#i saw the words 'the hazards of fame for a professional criminal' on my dash

[hopeswriting]

hey wouldn't reborn's fame actually be much more low key? like, realistically speaking. and not low key as in less famous, but more like way less openly spoken about and advertised (by reborn included).

because he's the world's greatest hitman, right? and the dead can't talk and i doubt he'd ever leave any witnesses behind, if only because it's just common sense not to lol.

and all his disguises he clearly loves to indulge himself with? i mean he'd have to pretend to be a different person for each of his hits so to approach his targets the easiest/get them where he needs to to kill them. and if not that, then it just wouldn't be smart to approach them as he really looks like in the very unlikely case the hit goes wrong.

also he can't just have people know what he really looks like, and makes it more difficult for him to approach his targets. not that he wouldn't love the challenge, even if unfortunately it wouldn't make for an actual challenge at all because they just can't hope to ever see him come soon enough it'll make any difference. i mean, he's reborn.

and that one panel that shows he has a wide array of weapons he can and knows how to use? it makes sense he'd have needed to pick up on the skills because different requirements of his hits would have required different means of doing them, but also he can't have people pick up patterns on how he likes to kill people either. not that there're any to begin with, reborn isn't one for consistency after all (he gets bored quickly).

so no one knows what he really looks like.

and no one can ever hope to guess how he'll kill his next target, even if they'd knew everything else about the hit. and it's even more unfortunate when they're the next target in question lol.

no one even knows what flames attributes he has, and a good chunk of them actually think he isn't active at all because reborn likes to do things traditionally, and also mastering weapons by his own efforts is just a hobby of his. but also because he's always disguised as a different person, so none of the few crumbs they have on what he might really look like is the same, and thus a good majority of them thinks he's a mist.

so like, less of a "has a whole mafia island decorated with balloons in the shape of his head" type of fame, and more of a "the monster under your bed" type of fame. except when you go to look under your bed, the monster is actually here, and he gives you a nice hole right in the middle of your forehead.

or the monster in your closet, except when you open it to look inside, you know it, he shoots you in the head. and then probably puts you inside the closet, so the next person to open it has the nice little surprise to find a body in it. and hey, it's their fucking problem now to dispose of it.

and suddenly "skeleton in your closet" comes to mean an entirely different thing in the mafia world. a much more literal one too, because now the skeleton in the closet is you, except you're less of a skeleton and more of a very cold, very much dead body.

like, idk, they'd ask each other if they have skeletons in their closet, meaning if they had the pleasure to open their closet one day and realize reborn did a little spring cleaning in their life. or hardened hitmen warning the newbies by asking if they want to find skeletons in their closet, because sure, we all want to take on the big/challenging hits to make a name for ourselves and prove our skills, but those hits? if you know what's good for you, you wait to see if reborn won't show an interest in them first.

or just as a general warning, really. mafiosi starting to make it big, and draw attention onto them, and make people talk about them, and someone else goes "you sure about that buddy? because that's a surefire way to find skeletons in your closet."

because, consider, bogeyman reborn. and in the literal sense of the term too, because let's be real, reborn just wouldn't accept any hits. what is he, their errand boy? he's doing them a favor by letting them pay him to do their dirty work, so the least they can do (and will do, or else) in exchange is making it interesting. though it isn't enough to just be a big name, even if of course, reborn would like to see anyone try to pay him to go after anyone that didn't even make it on the top dogs’ radars yet. either you know his worth, or you get shot on sight.

but anyway, for reborn to accept a hit? the target not only needs to be big, but also and mainly, have some Flare.

they have to create and be surrounded by a decent amount of Chaos, and bonus points if everything will turn even more chaotic once he puts a bullet through their head.

you know, some Tastes, an Aesthetic, be involved in Outrageous Drama, and be Scandalously Gossiped about like it's the victorian era and they showed too much skin. (i actually know nothing about the victorian era lol, sorry if this isn't accurate.)

so he does, in fact, keeps everyone in their best behavior in that way. because like, the last thing they need as they're making it big is making it outlandishly big, lest reborn accepts the hit on their heads should it ever be asked of him.

"oh shit, oh fuck, is that a green chameleon?? oh god it fucking is, and this guy says he’s a hitman too, fuck fuck fuck—"

but also, because reborn's proud, and more importantly would hate for some incompetent nobody to take credit for his work, i feel like he'd still sign his hits somehow. i'm thinking something to do with leon. just so reborn can watch people freak out whenever they see leon on his hat, and go

then

"no, wait, would he show him just like that? no way, haha, you're being stupid, the world's greatest hitman is always so careful not to let on who they're really are, no way—"

but also like

"what if though??? what fucking if?????? oh fuck fuck fuck, do i need to run—"

and reborn simply will never get tired of it.

idk guys, just. reborn being and having his own little horror story, both the warning and the punishment.

reborn having lore about him, being talked about in fearful whispers with no one ever daring to speak his name.

and idk where i was going to take this, if anywhere at all lol, but also consider, the chosen seven meeting.

so even then, they still don’t know who reborn is.

i know in fics they're often made to introduce themselves to each other, but also? i mean, they're strangers gathered together by a suspicious masked man they never heard about before, so let's say they don't just go ahead and drop their actual names and what they do best to each other.

lal and reborn use guns as their primary weapons, and even if the wgh is known to use a variety of weapons, it's also known they use guns the most often.

they know the wgh is among them because checker face clearly said this was the gathering of the strongest seven, but to narrow it down further than that? and the thing is, they have reason to doubt everyone else.

viper is the primary suspect because they're a mist, what's with the countless different appearances that are linked with the wgh.

likewise with skull, who actually comes second to viper as the one most suspected, because as a stuntman he'd have dabbed in acting, which means pretending to be different people and getting to learn how to use different weapons.

fon would also have been a primary suspect, but it becomes obvious really quick he's exclusively a hand-to-hand combat fighter.

verde and reborn again, because of the wgh's needlessly intricate mind games and schemes, but that sure as hell always work perfectly.

and luce, as a donna with the political reach and influence that comes with it, because the wgh sure doesn't seem to give a fuck in what political sand boxes he plays, and how dire the consequences will be once he leaves them bloody.

but then of course, they learn about each other by working together, and what everyone's respective field is. and, hear me out, from then one they think skull is the wgh.

because they're proud assholes, and being the greatest stuntman just doesn't cut it for them. and more importantly, skull sucks mafia wise because for all intent and purposes he's a civilian, but no way that isn't just an act. after all they're the strongest seven, and as far as they know he was chosen alongside with them.

and they think skull is the wgh, and he finds it so funny.

meanwhile reborn is fucking with them with a straight face while looking them straight in the eye the whole time. he says he's the best spy of his generation or something, tho of course he never comes with nowhere near as flawless covers as he could in front of them. all around he’s constantly downplaying his skills around them, and strictly uses guns around them and nothing else.

and whenever they start to catch on he just uses his flames in a very obviously healing manner, because not so subconscious bias sure is a force to be reckoned with, and what kind of sun would end up as the wgh?

meanwhile luce knows exactly what's happening from day one. and enjoys the chaos immensely. and sure as hell doesn't tattle. she gets to know something and not tell and have it be completely harmless for once, as a treat. <3