Long time no update – I've had exams and stuff =)

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Thanks to Grenouille for beta-ing :D

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Chapter 14: Guardians

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"Kyouya?" Sayuki peeked into the reception room, noting that it was empty, but not before checking that the disciplinary prefect wasn't lurking in any corner of the room.

"Where's he got to?" She wondered aloud, shutting the door once more.

She had already checked the roof and deserted areas outside – there weren't any more places where he was likely to be. She grudgingly accepted that her questions would have to wait. Of course, it figured; when the last thing she wanted to see was his face he was on her like soy sauce on a won-ton, but when she wanted to speak to him, he was nowhere in sight. The irony. Perhaps he was training with Dino; at least, that was her initial thought - trying to kill Dino was a more accurate guess. Allowing a small sigh to escape her teeth, she wandered back to the classroom, none too enthusiastic about having to sit through another lesson of cell biology. That was one of the huge perks of being a guardian – they got to miss school! Sayuki would be happy to risk her life just to miss a few science lessons.

"Sayu-chan!"

"Oh, hi Kyoko!" Sayuki smiled at her friend, only to falter slightly when she saw the concern in the girl's face.

"What's happened?" She asked hastily. Had one of her friends been hurt in the ring battles? Severely or… fatally? She shuddered at the thought, but tried to concentrate on Kyoko's reply.

"Poor Lambo-kun's been hurt,"

"What!? What happened?"

"His umbrella was struck by lightening, and then he rolled down a slope. He hasn't even regained consciousness; me and Haru went to visit yesterday."

"…" Sayuki felt a surge of irritation – not at Kyoko, but at the constant lies. Struck by lightning? Rolled down a slope? What crap. But she begrudgingly accepted their lies – Tsuna couldn't really tell his mother about the whole mafia affair. That would be an endearing conversation.

'Hey mum what's for dinner? Oh and by the way, I'm next in line to become the boss of a massive criminal organisation. I just have to fight some fellow criminals to the death for the position.'

But how could they let Lambo fight? He was only a small child, it was ridiculous!

"He's in the hospital, you can visit him, but he isn't awake." Kyoko smiled apologetically, misinterpreting Sayuki's silence for grief. As much as she felt it shouldn't be, the sorrow was overpowered by fury. None of it need have happened if they didn't allow it in the first place and chose a proper, older guardian.

"I can go with you if you want?" Kyoko continued, "I went yesterday with Haru but I wouldn't mind going again."

"No, that's alright Kyoko." Sayuki forced a smile. "The hospital's on my way home from school, I'll visit him then."

'Great.' She thought with a grimace. 'Another thing to make the lesson go even slower...'

***

Sayuki was afraid to enter the ward as she hovered outside it; she found it difficult seeing injured friends – and to make it worse, this friend was a mere infant. There was no point wavering outside for the rest of the night, so she forced herself to proceed.

The room was eerily quiet; only the quiet hum of expensive-looking hospital equipment provided background noise. The electrical metal boxes were stacked next to an unfriendly hospital bed, skinned with crisp white sheets and with a quilt covering the form of a small boy. His large tuft of black hair was spread over the pillow, contrasting intensely with his milky white skin. He did not stir even slightly as she kneeled down next to his bed, apart from the oxygen mask moving up and down as he breathed. He could be sleeping…except that he wouldn't wake up.

"Lambo-kun…" she said softly, "Poor Lambo…"

She feverishly wished he would wake up; he was always so full of life so it was difficult seeing him this way. They still owed her an explanation about how it had happened – she knew it had something to do with lightning, but that was the extent of her knowledge. She touched his cheek, murmuring softly, knowing he would not hear but feeling as if it helped. She hoped his heart-rate monitor would blip when she touched him, like in a cheesy movie - showing that he was ok – but reality was cruel. A low chattering nearby alerted her senses and she wheeled around to see three familiar faces entering.

"SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI!"

Sayuki jumped up immediately, proceeding to poke the bewildered teenager in the chest with an accusatory manner.

