Chapter 4

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 Four

As summer vacation came along Reborn found himself contemplating the youngest Sawada often. The boy was a puzzle just waiting to be solved; there were so many hidden mysteries that even he, the World's Greatest Hitman, had trouble discovering. At first Reborn had taken the boy as a mere entertainment when he became bored with his student and wanted something to fill his time. Then the mystery surrounding Sawada Naoki thickened.

That time Reborn had seen the boy crying in the kitchen was the time he really started to get interested in him. He had not been sobbing, loud and heartbreakingly; it had been quiet and unconscious, a silent grief taking hold of the boy. The emotions Reborn had seen from Naoki had intrigued him; there had been loss, pain but also anger. It was as if the boy had lost someone important, or many someones… However, that could not be possible; Sawada Naoki was supposed to be a boy with no close relationship to anyone, having barely interacted to anyone except when obligated as it was. How could the boy have lost anyone if he had never even been close to someone? How could the boy have experienced loss at such a young age while he was supposed to be a mere civilian, shielded from the dark world of the mafia? There was a possibility that the intel had been wrong like they had been about the boy's feelings towards his brother but Reborn highly doubted it.

Then Naoki started acting strange. It started the day Reborn found him crying in the kitchen. He had locked himself in his room and had refused to come out until the next day. He had had dark circles under his eyes, denoting lack of sleep. Naoki had always been quiet and reclusive since even before Reborn had entered his live but all of a sudden he was more so. It was as if he was floating through his daily life, there but still not really there. More than once Reborn had seen him knock into something on his way. Naoki, unlike Tsuna, had an unconscious grace that Reborn wanted to implement in his student and to find the boy almost as clumsy as Dame-Tsuna was disconcerting.

Even Tsuna and Nana had noticed Naoki's strange change in attitude. Reborn still remembered the day the stupid cow had pushed the boy away by taking his dinner. When Naoki had left the table, Nana had given a stern lecture to the cow but most of all Tsuna had stood up and scolded the brat, voice firm and hard, and Reborn would swear until his last breath that his eyes had flashed orange. That was the moment he had seen the most potential to be Vongola Boss in his stupid, no-good student, the trigger being Naoki.

Something was wrong with the boy though and Reborn hated not knowing why, not because he was concerned, but because he was curious and the reason was still a mystery, to him! The Number One Hitman in the World! Nothing had ever escaped him as easily before and he was going to find the reason why, if only because Reborn was prideful.

Then Naoki changed again and there should be no reason why! One day he went to bed brooding like he had done for a while and came back the next day thoughtful. If Reborn had been any lesser man he would have thrown a fit and all because he still could not find why the boy had such a change in attitude with seemingly no reason.

Naoki was many things, but stupid he was not. He had long realized that the man in his dreams was not a figment of his imagination but actually seeing proof of this was something else. He had woken up, deep in thought about what the man had told him and reflecting on his past actions but when he had gone into the bathroom only to see this on his neck, he was violently shaken out of his thoughts to make way to disbelief and even some fear.

There was a large bruise on his neck, an ugly dark purple, green and yellow, in the form of a large hand.

He shuddered. Well, this was not good.

Naoki knew that everything that had been taking place since Reborn had appeared were all related, related to Tsunayoshi, to Iemitsu and to the man in his dreams. Naoki had no access to Iemitsu since the last time the man had been in Namimori had been two years before and he had stayed only for a week before leaving again leaving no trace except for the flimsy excuse he had fed to Nana. His second option was the dangerous man he met randomly when he went to sleep, however, Naoki was wary of approaching this living ticking time bomb. Thus, his last option came back to Tsunayoshi.

That was why for a few days Naoki followed Tsunayoshi around and tried to listen in on his conversations. He really did not feel like actually going to the boy and directly ask him; he had not talked to him in years and that would be just mutually awkward. Thankfully, Tsunayoshi's little entourage never noticed him; he had a few close calls but nothing else. He was not so sure about Reborn but since he never mentioned Naoki's presence he dismissed this concern from his mind.

A few things always came up that gave him a few disjointed clues that he could use to piece up this puzzle. One of the many things that cropped up was the mention of something called 'Vongola' and during Reborn's conversations with Tsunayoshi, the latter always refuted being its boss. Then there was one of Tsunayoshi's resent companions, the Italian transfer student Gokudera Hayato who called Tsunayoshi 'Juudaime'. Tenth? Tenth of what? Vongola? Vongola meant clam in Italian… Bianchi was from Italy, much like Gokudera, Lambo and even Reborn. So whatever was going on was most likely from Italy. Okay, Naoki could work with that.

