No. Way.

"Lindsey Fong?" I inquired.

"Nada Serrano?" he asked in return.

There was a moment of silence, the fans around us having fallen quiet out of curiosity.

Then I ducked under the tape and leapt at him. He caught me and spun us both around a few times, laughing in wonder.

"Dude. I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

"I told ya I'd see you in the next life, didn't I?"

He snorted and put me down. "That you did. I didn't think that it'd actually happen though."

"Hey," I punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Who do you think I am? Of course I'd manage to have us both reincarnated."

Rolling his eyes, Lindsey punched me back and said, "Yeah, right. If the way you just stared at me in shock for a few seconds before was any indication, you obviously didn't expect this to happen."

"Shh, let me have my moment here."

Someone cleared their throat behind us. We spun around and faced the stern faced woman, who raised an eyebrow at us.

"I'm sure this reunion of yours is very touching and all, but surely it can wait for later. The fans are starting to grow restless."

Sure enough, the crowd behind the tape was starting to whisper and speculate about my relationship with 'Indaco', and a few were giving me dirty looks.

"Right, right, sorry." Lindsey rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he apologized to who I assumed was the band's manager. He glanced at me. "Hey, do you wanna maybe wait over there while I finish with the autographs?"

He jerked his head over to the white tent set up to the side. I nodded.

"Sure. Just let me inform the people I'm staying with first; they're probably really confused right now."

"Right." He lifted the tape to make it easier for me to duck under. "I'd ask who, but there's a pretty high chance that I'll have no idea who they are."

"Oh, don't worry, you'd definitely recognise their names," I said as I slipped under the tape. "After all, we were both pretty invested in Reborn, weren't we?"

"...Wait, what?!"

"No way. Nuh-uh. You're lying."

I took a sip from the glass of lemonade and shook my head. "'Fraid not, Lindsey."

"But- but-" He struggled to wrap his mind around the fact that we'd both been reborn into Reborn. "There's just no way."

"Hey, hey, us being reincarnated in the first place is pretty 'no way', so why's being reincarnated into KHR so hard to believe?"

"Yeah, but-" He continued to struggle to believe the truth, even sitting one table away from the characters we both knew so well back in our previous lives. I rolled my eyes.

"Just get over it and move on, Lindsey."

"But, Nada-!"

"But, Lindsey-!" I mimicked in a mockingly high pitch. "But nothing. I know it's weird, and pretty much only happens in fanfictions and the like, but it is happening, and you need to get over it and move on."

I paused, then added, "Also, I was somehow reborn as a half-assed Mary-Sue. I can use Flames without training, am super strong and absolutely gorgeous," I flipped my hair, earning a snort, "get the best grades, am super popular, and I'm clearly not the [Chosen One] (that's Tsuna's job), so naturally, that was the conclusion I came to. My only saving grace is that the main characters don't automatically fall madly in love with me, which is really quite a relief."

I wrinkled my nose. "Really not sure how I'd deal with the overwhelming affections of half a dozen special middle-schoolers. Normal boys are bad enough."

"Oh my god."

"That was my first thought too."

Lindsey huffed, leaning back in his chair, and glanced at the other table. "This is crazy."

"You think I don't know that?"

He shrugged and sipped his drink. "By the way, what did Nana and Iemitsu name you?"

"In the spirit of naming their children after the shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, I received the name Ietsuna. You?"

"In this life, my parents named me Luca de Luca."

I almost spat out my drink and choked out "What de what?!"

Mr Redundant Name shot me a glare and repeated, "Luca de Luca."

"I heard you the first time, I'm just surprised you became famous with a name like that, God, what were your parents thinking?"

Lindsey took another sip of his cola moodily. "They said it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Oh my god."

"That was my first thought too."

"Luca de Luca," I grinned. "Classic."

"No. Don't you dare."

"Hey, Luca de Luca, get me another drink," I said, finishing off the last vestiges of lemonade at the bottom of the glass.

"Stop calling me that and get your own drink," he grumbled, even as he stood up to refill my glass. I beamed up at him.

"Thanks, Luca de Luca. You're such a dear."

"Shut up."

"Hey, Dino, would you mind if I ditched you guys for today to catch up with Luca de Luca here?"

The blond waved us off, saying "It's fine. You remember where we parked the car, right?"

"Yeah."

"Try to get back by four, alright?"

"Okay."

"And you'll take care of her, right?" Dino asked Lindsey.

"More like she'll be the one taking care of me," he muttered under his breath before saluting Dino and saying out loud "Yes, sir!"

"Off you go, then."

"Thanks, and bye!"

They all waved goodbye to me and I exited the small restaurant after Lindsey. We grinned at each other.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"The amusement park."

"Yep."

We stood in front of the brightly coloured gates of the 'Land of Fun'. Corny carnival music could be heard playing from the speakers next to the ticket booths, and in the one we were waiting in line for, a bored looking teenager behind the counter handed a giggling child their unlimited rides wristband. Inside the park a whole host of brightly painted rides were waiting, including a particularly thrilling looking rollercoaster which I was just itching to go on.

"Hell yeah." Then I frowned. "Ah, but you're a pretty boy celebrity. Won't the paparazzi be a problem? Especially after our little display before."

"Nah," he waved my concerns away. "Our manager somehow keeps the media from being too obnoxious, so we won't be bothered that much."

"That much?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged.

"Manager works miracles but not even she control the media."

