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, Boy X Boy…), Reincarnation, Language
Chapter Fourteen
Naoki did not know for how long he remained curled up in his place in the armchair. Mukuro was long gone and yet he remained there, lost in thought, his feelings leading a conflicting battle in his mind. They both needed time apart to think and resolve their issues without the other influencing them. He was… tired. He had held on to his hurt, anger and betrayal towards Mukuro and his once-sister for so long. He had never thought before that he would ever get to face his past after spending so much time as Sawada Naoki but it would seem like he never could really escape his past as much as he had thought.
Everything had started to look up; he had finally accepted his place as Sawada Naoki, son of Sawada Nana and brother of Sawada Tsunayoshi. His previously non-existent relationship with his brother was starting to look up and he was almost starting to like his place in the world. He was making a place for himself in this new world. Reborn had appeared in their lives, bringing with him endless chaos but also filling up the cracks in their lives they had never noticed before. There was also Xanxus, the most infuriating man Naoki had ever met and yet he was also the man who had opened up a new purpose in his life.
And then Mukuro had appeared, forcing all his setbacks to resurface and making him face his past once again. This time, however, it was not just having to accept his death and betrayal, but now Naoki was also faced with the one person who started it all, the one person he had given his heart and soul to… and who had still betrayed him.
He tightened his grip around his legs and buried his face in his knees. He did not know what to think anymore. All he wanted was to put everything behind him, to not allow his past to hold him back anymore. He wanted to go back to his house where his mother and brother were waiting for him, to Reborn, to sweet little Fuuta… to annoying but gradually more tolerable Xanxus.
He just… he wanted to go home.
When Mukuro appeared again, Naoki was ready for him. One moment everything around him was the same as it had been for however long he had been trapped in this place and then, in the next, there he was. Naoki took a moment to really take in the other, making observations that during his anger and hurt he had completely dismissed. Stubbornly ignoring the world-weary look in his once-lover's eyes, Mukuro looked younger than the last time they had seen each other in that other life that for a moment seemed so far away. And yet, despite his apparent young age, Mukuro was just like he remembered him, his hair pulled up in that queer look that he had always favoured. He was dressed in the green uniform Naoki vaguely identified as the Kokuyo Middle School uniform, though worn like a stereotypical Japanese delinquent.
His dark bangs hanged over his shadowed eyes, eyes that had always been of dual colours but Naoki could not help but take note of the kanji in his red eye; he would have known if that had been there before. However, it was not the strange eye that drew his attention but the way those dark eyes immediately shuttered in defeat the moment Mukuro took in whatever expression Naoki might have held at that very moment.
Sardonically, Naoki could not help but think that even after all this time and how much they had both so obviously changed since the last time they had been together, Mukuro could still tell his thoughts just by looking at his face.
Slowly, deliberately, Naoki uncurled his form and stood up from the armchair. The air of defeat around Mukuro deepened until he hunched in on himself and his eyes turned resigned. That… was so unlike the strong, undefeatable man he had once known and fallen in love with that, that for a moment, Naoki faltered in his steps before he forced himself to straighten and continue what he was determined to do.
"I'm not going to see you after this, am I?" Mukuro's voice stopped him in his tracks.
Naoki's face twisted and he gritted his teeth together, feeling both pained and indignant. However, as he spoke, his voice remained level and calm; he had already made up his mind and they both knew it was inevitable. "I can't forget what you did to me, Mukuro. It might not have been your hand driving the knife in me but it might as well have been. I cannot forget; I never will." Mukuro flinched violently at his words but made no move to refute his claims. He… just accepted them, his inborn fighting spirit having evaporated when faced with Naoki's ire.
Never before had he ever seen and felt such… defeat from the other. He remembered Mukuro as that always confident, perpetually mischievous man, but at this very moment, as Naoki gazed at the older, he saw none of the confidence or utter joy of life that had once been synonymous with Mukuro. All he saw was a beaten and crushed young man. It was that – along with the love in his heart that he had never truly been able to fully stifle and crush – that made the next words leave his lips.
"I may not forget," he continued quietly, "but maybe… maybe one day I can learn to forgive you, given time." As he talked, he turned away from Mukuro, arms coming to hug himself as he tried to simultaneously pull away from his own feelings and comfort himself from the anguish and agony seizing his heart. He could not look at Mukuro at that moment; he could not watch as hope filled the other's eyes. He knew he would break down again if he did. He had to let go; he needed to move forward with his life… They both did.
There was a long pause during which neither said a word, both lost in their memories – memories of a better time – a time when they had been happier, when life had been easier and a joy to live, when they had been in love and carefree… when they had planned and planned for a future together because they had been so in love with each other they would have given anything to be together.
"This is goodbye then." It was not a question. It was a statement. As Mukuro appeared in front of him, Naoki realised that he meant that it was a 'goodbye' to their relationship, to their past, to what they had once been and held dear, if only so that they would both be able to finally move forward as Naoki wished. And as the blond turned to face the other, his eyes locking with blue and red, he could not help but sag. His body – or what could be considered as his body in this dreamscape – released all the tension it had held from how high-stung he had been since meeting Mukuro again after so long.
"Yes," his voice felt as if coming from a distance, "this is goodbye."
It was goodbye, goodbye to a past that was never to be again.
He did not know who moved first but, honestly? It hardly mattered.
Mukuro's lips were as soft as he remembered as they pressed against his, soft and gentle in their affections. Naoki arched under the other's hands, a certain desperation in their actions as they both clung to each other as if it was the last time they would ever be together like this… because it was. It felt so familiar the way they explored each other with careful consideration and yet so foreign because neither was like either remembered.
