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ship_manifestoTitle: Sakura Addiction: A Rokudo Mukuro/Hibari Kyoya Manifesto
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
asael
Word Count: 2,200ish
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Pairing: Mukuro/Hibari
Spoilers: Up to Chapter 256.
Notes: There's a ton of links to Onemanga in here, so thanks to all the translators who've worked on the manga.
The Story
Katekyo Hitman Reborn is about a young boy named Tsuna who discovers that he's been chosen to become the tenth head of the Vongola, a Mafia family. It starts out as a comedy, and eventually takes a sharp left into action - if you like Shounen Jump manga, you'll love this, provided you can get past the long stretch of silly, plotless comedy chapters at the beginning. But, as all fans will tell you, if you stick it out, it gets good. There's plenty of fights and entertaining plots and powering up - and, of course, time travel.
The Characters
Rokudo Mukuro
Murderer, Escaped Convict, Guardian of the Mist
the illusion that cannot be captured
As I said above, Katekyo Hitman Reborn is a silly comedy/action manga (heavy on the comedy, light on the action) for its first 61 chapters. Chapter 62 marks the turning point, and is where we get our first real story arc. Mukuro is the villain of that arc, and he's pretty good at it, with his skill at possession, illusions, and general mind control. We learn that he hates the mafia, and that he wants to take it one step further from just destroying them - he wants to ruin the entire world. We also eventually learn why (not from Mukuro himself, who never seems to willingly show his 'softer' side) - as a young child, he and his minions were experimented upon by a Mafia family, giving them their special abilities, until Mukuro broke them out. In the end, of course, he's defeated by our shounen hero, Tsuna, and taken back to the prison he escaped from.
In the next story arc, he's recruited to be one of Tsuna's Guardians, the seven people who will protect him and the Vongola family. 'Why?' is an excellent question, since he openly hates the Mafia and wants to possess Tsuna's body for his schemes. Well, it's because he's incredibly powerful, of course! And, uh, maybe Tsuna's father is kind of dumb. Mukuro's a good choice, anyway, because he dominates his fight completely. At the same time, we see again that Mukuro isn't all bad: he and his minions tried to break out of their prison again, but this time were less successful and Mukuro sacrificed himself to ensure their escape. He agreed to become Tsuna's Guardian in exchange for their continued freedom (though he claims it's to possess Tsuna). Freedom for himself was not part of the deal.
Then he disappears from the manga for a long time, most of the other characters travel to the dark future, you know, typical stuff. When we see him again we get to see how well he's aged in ten years, and we also eventually get to see that he's still right there in prison.
Mukuro's character is a difficult one to pin down, which is appropriate for the Guardian of the Mist. He's undeniably ruthless and outright cruel, but he also shows that he cares for his minions (Chikusa, Ken, and Chrome), even if he refuses to ever admit it. He's always smiling or laughing and rarely seems to take anything seriously, but the truth is that he's serious all the time. Mukuro never does anything without a reason.
He is also very interested in strong people, as toys or tools.
Hibari Kyoya
Captain of the Disciplinary Committee, Guardian of the Cloud
the floating cloud that won't be caught by anyone and goes its own way
Hibari Kyoya hates you. It's nothing personal, he hates everyone and everything, except possibly small woodland creatures.
Hibari shows up much earlier in the manga, and like everything else, is mostly played for laughs. Horrible, terrified laughs. His primary goal is to protect the discipline of Namimori Town and particularly Namimori Middle School, and he does it by beating the crap out of anyone who breaks the rules. And anyone who annoys him. And anyone who is crowding. You know, just don't go to Namimori.
He is recruited to be one of Tsuna's Guardians as well, despite that fact that he doesn't really care whether Tsuna lives or dies, and in fact throws his special shiny ring away. There's really no way to properly explain how little Hibari cares about his new role as the Cloud Guardian, but even so, he does usually end up helping out Tsuna in the end. Of course, it's never out of any kind of friendship, but rather because he wants to fight, and in fact Hibari will turn on his supposed companions in a second if they annoy him.
