Chapter 2

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 Two

Naoki could not help but stare, his face blank but his eyes showing his utter disbelief. It was not the fact that his mother had called a home tutor to teach his useless, pathetic brother that shocked him; Tsunayoshi was an idiot after all and a home tutor might help him if a little. What did surprise him was the fact that said tutor was a baby. And not any baby but one dressed in a suit, with a fedora, and perfect vocabulary. A little too perfect for one his age.

In other words a genius baby was going to teach his stupid brother in exchange of accommodations. Either said baby was a runaway baby (which seemed highly ridiculous) or it was acceptable in this new world to have babies working. Or something like this.

Naoki blinked at the charcoal eyes staring at him before turning back to his dinner. Whatever stupidity was going to take place he wanted nothing to do with it. 'Who names their child Reborn anyway?' He froze for a moment before he continued to eat though much more distracted as he lost himself in thoughts. 'What if he is like me? There is a possibility,' he thought as he glanced at the baby who was stealing some food from Tsunayoshi's plate while said boy screamed his discontent. 'I don't think it is natural for children this age to be this intelligent. He does not seem to be of Japanese blood either. Either he has lived in japan and learned the language this way or he is a foreigner and has lived abroad. I don't think any child as young should be able to know different languages as well. Except if they are really intelligent, genius level intelligent. Then again he does not act much like a child either.'

Either way it would be best for him to stay away from the creepy baby. As innocent as he seemed Naoki had a feeling he was far from it. This thought was confirmed when he saw said baby kick Tsunayoshi so hard in the stomach he collapsed on the floor. Naoki paled. Children should not be that strong.

He quickly finished his dinner and left to lock himself in his room. As he had thought, it would be better to stay far away from the creepy baby.

Really, he should have known that after Tsunayoshi's little match with Mochida some things were going to change. There was a volleyball match his brother needed to participate in but since he was only a reserve he thought that he would be spared the bore. However, it was not the case; for some reason the whole team got food poisoning, leaving Tsunayoshi with no other option but to participate and Naoki unable to escape to the roof for an impromptu nap since he knew he would be unable to truly relax while he knew the idiot was going to get himself pummeled.

Not that he was concerned or anything! He just really did not want to have to bear with Tsunayoshi whining back at the house. He would prefer to have some warnings before and be prepared for it instead. He was not concerned, really. Why would he be? He did not particularly like his brother. Naoki sincerely thought he would run away or something. Instead he came, to his brother's stunned surprise, though trembling, and joined in the match.

As expected Tsunayoshi was as clumsy as usual and practically useless. A part of Naoki was disappointed. Tsunayoshi had been doing well in terms of confidence; he had gained some after his match with Mochida, and his reputation had taken a sudden rise throughout the school. It was not particularly surprising; teenagers their age were particularly fickle. It might have done him some good but maybe he had also gotten a big head because of this.

With a sigh Naoki turned and left the gymnasium when it became apparent the physically older twin was not going to rejoin the match. What a waste of time.

At the end of the day he realized that he might have missed something since everyone was talking about how Tsunayoshi had won the match for his team by sacrificing his manhood.

What was he thinking? This did not seem like something Tsunayoshi would do. He was a coward and the thought of a little pain terrified him.

Things… were starting to become highly confusing.

The next day there was a new addition to their class, an Italian teenager who for some reason had moved to their small town. He had silver hair and was dressed like a delinquent, a fierce scowl on his otherwise attractive face. Naoki twitched slightly as the boy kicked Tsunayoshi's. In surprise! Not concern and righteous anger of course! Then he proceeded to ignore the two of them for the rest of the day. He was not concerned. He did not care for Tsunayoshi. Thus, he did not have to follow the clumsy boy around for the day to make sure he was safe.

When school ended Naoki decided to go wander around the town for a little while; he did not want to go back home knowing that his brother and his strange tutor would be there sooner or later. Instead he walked around town for a few hours until it was starting to get too dark to be safe and went to his house. When he arrived at the Sawada household, he closed the door softly behind him and removed his shoes before moving to his room. As he passed by Tsunayoshi's room he heard a few murmurings which he promptly ignored.

He took a quick shower before settling in his room, deciding to complete his homework quickly before relaxing with a book. He was just finishing his maths problems when a small shadow obscured his copybook. He jerked in surprise, head snapping up before his eyes locked with the charcoal ones of Tsunayoshi's baby tutor. Naoki blinked, momentarily confused and surprised. When had the baby entered his room? He had not even heard the door open. He really had to be so deeply in his thoughts not to notice.

"Can I help you?" he asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow at the baby who leaned over from where he was standing on Naoki's desk to look at the blonde's copybook. Normally he would have ignored the baby and gone right back to what he was doing but he had a feeling that it would not be a good idea to do that. For whatever reason.

"Sawada Naoki," undecipherable charcoal eyes latched onto his and Naoki found himself leaning back instinctively, as if trying to get as far away from the strange baby as possible without showing any weakness by getting off his chair. "Straight A student, above average in sports and no friends." The words were said as if the baby was stating facts and Naoki wondered how he could even know this much about him. He had never even bothered interacting with the other since he had appeared on their doorstep. "How interesting to see two brothers, twins, so different from each other, though still so similar."

Naoki's eyebrows rose incredulously. "I am nothing like Tsunayoshi," he stated, a part of him feeling defensive for some reason.