Naoki discovered new scars on Mukuro, ones that had never been there before and that a distant part of him felt alarmed by. But in that moment when they reconnected, he could only disregard his concerns because they had no place in this ritual. Mukuro discovered his new body and both took their time to learn just how different Naoki was now and how different his reactions were to when he had been a woman.
The moment Mukuro entered him, Naoki gasped, tears welling up in his eyes, not because of the slight, completely foreign pain of the intrusion, but because he knew… he knew that while this was their first time together like this, it was also their last and he could not help but bask in the way Mukuro made him feel cared for, his hands and actions gentle and loving as they had once been.
If only… If only…
As they whispered and gasped and cried each other's name – in love, desperation… anguish – it felt as if they were saying something else altogether: everything they found themselves unable to voice aloud – their love for each other, a love that neither would ever be able to fully make disappear; their hopes and fear for the future… their pain and disappointment at a missed present and future, one they had dreamt together.
If only… If only…
Goodbye... Goodbye.
After being trapped in this isolated dreamscape, Xanxus had become used to the idea of having the Sawada brat appear, and much more so when instead of meeting once in a blue moon, it started to happen almost daily. Thus, when Naoki failed to appear for what appeared to be a full week without any seeming reason, Xanxus was understandably annoyed. If the brat did not come then who or what was supposed to alleviate his boredom? And then after their other arrangement, Xanxus was even more understandably annoyed but also frustrated. How dare the trash make him wait?
(He stubbornly ignored – or was it that he did not even notice? – the slight worry he felt at the other's disappearance.)
And then it happened.
It had been another day of complete boredom and solitude in this unchanging dreamscape, Xanxus lounging on the frozen throne, when the stone wall opposite him flickered. Red eyes immediately snapped to the place just in time to see the wall fade out to make way for another landscape. Instead of the stone wall, Xanxus found a field opening up to him. However, what caught his attention was not the change in scenery… but the two writhing figures on the ground in front of him.
As lips met in desperation, red eyes narrowed and flames roared.
In a dungeon in Italy, ice cracked and shattered under the assault angered flames.
On that day, as he made his way to his special patient's room just as he had done for the last two weeks, Shamal had to admit, silently and to himself, that he did not expect much. Sawada Naoki had been trapped in an illusion so powerful even he was unable to free him. The only way would be for the caster to free him willingly but to be honest, Shamal was not holding much hope. Rokudo Mukuro seemed like such a nasty piece of work, and with a grudge against the whole mafia world. It was just unfortunate for the boy to have found himself in the crossfire. The youngest Sawada was just a civilian still, even with his father and brother in the mafia, but this situation highlighted again that even civilians were not safe from the mafia world.
When he entered the young Sawada's room, he expected to find the young teenager lying in the hospital bed, unresponsive as he had been for the past few days. He expected having to check the boy's vitals and condition again like every morning. He did not expect to find one Sawada Naoki sitting upright in his hospital bed, looking right as rain, though for some reason slightly contemplative as he stared out of the opened window. Shamal unwittingly froze at the threshold of the hospital room, his mind for once stunned speechless.
After all… the only reason the boy could be up would be because Rokudo Mukuro had let his hostage go willingly.
Reborn had many questions that he wanted answered but he held himself back as Tsuna threw himself at his surprised brother, tears streaming down his face. Noaki reacted by awkwardly and uncomfortably patting his brother on his back to try to comfort the blubbering teenager. Tsuna tightened his grip on his brother and sniffed in Naoki's shoulder.
It would be unfortunate for the rare moment between the brothers to be interrupted and Reborn would forever deny that it was because of his student and the part of himself that softened when Tsuna was near that stopped him from immediately flinging questions at the previously comatose teenager.
No, Sawada Naoki would not be able to forever evade the World's Greatest Hitman, and Reborn really wanted so many questions answered.
(Why had Mukuro cared enough not to hurt the boy during the fight against Tsuna to stay away from Naoki? Why had Naoki being there been enough to distract Mukuro during the fight? Why had the fugitive let Naoki go after all this time when he could have used the boy as a way to get Vongola to get him out of Vendicare? Why was it that when he woke up Naoki seemed… lighter, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders?
Why was Naoki holding such a melancholic look on his face…?
Why? Why? Why?...
There were so many whys and Reborn would have the answers if it was the last thing he ever did.)
Somewhere in Italy
"VOIII! Boss!?"
"Boss!?"
"The f-k is going on!?"
"What the-? How!?"
"Trash."
There was a sudden silence through the chaos that had prevailed through the room the moment a certain man had appeared through the door.
"Prepare to take over Vongola. We're going to Japan."
No one cared enough to question the boss as to his reason. After all, their Sky was back.
Ten Years in the Future
A white-haired man laughed and laughed and laughed as another of Vongola's headquarters blew up in flame.
"Come to me, Sawada Tsunayoshi. I am waiting."
A part of him broke and cried and screamed.
He ignored it.
AN: And finally the new chapter. I'm so sorry it took so long. Hopefully the next update for this story won't be taking as much time. Thank you to all those who have been waiting since I last updated. I really hope this chapter is to your expectations and, yeah, I left it on a cliffhanger again...
Please, tell me what you think. I agonized over this chapter for so long that now I really hope it turned out alright. God, I've been waiting to write this since very beginning and now it's finally here!
Do leave behind a review and tell me your thoughts.
Leight