Then Gokudera came up again. Whatever was going on also most likely involved illegal use and possession of weapons; he highly doubted a normal middle schooler would be allowed to carry around dynamites which Gokudera seemed to know how to use. Another use of weapons came from Lambo who apparently carried around grenades… He was five! Again there was Bianchi who cooked up some purple things that she liked to throw around and that melted walls. Right.

Things were starting to add up a little too perfectly.

All three used weapons and came from Italy. Illegally?

What was Italy known for that included illegal means and weapons?... Mafia. Drat.

'Please, someone tell me this is not what this seems to be,' Naoki thought to himself as he reviewed his notes, closed his eyes, and looked at them again before groaning.

There was no proof they were actually involved in the mafia but it was highly likely to be a possibility.

How was Tsunayoshi involved though?

Pause. Iemitsu. Stupid Iemitsu who sent them lots of money (hence, why their small family had the biggest house in the whole lot), visited rarely and sent postcards detailing him in a construction worker's gear… with penguins in the North Pole. Right.

Naoki rolled his eyes. How he had not suspected this before was beyond him. Granted at first he had thought that Iemitsu had multiple wives all over the world, thus the need to travel a lot and the little time he did spend in Namimori. Now he felt a little embarrassed that he had not suspected illegal activities instead.

Now to put everything together.

Tsunayoshi was most likely involved in the mafia, maybe because of Iemitsu (why Naoki and Nana had not been involved was still unclear though); he was the boss of something called Vongola, the tenth if Gokudera was anything to go by; Vongola was something Mafia related (a mafia organization maybe?); all their new houseguests were also involved in this.

Things should have stayed unclear and uncertain to Naoki since all he could do was speculate with no real proof but something told him that he was on the right track. Poor Tsunayoshi; he was going to get himself killed.

Now what was he going to do with this information?

It was after he had finished deducing all he could from the little information he had that Naoki had another dream. He appeared in the same place right after having gone to bed. He did not know how to act around the man; he felt embarrassed for having broken down like he had in front of the man but he also felt wary of the man; not only was he dangerous but Naoki was completely defenseless when he was in this dream place.

This time as he appeared, the man – whom he still did not have the name of – immediately turned his sharp red eyes on Naoki who promptly froze in surprise.

"Oi, trash, you are going to explain what you said that last time." It was not even an order; it was a statement, as if the man was certain that Naoki was actually going to do as he said. The blonde bristled; who did that man think he was!? However, he quickly calmed down when he remembered that it would not be a good idea to irritate the older man.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked instead, trying to stall, hoping that he would wake up quickly enough. Red eyes dropped to his exposed throat that still held the bruises from a few days before and Naoki stiffened. The man smirked and looked at him expectantly. He knew he should have done something about it before going to sleep but he was already dressing warm during the day with turtle necks or scarves. He had thought that he could have a small reprieve from the hot summer air as he went to sleep in his room, but apparently it had not been enough. He knew the man was practically threatening him, knowing that Naoki was defenseless. Naoki gritted his teeth and spat, "what do you want to know?"

The man narrowed his eyes warningly but otherwise did not react to Naoki's tone of voice. "Everything you said before, trash."

Naoki pursed his lips in displeasure. There was no way he would tell his greatest secrets to a complete stranger who might or might not kill him, despite the fact that he had practically already done that that last time anyway.

"I will tell you if you tell me what 'Vongola' is," he bargained instead. Suddenly, before he could react, Naoki found himself in a familiar position, the same one he had found himself in that previous time; the man pinning him to the floor by a large hand around his throat and straddling his lithe hips to prevent mobility. Naoki glared and the hand around his throat tightened warningly, making him wince; it was not enough to make him gasp for breath but it hurt nonetheless, especially since he was already bruised there.

"How the f—k do you know that name?" the other man snarled. Naoki chocked as the hold around his throat momentarily tightened. His small hands scrambled to the man's wrist and tugged hopelessly against the strong hold. The man was strong; Naoki could actually feel the muscles in his arm. The hold loosened slightly, leaving the blonde boy gasping for breath. "Well, trash?"

Naoki scowled but still replied; this was getting out of his control. "I… found out on my own."

"How?"

Naoki gasped as the hold tightened before loosening again, threatening. "Some Italians came to my town and started living with my family. I… kind of followed them until I… patched up a few things together."

"What things? What did you find out? Well, trash? I'm waiting."

Naoki gritted his teeth. "There is something called 'Vongola' which those people are involved in, most likely illegal. My father in involved in this and it seems my brother is too. My brother's tutor mentioned something about him being the 'boss' and one of my brother's friends calls him 'Tenth'."