When we see Hibari in the future, it's clear that his temperament hasn't changed, though perhaps he's accepted his role as a Guardian a tiny bit more (enough to work with the Tsuna of that time, at least). Hibari is one of the most popular characters in the Reborn fandom, probably because of his almost hilariously standoffish nature.
Unlike Mukuro, there's no big mysteries about Hibari's personality - he cares about Namimori, and not much else. The only mystery we're given about Hibari is where he came from. We never see any family, and in the Vongola 77 character guide, it lists his age as '??'. So are there big secrets we don't know about Hibari's past, or does it just not matter? He does look a lot like the Arcobaleno Fon...
Hibari's prime motivation is Namimori. But if you want to bribe him to do something, mention Rokudo Mukuro... and then take a few big steps back. I don't want you to lose an eye or anything.
The Canon
Hibari and Mukuro first meet when Mukuro comes to Namimori for the first time. Mukuro is taking out all the strong people in turn in order to find Tsuna, and of course, Hibari is the strongest. Rather than wait his turn, Hibari goes to the source - irritated that someone is disrupting the order of Namimori. They fight, and Mukuro wins when he uses a weakness of Hibari's that he shouldn't even know about. He wins through trickery, but is certain that the outcome would have been no different any other way - Mukuro just used the easiest path. He doesn't fight for the pleasure of it, like Hibari does.
Hibari does not take losing well, but we'll get to that later.
He's out of commission for awhile, but shows up to help out in Tsuna's battle against Mukuro. This is when Hibari actually catches Mukuro's attention for the first time. It's pretty clear that before, Mukuro saw him only as a stepping stone to draw Tsuna in, but when Hibari manages to land hits on him when he should be incapable of fighting, Mukuro is impressed. Later, when Mukuro possesses Hibari's body, he's even more impressed to discover that Hibari's body is too broken for him to use, and yet Hibari still fought.
That's their first meeting, and to be honest, they haven't had a 'real' meeting in the manga again yet. That doesn't mean they don't think about each other, though - they do. A lot.
As I said above, Hibari is extremely motivated by the idea of getting to meet and fight Mukuro again, because Mukuro is one of the only people who has ever definitively beaten him in a fight. During the Ring Conflict arc, Reborn sees this and uses it to his advantage to keep Hibari from screwing everything up, by offering him the chance to battle Mukuro eventually. It's necessary to bribe Hibari somehow, or he'll just do whatever he wants, and what he wants usually isn't what the main character wants.
Mukuro, on the other hand, takes the time to go see how Hibari is doing. Luckily for everyone, Hibari is unaware that Mukuro is dropping by for a visit (as he's possessing Chrome's body at the time), and doesn't ever catch on - but it's obvious that neither of them has forgotten about the other.
Fastforward to the TYL (Ten Years Later) arc. We have no idea how Hibari and Mukuro's relationship has progressed during that time, but chances are they haven't really fought again (since Mukuro is still in prison). Hibari's still got the man on his mind, though - during his fight with Genkishi, he mentions that he loathes Mist users, and it seems like he's trained specifically to fight them. There is, of course, no one he could mean except Mukuro. He also investigated his movements via Kusakabe.
Mukuro has still kept an eye on Hibari in the intervening years, though we don't know how much. We've seen little of him in the TYL arc, but we do know that he watched Hibari through the owl box weapon he possessed. We also know that when he sent data from inside Millefiore to the Vongola, he sent it to Hibari's servers, NOT the Vongola ones.
Once the TYL version of Hibari is switched with his younger self, there's really only one sign of Hibari's continued interest in Mukuro. Whenever Mukuro is mentioned, the mangaka draws reactions from three people: Tsuna (the main character, natch), Chrome (Mukuro's medium, more or less), and Hibari.
Mukuro has just reappeared in the manga again, but he had other things on his mind (as he often does), so he didn't take much note of Hibari. Hibari, on the other hand, definitely noticed him.
