BREAK OUT

A Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Fanfiction

Niko: Alright, let's get this story started! I did say that the first chapter will be up soon, didn't I? Today marks the beginning of BREAK OUT!

Ooh, by the way, if you notice up top, this story has a cool little logo thing. I designed it back in the beginning of the school year, and I am very proud of it. Right now it might not make much sense, but once more chapters start flowing in, it will make more sense.
(But boo, fanfiction cropped it. If you want to see the uncropped version, look up Kimitori-J on deviantART, it should be my newest submission)

Before we start, I'd like to thank all the people who waited for my return. I noticed every single review, alert, and favourite, and they have really pushed me to make this story good. I hope that this story is too your likings.

So then, let's start.

EDIT: If you've read the latest chapter of Reborn! (specifically chapter 398 and those proceeding it) this story is sort of off-canon now. However! I have a good explanation for what happens in this story. It takes place in a parallel world or a separate timeline, whichever terminology you'd prefer. Basically, in this timeline: it takes place ten years in the future, Byakuran is gone, and Mammon is a part of Varia rather than Fran/Flan (who is with Mukuro I suppose). I hope that clears things up!

I DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN!

Enter Varia

All around me were sounds. Different sounds but familiar. A furious crackling before an explosion. Ribs groaning as they were snapped by the force of a blunt surface. An uninterested scoff before wailing screams, begging for mercy. A joyful laughter as the knives buzzed around in the sky taking their targets without hesitation. Yes sounds I recognize, sounds of my comrades. Sounds that would make the weak of heart faint or run, but they made my heart pound will excitement.

But then... more sounds came, overthrowing the ones I found familiar.

Each started small. The near inaudible sound of a coin flipping then a sharp cry of lightning. The delicate sound of a fan flapping before the squelching sound flesh being punctured. A frustrated growl before the hum of a blade as it sliced through its mark. The quiet prowl of an arrow in the air before a scream brimming with terror and disbelief. The sound of heavy footsteps against the ground ending with the scream of a blade breaking in two.

What? What are these? I... I don't recognize them at all. The quiet sounds were then drowned out as the louder ones blasted out. Then the sounds clamoured together vehemently trying to overtake one another. Familiar sounds and unfamiliar ones warring against each other. It was loud but it was silenced by a gunshot.

A familiar gunshot fruitlessly colliding with a metal surface.

Then the sounds erupted once more, now peppered with gunshots and the sound of a heavy blade whirling in the air. It was starting to disturb me. No, not disturb. It made my heart race and quench at the same time. I was excited, yet at the same time I was paralyzed by some unknown force. What is this feeling? It's so... sickeningly nostalgic.

"Hey, Squalo, did you know sharks are the most dangerous predators in the waters? However, even the mighty shark is the prey to man."

Ah, that's what it is... Hello again, my fear. I remember locking you up a long, long time ago. I remember disowning you completely. Why have you come back?

I was replied by the calming yet thrilling sound of blades grunting against each other. The other sounds had disappeared, leaving the swords to overtake the void they had left. My heart beat against my chest, it was going crazy. I don't know what's going on. I'm excited. I'm calm. I'm scared. I'm angry. What's happening?

I woke up eventually. I had been getting these dreams frequently now. Each time another sound would join. This time it was the sounds of swords clashing. It was too much of a coincidence but I was unsure of who to talk to about these "dreams". There were no sights, only sounds. Sometimes, there would be a flicker of visuals. Usually my comrades and their weapons, but nothing else. I suppose... I could talk to Mammon about them... but he'd probably charge me for it...

Forget it. It was a dream and it doesn't matter.

It was clearly morning, but still too early to be up. Good though. It's best to wake up at this time, before you get caught in Bel's pranks. Every now and then, Bel will set something up for an unsuspecting member of Varia. It's also how he wakes up, because the moment the prank is a success, the prankee will yell out his name in utter frustration. He has too much time on his hands, really. I would just set an alarm clock.

Of course, no one ever knows who will be pranked, only Bel and maybe Mammon. Mammon, despite being an kid, does not get much sleep and usually spends his nights floating around the base. Sometimes he witnesses Belphegor set up his traps during his nightly floats. Mammon has often offered some members to watch over Belphegor in case he happens to target them, for a price of course. Occasionally though, Belphegor will prank more than one person, just for the Hell of it. This is why I usually wake up earlier than most other members. To get myself ready for the day and wait for the sounds of unhappy and frustrated Varia members.

This is how I start my day.