"How could you let this happen?!" She went on, not quite resisting the urge to shake him by the shoulders.

She was quickly elbowed out of the way by a bony arm.

"Don't manhandle the tenth!" Gokudera snarled, standing between the two of them.

She shoved him back irritably. "And you!" She snapped at the male. "Couldn't you protect someone other than Tsuna just once? Or are you so in love with Tsuna that you can't bear to leave his side?"

Gokudera's face twisted in anger.

"Shut the fuck up you moron!" He shouted, reflexively pulling out a handful of dynamite. At this point Yamamoto stepped in.

"Maa, maa!" The boy soothed, laughing inappropriately at the tense situation. He patted her head in what he must've thought was a calming gesture, but was just patronizing.

"You're worse than both of them, you have no excuse…" Sayuki grumbled, but felt the anger ebb away slightly. There was no point in being angry; what was done was done. The best thing to do would be just to stop it happening again.

'Ugh…' She groaned inwardly. 'This overprotective hostility… I'm turning into Kaito.'

"Sayuki…" Tsuna started, cautiously. "I tried to save Lambo… but I wasn't quick enough…"

"If Tsuna hadn't been there, Lambo would have been hurt a lot worse." Yamamoto said seriously - a rarity, so there must have been truth to his words.

"Fine." She said coldly to the trio, careful to put some latitude between herself and the bomber – he hadn't lost his rage quite as easily as she had. "But I want an explanation. The whys, wheres and whens, please."

"It was the battle for the guardians of thunder last night…" Tsuna began after hesitating for a second. He knew she knew about the ring battles, but seemed reluctant to talk about it.

"I shouldn't have let Lambo fight in the first place… but he used the ten year bazooka,"

"Ten- year bazooka?" Sayuki interrupted, confused.

"Oh, it's… well it's a bazooka that lets you switch places with yourself ten years later. It's Lambo's. He uses it a lot… Anyway, he summoned his ten-year-later self, who in turn summoned his ten-year-later self."

"So… a twenty-five year old Lambo was fighting?" She murmured, trying to keep up.

"That's right. Well it looked like he was winning for most of it, but then… the effects of the bazooka wore off…"

"Oh."

"Yeah." Tsuna said grimly. "He turned back into his five-year-old self… his opponent was too strong. I had to step in and save him."

Sayuki knew she'd been a little too hard on Tsuna; if he hadn't been there… she didn't like to think about it, but it still made no sense that he was fighting in the first place.

"Why is someone so young even a guardian?" She insisted. "Why couldn't-"

"You won't ever be a guardian, pathetic woman." Gokudera sneered. "Stop begging to be one."

"I'm not." She shoved the boy a little harder than necessary, cursing inwardly when she couldn't stop a pink flush creeping down her cheeks. It was ridiculous. It felt like being someone who was always picked last for teams – except she wasn't being picked at all.

"Sayuki…" Tsuna smiled ruefully. "You know I didn't decide on the guardians."

"Yeah…" She sighed in defeat.

"I would've chosen you if it was me," He assured her with a small smile, though she wasn't sure this was entirely true.

"Its fine Tsuna," she had to smile back. "It just makes no sense that's all."

He laughed uneasily. "Tell me about it."

---

Hibari's reappearance later that week was easily noticeable; he wasn't exactly inconspicuous. Sayuki took the opportunity during her lunch break to visit him in his 'lair' – well, the reception room.

She contemplated knocking on the door and waiting, wondering if it would soften him up, or just irritate him. Not that 'soften' was really the right word… She compromised by rapping the door with her knuckles just once before opening the door herself. She registered his expression as he looked up sharply – mostly emotionless, perhaps a hint of a frown. He stared at her for a moment, and she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze before he dropped it again to his work, not acknowledging her. Damn. She was hoping he would initiate the conversation. She edged forward a few steps, wondering how exactly to approach him. She hadn't forgotten their last encounter – Hibari hadn't been all too pleased…

"I need you to sign these." He pushed a small pile of papers across the desk, nearer to her.

That made it easier.