"Really? The two of you have no friends."

Naoki's eyes took on an amused glint, lips pulling up in a derisive smirk. Reborn's posture changed slightly – in surprise? – and if Naoki had not been so observant he did not think he would have been able to notice the nearly invisible movement. "Shouldn't you be tutoring Tsunayoshi instead of coming to chat with me?"

"He is already sleeping," came the squeaky reply. Naoki blinked and turned to look at his digital clock. Huh, he had stayed out later than he had thought; it read 11:48. He had missed diner. There was a moment of silence, during which Naoki closed his copybook and turned off his table lamp. "If you are doing so well in school, why have you not been helping Tsuna with his classes? He is your brother after all."

Slowly, deliberately, Naoki stood up and looked down at the baby. "I have no patience for incompetence and laziness," he said a moment later, voice in a soft drawl. There was another minute of silence. Naoki pointedly turned his back to the baby and made his way to his bed were he sat down, picking up a large, thick book from the nightstand.

"I see," came a squeaky voice before Naoki heard small footsteps making their way to his door. Then just as the baby was about to leave, he said something else that made Naoki look up in momentary surprise before realization made his eyes widen. The last he saw of Reborn was the smug smirk on his face.

"You have an interesting accent," he had said, and Naoki realized that they had been talking in English the whole time, his mind having translated the words automatically. His British accent he had somehow kept from his previous life had crept through his voice.

'Interesting baby,' he thought, a smirk of his own making its way on his face. Somehow he knew that the baby had issued a challenge and he had accepted. What the challenge was, he had no idea. However, he knew that his boring lifestyle might actually become more interesting.

A couple of days after his arrival, Reborn could say that he was pleasantly surprised. His student did not turn out to be so bad; true, he was pathetic and useless but he had potential to be much more. His kind heart was refreshing to see, especially for someone like Reborn who had lived in the dark world of the Mafia for decades. Sawada Tsunayoshi was definitely one of the most powerful skies he had ever met and all he really needed was to be whipped into shape. He would make for a good boss for the Vongola. And he already had his first subordinate.

Even Sawada Naoki was not what he had been expecting. As much as the boy wanted to seem aloof and uncaring, Reborn could notice just how much he really did care for his brother. With the right guidance Naoki could be a good asset for Vongola, if only Tsuna and he had a better relationship, that was. The boy was intelligent, frighteningly so, with good instincts and a nimble body perfect for fighting. He was still rough around the edges though; his potential had not been exploited yet, but Reborn knew that the moment the boy tapped into his hidden talents he would be a force to be reckoned with.

With the Sawada twins at the head of Vongola, Reborn knew that the Family would only be able to prosper. Nothing would be able to stand against them for long. However, their relationship was worrying. In the few days he had been there Reborn had rarely seen those two interact. Well, there was the fact that Naoki hardly talked to anyone really, but even when they were in the same room they barely even looked at each other. Naoki ignored Tsuna and Tsuna tried to seem as small as possible. It was like they had no relationship whatsoever, except for their blood ties. Naoki did not seem interested in being involved with Tsuna but Tsuna seemed like he was more intimidated than anything.

Really, that boy needed more self-confidence.

Reborn was not allowed to tell the younger twin about the mafia but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he started to suspect something. Like he had said the boy had good instincts. Naoki might not have realized it but he had talked to Reborn like talking to an adult, unmindful of his physical appearance. He had realized, maybe subconsciously, that Reborn was more than he looked like and had acted accordingly, being wary while still knowing that Reborn would not truly hurt him.

There were still a few aspect of the boy that he did not understand, like his weary, lonely eyes, his tendency to care for his brother one moment and then seeming condescending. He did not know why the boy was like he was; Reborn knew that he was missing something, something important enough that it had built Naoki into being who he was. After all, as uncaring as he seemed about everyone but his brother and mother, Reborn could also see that he could be just as caring and kind as Tsuna.

Maybe those two needed a little push in the right direction?

As Reborn settled in his hammock for the night, his mind went back to the expression the younger Sawada twin had given when he had mentioned having no friends. He wondered if the contempt had been directed towards Tsuna or… towards himself.

That night Naoki had a strange dream. He was walking through a dark dingy dungeon-like room when he came across the weirdest sight possible. There was a man sitting on a frozen throne-like chair, slouched lazily with his arms crossed. His long legs stretched casually on the floor. He had a prominent scar on his left cheek and spiky black hair. Naoki stopped and stared. Then, suddenly the man's closed eyelids snapped opened and Naoki found himself on the receiving end of a pair of sharp red orbs. The man stared at him for a moment and Naoki remained frozen stiff, fear seizing his body.

"Who the f-k are you, trash!?"

Naoki jerked back… and found himself staring at his bedroom ceiling. Heart beating rapidly in his chest, he brought a hand to hover in front of his face and stared at the trembling appendage, his other hand coming to clutch at his night shirt.

'What… was that!?'

In Italy, deep in the recess of a mansion, a nearly invisible crack appeared on a large piece of ice in which a frozen figure could be found.

In an antique shop, a figure with straight white hair and glasses, dressed in a green kimono looked up from his bowl of ramen, his lips pressing into a thin line as a light frown formed on his face.

"Hm… The anomaly is acting up," he hummed before going back to his ramen.

Leave behind a review and tell me your thoughts.

Leight