From my bed I looked around me. Nothing seemed to be tampered with. My room was plain, to say the least. My bed was large, and was far from the door. Beside it was a nightstand with barely anything inside it. Against the wall was a large wardrobe, filled simply with five sets of my uniform, and a couple bits of casual and formal attire. My sword leaned against the nightstand, at the ready in case there was ever a threat during the night.

Opposite from my bed, in clear view, was the painting I had kept since my years in the academy. Several times I was tempted to paint over it, since my hair is no longer as short as it is in the painting. However each time I would decide against it. Luccino, the original painter, had done a stunning job with my hair. It had this radiant glow that I could not ever attempt to replicate into longer locks. I left it as it was, as a message to me: "This is your goal."

One night when Belphegor came into to set up a prank for me, I was still awake. I noticed the paintbrush in his hand and I gave him a warning. Belphegor maybe young and stupid, but he knows when to back off. Yes he still sets up pranks on me, but he knows to avoid that painting and my sword, just as he knows not to prank the big boss.

Well, everything seems normal, I think I will continue on with my day then. I got out of my bed and grabbed my sword as I stood up. All seemed well so far. So far. I took my sword along with me into the washroom. Each member of Varia has their own washroom in their room, which is good. Besides my bedroom and occasionally the rooftop, the washroom is the only place I get some privacy and regain some of my sanity.

Nothing was out of place when I was inside. I closed the door behind me and placed my sword against the wall as I went to wash my face. While everything seemed fine, there was a foreign smell in the air. I knew it was there but I just did not know where it came form or what it was. It was not a foul smell, but it was different, which made it easier to sense.

I tried to wave it off as petty paranoia. As I washed my face, I met my own glare in the mirror. Every time I saw a mirror or some kind of reflective surface, I would look and wait, but she never came back. Before I could only see Esther from reflective surfaces, as if she didn't belong in this world. However as years passed, I could see her beside me without the presence of a mirror between us. Only I could see her, which was nice. Since she disappeared that night, I would stare into the mirror, waiting for the moment she would surprise me and come back.

Each time though, I was alone with my reflection.

I reached for my toothbrush and toothpaste, trying to feel a little more at ease. There was only a small chance Belphegor would even prank me. Then again, he preferred pranking me, since my voice was definitely loud enough to wake him up from the other side of the base. I sighed and shook the paranoia as I squeezed the tube to empty its contents onto my brush.

Glue...

He put... glue in the toothpaste...(1)

I bit my lip and sucked in air. Breathe Squalo, breathe and do not fulfill the desires of that bratty prince. Breathe and go into the cabinet and get another tube. That's right. I shifted over to the cabinet and took out another tube of toothpaste.

Glue.

Another tube.

...

"VOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIII! GODDAMMIT, HOW DO EVEN HAVE THE FUCKING TIME TO PUT GLUE INTO ALL THOSE TUBES? THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU! I CAN'T EVEN...! VVVVVOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Breakfast was lovely.

Everyone was in the dining room. Meal times varied with Varia. Often times we wouldn't eat together, we were usually too busy with missions. There were those rare occurrences when we all had enough free time to sit together inside four closed walls to eat and chat like sane humans.

Yeah right.

Breakfast was usually milder than any other meals we share together. A lot of us were not morning people, so that was the main reason. However, some of us just happened to be morning people.

Let's go down the list: Xanxus usually isn't even at his seat. He's most likely still sleeping in his bedroom. However today, he has presented us the gift of his presence, only to fall asleep between bites of his unusually large breakfast. I was not sure which was stranger, the sound of Xanxus scarfing down food or the sound of Xanxus snoring with food in his mouth. Obvious to say, boss is not a morning person.

Leviathan was definitely not a morning person. Judging by his unhappy expression, and the fact I heard loud noises coming from his room, he must have also been pranked today. I was beginning to wonder if it had been the same prank, since Levi did not eat anything. All he did was take the occasional sip of his coffee, unusually with a straw. It was nice not hearing his voice. Perhaps Bel was onto something here.

Speaking of Belphegor, he was partially a morning person and partially not. It really depended on whether or not his prank succeeded. He was content at breakfast, knowing that at least Levi was caught in his snares. Even though I did not mirror the same results as Levi had, Bel was content knowing that I at least recognized his handiwork. This is a bad habit that I have.

Beside the chirpy prince was Mammon. Over the ten years, he had grown more evidently than the rest of us. Mammon, who was no longer an infant, was not a morning person, usually because Bel would always wake him up in the morning cheerfully. Usually, if Belphegor is in a good mood in the morning, Mammon probably isn't. The opposite is the same, if Belphegor is not so happy, Mammon will be quietly content.

