KitsuneFreak: Chapter 6, another installment of the dysfunctional but sweet Vongola family. Let's see if I got the mixture of humor and family just right in this, enjoy!
Headaches are going away now so I'm glad. My cold/flu thing is following right after so the world's good. You get your stories, everybody's happy!
Jeez, I've been spending so much time on 'To Reach…' that I feel as though I'm neglecting this family fic. No worries~! It's all under control. And the moment you've all been waiting for….Vongola rings it is!
Oh and another thing that's been bothering me. Does anyone have any trouble accessing various pages on FFnet? I can't read some stories, get to my own reviews page; get to my profile or search up certain stories 80 percent of the time because of dumb error message pages. It's slightly frustrating and is not helping…
Disclaimer: Do you think I'd be able to own it if I bribed? Guess not.
{Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Mushroom, Mushroom…}
G couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You did what?"
"I want to commission for the creation of special rings that will seal our friendship forever!"
Giotto – it was recently found by the other Guardians – was a complete fanatic of the classic romantic novels and the common themes that were inside. There were the sweet stories of everlasting friendships and it was likely that one could throw in a couple stories of majestic knights slaying dragon-like beasts. Honestly, G had no problem with it at all… so long as it never prodded into his personal bubble space – and by God, Giotto was doing a darn good job of bursting it right now.
"Yes, I know we're childhood friends and all, but is that ring really necessary?"
"But—but you'll be the only one left out then, G," Giotto gave a small pout and sighed miserably.
"Only one… left out?" G's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Mhmm! I commissioned a special design for all of you!"
G gave another exasperated groan. With Giotto in charge of design, he wouldn't be surprised if all the rings came in the shape of a heart for a design with an enormous clam in the center. It really wouldn't have been a surprise. However, while G admitted, acknowledged and endorsed his friendship with Giotto, he didn't want his masculinity shattered whenever he reached out his hand for a shake or wave a goodbye. He doubted that the other Guardians would disagree with him on that fact.
Mafia men with clam heart rings?
Not impressive and or intimidating at all.
"Well?"
While the thought was being mulled over in G's mind, he quickly began laying out the plan to find and combine his fellow Guardians' support and power.
"Have you told any of the other Guardians?"
"No, not really. You were the first person I met today."
G quickly calculated his odds. He had the rest of the day to gather his followers, convince Giotto to drop the idea with as little violence and crying as possible, and then run over to the ring makers to cancel the order.
'Shouldn't be too difficult.'
"Well," G started, straightening his shoulders, "At least you should tell all the other Guardians. Otherwise they'd be caught completely off guard that you planned on giving them rings."
"Good thinking G!" Giotto brightened up immediately and gave a delighted clap on G's shoulder. G could only roll his eyes at his boss' antics.
"You never thought of telling the others, huh?"
"Well, the notion hadn't crossed my mind yet."
"So you're intentionally avoiding them?"
"Why would I want to avoid them? I'm sure they'd be happy to be able to have an extra accessory."
"Extra accessory?"
"Yes."
"That's what you call it?"
"Well, it's a ring, right?"
There was a moment of silence that paved way for the dawn of realization.
"In other words," G said slowly, "if you hadn't met me and spontaneously told me of the rings then no one would have known?"
"…"
"Giotto?"
"Probably."
G bit the bottom portion of his lip and his eye visibly twitched. Putting on an extremely serious face he stated, "Giotto, when I say this, I say it in the kindest way I possibly can but… you're really a complete ditz."
"I resent that," Giotto replied, equally serious.
"Good, at least we have an understanding"
"Indeed."
Both men stared into the depths of each other's eyes boring holes straight through. That would have kept going on until G decided that it would be wise of him to break the eye contact before one of them passed out from the intensity. It was Knuckle' new plan to settle arguments in a manly and mature manner. Instead of resorting to flying fists and grossly exaggerated name-calling, they were supposed to calmly speak their minds. Daemon and Lampo had been fighting again over something trivial. The sheer mini-destruction was cause for great concern on the Sun Guardian's part which somehow led the entire family into practicing 'safe arguing' as the wise priest preferred to call it.