"Oh, okay." Sayuki said cheerfully. She grabbed a nearby chair, noisily pulling it up to the side of his desk, smiling to herself as he twitched irritably. She tucked herself under the rim of the solid wood, reaching across to bring the forms towards her. As she scrawled her signature lazily on the designated lines, something glinted in the corner of her eye. The Vongola half-ring, meant for Hibari, was perched on the surface of the desk just above his neat layout of papers. Impulsively, she reached out for it, surprised that he didn't even look up when she took it into her hand. The ring was heavy; it felt well made. The curves were intricately carved and it shimmered from all angles. The top was emblazoned with the symbol of a cloud in a defined crest – but it half was missing. A curve scooped out half of the design, which would no doubt be put together with the other piece – the part that the enemy had. She squeezed it in her palm; it felt oddly warm. Perhaps she was imagining it.

"So…you're a guardian eh?" She spoke in a casual tone, trying to keep it light.

"Not really." Hibari answered curtly after a pause.

"Oh. Why's that?"

"I don't care for such things."

"Oh right," She had to suppress a giggle, "You hate crowds so being in a group of guardians is definitely a no."

"You're a friend of those herbivores, aren't you?"

Sayuki rolled her eyes, deciding not to bother explaining that her friends had names. "Yes."

"…"

"Disliking crowds… You're rather antisocial if you ask me…" She murmured, not really intending him to hear, but amusing herself all the same.

She watched him with distaste for a few moments. He continued to work silently, totally ignoring her. She considered how… unpleasant he could be. He had no need to be so unfriendly, all the time, to everyone. But he seemed to be responding to her and answering her questions seemingly truthfully – so she knew he was capable of conversation. So why was he such a sadist?

"Can I have this?" She spoke suddenly, her hand closing around the ring once more.

"Why do you wish to have it?"

"I want to be a guardian."

"Why?"

"To fight. For my friends and the people I love." He looked up at this, a fleeting look of amusement across his handsome features.

"Heh, you're interesting, aren't you."

"Is that a no?"

"I've already agreed to fight."

"A deal? Who with?" She forgot her goal momentarily, intrigued by this new information.

"It doesn't matter."

"But… why? You never do anything for anyone but yourself!"

He raised his eyebrows a fraction at her daring words, and she resisted the urge to clamp her hand over her mouth.

"I mean…"

"I've deemed it necessary." He said, coolly. "To keep order within Namimori."

"Who are you fighting against?" Sayuki tried to remember what she had learnt about the members of the Varia, from Reborn and Dino. They all had strange names, like Lussuria, and Levi. Yamamoto was supposed to be against the grey haired guy, and then there was the boss Xanxus and someone beginning with B… She looked to Hibari for the answer.

"It doesn't matter; whoever it is I will bite them to death."

So he didn't even know.

"Oh…So after this fight, you won't want the ring anymore…?"

"You can't have it."

"Why not!?" She spluttered. He seemed almost willing to give it to her a moment ago. She suddenly realized his stare – he was watching her intently. It wasn't a glare, but it didn't seem all too pleasant to have him surveying her like that.

"I won't have you fighting." He said finally, returning to his documents.

"You-" Sayuki clamped her lower jaw to the top to keep it from gaping open. What was that supposed to mean? Had he suddenly become protective rather than offensive? Maybe she'd heard wrong because it certainly made no sense. Nobody's emotions could change so suddenly.

"Um… why?"

"You'd get injured."

More words that made no sense coming from his mouth.

"You'd end up in hospital."

Why did he care?

"You'd have to be replaced by another prefect. That would be far too troublesome, since I already have you nicely under my thumb." Hibari smirked slightly as he said this.

Oh. So that's what he meant. What else would it have been? She shuddered, pushing the brief imaginations to the back of her mind.

"No you don't." She retorted lamely.

---

That's the last filler-ish chapter. I say filler but the stuff in them needed to be said. I really wish I'd written this in first person, it would be so much easier to write her thoughts and point of view. Would it be weird to change it now?