The Pairing
Needless to say, this is a pairing composed entirely of subtext. It's also not exactly sunshine and roses, as Hibari's feelings towards Mukuro aren't very kind, and Mukuro's not the nicest guy either. But doesn't everyone like their pairings with a little (or a lot of) conflict?
Mukuro and Hibari are fun because of the conflict, and because of the possibilities. Despite the conflict between them, they have more in common than I'm sure Hibari would ever want to admit (I doubt Mukuro would mind much). Of the Vongola Guardians, they are the two who aren't really a part of Tsuna's 'nakama' - they fight with him, yes, but Hibari only does when it goes along with what he wants, and Mukuro only does because he's getting something out of it. They're also the harshest of the Guardians, with Hibari completely willing to bite people to death or to beat his own supposed allies, and Mukuro already in prison for murdering more than one Mafia family.
When it comes to canon, Hibari might hate Mukuro but he also thinks about him more than anything else except Namimori, it seems. Even people who Hibari interacts with more often, like Tsuna and Dino, don't interest him very much (though he'll fight with them, of course) - but mention Mukuro's name, and you've got Hibari interested (or completely furious, according to the omake). And let's be honest, it's very difficult to get Hibari interested in anything.
Mukuro, on the other hand, doesn't hate Hibari at all, but seems more... pleasantly interested in seeing how his strength develops. Is this so Mukuro can use him as a tool someday, like Lancia? Maybe, but if so then why hasn't Mukuro done it already, when Hibari is pretty clearly just as strong (or stronger, TYL)? Mukuro's a busy guy with lots of things on his mind (world domination and stuff), so he isn't quite as focused on Hibari as Hibari is on him, but he does go out of his way to see how Hibari's doing.
There's interest from both sides. What you see in the pairing, and how you choose to ship it, is really up to you. I love this pairing because of the vibe they both have, and because Mukuro is the only person that can get Hibari interested in... well, anything. I love the conflict, and I love the thought of them both mellowing out a little as they grow older, and maybe even working together (since they're the oddballs of the Guardians).
You'll find a lot of different interpretations of Mukuro/Hibari (and Hibari/Mukuro, though that's less common) in fandom, from outright non-con to about as close to fluff as these two characters can get. My personal take on the relationship is a little different than some (I'm one of the few Hibari/Mukuro authors), but anything goes, really. There's enough room to take them in just about any direction that you think would be fun.
Personally, I love that Mukuro gets under Hibari's skin so easily, and I love that Hibari captures Mukuro's attention in return. I like the idea that of all the Vongola Guardians, Hibari is the one that Mukuro would like best, because Hibari is the one least like the Mafia. I especially like that they think about each other when they're apart (Hibari particularly), since they're apart nearly all the time. And I love the potential of their relationship. When I read the manga, their connection and the sparks between them stood out to me more than any other potential pairing, and I still love every scene involving them.
For bonuses, there's a decent amount of official art and merchandise with them together as well (mostly from the anime, while I stuck to manga images for this manifesto), which is nice for a shipper. Their voice actors also did an ending song for the anime together, Sakura Addiction, which is gloriously gay, and which is the title of the pairing community devoted to them (and this manifesto, of course).
The Fandom
Needless to say, the best place for fanfiction and fanart is the pairing community,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mukuhiba. You can find a lot of good fic there, even if it's not the most active place ever.
Another place to look is the main community,hitman_reborn. Mukuro/Hibari isn't one of the most popular pairs in the fandom, so it might be hard to find things, but you can do it if you try! A note: Reborn fandom uses a number code to refer to character that is extremely unintuitive to non-fans. In short, Mukuro's number is 69 and Hibari's is 18, so labels of '6918' or '1869' will get you fics with the two of them. Be careful, though, because '96' is another character's number, and it can be easy to mistake '1869' and '1896'. I know, it's annoying, I'm sorry. I cannot make the fandom stop using numbers just by wishing really hard.
I have no specific fic or author recommendations, because I don't want to end up just reccing my friends (even if I do think they are excellent authors), so if anyone has specific recs, please feel free comment with them!