"G?"
"Hmm?"
"I feel as though something inside me just … died."
G turned back to get a better view of his boss' face and his lips quirked up in amusement at Giotto's comically tortured expression. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think," Giotto sighed, "that settling differences with stares is going to get us anywhere."
G resisted the urge to roll his eyes yet again. Maybe the priest had been right all along. Maybe there was something seriously wrong with this family. Was it too much violence, the mafia, or the unique ways all their personalities clashed? Then again, all were legitimate factors to insanity. Knuckle, in particular, had always been worried about the family's sanity level falling dangerously through the cracks. There may have been some validity behind his worries…
"Anyhow," G cleared his throat, "I'll be off to take care of some business."
"Will you tell the others about the rings if you see them? I have to get back to my office to finish some paperwork."
G paused. Going back to his original train of thought, G realized that this may be his only chance.
"Sure. Don't worry about a thing boss."
Giving a small salute to Giotto, G headed off in the opposite direction. He had some people to find and a Giotto to thwart. G shivered at his second self-proposed mission. That one may take the help of Daemon, and the Storm Guardian was not looking forward to it at all.
Not too far from the boss and his right hand man, a tuft of green hair peeked around the corner. Lampo's head followed not far after as he cocked it quizzically and tried to process what he just heard.
"Giotto wants to give us rings? How unnatural!"
"Why is it so? I think they sound fun, Lampo-san." Asari's capped head also rounded the corner of the wall and both men peeked around at the retreating figures.
"Can you imagine what the barmaid down at the tavern will say if she sees me wearing a ring?"
"Barmaid?" Asari looked back at the Thunder Guardian in confusion before brightening up again with an epiphany, "Oh, the new one that you're seeing now right?"
Scratching his head, Lampo replied sheepishly, "Well, I'm not exactly seeing her. She's just really nice and always hands me an extra glass."
"Well, well," a new voice interjected suddenly from behind them, effectively startling the two men, "so the little brat chooses his women based on how much wine they offer."
"Daemon," Lampo hissed irritably, "wrong again, unsurprisingly."
The sly Mist Guardian merely held out his hands and shrugged before crossing his arms again. "Not my fault you have such poor taste in women, brat."
"You know," Lampo started, "I'm not that young in comparison to you all. I'm just the youngest our group."
"Which means you're the brat," Daemon finished calmly.
"You know what—"
"Now, now guys," Asari chuckled, holding his hands steady between the two Guardians, "you should be settling this like men—"
"We are men!" both replied in unison, simultaneously glaring at the Rain Guardian who gave a small laugh and backed away slightly.
"Well," Asari mumbled apologetically, "I never said that you weren't."
Both Lampo and Daemon dismissed the smiling Rain Guardian and went back to glaring at each other. If looks could kill, then both of them would have been to Hell and back several times over already. Heaven had no vacancies.
"Is there something the matter?"
Three pairs of eyes turned to see the approaching figures of Knuckle followed closely by Alaude. The priest had just shut a copy of his Bible with a soft clap and looked quizzically at the group of men. Assessing the situation, he grinned and inaudibly gave several claps.
"I see you're all putting my ideas of safe arguing to practice, eh?"
"Not exactly…" Asari commented awkwardly.
"Then what are you doing?"
"Yes," Daemon pursed his lips, "do tell. I feel out of the loop, because my efforts at curiosity were met with rejection."
Giving another death-inducing glare at the Mist Guardian, Lampo began, "Well, Giotto and G seemed to be having an argument over rings. I think it was like Giotto wanted all of us to have commemorative friendship rings."
The circle of Guardians stayed silent for the longest time as each tried to envision what the ring would turn out like. There were images of simple bands, rings with a lovely collection of rosy colored gems, clams, mini-flames and there was even one with hearts and flowers on it. While the ring variations different from person to person, they were all similar in the fact that each catered to rather eccentric interests.
"This could be a problem," Alaude said, breaking the silence.
"No really?" Daemon sarcastically drawled back.
