound to overwhelm the yells. "Let's begin from the 5th position…or should I skip to the 4th position? They got the same amount of total count anyway."
"Well…I suppose that makes them occupy the 4th position together," Spade smirked widely.
"Yeah…in the 4th position, there are our dear Secondo here, along with Vongola Nono!"
Applauses filled the hall as people congratulated the two. Timoteo laughed quietly as he noticed the frown between Ricardo's eyebrows. It almost feels like watching younger Xanxus, with long ponytail.
"In the 3rd place, we have the one and only female Vongola boss, Daniela!"
Daniela had this surprised look on her face for a moment, but when her father and son pat her shoulders, she smiled at everyone and thanked them. She spotted the female producer of this event at a corner, and they exchanged meaningful grins.
"And 2nd place! Guess who claimed the place!" Dio sneered.
Spade chuckled as the fans cheer louder. "Vongola Decimo took the 2nd place."
Many were disappointed, including Gokudera and the other Guardians. But Tsuna's smile and reassuring words ("It's alright…getting the 2nd place is good enough, right?") eased their mood a bit. Now that it had been confirmed that Tsuna took the 2nd place, the fans roared a certain boss' name confidently. That certain boss merely smiled at his pink-haired friend's comment ("Your fangirls are as noisy as always. Can I shoot them up with G. Archery later?") while he waited for Dio and Spade to call out his name.
The owner of watermelon-hairstyle noticed this, and thus he grinned. "Nufufu…thinking that your name is on the 1st place, Giotto?"
"I said nothing of some sorts, Spade," Giotto returned the smile kindly.
"But I believe your Hyper Intuition told you already."
"So what if it does…?"
"Come here and pick your trophy, then."
Dio stifled a laugh before he announced, "And the winner of Best Vongola Boss is…Vongola Primo!"
Needless to say, the fangirls were screaming and squealing in delight as Giotto left his seat to take the trophy. The Vongola mafiosi, on the other hand, gave him a big applause and respected the Founder even more now. Spade shook his hand once he gave him the trophy, while Dio and Ricardo merely nod in respect.
"Many thanks for those who voted for me," Giotto smiled gently, causing many to faint from his strong pheromone. "And I also would like to thank my best friends, G. and Cozart. If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be able to built the vigilante group."
"You got the talent for it, Giotto. We simply helped you to notice it," Cozart replied with solemn smile, followed by an approval nod from G.
However, the blond shook his head and continued his speech. "That's not it. What I mean is…if I didn't befriend you guys, I wouldn't be who I am right now. Our friendship eventually lead me into this path, and I'm grateful for it. So…grazie mille."
As Giotto saluted, the hall once again filled with applauses. Many people were touched by the speech, including the above-mentioned redheads, but the two refuse to show it. Instead, they pat Giotto on his shoulders and exchanged grins. Once everyone calmed down and their attention returned to the three nomination readers, Dio cleared his throat and said,
"Now, we'll move on to the next category: Best Guardian."
Almost immediately, every Guardians from five notable teams—Funeral Wreaths (both fake and real), Shimon, Varia, Vongola Decimo, and Vongola Primo—had their ears set to listen to the result of this category. They have different expectations. Some were hoping that their boss would praise them if they get the trophy. Some were trying to prove that they truly worth the title. Some were simply curious. But all in all, they wished they could win the category.
"This time, this Anguria mustn't read the nominee card," Ricardo smirked in triumph. Well, he wasn't upset because he wasn't allowed to read the nominee list before, but if saying that would earn him the slightest pout on Spade's face, he would do it.
And true enough; his Foschia Guardiano's lips pursed into a thin line as he looked away after he murmured an annoyed, "Fine."
Dio chuckled as he opened the envelope and let Ricardo to read it for a moment. "…Well, this one is listed per rank as well. There are only 6 ranks, but…oh well, shall we begin?" the black haired don inquired his white haired partner.
"Sì! In the 6th place, we have a mix of Vongola Guardians and Funeral Wreaths. They are Alaude, Asari, Chrome, and Daisy!"