Author:
asaelWord Count: 2,200ish
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Pairing: Mukuro/Hibari
Spoilers: Up to Chapter 256.
Notes: There's a ton of links to Onemanga in here, so thanks to all the translators who've worked on the manga.
The Story
Katekyo Hitman Reborn is about a young boy named Tsuna who discovers that he's been chosen to become the tenth head of the Vongola, a Mafia family. It starts out as a comedy, and eventually takes a sharp left into action - if you like Shounen Jump manga, you'll love this, provided you can get past the long stretch of silly, plotless comedy chapters at the beginning. But, as all fans will tell you, if you stick it out, it gets good. There's plenty of fights and entertaining plots and powering up - and, of course, time travel.
The Characters
Rokudo Mukuro
Murderer, Escaped Convict, Guardian of the Mist
the illusion that cannot be captured
As I said above, Katekyo Hitman Reborn is a silly comedy/action manga (heavy on the comedy, light on the action) for its first 61 chapters. Chapter 62 marks the turning point, and is where we get our first real story arc. Mukuro is the villain of that arc, and he's pretty good at it, with his skill at possession, illusions, and general mind control. We learn that he hates the mafia, and that he wants to take it one step further from just destroying them - he wants to ruin the entire world. We also eventually learn why (not from Mukuro himself, who never seems to willingly show his 'softer' side) - as a young child, he and his minions were experimented upon by a Mafia family, giving them their special abilities, until Mukuro broke them out. In the end, of course, he's defeated by our shounen hero, Tsuna, and taken back to the prison he escaped from.
In the next story arc, he's recruited to be one of Tsuna's Guardians, the seven people who will protect him and the Vongola family. 'Why?' is an excellent question, since he openly hates the Mafia and wants to possess Tsuna's body for his schemes. Well, it's because he's incredibly powerful, of course! And, uh, maybe Tsuna's father is kind of dumb. Mukuro's a good choice, anyway, because he dominates his fight completely. At the same time, we see again that Mukuro isn't all bad: he and his minions tried to break out of their prison again, but this time were less successful and Mukuro sacrificed himself to ensure their escape. He agreed to become Tsuna's Guardian in exchange for their continued freedom (though he claims it's to possess Tsuna). Freedom for himself was not part of the deal.
Then he disappears from the manga for a long time, most of the other characters travel to the dark future, you know, typical stuff. When we see him again we get to see how well he's aged in ten years, and we also eventually get to see that he's still right there in prison.
Mukuro's character is a difficult one to pin down, which is appropriate for the Guardian of the Mist. He's undeniably ruthless and outright cruel, but he also shows that he cares for his minions (Chikusa, Ken, and Chrome), even if he refuses to ever admit it. He's always smiling or laughing and rarely seems to take anything seriously, but the truth is that he's serious all the time. Mukuro never does anything without a reason.
He is also very interested in strong people, as toys or tools.
Hibari Kyoya
Captain of the Disciplinary Committee, Guardian of the Cloud
the floating cloud that won't be caught by anyone and goes its own way
Hibari Kyoya hates you. It's nothing personal, he hates everyone and everything, except possibly small woodland creatures.
Hibari shows up much earlier in the manga, and like everything else, is mostly played for laughs. Horrible, terrified laughs. His primary goal is to protect the discipline of Namimori Town and particularly Namimori Middle School, and he does it by beating the crap out of anyone who breaks the rules. And anyone who annoys him. And anyone who is crowding. You know, just don't go to Namimori.
He is recruited to be one of Tsuna's Guardians as well, despite that fact that he doesn't really care whether Tsuna lives or dies, and in fact throws his special shiny ring away. There's really no way to properly explain how little Hibari cares about his new role as the Cloud Guardian, but even so, he does usually end up helping out Tsuna in the end. Of course, it's never out of any kind of friendship, but rather because he wants to fight, and in fact Hibari will turn on his supposed companions in a second if they annoy him.
