A/N: Kinda hitting a writer's block on the story I'm currently working on and my brain decided to give me this. -_- If you want me to make any of the ideas from Ode to Anna into their own stories just let me know in a PM or review. Need input people!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Katekyo Reborn! I do own Anna and Miranda though so there's that I guess.
Summary: Annabel Sawada, a bright young girl, always found herself being overshadowed by others. As a child she was bright and energetic, now she mainly stayed to herself and people that actually bothered to notice her. When Reborn insists that she's to inherit a crime family she wanted to laugh in the baby's face. She was a book nerd, not a fighter! Includes Anna and the Yu Yu Hakusho cast as guardians.
The Shadow: Befriending Delinquents
Annabel would consider herself a normal teenager. Her mother Nana Sawada was a little air headed but a woman with a kind heart and too good for her loser father if she wanted to be honest with herself. She was a quiet, well behaved child that had trouble making herself heard. It was painful since she thought that she had good ideas but they were never heard. One person that took time to listen to her was an odd girl named Miranda, a childhood friend that would often drag her into trouble. This morning was like any other morning, waking up late because she pushed the snooze button too many times and running to school with her uniform in disarray. She quickly gathered her hair into a ponytail and ran full speed, praying to Kami that she wouldn't run into Hiei.
When Reborn looked at the file Nono gave to him he was met with a picture of a ten-year-old girl with a shy but warm smile. She had a very intelligent mind and tended to get into trouble with a girl a year below her. Most of her fellow students pitied her since she was shy and had problems communicating with others. He sighed, he was going to have a lot of work to do. If it all didn't work out they could just try marrying her off to Nono's son, after they thawed him out. The girl didn't seem like she had a back bone at all.
Annabel had the odd feeling that she was being watched but didn't know where the person was. She was reading a crime novel and gave a startled yelp when Miranda tackled her. Thankfully she was used to it and grounded herself. "Jeez Mira, give me a little warning next time!" She exclaims, Miranda grinned. "Nope, gotta keep you on your toes. So, how's it goin? Still reading that self-defense book out of boredom?" She asks, Annabel nodded. Miranda chuckled. "Are you sure you want to be a crime writer and not an actual criminal? Last week you were researching the world's deadliest poisons and basic first aid. You could totally pull off the perfect murder!" Miranda squeals, Annabel raised an eyebrow. "Don't give me any ideas. Besides I feel like we're being watched." She says, Miranda laughs. "Oh come on, you're just being paranoid again! Who would be after someone boring as you?" She asks, not noticing Annabel's dark look before she smiled softly. "Yeah, you're right. No one ever notices me anyways."
When Annabel returned home she was greeted to the sight of Nana feeding a baby in a suit. He had an odd neon green lizard that looked like it was staring into her soul. With all the negative emotions that boiled under her quiet surface she prayed that wasn't the case. "Hi sweetie, this young man here is volunteering to be your tutor. Isn't it refreshing to see such a young entrepreneur?" Nana chirps, Annabel immediately saw red flags. She was the type of person that usually listened to her instincts and right now they were screaming at her to run and never look back. "Mom, he's a toddler. And my grades are in the top ten for my class. Besides his parents are probably worried about him." Annabel reasoned. Nana ignored her and kept saying how he was going to make her into a leader. Annabel sighed in irritation. No one ever listened to her, why did she expect her mother to be any different? Since she obviously wasn't taking her opinion into consideration she'd just give the kid the cold shoulder until he went back to his home.
When she went into her room she was greeted with a bedroom that clearly reflecting her obsession with research. On her wall was a poster with all the phases of the moon as well as two papers dictating her daily studying materials and warm ups for starting the day. There were various notebooks scattered around the room on different subjects she decided to binge research, it was something she often did whenever she was bored. She landed face first on her mattress, grabbing a stress ball off the head board. She was surrounded by idiots so she usually took out her frustration by squeezing the ball or thinking of particularly gruesome crime scenes for her stories based around whoever pissed her off.