All four mentioned Guardians blink in surprise. They were the ones categorized as 'curious'. Nevertheless, they nod their thanks to those who congratulate them.
Ricardo waited until the sound of clapping hands died down before he announced, "5th place: Sawada Tsunayoshi and," he glanced at the illusionist next to him, "Daemon Spade."
Spade let out a disinterested-sounding "hmph" and continued to look away, while Tsuna was (once again) thankful that he didn't win. After the applauses stop, Dio continued:
"In the 4th place is Varia's Illusionist and Arcobaleno Viper's replacement: Fran!"
"Oh my…only 4th place? How disappointing…" Fran sighed, although his expression and voice remain as stoic as ever. He was watching from the backstage along with Reborn.
"Be grateful that someone vote for you, idiota," the hitman chided.
"And in the 3rd place are four Vongola Guardians: G., Gokudera Hayato, Rokudou Mukuro, and Yamamoto Takeshi," Dio smirked.
"W-WHAT! I'm in the same place as the pineapple-head and the baseball freak?" Gokudera shouted in rage. His pride wouldn't allow this!
"Kufufu…isn't it, fun, Smoking Bomb-kun? Your role model is also with us," Mukuro commented, and it was enough to calm the silver-haired teen down. G. merely rolled his eyes and made himself comfortable while continue listening to Dio and Ricardo announcing more names.
"2nd place is claimed by Varia's Second-in-Command, Superbi Squalo!"
The fangirls of the silver-haired swordsman squealed, calling out his name in attempt to gain his attention. Too bad he was too busy hitting Bel's head for making unnecessary comment ("shishishi! Squally only get the runner-up position…no 'bonus' from Boss, yeah?") to notice them.
"And guess who will get the trophy!" Dio smiled secretively.
"You're going to make this session last longer than it should," Ricardo sighed and he decided to state the name of the winner himself. "The winner of Best Guardian is Hibari Kyouya."
Almost immediately, the fans went all hype and chanted Hibari's name repeatedly. Said winner grimaced and took a mental note to bite those girls to death…or just let his men to take care of them. For now, he headed toward the stage to take the trophy.
"Congrats, Hibari-chan," the white-haired man gave him the trophy. "Wanna took this chance to give a speech?"
Although the edge of his eye twitch at the suffix he earned from Dio, Hibari managed to restrain himself from hitting the man with his tonfa and instead replied with a composed "No, thanks" before he left the stage.
"Two clears, one to go," Ricardo muttered quietly as he opened the last envelope.
"Nufufu~ now, for the last category for this session: Best Box Weapon."
Dio peeked at the cue card in Ricardo's hand along with Spade. He was about to begin announcing the nominees' name when—
"Hold it!"
Everyone turned their head to the end of the stage and saw three people entered said stage. Two of them were the producers of this event, while the third person was a girl wearing similar dresses with the other two, except that instead of wearing an arm band with Vongola logo on it. At first, the audience were frowning at their sudden appearance, but Giotto's reaction made them frown further.
Vongola Primo rose from his seat, eyes wide in shock and face paling slightly as he stuttered, "You—!"
"Ciao, Primo-chan!" the unknown girl grinned widely, so wide that it would make her looks like the sister of the psychopathic princes.
"Oh my…I don't know that you're here too, Chiara-chan," Daniela snickered as she waved toward the girl.
"Ciao, Ottavo-sama!" she waved back at the female boss before continued, "Well, I'm working right now, so…Shania! What should I do, hm?"
The female producer, Shania, smirked and turned toward the trio nomination readers, and with playful tone gave them a command: "Read the nominees alphabetically, guys. Then, the owners of respective box weapons have to come down here to release them."
"Nufu~ alright," Spade took the nominee card from Ricardo's hand and began reading out loud, "Bel-in-the-Box, Bianco Drago, Canguro del Sereno Version Vongola, Delfino di Pioggia, Gufo di Nebbia Version Vongola, Leone di Cieli Version Vongola, Leopardo Tempesta Version Vongola, Ligre Tempesta di Cieli, and Porcospino Nuvola Version Vongola."
"Wait, wait...hold on!" Bel raised his hand, asking for attention. "What is that stupid name that you mentioned first?"