When we see Hibari in the future, it's clear that his temperament hasn't changed, though perhaps he's accepted his role as a Guardian a tiny bit more (enough to work with the Tsuna of that time, at least). Hibari is one of the most popular characters in the Reborn fandom, probably because of his almost hilariously standoffish nature.
Unlike Mukuro, there's no big mysteries about Hibari's personality - he cares about Namimori, and not much else. The only mystery we're given about Hibari is where he came from. We never see any family, and in the Vongola 77 character guide, it lists his age as '??'. So are there big secrets we don't know about Hibari's past, or does it just not matter? He does look a lot like the Arcobaleno Fon...
Hibari's prime motivation is Namimori. But if you want to bribe him to do something, mention Rokudo Mukuro... and then take a few big steps back. I don't want you to lose an eye or anything.
The Canon
Hibari and Mukuro first meet when Mukuro comes to Namimori for the first time. Mukuro is taking out all the strong people in turn in order to find Tsuna, and of course, Hibari is the strongest. Rather than wait his turn, Hibari goes to the source - irritated that someone is disrupting the order of Namimori. They fight, and Mukuro wins when he uses a weakness of Hibari's that he shouldn't even know about. He wins through trickery, but is certain that the outcome would have been no different any other way - Mukuro just used the easiest path. He doesn't fight for the pleasure of it, like Hibari does.
Hibari does not take losing well, but we'll get to that later.
He's out of commission for awhile, but shows up to help out in Tsuna's battle against Mukuro. This is when Hibari actually catches Mukuro's attention for the first time. It's pretty clear that before, Mukuro saw him only as a stepping stone to draw Tsuna in, but when Hibari manages to land hits on him when he should be incapable of fighting, Mukuro is impressed. Later, when Mukuro possesses Hibari's body, he's even more impressed to discover that Hibari's body is too broken for him to use, and yet Hibari still fought.
That's their first meeting, and to be honest, they haven't had a 'real' meeting in the manga again yet. That doesn't mean they don't think about each other, though - they do. A lot.
As I said above, Hibari is extremely motivated by the idea of getting to meet and fight Mukuro again, because Mukuro is one of the only people who has ever definitively beaten him in a fight. During the Ring Conflict arc, Reborn sees this and uses it to his advantage to keep Hibari from screwing everything up, by offering him the chance to battle Mukuro eventually. It's necessary to bribe Hibari somehow, or he'll just do whatever he wants, and what he wants usually isn't what the main character wants.
Mukuro, on the other hand, takes the time to go see how Hibari is doing. Luckily for everyone, Hibari is unaware that Mukuro is dropping by for a visit (as he's possessing Chrome's body at the time), and doesn't ever catch on - but it's obvious that neither of them has forgotten about the other.
Fastforward to the TYL (Ten Years Later) arc. We have no idea how Hibari and Mukuro's relationship has progressed during that time, but chances are they haven't really fought again (since Mukuro is still in prison). Hibari's still got the man on his mind, though - during his fight with Genkishi, he mentions that he loathes Mist users, and it seems like he's trained specifically to fight them. There is, of course, no one he could mean except Mukuro. He also investigated his movements via Kusakabe.
Mukuro has still kept an eye on Hibari in the intervening years, though we don't know how much. We've seen little of him in the TYL arc, but we do know that he watched Hibari through the owl box weapon he possessed. We also know that when he sent data from inside Millefiore to the Vongola, he sent it to Hibari's servers, NOT the Vongola ones.
Once the TYL version of Hibari is switched with his younger self, there's really only one sign of Hibari's continued interest in Mukuro. Whenever Mukuro is mentioned, the mangaka draws reactions from three people: Tsuna (the main character, natch), Chrome (Mukuro's medium, more or less), and Hibari.
Mukuro has just reappeared in the manga again, but he had other things on his mind (as he often does), so he didn't take much note of Hibari. Hibari, on the other hand, definitely noticed him.