Since she was alone she could also vent to herself, it wasn't like Nana would interrupt her musings. "I swear, just because I'm not a motor mouth doesn't mean I should be ignored. Am I the only one in this family with any damn common sense?" She growls, giving the ball a stronger squeeze. She tossed it a couple of times before she felt the same eyes that were watching her at school and threw it in the general direction the feeling came from. Her eyes narrowed when she saw it was the same baby from before, how had he gotten into her room without her noticing? Her door hinge needed to be oiled so she should've heard its usual squeak.
Reborn looked at his charge with interest, she noticed his presence and reacted accordingly. Her eyes narrowed with pent up aggression, quickly covered up by a kind smile. "What are you doing up here? This is my room." She says politely, sitting up. "I'm well aware. I'm Reborn, your tutor to becoming the next boss of Vongola." Annabel blinked, scrutinizing the toddler's expression. "You're either serious or have a good poker face. I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not fit to be the boss of anything, my own mother doesn't even listen to me." She states with a depressed aura. She yelped when the toddler took out a green gun, she had a feeling that it wasn't a toy. "That's no way for a mafia boss to talk. It looks like I'll have to whip you into shape." Reborn says with a sadistic grin. "Wait a minute, what do you mean mafia?! Do I look like I'm a criminal in the making?" Annabel exclaims, getting a Leon mallet to the head for voicing her concerns.
XoXoXoXo
The next morning Annabel was woken up by a hit to the head with a mallet. She turned to glare at whatever dared to wake her up before her alarm. "You better have coffee or I am punting you across the street." Annabel growls, Reborn raised an eyebrow. It seemed that this girl had a little bite after all, that and probably a caffeine addiction like Reborn. To her surprise there actually was coffee in the room, once she drank the sweet nectar of the gods she had calmed down considerably. "Wait, how did you know how I like my coffee?" Annabel asks suspiciously. "I wouldn't be a good tutor if I didn't know everything about my student. Do you always research such dark subjects in your free time?" He asks, holding up a book titled The History of Murder.
Annabel shrugged. "What teenager doesn't look into that type of stuff? A friend of mine actually went through a Satanist phase for a couple months before deciding to be a goth." She says nonchalantly with a quiet yawn. "I want you to add this to your research then." Reborn says, handing Annabel a thick book. It appeared to be a manual on how to be a proper mafia leader. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure it'll be an interesting read. Any reason why you woke me up so early?" She asks. "Just wanted to see your reaction." Reborn says, watching as Annabel squashed down any outward signs of irritation. "Alright then, I'm going back to sleep until my alarm wakes me up."
It took five minutes of closing her eyes for her to realize that she couldn't fall back asleep. She groaned in irritation and sat up, seeing Reborn sleeping on his own bed. "Guess I'll go for a morning run. I'll make sure to leave a note so no one worries." She thinks aloud, quickly writing on a piece of paper before changing into a large t-shirt and some running shorts. Hopefully without Miranda with her she'd be able to avoid any trouble. She hadn't noticed Reborn's eyes open as she left her room.
She had been near the shopping district when several boys had cornered her, obviously trying to flirt with her. There is nothing sexy about someone in workout clothes, why are they bothering me? Annabel thought angrily. "I-I'm sorry but I don't know any of you." She says, trying to put them down gently. One of the boys growled and slammed his hand on the wall behind her, Annabel squeaked. "Well then you can get to know us, no problem." One of the boys purred. From a distance, Reborn had been about to shoot the girl when a tall punk with orange hair stumbled onto the scene. "Hey, the lady doesn't want anything to do with you losers so buzz off!" He declared in a raspy voice. From the look of his uniform he went to Namimori as well. "There's only one of you and three of us. Let's get him boys!"
Annabel watched in awe as the delinquent soundly beat up the boys and walked over to her, she flinched instinctively as he took her hand. "Are you alright miss?" He asks in concern, even though his appearance was that of a punk he seemed like a gentleman. Annabel nodded. "Thank you for chasing them off. I'm Annabel Sawada, nice to meet you." She says shyly, the boy grinned. "Kazuma Kuwabara, toughest delinquent in Namimori Middle. You may have heard of me." He comments with a proud grin, Annabel sweat dropped. Oh she heard about him alright, he and Yusuke Urameshi were the most violent delinquents in the school.
