Title: The Anomaly
Genre: Romance, Angst
Pairing: Xanxus X OMC
Summary: When two angry souls find each other and one is a girl from another world who is murdered and finds herself being reborn in a world where it is normal for people to catch fire. Literally. Did I mention that said girl is now a boy?
Warning: OC (not self-insert), Slash, Yaoi, BoyXboy, Reincarnation, Language

Chapter Six

In his former life, when Naoki had still been happy and a girl, he had never thought that he would enjoy fighting of all things. He had always been more interested in the latest fashion and his rather large group of friends more than anything. Fighting had never been interesting. Now, however, feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins, his heart beating furiously in his chest and the air whipping his hair around, he had never felt better.

Hibari was a vicious fighter and each time they fought Naoki always returned home with more bruises than when he had left in the morning. Yet, there was no denying that the physically older boy knew what he was doing and though he returned back wounded, he also returned stronger.

Since the first time he had gotten into a fight with the prefect Naoki purposefully went to school late if only to get into a fight with him. It became obvious after the third consecutive time he arrived late that he was doing it on purpose but Hibari did not try to make him stop. On the contrary, the boy seemed almost eager each time Naoki approached the school gate in the morning. It might be because Naoki grew stronger with each passing day, mostly because his night companion always gave him a good beat down on an almost daily basis.

Speaking of his dear night companion, he finally got a name for him. One night, as Naoki had collapsed after a decent beat down and the dream had kept going regardless, the man had started poking him with a booted foot. Since the blond really did not know when to shut up – and since he took great pleasure in insulting such a dangerous man without getting killed – Naoki had growled out a long string of insults in English, calling the man all kinds of inventive names.

Of course the man had not reacted well; he had kicked Naoki to the other side of the room and said, "My name is Xanxus, trash. You better not forget it."

And as Naoki thought about it, he wondered if it was a step forward or if the man still wanted him to die.

Nah. He most likely still wanted the blond to die. The man – Xanxus – seemed the type to wish bloody murder for anyone who crossed his path, Naoki being no exception.

As he stumbled back with a panting gasp, barely avoiding the tonfas that would have hit his arm, Naoki relaxed as he noticed the prefect replacing his weapons away. He turned from the other boy, knowing that their fight for the day was done, and made his way to his school bag which he had left at the school gate.

A grunt from Hibari made him look over his shoulder. The prefect was facing away from him, his dark jacket fluttering in the winds. "You are to come to the roof after classes," the boy said simply. Naoki furrowed his brows in slight confusion but otherwise did not react. "And stop coming late to school or I'll bite you to death." With that he walked away, leaving a contemplative Naoki behind.

Huh. He might have just made his first friend? Friendly acquaintance? Never mind. What really did matter was that Naoki might just have more time to fight with Hibari now that he had indirectly given the blond a better time to fight more and a better place for it.

To think that a few months before he would have gladly avoided the prefect like the plague…

"That was an interesting fight," he heard a squeaky voice on his way to his classroom. Turning in the empty hallway, Naoki was surprised to see a part of the wall shifting to make way for a familiar smirking baby with a fedora and a chameleon.

Naoki blinked. "Reborn," he greeted, shifting his bag in his arms.

"I did not know you could fight, Baka-Nao," Reborn stated almost too casually.

"I did not," Naoki replied, ignoring the insults, knowing that if he reacted it would be playing in the toddler's hands. "I recently acquired this knowledge through my own means."

"Really now?" Reborn raised an eyebrow at him. "What would you say about learning something else then?"

"Like what?"

Instead of answering, the baby raised a hand onto which his ever-present chameleon settled before transforming into a gun of all things. Naoki stared incredulously at the green gun in the toddler's hand, not ready to believe that said gun had just seconds before been a bloody chameleon. Reborn smirked smugly.

"A gun?" he asked faintly.

"Yes, a gun," Reborn replied, voice smug and satisfied. "Would you like to learn how to use one? I can teach you. After all, I'm the world's best Hitman."

Naoki stared. "Sure. Why not? If you'll excuse me?" And then he hurried away, deciding to process this new information at a later date. Like, if he was close to his bed in case he fainted – ahem – lost consciousness. He wondered if he was finally going crazy when his instincts told him that the toddler was actually telling the truth.

…That explained so much.