Lussuria as expected is an up-beat morning person, if Belphegor did not prank him in the morning. So of course, Lussuria had a bright smile on his face as he ate his food neater than the rest of us. Every now and then he would prompt the other members to engage in conversation. Today Belphegor was the big talker, while Mammon played around with his food and Levi kept his mouth shut and gave Bel death glares. Lussuria just saw it as any regular day, which, in all honesty, it was.

Then there was me. I can't say I am a morning person, but I can get through the morning just fine... sort of. About the toothpaste, I resorted to asking the only other person up as early as me for a tube: Mammon. I was still wondering just how Belphergor found the time to take all the toothpaste out and put glue back in the tubes. Not just for me but for Levi too, that brat was just asking for it.

Normally, whenever the team gets together for a meal, there is usually a reason for it. The meal has nothing to do with the reason, it is just there to get boss to come over. So what was the reason for this meeting? The same topic of discussion we've had for approximately ten years:

A new officer candidate for Varia.

Ten years ago, we had our first meeting on it. We decided it to be Fran(2) however he became... an undesirable candidate with his memories of the future gone. After that we would have the same discussion at least once a year.

It's hard finding an appropriate candidate for the officer position of Varia. First and foremost, we would check with our subordinates, if there were any who were fit for a promotion. However, they always failed to impress us each year. Many of our subordinates would not even apply. I have no idea why. Even if a subordinate passed the minimum qualifications, it was then the current officerss choices to decide whether or not they should be promoted. Of course it was difficult for the six of us to come together into a unanimous decision. Applicant after applicant, we would veto each other's decisions and votes. Xanxus did not make these decisions any easier. If he showed up, he would always say no, and bunch of other colourful vocabulary before asking for a shot of tequila.

Other times, we would have the odd person outside of Varia, Fran for example, and put them under consideration for Varia. However it is still difficult. The fact that they are not in Varia as a subordinate makes us question their abilities. There is also the bare minimum qualification that they must be fluent in a minimum of seven languages.

Yes I do speak at least seven languages, nine actually: Italian, English, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, German, French, and Punjabi.

So for ten years, we still have not found our new officer. We once suggested to bring back Gola Mosca, but the Vongola Decimo would definitely not agree with that. As much as we still follow the now quite elderly Vongola Nono, we are still under the brat and his Guardians. Sometimes I chuckle at the thought of what would have happened if we had won those times. Maybe if we had succeeded in the coup d'état or during the Ring Battles, what would be different right now? I wonder...

The reason why we kept looking for a new officer was because the Vongola Decimo wanted it so. The six of us were fine on our own, but a seventh member could not hurt, even as a replacement in case things got ugly. Some years he asks us of the status of the search, but we always come empty-handed.

So I don't think I need to continue on about how the rest of the day carried out. It's boring really. When we could all be out on missions, we're stuck in the Varia base, going over our applicants. One good thing is that each year they are different, I don't need to be reminded how our own subordinates scream like pubescent children. It does get tiring watching grown men scream and run out of the room, defiling their uniform pants in fear.

Okay why did I even...

What was a single day felt like a year. Sort of made sense though. Our applicants were... unpromising, at best, once again. Xanxus fell asleep right after eating, leaving the rest of us to bicker about the applicants.

The first was a wiry and lean young man. He was incomprehensibly flexible and swift. Part-way through showing his abilities, Bel started throwing knives, which he was able to dodge. However, he lacked any physical strength, which is kind of a qualification you need to have when you're in an assassination squad. As quick as he was on his feet, we decided against him.

Another was a chubby man with a sense of humour. He was rather strong and despite his girth, he was rather agile. Bel found him humourous, a fat man fluttering like a butterfly. Levi didn't like him though, he did not act like he was reliable in any way. During his fluttering, he had eventually knocked over the boss's glass onto the floor. Xanxus, fortunately, was asleep, but he twitched at the sound of glass falling to the floor. The idiot was lucky but luck doesn't exist in our line of work and he was one risk we were definitely not taking.

Later on there was a noisy man with great physical strength. He was strong and he was very able with a multitude of weapons. Lussuria liked him quite a lot, especially when the candidate greeted him as "Big Sis Lussuria". Well he's got one of our votes then. Leviathan also liked how he was quite disciplined as well, being perfectly on time and greeted each of the officers. Another vote. For once, it seemed like we finally had a clear winner. He was well built, strong, disciplined, and seemed perfect for the job. When he was showing how he handled each weapon, Xanxus had apparently woken up. No one had noticed the awakening of our boss until a gunshot shouted across the dining room and a high-pitched scream echoed shortly after. The candidate was holding his head down, crouching on the ground and shaking as much as a person huddled in a ball possibly could. The bullet didn't hit him, but it was close enough to result in a panic attack from the candidate. Xanxus scoffed and grunted for the next applicant before leaning back in his chair, returning to his slumber

Progress made: none

By the end of the day we had gone through a third of our applicants. Some of the interviews took much longer than expected, some were in and out before they could even show us anything.

