Disclaimers: Shara: We don't own any part of Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn~
Cielo: The series belong to none other than Amano Akira-sensei.
Shara: And we apologize for the super late update. You know how hard life is.
Cielo: Again this chapteer is beta'd by ch1ps0h0y.
Shara: The ever so lovely! ...which reminds me that I hadn't bother her muse yet. Nuuuu.
Cielo: Do it some other times. Now, to the story.
Shara: Enjoy!
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Chapter 10:Best Male Character, Best Female Character, and All-Time Achievement
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"This is the last session of this event."
Haru gulped, while Fran and Reborn stayed as calm as ever when they heard that.
"Let's do our best and make everyone remember this moment forever!"
"That's a bit exaggerated, ma'am," Fran commented airily.
The female producer, Shara, frowned. "Is it?"
"Yeah."
"Can we stop the idle chat before it becomes a serious debate? We'll be on air in a few minutes," Reborn chided.
"Right. You may leave now," the male producer, Ciel, dismissed them.
The three hosts left and headed to the stairs that would lead them to the stage, while the producers went somewhere else. Once everything's ready—camera directed at the stage, lamps dimmed, crews prepared—the count-timer announced:
"3…2…1…0!"
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COMMERCIAL BREAK END
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"Welcome back to Reborn! Awards!"
The audience cheered and clapped their hands, but their enthusiasm was defeated by the fans. It seemed like they had regained their energy and decided to give it their all to yell and cheer for their favorite characters. Said characters were either trying to hide their blushes or simply ignoring their fans. Those who were ignoring their fans had their attention directed at the two hosts: Fran and Haru.
"Hello, everyone! We're now at the last session of Reborn! Awards," Haru started. "Everything happened so fast, Haru believes that because everyone enjoys it, they shared Haru's opinion, right?"
A chorus of "nooooooo!" came from several people, followed by complains blurred into one noisy sound. Haru sweatdropped and laughed nervously, didn't expect that the audiences were in fact very eager to exit the hall. Not all of them, but a few hotheaded people were tired of watching this nonsense of a show and wished they could leave as soon as possible.
"Haru-san, because everyone seems impatient, let's just let the nomination readers taking over, shall we?" came a wise suggestion from Fran. Or an egoistical suggestion, actually.
Thinking that there was no other choice, Haru gave in. "Alright! Let's welcome the nomination readers for this session…"
"Cozzato Shimon and Kozato Enma!"
The two redheads entered the stage once Fran and Haru called out their names. Immediately, the fans of those two Shimon bosses cheered and squealed. Enma seemed nervous at becoming the center of attention, but Cozzato patted his shoulder gently, and he managed to calm his nerves down.
"Good evening, everyone," Cozzato began, earning a chorus of "good evening!" from the audience. "Good to know that even though this is the last session, many of you still have the energy to cheer loudly like that."
"Just because the last session is the most important part of this event," Byakuran responded, which received nods of agreement from several others.
Cozzato laughed nervously. "You're right. Well, let's start reading the nominations for Best Male Character now," he pulled out the nominee card from an envelope, before handing it over to his descendant. "Would you like to have the first turn, Enma?"
Enma glanced at the card hesitantly, then he looked up at the older redhead, before looking back at the card, and back again at his great-great-great grandfather, and finally stopped to stare at the card. He still seemed hesitant, though, so Cozzato just chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair playfully, saying,
"It's okay! You don't have to be so nervous."
"Um…but, I think you can read it first, Shimon Primo…" Enma said, attempting to sound polite.
"If that's your choice…" Cozzato's eyes glanced at the names listed on the card, grinning, before he began to state out loud, "First in the nominee list is Sawada Tsunayoshi!"
Tsuna's fans cheered aloud, but Gokudera still cheered the loudest. Even though they knew that he merely got nominated and there was no guarantee that he would win the category, they still believed that the brunette got decent amount of votes from people.