Reborn had no idea what was happening with the youngest Sawada. When he had first met him a few months before, Sawada Naoki had been talented, yes, but still as weak as a civilian. Now, though, Naoki seemed to find it right to go and get into fights with Hibari of all people. Reborn had had his eyes on the school prefect since he had arrived so he knew just how good the kid was compared to normal civilians. To find those two fighting on almost equal grounds really opened his eyes to Naoki's true potential.

He had known when the blond child had gathered all the different information on Vongola by spying on Tsuna and he had known the moment Naoki had brought everything together. Reborn was still surprised that the boy was able to put everything together so perfectly though he had also noticed a few flaws while he was at it. Well, he could not really fault the kid; he had been brought up with a perfectly normal civilian background. (He reminded himself that he needed to up Dame-Tsuna's training since his useless student had been unable to notice his civilian brother spying on him. Only Yamamoto had almost noticed, showing either how good Naoki was… or just how pathetic Tsuna and his friends really were).

However, it was not normal for a child, brought up with no physical training, to have such great leaps in skills and abilities. Reborn was certain it had to do with the Vongola blood coursing through his veins. From what the Ninth had told him, he had sealed Tsuna's flames but not Naoki's when they had been younger. That might be what really affected such a great difference between the twins.

It was true that Naoki was far smarter than any other child, may be on genius level, but if Tsuna's flames had not been sealed, Reborn knew that he would not have been far off from Naoki's skills if he really applied himself.

Now Reborn had to bring out this same potential, minus the genius intelligence, from Tsuna's deep consciousness and Vongola would have the best and strongest Boss since Primo's time. Getting his flame sealed had really screwed him up, especially since Tsuna was such a powerful Sky; it had been like a large part of himself, more than three-quarters, had been forcefully taken from him. Reborn, who was quite in tune with his own flames, really did not want to know what it had felt like for the child.

Naoki could not believe what he had gotten himself into. Maybe he had been really stupid to accept Reborn's offer but he had never thought the baby to be this… vicious! Oh, he had heard Tsunayoshi screaming often in what seemed to be terror and pain since Reborn had started to live with them, however, he had never really bothered to care about what could be happening since he knew that the baby would not really hurt Tsunayoshi more than necessary.

Now, he wondered if he should not have been more worried for his brother or if he was going to be alive at the end of this… lesson of sorts.

It was Saturday when Reborn came to him for the promised lesson in handling guns. Naoki had had time to process what the baby had told him a few days before but he had not really accepted the crazy facts that had been presented to him.

Naoki had been sleeping when the baby had appeared, dawn having not even broken across the horizon yet. And to say that he awoke in quite an unpleasant way would be an understatement. He had just gotten thoroughly beaten up by his night companion, Xanxus, when the sudden feeling of danger had jolted him out of unconsciousness. Seeing Reborn standing over him with a large hammer of all things made him squawk as he tumbled out of bed, his head hitting the floor painfully, and his neck throbbing from where Xanxus had been squeezing them again (he swore the man had an unhealthy obsession with holding Naoki to the ground by a hard grip around his throat).

When the situation finally registered in his head, Naoki groaned, blindly tugged his comforter from his bed and buried himself under its heavy weight. He was tired, it was a Saturday and he was really in no mood to deal with the crazy genius baby right now.

"Stop being lazy, Baka-Nao," he heard the distinctive childish voice. "It's time for your lesson."

" 's too ea'ly," he slurred sleepily. "Go 'way, 'eborn…"

Pause.

Suddenly, with a burst of speed he did not know he had, Naoki flung his comforter aside and rolled away from his previous position. There was a 'thunk' sound. Back hitting the wall right under his bedroom window, he scrambled into a sitting position and promptly gapped at the large dent in his bedroom floor. He stared, looked up at Reborn who stared back at him with his undecipherable charcoal eyes, then back at his ruined floor.

Right. Apparent Hitman baby with monstrous strength.

Naoki took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "I'll get dressed then," he murmured weakly before he rushed from his room.

That… was more than terrifying.

The two of them spent the day in a deep, hidden part of the park Naoki had never known was even there. Reborn showed him how to handle a gun: how to hold it, how to remove the safety, how to fire and everything that goes with it. The time they spent together made Naoki realize just how dangerous the baby was and it was not too farfetched to believe Reborn when he had said that he was a Hitman. However, Naoki did not let this fact discourage or cripple him; he wanted to be strong to be able to take Xanxus by surprise, the man was simply infuriating and Naoki almost daydreamed of the day he could knock the man down from his high horse.