"I can't accept," Knuckle looked panicked, "what if someone thinks I'm married?"
"See?" Lampo interjected, "It's totally problematic!"
"But," Asari tried, "Giotto-san would never want to embarrass us or anything!"
"You never know what that guy is thinking sometimes," Lampo responded back exasperatedly.
"Actually, you just never pay attention brat," Daemon remarked "he's quite easy to read when he's not in Hyper Mode"
"That is true," Alaude nodded.
"Asari," Daemon turned his attention back to the befuddled Rain Guardian. "Just answer this simple question."
"Yes?"
"Would you, or would you not entrust the life of your fashion sense to the boss."
"…"
"Give us an answer."
"…"
"Asari?"
"Not exactly."
"Good. So I'm not the only one who thinks parading around in the estate in a cape is a little over the top. I don't mind if he does it outside, but inside is just–"
"Actually, I was just thinking about his attempts at drawing the crest."
"…"
"Daemon, you alright there?"
"Same difference."
"Maybe," Knuckle interrupted the silence eying Daemon oddly. It wasn't every day that the Mist Guardian went on a ramble on fashion sense. "It would be a good idea if we find G."
"He's probably in the living room, since he tends to pace about twenty-three times if he's planning something," Alaude offered.
All the Guardians stared at Alaude and suddenly the area around the Cloud Guardian seemed to get a little bigger. He knew just about every habit behind each of the Guardians. It was unnerving, actually. They attributed it to his information-gathering skills. He worked too efficiently sometimes.
Back in the Office with Giotto:
Heaving a heavy sigh, Giotto reached for one of the drawers in his desk. "I really hope they'll like it."
His hands trailed over the intricate gold designs on the case that he withdrew from the drawer. It soon rested on the embossed golden clam that served as the clasp and he opened it with a soft click. Inside laid six simple rings. All of them were in the shape of shields. It was actually hard to see the shields because there was a hexagonal jewel set on top. Each ring had a different colored jewel and a different design underneath where the shield lay. Above it all, holding the jewel in place was a silver strip that bore the name 'Vongola' on it.
"Red, Blue, Yellow, Violet, Green, and Indigo," Giotto smiled slightly, "I think it matches them, perfectly."
Closing it, he put it back in his drawers and reached for the black sack that sat next to the box. Giotto peered inside the bag, "I hope I won't have to use these, but something tells me it'll come in handy."
In general, Giotto's hyper intuition was never wrong. He had a strange feeling the day he commissioned for the creation of the rings that there was a small chance that his Guardians might be a little hard in convincing. Therefore, he planned ahead with extra items in case worse came to worst.
In an Obscure But Lavish Living Room:
G paced back and forth with his hands stuffed in his pockets, "What to do, what to do…"
The Storm Guardian didn't like it one bit. He couldn't find any of the Guardians on his way to the living room, but more importantly, he didn't know how to break the news of rejecting the rings to Giotto. Hearing the unexpected collection of footsteps outside in the hallway, G stopped his pacing to look up.
"Hey G!" Knuckle waved upon entering.
"Knuckle?" G's mouth hung open slightly as he saw the rest of the Guardians parade behind the priest.
"Figured you needed some help," Lampo said as he, too, waved upon entering. Daemon and Alaude nodded their acknowledgements and Asari was left to sigh, shrug, and shake his head.
"Help?" G's eyebrow raised slightly, "Never mind help, we need to do someth—"
"About the rings?" Daemon cut in, "We know already."
G blinked twice. "Oh, well… that was fast."
"We're efficient," Alaude responded seriously.
Everyone soon took a seat on the two long couches that faced each other – three men per couch specifically. A lengthy silence wasn't allowed to grow between them because G immediately cut to the chase.
"So what are all your opinions on the subject?"
"I'm terrified," Lampo answered immediately with a featureless look on his face.
"I'm still worried that someone may think that I'm married, I'm a priest!"
"Fighting with a ring is inconvenient. In keeping the peace, I must be unhindered."
"I just have issues with the boss' choice of design; it can't be a good thing."