"Second in the list, is Rokudou Mukuro!" Enma announced.
Loud cheers—no, roars filled the hall, it almost surprised the illusionist himself, but he quickly regained his composure and smiled politely, thanking those who supported him. Although, because of his chibified appearance, it made more people squealed, saying something about how cute Rokudou Mukuro is.
"Next, we have three Storm Flame users: Arcobaleno Fon, Prince Belphegor, and Gokudera Hayato!" Cozzato read aloud.
Said prince grinned widely, confident that he would win this category. Gokudera too, had similar smug grin on his face, which depleted immediately when Tsuna congratulated him, and he was reminded that his dear boss was nominated as well. He was caught in the dilemma whether to feel happy that he got to be in the same category as his Juudaime, or distraught because he competed with the Japanese to win it.
Fon, on the other hand, watched the quick changes on his ex-temporary student's face with slight amusement. Truth to be told, he didn't really care about this whole award-giving event. Verde said that the chance for them, Arcobalenoes, to win a category is very small, and he trusted the green-haired scientist's calculations.
Eyeing the list for a short while, Enma said, "After them, we have Hibari Kyouya!"
The raven haired prefect snorted when he heard his fangirls called out their names. Oh how he wished that he could just beat them up for being so noisy. Too bad, he hadn't return to his normal form yet. Yes, Chiara hadn't shot them with her antidote bullets.
"Next in the list is Vongola Secondo, Ricardo!"
Ricardo gave no significant reaction to that, despite people cheering and clapping for him. When Giotto smiled at him though, he gave him a cold glare in return.
"And next…Arcobaleno Reborn and Varia Mist Officer, Fran!"
Reborn, who was listening from the backstage, fixed the tip of his fedora to cover his eyes, all the while smirking proudly as Haru congratulated him and Fran. The emerald haired boy, though, made no slightest difference of facial expression and merely thanked the brunette, before focusing his attention back to the two redheads on the stage.
"Then we have a pair of right hand man and left hand man…although they're from different generations," Cozzato laughed sheepishly. "They're Vongola Primo's Right Hand Man and First Storm Guardian, G., and Vongola Decimo's Left Hand Man and Tenth Rain Guardian, Yamamoto Takeshi!"
G. snorted, finding no amusement in this contest. But he did caught a glimpse of cheerful grin on Yamamoto's face, seemingly happy though none of them knew how big the possibilities were for them to win the category yet.
"And last two people in the list are two mafia bosses; Vongola Primo, Giotto, and Chiavorone Decimo, Dino."
Subordinates from both families cheered aloud, it almost shook the whole building. Millefiore people boo-ed at their exaggerated enthusiasm, while both Cozzato and Enma chuckled at the scene. The older of the two redheads pulled out a sealed envelope which contained the winner's name card. Once he unsealed it, he read it for a few seconds, before handing it over to his successor.
"Go read it, Enma," he told him with an encouraging smile plastered on his face.
Although hesitant at first, in the end Enma nodded and read aloud, "The winner is…Hibari Kyouya and Rokudou Mukuro! It's tied!"
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, loud cries of disappointment resounded. The nomination readers were forced to cover their ears from that sudden howl. The fans on the tribunes complained with loud voices, demanding for a re-count. The Vindice and Cervello were trying to calm them down, but to no avail. The rage of the fangirls was immense, apparently.
BANG!
A gunshot pierced the loud shouts, returning the hall into its previous silent state. Looking at the source of voice, they could see the female producer of this grand event had raised her gun skyward, clarifying that she was the one who made the warning shot.
"If you can listen to me just for a few minutes," she sighed, glaring at the fans. "First, we didn't make any kind of mistake when counting the total number of votes. Second, Hibari and Mukuro having the same amount of votes is inevitable. Third, before you can complain, remind yourself to vote faster, because we set a limited amount of time for gather votes. Got it memorized?"