Well, Naoki had become used to the man but Xanxus was still a dangerous man. It was a miracle the blond was still alive since Xanxus could kill him anytime he so wished. He did not know what the man's goals were for teaching him to fight but Naoki could not be too cautious.

As they took a small break Naoki turned thoughtful eyes upwards, absently admiring the slow drifting cotton clouds, the softly shining sun and the wide sky. It was surprising peaceful and bright for such a day. Spending this time with Reborn did not turn out to be so bad, so long as Naoki complied with the baby's demands. He had learned through much pain that Reborn went easier on him if he did not complain and did as he was told. At the beginning of their lesson, the Hitman baby had been after him with his large hammer from earlier, hitting Naoki each time he did not hit the target with the bullets. As time progressed, he got less and less hurt as he started to hit the wooden target, though he still had not reached bullseye.

"Where is Tsunayoshi?" Naoki suddenly blurted out. At the baby's raised eyebrow and amused glint in his charcoal eyes, he bristled slightly and looked away. "You always seem to be together. That is the only reason why I'm asking."

"Of course," Reborn practically purred. Naoki ignored the defensive feeling welling up in his chest. "I gave him the day off." Then more quietly, he added, "Which he better use to spend with his Family to strengthen their bonds."

After a moment of curious and contemplative silence on Naoki's side, the blond asked bluntly, "Can you tell me what 'Vongola' is?"

Reborn smirked up at him before lowering his fedora to hide his face. "I believe you already know."

Naoki hummed, staring at the target he had been practicing on. The first outer circle was hit but nothing closer to the bullseye yet. If he did not get it right by the end of the day he was sure he was going to return home more bruised than when he would fight Hibari. "What does that mean for Okaa-san and I?"

"Mama won't be involved, Iemitsu will make sure of that," was his prompt reply. Naoki's lips curled slightly in disgust at his father's name which did not go unnoticed, though the Hitman made no comment. "You, however, have the option. He does not want you involved but if that is what you want then he has no right to forbid you." There was a brief pause. "The question is: do you want to?"

Naoki looked down at the baby before looking away. Did he want to? It was the mafia they were talking about; death and violence were a constant in such a life. Once he would have replied with a definite 'no'. However, at that time he had had a loving sister and what he had once believed to be the love of his life. Now, when he thought of fighting for his life, he thought of the rush of adrenaline and the excitement he felt each time he faced Hibari, the grudging admiration he held for the baby beside him… and the fact that he might just be able to face Xanxus in real life. If he was strong enough he might even be able to wipe that annoying smug smirk from the man's face.

Then there was Tsunayoshi. Well, the idiot did need someone besides his… harem to make sure he did not get himself killed.

Beside him, Reborn hid a satisfied smirk behind the shadow of his fedora, Leon flicking his tongue at his partner's cheek in slight reprimand.

AN: I hope Naoki does not seem too powerful... I am trying to make it as realistic as possible but, well, he is supposed to be naturally talented for what I have prepared for him. Like I said, he is not a self-insert who has appeared in this world randomly. There is a reason he is there, especially as Tsuna's twin.

So, I was thinking, should I pair Tsuna with someone? If I do, then it'll happen in the Future Arc (that's as far as I will go. I'll stop the story there and not continue with the Shimon Arc. It will be an open kind of narrative where you can imagine by yourselves what comes after). But if I do pair him with someone, who should it be? I was thinking Hibari or Reborn and Reborn seems to be winning in my personal opinion. Your input would be highly appreciated. I'm not promising that I'll do as you say, but you might be able to influence my decision, depending on the ideas I have for Tsuna.

Another question I wanted to ask... I have some options on how to make Xanxus and Naoki come together. I'm not going to tell you how but would you like

1) Their relationship to start as purely physical first before going to the more intimate side (a little abusive on Xanxus' side first) or

2) Do you want them to slowly like each other before doing anything?

Again I'm not saying that I will make an exception but I will take your opinions into consideration.

If no one says anything, then I'm just going to decide myself with no other input.

Oh, right. Do you want this to be M-rated or to remain T-rated? However, I warn you, I usually prefer not to give too much detail. Depending on what I want the story to be like and if a significant message is being put forward and blablabla. You know what I mean.

Anyway, thanks for reading and leave behind a review.

Leight