Everyone paused to look at the last person who hadn't spoken and Asari squirmed slightly from all the attention.
"I think it's …" Asari gulped, "a nice idea? I mean, Giotto probably has been thinking about it for a lengthy amount of time."
"Probably?" G's eyes widened as he gave Asari a meaningful look.
"At least I hope so."
All the other Guardians stared at the Japanese man as though he had grown an extra head.
"Well," Daemon pulled two sheets of blank paper from a mysterious location within his jacket, "you're outnumbered five to one. Let's continue with the mission planning."
"Amen!"
Soon the five stubborn men huddled around the sheets of paper as Knuckle was in charge of drawing the blueprints for their ideas. Asari felt strangely out of place as he leaned back into the couch and watched his fellow Guardians plan meticulously every single detail. If it weren't for the fact that they were completely serious about their plans, the Rain Guardian might have just laughed till his sides hurt. But now wasn't the time.
"Okay, so Lampo, when Daemon creates the illusion of a lion in the hallway, you will grab Giotto and whisk him into the kitchen."
A nod.
"Alaude and I will be waiting in the kitchen so that when you guys come in, we will fling flaming clam patterned towels into the air and…"
Asari's brow furrowed in confusion. Wait, what did flaming towels and lions in hallways have to do with rings?
"Asari, pay attention! You will need to put out the flames while we're at it."
Jolted back into reality, Asari cleared his throat and suggested as calmly as he could, "Instead of making this really complicated, why don't we just tell him outright?"
G stared back incredulously as though the idea were completely out of the realm of practical. The 'safe arguing' techniques, it seemed to Asari, was creating more stress on the Vongola Guardians than anticipated. If even Alaude was agreeing to it, that would be a problem. Lampo and Daemon were always a little 'out there' so mild psychosis was normal. As for Knuckle, Asari was getting a weird feeling that the Sun Guardian may not be as pleasant as he seems. Either he was also losing it too, or maybe really deep down he was enjoying the increased wild gleams of extremity?
"Are you out of your mind? Telling him outright will only result in having all of our behinds kicked into the next mafia estate! Slightly charred while we're at it!"
"Indeed," Alaude nodded grimly, "if he takes it to heart as much as we think it will, nothing good can result."
Asari sighed again. He had to at least try to be there with his fellow Guardians in the times when they needed him most. Although, this situation was going to require more than just his share of tender loving care. He was going to need the help of a boss – the Vongola boss in particular.
"I'm going to go out for a stroll. I'll be back in a few." Asari quickly got up and hurried out the door.
"You know you're dousing the flames right?" Lampo yelled after him. Asari only put his hand up behind him in response.
Back in the Office:
Giotto gave a stretch as he arranged the finished papers in neat piles on his desk. Heaving a delighted sigh, he smiled.
"Today's batch is quite light, how relaxing."
Looking back to the drawer, he opened it again and took both the box and the sack out. Before leaving the office, he balanced the sack on top of the box and carried it out. It was a little heavy, but didn't cause too much of a problem. Shutting the door with his foot, he turned to begin his journey to gather all of his Guardians in one place – that is, until he saw his Rain Guardian running pell-mell straight towards him.
"What's wrong, Asari?" Giotto became very concerned when he saw the distressed look on the Japanese man's face.
"It's… the other… Guardians," Asari breathed heavily to catch his breath. Taking a gulp of air, he started again. "I think they've gone crazy with all the 'safe arguing' and are planning numerous ways to thwart you."
Giotto blinked. "Thwart me? If there's any thwarting to be done, they should at least aim for Knuckle, I had nothing to do with it."
"Well…" Asari chuckled nervously for a moment. He didn't think his words through and found that he had to be the one to break the news to the boss. Praying slightly for the sake of his un-charred behind the only thought that ran in his mind was: Don't shoot the messenger.
"Let's walk over to where they are shall we?"
While walking, a long silence passed between them before Giotto asked, "So why the thwarting?"
"They aren't exactly … ecstatic, shall we say, about getting rings."