There were few who nodded their heads, while the others simply kept silent. They feared the girl and her ability to shoot with her guns.
Now that everyone had quieted down, Cozzato encouraged himself to lift his hand, and when he gained the female producer's attention, he asked, "So…who will get the trophy for this category? Both of them?"
"Oh, yeah…right," Shara cleared her throat, almost forgetting the fact that they hadn't decided on the trophy's rightful receiver. "Well, unless one of them is willing to give up on the trophy and let the other one take it, both of them have to, unfortunately, share."
Hibari frowned disapprovingly at the decision she made. Mukuro's lips tugged upwards, satisfied to see the expression on the raven-haired infant. The comment from Dino, who had baby Hibari in his arms, though, erased the smug grin from the chibified illusionist's face.
"Well, because they're in no state to complain, I guess they can share, yes?"
"Good idea," Cozzato nodded, agreeing with the blond. "Then please, Cavallone Decimo and Don Gesso—bring our now-baby winners to the stage."
Dino and Byakuran did just like what they were told. With Hibari and Mukuro, respectively, in their arms, they went to the stage and put the babies onto the podium so that both of them could grab the trophy. Baby Hibari gave a dark glare to baby Mukuro, though it failed his intention and turned into a cute glare instead—the reason as to why baby Mukuro laughed.
"Well…just like this is enough, right…?" Enma asked to none in particular.
"I suppose. Congratulations, Hibari Kyouya and Rokudou Mukuro," the Shimon Primo smiled at the two babies as their self-proclaimed babysitters, Dino and Byakuran, took them away. "Now, let's continue to the next category: Best Female Character."
Immediately, they could hear excited squeals from the girls. Their attention was spontaneously fixed to the two redheads on the stage, ears ready to hear whether their name will be mentioned or not.
Feeling their enthusiasm, Enma decided that it wouldn't do any good for them to do any idle chat and went straight to read the first names on the nominee card. "First and second listed are two best friends, Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa Hana."
Kyoko smiled brightly and turned to look at Hana, who gave her a big grin in return. Ryohei stood from his seat and yelled 'extreme' out loud, attempting to cheer on his two most important girls.
"Next, we have Suzuki Adelheid, followed by Uni del Giglio Nero," Cozzato announced.
People from both famiglia congratulated their respective side's candidate. Uni smiled shyly as her mother and grandmother hugged her, even more when she heard Gamma praised her. Julie tried to kiss her cheek, a way to show her that he supported her, but she swiftly avoided it while having deep red blushes staining her cheeks.
"And then, there is Vongola Ottavo, one and only female boss of the famiglia, Daniella!"
Daniella was surprised at first, but quickly gained her composure when she heard people clapped for her. Even Fabio and Simora threw a proud smile to her, and her son Timoteo congratulated her by kissing her cheek.
"Next…" Cozzato glanced at the card momentarily and quickly think of a line, before he stated, "…are two passionate ladies, Poison Scorpion Bianchi and Miura Haru!"
Haru made a satisfied "yes!" gasp, then laughed as Fran congratulated her. Kyoko and Hana, who sat close to Bianchi, also congratulated the young mafiosa, to which she responded with a smile and quiet murmur: "I won't lose to you girls".
"Two more to go, and the second-to-last in the list is…" Enma took a small pause for a slight dramatic effect, then continued, "Rain Arcobaleno and former CONSUMBIM, Lal Mirch!"
Loud cheers erupted from various groups. Primarily from the CONSUMBIM and CEDEF members. They admitted that Lal was indeed beautiful, in addition to her strength, both physically and of the heart. The Arcobaleno also congratulated her. Fon and Skull even tried to coax Colonello to kiss Lal's cheek, but the blond refused greatly—too embarrassed to do so.
"Lastly…we have none other than Vongola Decimo's Tenth Guardian, Chrome Dokuro!"
