Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in KHR…
TO: -Or4nG3e: No, I'm not going to include the Vendice in this story anymore. They will appear in the sequel I plan to write though.
TO: suckitblue: Dino probably won't appear in this story either but he'll definitely be a big part of the sequel. I probably won't include Longchamp though.
NOTE: It's getting closer to Christmas break so I apologize for the decreasing amount of updates as I'm really busy during this time. I will try to update once a day but no guarantees.
On to the next chapter!
Chapter 21
"Dino was never as troublesome as you, Dame-Tsuna. And he was clumsy."
Tsuna scowled. Reborn had, as soon as Tsuna had come home, forced him on a treadmill and turned it up to top speed. Where had the treadmill come from anyway?!
"I was clumsy too!" Tsuna protested, and was rewarded with a kick to the head that almost sent him tumbling off the treadmill.
"That's even more reason why you're more troublesome than Dino." Reborn barked. "You think that just because I'm in Italy, I wouldn't hear about what you've been doing?"
Tsuna sulked a bit. "It was because you were in Italy that I did it." He pouted, not noticing the slightly surprised expression that flickered through the Sun arcobaleno's eyes. "You always seem wary of the Vendice. Well, you're usually wary of everyone, but especially them. And it's not just you either. Viper-nii and Nello-nii and all the other arcobaleno always seem agitated whenever the Vendice is mentioned."
Reborn reached up, tugging his black fedora down so that it shadowed his eyes. So his student had noticed after all. "I can't tell you about that, Tsuna." His moth turned down at the corners at hearing the brunette's next words.
"I know, Reborn. That's why I haven't asked you about it. You don't have to tell me until you're sure you can trust me."
It wasn't so much the words as the tone of voice used to say them that made Reborn inwardly flinch. Tsuna's voice held no anger, no sarcasm, no resentment; just a calm sort of acceptance and reassurance in it, said so warmly that it could rival the sun.
Dame-Tsuna, it's not that I don't trust you, but there are things you are better off not knowing.
KOKUYO LAND
Crash!
Ken and Chikusa watch in uneasy silence as Mukuro broke another cup against a wall. They flinched when raging red-and-blue eyes turned on them and, without being told, fled the room.
Mukuro watched as his subordinates, and that was all they were, left him alone. Chrome had disappeared long ago, refusing to even acknowledge he was still present in a part of her mind. It was the first time Chrome had gotten angry, and at him no less. A bitter smile flickered across his face. And of course, this was all Vongola's fault. His mind replayed once more what he had seen when he entered the brunette's mind.
Mukuro had expected innocence personified, maybe a warm breeze sweeping across a grassy field, or a cloudless blue sky over a calm sparkling ocean. Anything but the long, gloomy corridor, dimly lit and doorless, save for one at the very end. Of course, he had tried to reach it, but the door never seemed to get any closer.
After that, Mukuro had glanced out of some of the windows. There were plenty of windows lined up along the corridors in uneven rows. Tons and tons of them, coming in different sizes and shapes. Each window showed something different; a cold-looking empty room in one, the Ninth in another, and the seven arcobalenos in yet another. And it was during this time, as he walked freely down the long hallway, peering through the windows at the many different memories of the Vongola Decimo, that he realized there was absolutely no resistance coming from the brunette.
Mukuro threw another object at the wall and it shattered with a satisfying crash.
Why had there been no resistance?
Mukuro had withdrawn then, filled with rage and something else. And it was that something else that angered him now. He had to be angry. Because if he let that anger fade, that something else would take over again, and Mukuro would feel that same light, glowing feeling in his heart that had briefly touched him when he realized the Vongola had given him free reign in his mind.
Heaving a sigh, the blue-haired illusionist tilted his head back so that he could rest it on the back of the chair he was sitting in.
He wouldn't let go of his anger, his revenge. He couldn't. Because he would have nothing left without it.
NEXT DAY; ROOFTOP OF NAMIMORI
Tsuna leaned against the railing, staring out at the town. Reborn had told him to hurry up in gathering his guardians. So far, he hadn't asked a single one of them. What if they said no? Well, he was actually mostly convinced that Gokudera and Yamamoto would agree, so he had decided to leave them for later. The one person he could count on to have no emotional attachment to him when deciding was Hibari. Which was why he was on the roof once again, waiting for the prefect to finish his rounds.
"Omnivore."
Ah, there he was.
Turning around, Tsuna smiled up at the raven-haired prefect. "I suppose you want to know why I'm at Namimori High, ne?"
Hibari moved forward to join the brunette at the railing. "I already have some idea, omnivore. But explain."
Tsuna nodded, turning back to stare into the distant. "The Millefiore threat is getting closer and Byakuran is finally taking action. The Ninth sent me here to gather my Family. This is a school for Mafia children after all."
There was a long moment of silence as neither teen said anything. "Is that all?" Hibari finally asked, already moving towards the roof door.
Without turning around, Tsuna stopped him with a well-placed question.
"Will you be my Cloud Guardian?"
Hibari stiffened, coming to a stop. For a while, they both stood there, backs to each other. Finally, cool grey eyes turned to glanced back at the brunette.
"If I say no?"
Tsuna shrugged. "Then I'll accept that answer and hope we can still remain friends."
Finally straightening up, Tsuna turned to face the prefect. "No then?" Tsuna offered a smile, albeit a melancholic one as he made to move past the prefect. An iron grip snagged his arm as he passed.
"I never said no, omnivore."
Tsuna stared blankly in front of him for several moments before breaking out into a large grin. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the Vongola Cloud Ring and held it out to the former assassin.
Slowly, Hibari reached out, accepting the ring. "I assume we will be leaving for Italy soon."
Without another word, Hibari continued for the roof door, disappearing downstairs without a backward glance.
Tsuna smiled, relaxing.
His first Guardian, and Hibari Kyouya had accepted without question.
Tsuna stared up at the blue sky as several cloud meandered by.
The Cloud Guardian's duty is to be the aloof, drifting clouds who protects the family from an independent standpoint, and whom nothing can ever bind.
Done! I know this is a bit short but I'm starting to wrap it up so each Guardian will be asked by Tsuna in turn.
Please review!