"My Box Weapon, Senpai," Fran joined in the conversation, entering from the backstage. "It's designed after you…cute, huh?"
"I thought Box Weapons are modeled after animals!"
"You are not?"
"…I'll kill you frog."
"No fight, no fight!" Shania warned in a sing-sang manner. "Now, come here and open your Box Weapons!"
Knowing that they mustn't object the producers' demand, the owners of above-mentioned Box Weapons came onto the stage; except for Hibari and Xanxus—they opened their Box Weapons and told their animals to join the others by themselves. After all nine nominated Box Weapons appeared, the producers and their friend traded meaningful glances and grins before they brought up their revolvers, which made everyone gasp.
"W-wait, what are you going to do with t-those guns?" Tsuna backed away as Gokudera and Basil stepped up to cover him.
"Please don't worry about it. It won't hurt that badly," the male producer, Cielo, spoke up. "And the effect is temporary. We don't have any intention to harm you."
"Then tell us what'll you do with those extreme-looking guns!" Ryohei protested.
"Well, you'll find out soon," Chiara grinned innocently. "On three…"
Tsuna and friends gasped and backed away when they noticed the look on the trio's face. They looks like professional hitmen sent to kill.
"Two…"
All three began to raise their revolvers and fixed their aims. Despite this, Reborn and the three nomination readers seemed calm. Maybe they didn't want to get themselves involved in this situation.
"One!"
Bullets spew, shrieks and panicked screams echoed. Nine hot leads hit nine Box Weapons, and pink smokes enshrouded them. Their owners called out their names, concerned and ready to kill the producers and their friend if something serious happened to their animal partners. However, they were silenced once the smokes fade away.
Standing with baffled looks on their face were nine humans—four boys and five girls—with special characteristics that made them resembles…animals. One of the girls has cat ears, and one of the boys has lion tail. All in all, everyone couldn't help but to think that they are the human form of the Box Weapons.
Tsuna encouraged himself to approach the boy with lion tail and orange hair. "A-are you…Natsu?" he nervously inquired.
"Ga-ah…y-yes, it's…um…me, Natsu…" Natsu admitted, smiling nervously.
"Kufufu…this is certainly amusing," a black haired boy moved to stand beside a girl with long and wavy silver hair. "I would've never thought that you'll look so cute as a human, Roll."
"Back off, Mukurou," Roll gritted her teeth and glared at the boy known as Mukurou.
"What are you looking at, Master?" a puppet-skinned Bel asked after Fran gazed at him for a minute.
"Nah, just thinking that you look tamer than the actual Bel-senpai…and you're not 'shishi'-ing either."
"Ushishishi~ really now, Master?"
"…forget what I said."
"Alright, enough chatters!" the female producer clapped her hands and turned to face Dio. "Continue with announcing the winner's name, please."
"Well, okay…" Dio glanced at his card before he said, "The winners are Leone di Cieli Version Vongola and Porcospino Nuvola Version Vongola. It's a tie."
…
"Again?" the fans roared in disappointment. And they were sending as many votes as possible for their favorites! How disappointing…
The male producer shrugged. "Actually, if the poll is still open, Roll can win. People should vote faster, because sometimes the time limit is very short."
"So…they have to share the trophy?" Alfin, who took the appearance of a blue haired maid, asked.
"Hehe…I wonder if the hedgehog would like to share with a little kitty like you," a white, slightly spiky haired woman snickered hideously.
"A-ah, it's okay! Roll can have the trophy!" Natsu said hurriedly. He was a bit scared of the hedgehog and her master. They can be quite scary and merciless, and neither Natsu nor Tsuna want to be the victim of their wrath.
"But…Natsu and I win together," Roll tilted her head slightly. "I don't mind sharing with Natsu."
"Always being the good girl, eh, Roll?" Uri grinned, patting the winning girl lightly.
"Take the trophy or I'll melt it," Ricardo growled threateningly. Why these people love to chat a lot? For God's sake, he just want to leave the stage and stay comfortable in his seat!