Applauses and cheers, similar to the ones she got when her name was announced as the winner of Cutest Character, resounded in the hall. The blush on her cheeks grew darker as her friends—fellow Guardians and alike—congratulated her for managing to become one of the nominees.
"Now, the winner is…"
The crowds immediately went into a complete silence. Only the sound of Cozzato opening the sealed envelope could be heard. Again the older of the two Shimon bosses read the cue card only for a few seconds, before handing it over to his dear descendant. Enma nodded at his great great great grandfather once he was sure that he got the name correctly, and then they announced together.
"…Chrome Dokuro!"
If the building was made with a frail structure and concrete, it would've crumbled by now. Because the cheers were louder than anyone could imagine—it was almost deafening. The strength of Chrome's fans was quite enormous. Even the two producers stumbled backwards and were forced to wear a pair of headphones to save their ears.
Frowning at the fans' exaggerated enthusiasm, Cielo gave a hand signal to the Vindice. They saw that, and quickly captured several fans with their chains. This action made the fans in the tribunes panic, as they didn't expect that the security staff of the place would do something drastic like this. Taking this moment as a chance to speak up, the male producer spoke out loud.
"Exaggerated applause and cheers are forbidden from now on! Not only that it was dangerous for our ears, it may harm the durability of the building as well!"
Everyone went silent at that.
Cielo gave a satisfied huff before turning his attention to Chrome. "If you would please take the trophy now, Dokuro-san, so that we can proceed."
"A-ah, right," Chrome nodded and got up from her seat, heading toward the stage hurriedly to take her trophy.
After a short thank you speech—literally, because all she said was thank you to the people that had voted for her, nothing else—she rushed back to her seat in the Vongola tribunes, while nodding to anyone that congratulated her in hushed voice. Seemed like she was scared of Cielo now.
Clearing his throat, Cozzato was about to tell the audience that they would announce the nominee names for the—finally—last category of the event, when both Shara and Cielo stepped into the stage. Those two gave signals for Cozzato and Enma to leave. Although confused by this sudden turn of event, the readhead complied and went into the backstage, only to see the same confused look on Haru's, Reborn's, and (vaguely) Fran's face.
"Alright, for this one last and most special category, we are going to take over!" the female producer said, grinning as she waved the nominee card just to assert her point on chasing away the Shimons from the stage. "Because…you know. The best one is saved for us!"
"That's quite…egoistic," Tsuna muttered quietly, though he quickly covered his mouth when he felt the glare coming from Shara.
Huffing as she knew that many would complain about her attitude, she decided to just shrug it off. "Anyway! Let's start reading the nominees' name! Only five people managed to get through the selections, and they are…"
A snap of finger from Cielo, and a spotlight beamed at Daemon Spade, who was in the middle of teasing Alaude by poking at the Cloud's cheek playfully, and followed by the announcement, "Daemon Spade!"
Another snap of finger. This time the light is directed to baby Hibari on Dino's laps. "Hibari Kyouya!"
With a snap of finger and "Giotto della Vongola!" mentioned out loud, the first boss of Vongola earned many words of congratulations from his allies once the spotlight shone upon him.
"Reborn of the Arcobaleno!" came next, though no spotlight directed at him because he was backstage. Instead, a large screen appeared and showed Reborn's usual poker face, seemingly bored and wanting everything to end as soon as possible.
"And lastly, is, obviously," with a snap of finger from Shara, the last spotlight moved to shine upon Tsuna's figure, "Sawada Tsunayoshi!"
Now that all nominees' name had been revealed, Cielo pulled out a sealed envelope. It contained a card with the winner's name, of course. However, instead of opening the seal right away, the male one of the two producers put it on the podium, making some people frown at the action.
"Before we announce the name of the winner…we need to inform you that actually, in this category too, we got a tie due to the same amount of votes received by two characters," Shara began, "And because this is a very important category, therefore we decided that we should give our vote as well. If you want to say that we're cheating, so be it."