"Right. Oh, it's our turn."

We bought our wristbands and walked through the gates, stopping off to the side to muse over our options.

"Suggestions?"

"Map."

I handed it over to Lindsey and he unfolded the pamphlet, doing his best to smooth it out. Something in the corner caught my eye and I nudged him.

"How 'bout that?" I pointed to the haunted house. "We've literally gone through death already so it should be fine, right"

"A-ah, about that-"

"Great! Let's go!"

I dragged the reluctant boy after me towards the house of horrors and queued up, humming happily.

"Nada, the line's kinda long, m-maybe we should go on something else first?"

"No can do, Luca de Luca, what if the line gets longer while we're gone?"

He muttered something under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"I said 'I guess we have no choice but to wait then'."

"That's what I thought."

"Never… again…" Lindsey said weakly, worn out from all his running and screaming. I leisurely walked along, ignoring his bruising grip on my arm.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"

"No. Nada, you may have enjoyed my screams, but that was most decidedly not fun for me."

I laughed. "Still as easily scared as ever, huh, Luca de Luca?"

"It's not that I'm easily scared; you just have nerves of steel. And stop it with the Luca de Luca already!"

"Nah. Oh hey," I noticed a sign on the side painted in blood, "'Almost there', huh?"

"Almost there to what?" Lindsey panicked. "Death?!"

I gave him a look. "No, Luca de Luca. They obviously mean the exit."

"Oh." He calmed down. "Don't call me that."

I ignored him and walked towards the end of the long and creepy stark white corridor that looked just like the long and creepy stark white corridor present in certain horror movies. Lindsey shuddered.

"Let's just get this over with."

I turned the corner, expecting the actor with a ski mask and knife jumping out at us and walking straight past him, only slightly flinching at the ear-piercing scream let out by Lindsey.

"Ow," I muttered, rubbing my ear.

"Sorry," Lindsey said, not sounding very sorry at all.

We finally came to the door at the end of the corridor. The small glass window set in it was smashed, and covered by a black cloth from the other side. There was a flickering exit sign on top, except where it would usually be green, a dull shade of red was glowing instead.

"Oh, finally," Lindsey breathed.

A cackle filled the air and he spun around in fright. An actor with the mask of hideous witch had snuck up behind us, and I could just see the outline of the hidden door which they had just come out of.

Lindsey shrieked again and clutched my arm tighter. I winced. That was definitely going to leave a mark.

"Chill, Lindsey, they're not even holding any weapons," I hissed at him. "Calm the fuck down."

"How am I supposed to be calm when-" I pulled him down into a headlock and covered his mouth.

To the actor, I said, "Yes? I'm assuming there's something you need to tell us about the next part of the haunted house?"

The witch tilted their head and said in a high, screechy voice, "You're sharp. Yes, for the next part of the challenge you must go solo, to prove yourself worthy of escape from this House of Horrors."

Lindsey ripped my hand away from his mouth.

"What?! No. No way. Not happening. I refuse. I-" He was cut off by my hand again.

"Please ignore him. So, is that it then?"

The witch nodded and made to drift past us to the door, then seemed to do a double take and look back down at Lindsey.

"Wait, is that Lucky Break's Indaco?"

"Yep."

"Huh. My sister's a big fan. Can I have his autograph?"

I let Lindsey go. He brushed himself off, scowling at me.

"Luca de Luca, give the guy your autograph," I ordered.

"Stop calling me that." To the actor, he said, "Do you have something to write on and with?"

The witch patted down their robes, before slumping. "Unfortunately not. Nevermind then."

"Here."

I passed Lindsey a notebook and a pen. He looked at me. "Wha- Where did you even- How- You don't even have any pockets."

I wiggled my fingers at him. "Magic."

He rolled his eyes, significantly calmer now, and signed the paper with a flourish. He ripped the page out and gave it to the witch.

"Here. Tell your sister hello for me."

"Thanks."

I took the book back, made it disappear right in front of their very eyes, then clapped my hands. "Great! Now, I believe we have a haunted house to finish."

The colour abruptly drained from Lindsey's face. "Oh no. Oh hell no. You can't make me. I absolutely refuse to go in there by myself."

I shrugged and reached for the door. "Guess you'll just have to stay here then."

"NO!" he shrieked again, grabbing my hand. "Nada, don't leave me here!"

"Fine then. Have it your way." I shrugged and threw him through the door the witch was holding open. They slammed the door closed and high-fived me.

A moment passed. Then,

"NADAAAAAAA! I HATE YOU SO MU- AAAAAAAAHHHHHOHMYGODWHATISTHATGODSNOI'MTOOYOUNGANDPRETTYTODIEOHSHITIHAVEN'TFINALISEDMYWILLYETGIVEEVERYTHINGIOWNTOMYBANDAAAAHHH-"

I leant heavily against the wall, laughing too hard to hold myself upright, and spent the next few minutes cackling at his screams.

man oh man, time sure has passed hasn't it? it's almost been a year since i first started this story. in celebration of this fic's birthday, i'm gonna... i have no idea, actually. i was going to do a sort of q&a session with nada/ietsuna and the other characters, but tbh, there still aren't that many characters yet so we'll save that for later. also, i should be studying for my exams.

HaPPy2901: congrats, you hit the nail right on the head.

baba69: y'know, i'd actually almost completely forgotten about the vampire people. they'll come back. someday.

Review?