We also had to end early, because we were called in by the Vongola Decimo. Odd of him to call us on such short notice. He would often send someone at least a month in advance. He of all people knew just how busy our schedules were, we can't always go meet up for a meeting when we're across the globe dealing with difficult targets. So when the Vongola agent came to give us the message, we all knew something was wrong. We ended the interviews and decided that we would continue tomorrow. I already knew we weren't going to get through all of them in one day. We never do.

So we headed off to the Vongola base, which was not too far from ours. Since Varia was a part of Vongola, it would make sense that our bases were close. However when we built the base, we built it a little further away from the Vongola property, showing how we don't really support the Vongola Decimo. I was not sure how to view his response when he let us build our base further off. Was he humouring us?

It was a hectic car ride later before we got to the base. The Vongola agent continued to guide us, even though we knew where to go. I guess Vongola still was weary of Varia ever since the Cradle Affair. We had to trust each other at least on the battlefield, but when we were together in each other's grounds, we were viewed as threats.

We got to the conference room where the brat and his Guardians were. Each one of them had aged much as well. They had all grown and matured in some way, even that piece of trash, Yamamoto.

"Voi, it's been a while you scum!" I greeted them the same way I pretty much always greeted them. Smiles flickered on a couple faces as we took our seats before the Vongola Decimo.

"So, what have you called us in for, this time?" It was very likely to be a mission and judging by his sudden call for us, it was probably an urgent job that needed to be completely swiftly and efficiently. Everything seemed to be like business as usual.

But it was not.

"I have heard that we caught you in the middle of your officer candidate interviews," Tsunayoshi Sawada spoke. He, of all of those kids, had probably grown the most. A no-good wuss who was scared of the world now owned it in his hand through the mafia. His eyes had hardened but they still held a warmth that not many mafia members could hold. That warmth was not just the Dying Will Flame, but something else foreign to me.

"Have you had any results?"

"No one," I answered briefly. Between all of us, I was usually the only one to converse with the Vongola. Levi, of all of us, did not support him at all. Xanxus refused to acknowledge Sawada as Vongola Decimo, even to point of refusing to attend his Inheritance Ceremony. Belphegor often says he finds it boring talking to peasants. I'm not entirely sure why Mammon and Lussuria don't speak, but I think it is along the lines of boredom. That left me. Great.

"I see..." Sawada frowned when he heard the new. I refused to believe that he had called us just for a status update on us finding a new officer. No, there was more he wanted to say. So I kept my mouth shut and waited.

"I suppose you've been wondering why I called you over," Sawada said, noticing that we were all waiting. Not necessarily for him, but waiting for when we could leave.

"Well Varia has been issued a challenge by vagabond troop of assassins. They are waiting in the other room and they have requested a tournament between themselves and Varia. How does that sound to you?"

A challenge? Well this was definitely different. We have not been challenged like this before. It was a formal challenge, a tournament, which meant there had to be strings attached. Risks that will need to be taken. Blood that had to be spilled. I liked it and it seemed I wasn't the only one.

"VVOOOOIII! WE ACCEPT THEIR CHALLENGE!"

Nico: And that's it for this chapter!

Okay, basically this chapter is rather calm and humourous in a sense, no action just yet. The action should start coming up soon when the problem of the story comes about. Soon.

A reminder: I will be posting up a new chapter once a week, so chapter 2 will be out next week!

Notes:

1. Points for anyone who understood that reference

2. (This should be two notes but oh well.) I'm not entirely sure if his name is Fran or Flan. Apparently Flan is popularly chosen as his official name, but on official merchandise his name is Fran. I just chose Fran, because I think it sounds cute in my opinion (Fran, short for Francis, he was found in France).
Another note about Fran is that he was one of the reasons (besides school) that I could not write this story earlier. I needed to find out whether or not Fran would still be a part of Varia (since I stick very close to the canon when I write fanfictions).

Before I end this chapter off I have a message for a reviewer. As I cannot private message you back, I hope you read this because I would like to thank you. Your message hurt. It truly did. For a moment in time I wanted to give up this story. But no. I didn't. Because I saw what I had to do. I have to write it. Not just for myself, not just for you, but for all the kind readers who liked the prequel.
I am honoured that you deemed my story interesting, so I hope that you will be patient as I post up the chapters. I hope to finish this story within the summer. So please... just give me some time.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you kindly for reading.

Please Read and Review!