"Although, please keep in mind that we gave out vote to the character that fits the category the most," Cielo added, "That character's achievement had an impact. Many times. If he wasn't here…surely Sawada Tsunayoshi would stay a Dame, and his families wouldn't gather like this."
At that, everyone began to understand whose name was in the winner card. To think of it, the producers' words were true. If that person didn't exist at all, everything wouldn't be the same.
"So now, without further ado. Please welcome him to the stage…" Shara and Cielo smiled at each other before they called out a name together, "Reborn of the Arcobaleno!"
As Reborn was pushed to the stage by Cozzato and Haru, all spotlights moved to shine on him. Applause and cheers—not as loud as the one they gave to Chrome—erupted to congratulate the first-class hitman's success on reaping the most wanted trophy. Said hitman huffed a sigh and walked toward the podium, taking his trophy, and went silent. He waited for everyone to cease their claps and whistles before he began with his short speech.
"First and foremost, I would like to thank my voters, and also the producers, who gave their votes to me. That is one of the few factors as to why I could stand here, with the All-Achievement trophy in my hand right now.
"Second, I would grant my best gratitude to the first boss of Vongola, Giotto della Vongola. For, if he hadn't become the one who started the vigilante group that eventually grows into a big mafia family, I wouldn't be here either."
Giotto smiled at that, though in the next second he shook his head. "I'm not the only one who built the group," he said, glancing at his best friend G., and although he couldn't see Cozzato from his position, he had the Shimon's name in his head. "So you should thank them as well."
The corner of Reborn's lips was pulled upwards, forming a proud smirk. "Indeed. It was due to the collaborations of the people from the First Generation that we, the present generation, could be here.
"But aside from thanking the founders, of course I also want to thank my comrades," he took a momentary look at the Arcobalenoes, "and my useless students. I wouldn't be known as a tutor if those two didn't exist as clumsy mafia boss candidates, after all."
Tsuna merely laughed nervously, while Dino smiled at Reborn's words. "We could've said the same thing to you. If you didn't exist, we wouldn't be known as Tenth Boss for our respective famiglia."
"That's exactly why we said that you had a large impact on us!" Shara grinned. "Your achievements…they affect us a lot. Though, yes, Giotto's and Tsuna's achievements were quite important as well, but still…me and Cielo decided that you are the best! …In our opinion, that is."
Reborn gave a snort at that, but nonetheless, he uttered another thank you before inclining his head slightly to show his gratitude to everyone once again, before leaving the stage, back to the backstage where everyone had waited to hug and congratulate him over and over again.
"Alright. That's the last category for this event, which means that we're done now!" Shara grinned happily.
"The result is: Hibari Kyouya and Rokudou Mukuro for the Best Male Character, Chrome Dokuro for the Best Female Character, and Reborn for the All-Achievement," Cielo read the cue card in his hand.
"It's time for us to be apart, fans! But, for the ones who watch this event from TV, relax! There's a special program right after the commercial break. We'll interview some nominees while they're enjoying the nourishments that we provided in the next hall."
"So, stay tuned!"
"I'm Shara and my comrade—"
"—Cielo—"
"and Chiara!" Chiara suddenly popped up between the two producers, grinning while circling her arms around their shoulders.
"We'll see you in the special program! Ciaossu~!"
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COMMERCIAL BREAK
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Shara: Yes, it's not really the end yet! There's still a chapter filled with interviews...
Cielo: ...and special category: Best Character Song.
Shara: Oui! And unlike the chapters before, we won't give a time limit for you guys to vote. Feel free to send your review and votes anytime.
Cielo: The song that get the most vote will be performed by its singer, of course.
Shara: Also, if you want, you can send one question that you wanted to ask to a character. Though we will select them thoroughly and pick only some. Wouldn't want to ask 30 questions, yeah?
Cielo: Certainly.
Shara: So, bye for now!
Cielo: Ciao.