Scared of Ricardo's murderous aura, Natsu and Roll immediately took the trophy from Spade, who congratulated them (and trying to flirt Roll, but Dio interrupted him).
"Give us your extreme speech, Natsu, Roll!" Kangaryuu beamed.
"E-eh? Speech? U-um…" Natsu glanced at Roll, asking for help from her, but the girl shook her head; she doesn't have any experience on giving speech either. "W-well…uh…thank you for the supports, and…mm…that's all?"
"So much for a Sky Box Weapon…" Bester rolled his eyes, ignoring Uri's glare.
"Anou…producer-donno," Basil approached the producers, who gave him questioning look. "When will Alfin return to her original self? It's not permanent, right?"
Chiara looked at her watch. "Don't worry, they'll return in…five…four…three…two…one…zero."
Once again, smokes covered the stage, causing them to cough, and after the smokes dissipated, the Box Weapons had reverted to their original form. Tsuna and friends immediately excused themselves and scurried away along with their respective Box Weapons, fearing that the producers would try another prank on them.
"Well, are we done now?" Ricardo asked, and to Spade, he sounded almost whiny.
"Yeah…thanks for your hard efforts!" the female producer grinned.
The Vongola Secondo sighed in relief and turned around, intending to leave the stage and rejoined with the other Vongola bosses, when he felt a pair of arms grabbed his and dragged him to the backstage. It turned out to be Dio and Spade, and although he didn't know what they had in mind, he knew from the evil grins plastered on their face that it's a bad omen.
"He's gonna get laid," Reborn stated once the producers and her friend left, letting him and Fran to do the closure.
The green haired boy nodded and put his Box Weapon back in his pocket. "At least he won't be PMS-ing again. Taichou is also like that."
Reborn ignored Squalo's scream of "VOOOOOOOOOOOIIIII" and continued, "Alright…so for this session, we have another tie for Best Box Weapon, which is claimed by Natsu and Roll. As for the other categories, Vongola Primo wins the Best Vongola Boss while Best Guardian is taken by Hibari Kyouya."
"The next three categories are our third-to-last, and it will cover up the winners for Scariest Character, Cutest Character, and Most Memorable Fight," Fran added.
"So see you until then, Happy New Year, and...ciaossu!"
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COMMERCIAL BREAK
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Cielo: …before we explain about the categories, we would like to clarify why we stated that 6996 outbreak is scary. And it's not because we hate them.
Shara: It's because we got oh-so-many-I-don't-really-bother-to-count-the-amount anonymous reviews voted for 6996 that they make the total vote count for Straight Couple overshadowed Slash Couple.
Cielo: We can't help but thinking that there's one person abusing the anonymous review function, or someone invited (not bribed) their friends to vote. Don't bother putting up objections, because what happened, happen. No need to cling on past events.
Shara: And please don't hate me if I put some shounen-ai scenes. It's in my blood, hey. And I believe more than half the authors in KHR fandom support slash pairs, hey.
Cielo: But seriously, you need to give chance for the straight couples to shine sometimes.
Shara: That hint of Mukurou x Roll isn't good enough?
Cielo: …here are the categories for the next chapters.
Scariest Character: characters that looks scary…probably Reborn, Xanxus, Byakuran, etc
Cutest Character: …we somehow knows that someone will put Tsuna into this category. Choices are up to you. Putting up Torikabuto in this category is also fine.
Most Memorable Fight: The fighting scene that you like the best. Probably Mukuro vs Tsuna, or Byakuran vs Tsuna, or even Enma vs Tsuna.
Shara: I wish I can spam the review page and vote for Byakuran vs Mukuro… *dreamy sigh*
Cielo: I prefer Genkishi vs Hibari.
Shara: Well, people have different interests~! So yeah, feel free to vote, but remember: one character per category (for Most Memorable Fight can be a whole group, like GHOST vs Vongola + Varia)!
Cielo: And the deadline is January 8th, 2011. Also, if you hadn't vote in our poll, please vote.
Shara: We're sorry for the late updates, and we might offend some of you. But you know we love you guys!
Cielo: Ciao for now.
Shara: Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!
Cerulean Crown, out!