The Pairing
Needless to say, this is a pairing composed entirely of subtext. It's also not exactly sunshine and roses, as Hibari's feelings towards Mukuro aren't very kind, and Mukuro's not the nicest guy either. But doesn't everyone like their pairings with a little (or a lot of) conflict?
Mukuro and Hibari are fun because of the conflict, and because of the possibilities. Despite the conflict between them, they have more in common than I'm sure Hibari would ever want to admit (I doubt Mukuro would mind much). Of the Vongola Guardians, they are the two who aren't really a part of Tsuna's 'nakama' - they fight with him, yes, but Hibari only does when it goes along with what he wants, and Mukuro only does because he's getting something out of it. They're also the harshest of the Guardians, with Hibari completely willing to bite people to death or to beat his own supposed allies, and Mukuro already in prison for murdering more than one Mafia family.
When it comes to canon, Hibari might hate Mukuro but he also thinks about him more than anything else except Namimori, it seems. Even people who Hibari interacts with more often, like Tsuna and Dino, don't interest him very much (though he'll fight with them, of course) - but mention Mukuro's name, and you've got Hibari interested (or completely furious, according to the omake). And let's be honest, it's very difficult to get Hibari interested in anything.
Mukuro, on the other hand, doesn't hate Hibari at all, but seems more... pleasantly interested in seeing how his strength develops. Is this so Mukuro can use him as a tool someday, like Lancia? Maybe, but if so then why hasn't Mukuro done it already, when Hibari is pretty clearly just as strong (or stronger, TYL)? Mukuro's a busy guy with lots of things on his mind (world domination and stuff), so he isn't quite as focused on Hibari as Hibari is on him, but he does go out of his way to see how Hibari's doing.
There's interest from both sides. What you see in the pairing, and how you choose to ship it, is really up to you. I love this pairing because of the vibe they both have, and because Mukuro is the only person that can get Hibari interested in... well, anything. I love the conflict, and I love the thought of them both mellowing out a little as they grow older, and maybe even working together (since they're the oddballs of the Guardians).
You'll find a lot of different interpretations of Mukuro/Hibari (and Hibari/Mukuro, though that's less common) in fandom, from outright non-con to about as close to fluff as these two characters can get. My personal take on the relationship is a little different than some (I'm one of the few Hibari/Mukuro authors), but anything goes, really. There's enough room to take them in just about any direction that you think would be fun.
Personally, I love that Mukuro gets under Hibari's skin so easily, and I love that Hibari captures Mukuro's attention in return. I like the idea that of all the Vongola Guardians, Hibari is the one that Mukuro would like best, because Hibari is the one least like the Mafia. I especially like that they think about each other when they're apart (Hibari particularly), since they're apart nearly all the time. And I love the potential of their relationship. When I read the manga, their connection and the sparks between them stood out to me more than any other potential pairing, and I still love every scene involving them.
For bonuses, there's a decent amount of official art and merchandise with them together as well (mostly from the anime, while I stuck to manga images for this manifesto), which is nice for a shipper. Their voice actors also did an ending song for the anime together, Sakura Addiction, which is gloriously gay, and which is the title of the pairing community devoted to them (and this manifesto, of course).
The Fandom
Needless to say, the best place for fanfiction and fanart is the pairing community,
mukuhiba. You can find a lot of good fic there, even if it's not the most active place ever.Another place to look is the main community,
hitman_reborn. Mukuro/Hibari isn't one of the most popular pairs in the fandom, so it might be hard to find things, but you can do it if you try! A note: Reborn fandom uses a number code to refer to character that is extremely unintuitive to non-fans. In short, Mukuro's number is 69 and Hibari's is 18, so labels of '6918' or '1869' will get you fics with the two of them. Be careful, though, because '96' is another character's number, and it can be easy to mistake '1869' and '1896'. I know, it's annoying, I'm sorry. I cannot make the fandom stop using numbers just by wishing really hard.I have no specific fic or author recommendations, because I don't want to end up just reccing my friends (even if I do think they are excellent authors), so if anyone has specific recs, please feel free comment with them!
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