Before Giotto could respond, the open doors that led to the living room were all too visible and snippets of conversation floated out.
"—No, I say that we should throw the fountain pen before grabbing his cape. That way we can run while he's distracted."
Giotto turned to look at his Rain Guardian who sighed.
"I told you."
Both the Sky and the Rain stood for a few moments longer in the doorway. It was only after a few moments that the occupants of the room noticed their presence.
"Well, if it isn't Giotto!" Lampo's voice cracked suddenly from nervousness, "What brings you here?"
"This is my home too, you know."
"Right. Knew that." Lampo cleared his throat awkwardly.
A lengthy and tense silence passed between the two parties until Giotto finally sighed and hung his head in defeat. When he finally looked up again, his eyes were so filled with babyish sadness that the Guardians had trouble keeping their attention directed to him. Yes, it hurt their souls that much.
"Well, I just wanted you guys to have something so that we could all remember the moments we all shared together."
Nobody knew how to respond to that. It was true – they had been through the best and worst of times together. They fought hard and joked casually every single day. The passage of time could never take that much away from them. At that moment, none of the Guardians could look their boss in the eyes.
"Luckily," Giotto brightened up almost immediately. "I've brought a back up!"
All the Guardians whipped their gazes back to their seemingly bipolar boss. Honestly, he was so unpredictable at times. And yet, each Guardian couldn't help but feel a slight pang of dread.
Placing the box on the coffee table next to the blue prints, Giotto took and unraveled the rope that closed the black sack. Reaching his hand in, he pulled out a simple golden pocket watch and handed it to Lampo, who was the closest one to him. He repeated this act until all of the Guardians held a watch in their hands. They all stared dumbfounded at the shiny golden object in their hands. Each Guardian then slowly clicked open his pocket watch and read the words inscribed on the back of the lid.
'Givro eterna amicizia'
"A vow of eternal friendship?" G smiled.
"How thoughtful," Alaude commented and closed it immediately, stuffing it into his pocket. "I could always use a watch."
"It's nice," Asari smiled and placed the watch within the folds of his robes.
"Thanks! I thought it was going to be something terrifying," Lampo joked.
"I am thankful to have received such a kind gift," Knuckle said and hung it by his side.
"Friendship isn't important when you can have power." Daemon sniffed disdainfully but put it in his pocket anyway.
Giotto chuckled slightly at his Guardians' antics. He wasn't exactly surprised but he was amused.
"So does that mean you won't be ordering any rings today?" Lampo piped up suddenly.
"Of course not."
All the Guardians let out a sigh of relief.
"Why should I, when I ordered it last week?"
Scratch that. The sigh was caught in mid-breath as all the Guardians looked to their boss again. Giotto leaned over to pick up the ornamented box and clicked it open. Reaching his hand inside, he pulled one ring out. It had a red jewel.
"G."
"Yes?"
"You will bear the Ring of the Storm: the wind that fiercely whirls about." Giotto said handing him the ring.
"Uh…"
"Asari?"
"Hai."
"You have the Ring of the Rain: the shower that washes everything."
"Knuckle, you will bear the Ring of the Sun: illuminate the sky when all seems dark."
"Alaude shall have the Ring of the Cloud: be that floating one that can't be caught by anyone and go your own way."
"I don't need you telling me."
"Daemon, take this Ring of the Mist since you are the illusion that cannot be captured."
"And Lampo," Giotto handed him the final green ring, "I know your soft personality but be the lightning that holds the harsh strike. Take this Ring of Lightning."
Closing the lid, Giotto waited to see his Guardian's reactions. They all looked rather contemplative to say the least.
"Been reading too many stories, boss?" Lampo's eye twitched slightly in exasperation.
"What?" Giotto looked back innocently.
"Are those clams I see engraved above a little tornado?" G asked peering through the ruby colored jewel.
"Hey, it's a signature mark. You'll never forget who gave it to you."
"As if we could forget you, you're irritatingly unforgettable," Daemon retorted.
"Hey, Giotto-san?" Asari asked quietly.
"Hmm?"