"WHAT!?" Naoki flinched, even as the man suddenly released him, standing up, only to kick at his throne-like chair in apparent anger. His eyes widened as he saw something of an angry orange swirling around the large man. He moved to stand up but it seemed like the slight movement had caught the other's attention as the angry man suddenly turned towards him and he found himself back in the same position as before. If he had not been in such a dangerous situation he would have considered their position to be highly embarrassing. "What's your brother's name, trash?" the man asked. Naoki coughed as the man pushed him forcefully to the floor. His momentary lapse of silence seemed to irate the man though as he was suddenly pulled up and slammed on the hard floor. He released a small cry, his vision going white briefly as he blinked furiously at the man hovering over him whose lips were pulled back in a feral snarl.

"I'm not… going to tell you when you so… clearly wish him… h-harm," Naoki gasped. As much as he always told himself that he did not care for Tsunayoshi, it was glaringly obvious that he did care and he was not going to send such a dangerous man after his brother! He had already pulled a blunder with what he had previously told, having not thought that maybe the man could be an enemy of his father's or Tsunayoshi's.

The man's face twisted in a highly unattractive manner as he growled at him. "You f—king –"

Naoki could never be more thankful when he suddenly found himself in his room, throat hurting and head pulsing in pain.

The first time Xanxus met that boy he was obviously surprised and with good reason. He knew that he had been frozen by his fa – that man and since, he had always been unaware. That was, until he suddenly found himself in a dungeon-like room with a throne of ice. He had sat down, with nothing better to do but to wallow in his anger at his predicament. He knew that he was still frozen though, since his 'body' did not feel like a real body. Then that boy had appeared out of nowhere, seeming as surprised as Xanxus had been.

However, like he had appeared, he also quickly disappeared and Xanxus found himself alone in the large room again. He did not know how long it was until the boy reappeared. Days? Weeks? In that place Xanxus had no real sense of time. When he did appear, it was obvious that the brat had no idea where they were either or why. Xanxus did learn, though, not only his name but the fact that the brat was related to that Sawada trash from the CEDEF.

(He did note the obvious disgust in the boy's voice when he mentioned his relation to the trash.)

He had asked mostly because he was bored and wanted something to entertain him (the only reason he had not killed him before). After all, remaining in that room for days on end with nothing to do, not even with a way to unleash his anger, was quite boring. The brat seemed to be the only one aside from Xanxus to have access to this place, even if he was so obviously a civilian.

He was prepared to threaten the boy with information about Sawada the next time he appeared but when he did appear, the brat was sulking and ignoring Xanxus. He would have killed the boy just for that if they had been in the real world but he could not exactly kill his only entertainment now, could he? He had had enough time to seethe during the time between the boy's departure and subsequent arrival so Xanxus was calmer than he usually was and just proceeded to ignore the brat.

Then the brat dared to appear before him like this again and his anger got the better of him again. When the boy had actually dared to talk back to him, Xanxus had been surprised. Not anyone had enough spine to do that; even a simple civilian could see that he was a dangerous man who had no qualms about hurting others.

However, what had really caught his attention was what the brat had said in his anger and following pathetic blubbering. He usually would have considered the other of lying but there had been an undercurrent of truth in his words; Xanxus became curious.

Arcobaleno? Or something similar anyway since the brat was a teen and not involved in the mafia, disregarding the fact that his father was Sawada.

The fact that the brat had again dared to talk back to him, and actually snarled at him, foolishly if Xanxus might add, while in obvious fear, picked the man's interest. Not just anyone could do that; either someone with extreme potential to be an assassin or an idiot. Normally he would be leaning towards the latter but something told him that the boy had potential. This was confirmed in their next meeting with everything the boy had concluded with a few nudges in the right direction.

At the time Xanxus was more concerned with the fact that the next heir had been decided in his frozen state and was actually that Sawada's spawn. It was only later, when the boy had disappeared (and was it not interesting to note that he had an effect on the boy even if they were not physically there?) that he really got to thinking about what had been said.

In only a few days the brat had been able to piece together enough information to cripple Vongola, only via a few well-placed words and some civilian level spying. He had mentioned a tutor and Xanxus knew for a fact that the Ninth would not send anyone to tutor the next Boss but the Sun Arcobaleno, Reborn.

This could only mean that either he had gotten his information without the hitman knowing, which was highly unlikely, or the hitman had been interested enough to let the boy have this information, if only to know what he was going to do with it.

The boy, with the right training, could be a great informant, assassin and a spy. Xanxus had never felt this need to dabble in someone else's potential; usually he could care less about others, but just this once Xanxus wanted to get involved, if only because he was bored and wanted to see what kind of havoc he could create by having Sawada Iemitsu's spawn on his side.

Yes, Xanxus had always been good at planning revenge.

I am still working on the next chapter (almost half-way done) so I don't know when the next update will happen. I am also working on the next chapter for 'The Gray Phoenix' so this too I don't know when I will update for those who are interested. I'm sorry for the long wait but I'm trying my best.

Well, tell me what you think and leave behind a review.

Thank you for reading.

Leight