The rumors made them sound like they were part of the yakuza but the boy in front of her wearing a cheesy grin just looked like a dork. Dorks were safe. She smiled. "You're not like the rumors say you are. Could you walk me back to my house? I don't want to take the chance those boys have friends." Annabel says with a shiver, Kuwabara grinned and gave her a thumb up. "No problem, Kuwabara Kazuma never denies a lady in distress!" Reborn smirked, it looked like she already had her first subordinate.
Nana was delighted to see that her daughter brought a friend home, especially since he was such a gentleman! As Annabel took a quick wash up and changed into her uniform her mother was trying to stuff the delinquent with food. When she walked down the stairs Kuwabara looked uncomfortable being showered with so much affection. Annabel couldn't blame him; her mother could probably charm a serial killer into pacifism. "Mom, you're crowding him. Besides we need to go to school." Annabel says sternly, hardening her voice so that her mother would hear her for once. Nana blinked. "My apologies! Keep a close eye on my daughter, will you? That girl is always getting into trouble." She giggles, Annabel wanted to bang her head against the closest hard surface.
When they got to the front gate it looked like Annabel wasn't the only one being harassed by hormonal boys that day. Mochida, the kendo captain, was flirting with an uncomfortable looking Yukina. Even though she was related to the demon of their school she was a sweet, innocent girl that was too nice to report anything like this to her brother. If Hiei knew about this harassment Mochida would've been in body bag. Kuwabara looked like he was about to punch the creep so Annabel had to act, quickly. She plastered on a cheerful grin and waved. "Hey Yukina! Sorry we're late, I needed Kuwabara to pick something up with me." She shouts, putting extra emphasis on Kuwabara's name. Mochida's body tensed before he bolted in fear.
Thank Kami, there would be no fighting or murders on school property! "Um, thank you both for saving me from that guy. He just won't take no as an answer." Yukina says with a frown. "N-No problem. Anything to help a cute girl like yourself." Kuwabara says with a light blush, Yukina giggled. "Yeah, it's disappointing how many of the guys in this school are perverts. Present company excluded." Annabel says in reassurance. "We both have home room together, right? There's a seat next to me that's usually empty, maybe we can get to know each other better." Yukina says cheerfully.
Like Annabel expected there were rumors about her from the two interactions she had with Kuwabara. Some said that Kuwabara was trying to build his own harem while others said that he was trying to recruit them into the yakuza. Annabel almost laughed. Too late for that, she was trapped into becoming a mafia boss. It did piss her off that Kuwabara had such a horrible reputation even though he was a nice guy, he just happened to look very intimidating. Yukina was upset at the rumors too. "How could they be so mean? Mochida's the real jerk but the girls in this school all seem to worship him!" Yukina fumes, Annabel sighed. "People are more willing to trust someone with a pretty face than someone that's intimidating. It's psychological." Annabel states, Yukina looked at her in surprise. "Really? Then I'll do my best to give everyone a chance without paying attention to their appearance." Yukina declares. Annabel grinned. "How about we ignore those rumors and sit with Kuwabara at lunch? I'm sure that'll piss off Mochida-sempai."
The entirety of the school's population looked shocked as the two quiet girls went to sit with two of the most dangerous delinquents in the school. Yusuke looked confused while Kuwabara was on the verge of tears. "Are you two doing a dare?" The teen with combed back black hair beside Kuwabara asks curiously. "Nope!" Yukina chirped, sitting beside Kuwabara without any warning. The poor ginger's face was so red Annabel thought that the tough delinquent was going to faint. "Kuwabara seems like an alright guy so we decided to sit over here. Screw the rumors." Annabel says bluntly, shocking the boys. She raised an eyebrow. "Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean that I'm always polite." Annabel states, Yusuke smirked. "Kinda figured since you hang out with that crazy girl Miranda." She groaned. "She's going to be grilling me when she gets over being sick, I just know it."