"Where's your ring?" Knuckle finished for the newly appointed Rain Guardian.
"I don't think I need it, really."
"I think we may have to go to the ring makers today after all," Alaude cut in.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, don't think you can make fools out of us and be left out!" G joked and patted the blonde's head. Giotto winced at the violation of his hair.
God, why did I have to be so short compared to them?
"I was not trying to embarrass you! Admit it, it looks normal."
"True," Daemon responded, flipping the ring into the air before catching it. "But I don't intend to wear it."
"… Did I mention that it could give you a boost to your overall power?"
The Guardians who were about to follow Daemon's rejection of the ring paused. Power might be a useful tradeoff, and one that they were all somewhat willing to make. More power meant more chances to protect people. More chances meant that they could be proper guardians. They could as well become proper guardians of their respective elements.
Giotto saw the cogs turning inside of his friends' minds and inwardly cheered when he saw each of them slowly putting it on their finger.
"I could reconsider…" Daemon muttered as he, too, slid his ring on.
"It would be best."
"So…" G started, "about your ring."
"Do you think I should put a clam on mine too?"
"Why would you even consider that?"
"Well, I just don't want to be left out."
"Giotto?"
"Hmm?"
"You are the embodiment of a clam."
Giotto spluttered at his Guardian's assessment and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly in an attempt to deny it. Not unlike that of a flapping clam for that matter…
"I take offense at that!"
"It's true…"
"Indeed."
"Amen."
"Besides, wouldn't it be a little vain if you did that?" Lampo wondered out loud.
"Hmm?"
"You did say that they were supposed to be a reinforcement of our friendship right? If you did that then it's like saying that you want to remind yourself of you."
"True… I guess I'll go without it then."
"Good plan." G laughed and clapped Giotto's back, "I was worried that your ego might inflate."
"Hey!"
"What should we call it?" Asari asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" G asked curiously.
"Well, he gave us all these complex elements so shouldn't we come up with one for him?"
Giotto put his hands up in protest, "No, it's fine really."
"And leave you with all the fun?" Daemon commented, "Oh no, not at all."
"I have to agree with that," Alaude nodded.
"What should it be then?"
The other six Guardians huddled together in order to come up with an equally fitting title for their boss. Looking back from Giotto to each other they soon came to the same conclusion.
"Sky."
"Oh?"
"Much as we'd hate to admit it, you color and engulf everything with that obscene mercy of yours," Daemon answered.
At that moment, Giotto didn't know if he should have wept for joy or stared at the lunacy of the whole idea (which, by the way, he started). He had to admit however, that out of the entire fiasco, his Guardians offering him a ring was completely unexpected – and he was somehow very happy. Knowing that his attempts to hide his surprise were in vain – since they already saw his look of incredulity – he put up a confident smirk.
"Fine. At least I still get my rings."
(Badger, Badger, Badger, Badger, Mushroom, Mushroom…)
KitsuneFreak: I initially wrote the rings in with the shield design before I realized that they actually looked different back in the Primo's time. Whoops. So I reworked it. I was worried that some people were confused with my ring descriptions. So think 10th Gen rings, with an extra hexagonal jewel right on top. Transparent, of course, because we still need to see the awesome designs. Google 'real Vongola rings', I swear the designs are still in there. (Don't roll your eyes, research is good!) If you want I could give you the link. You just need to squint really hard because it's so light. It's also $81.40 plus S&H and I wish I had extra cash to buy it right about now. They're just so pretty!
Okay, so the watch idea was taken from episode 188 of the anime, but the Italian inscribed on the back of the watch lid is boggling my mind. 'Givro' is not a word! The only words that correspond to vow are 'voto' (noun) and 'giurare' (verb). By all conjugational rules, I don't see where the '-vro' ending comes in. GAH! If someone is fluent or has a grasp of Italian, I NEED HELP.
Right now I'm torn between writing about Death Mountain, Alaude, or Giotto's gloves. I'll let whichever has more ideas float first. At least you have a head's up on the possible themes for the next chapter.
Don't forget to R&R!
Toodles~!