OpalescentGold: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Pick
This is what they select.
Envy
The truth is, Cynthia had always envied the Guardians for their position. It's tiring to be the Arbiter, to go through Eclipse after Eclipse, to always be the one left out and shunned.
For every person she saves, she condemns another to a blood chilling fate.
With Giotto, with his Guardians, Cynthia found a family, but even there, they shared a bond she couldn't touch, the connection of the Vongola Rings. She had envied them for that closeness, that attachment.
In some ways, that was why she couldn't understand Daemon's betrayal. Cynthia hadn't been able to comprehend someone willingly throwing away the relationship she craved.
And now, even when Noriko is Tsuna's best friend, and he is hers, even when Noriko has been the close friend of most of the Elements since childhood…
She still cannot help but envy those who bear the Vongola Rings for what they have and what she never will.
Resolution
Tsuna takes the Sky Ring and sets off to find Reborn.
He wants answers.
"Tsuna!~"
Unfortunately, he doesn't find his tutor before his father finds him.
"You're finally back home!" Sawada Iemitsu wails, pouting childishly at his one and only son. "I thought that you were avoiding me and it broke my heart!"
Tsuna stares down at Iemitsu and feels oddly calm, an odd warmth lending him strength. "I don't have the time to deal with you today, Dad," he says, the deadline of ten days ringing in his head. "Sorry."
And he brushes past the father who couldn't be bothered to visit for years and heads inside to find Reborn. He doesn't see the stunned look on Iemitsu's face, nor would he care if he did.
Tsuna has a mission to complete, and come hell or high water, he's going to complete it.
Role
Kyoya closes the door after Tsuna leaves and walks back to Noriko, who is now staring blankly at the oven as the cookies inside bake. "Reiki," he says, an order in his tone.
Silence answers him, but he waits calmly. Past experiences have taught him that she will talk when she is ready to.
"Everyone has a role," Noriko says eventually. "Everyone. You are the aloof, untamable Cloud. Hayato-kun is the furious Storm. Takeshi-kun is the blessed Rain."
"And you?" he questions after she halts, sensing that this is the reason she has been so very upset lately.
"I…" she breathes raggedly, tilting her head back to peer out the window to the cloudy sky outside, hands clenching. "I am the Moon." A pause, a sardonic smile. "But please don't tell."
Kyoya scoffs and doesn't bother responding. Only herbivores do something as inane as gossip. "What's the role of the Moon?" It was not, he notices, in the list of Flames she gave Tsunayoshi.
"The Moon is no Guardian," Noriko murmurs, eyes heavy-lidded, "It is: the always changing Moon that nonetheless remains, ever advising and judging from a neutral and impartial view."
She pauses. "There has only ever been one Vongola Moon in history," Noriko adds, a strange little half-smile on her face.
Kyoya knows when not to push. He doesn't ask how or why in the world she knows that...or why said role sounds so similar to what she has done for their pack ever since they were cubs.
Steadfast
"Ciaossu," Reborn chirps when Tsuna enters his room. He immediately observes the orange tint to the boy's eyes, the clear determination in his raised chin, the ring clenched in his hand.
"Reborn," Tsuna greets before getting down to business without further ado. "What exactly is the purpose of Guardians?"
There is a curious blend of command and request in that now firm voice. Reborn is suspicious, not for the first time, of just what Reiki Noriko knows and how, but that is neither here nor now.
"The role of the Guardians to do just that: guard. Their job is to protect and assist their Boss as the core members of the Famiglia," Reborn explains. "That's what the rings symbolize."
"Who got them?" Tsuna sits down abruptly, fingers tightening around the Sky Ring. "I know Hibari-san got Cloud, but the others. Who got them?"
"Gokudera got Storm. Yamamoto is Rain. Ryohei is Sun. Lambo is Lightning. And...Mukuro is Mist," Reborn lists, mildly surprised when Tsuna doesn't even blink at the last Guardian. He'd expected a squeal at last.
But Tsuna merely nods and inquires, almost gently, "And Nori-chan? Why not Nori-chan?"
Ah. So this is the problem. "She's not suitable to be Guardian," Reborn says and hopes that his student will leave it at that.
He doesn't.
"She said that, too," Tsuna recounts unhappily, to Reborn's narrowed eyes. Brownish orange eyes bear into abyssal black unerringly. "Why?"
"...Noriko's Flames are entirely unknown," Reborn admits. "If she has any, they're so weak no one can sense them."
"So there's no way…" Tsuna trails off, the serenity of his resolve breaking off into a frown.
"No," Reborn says bluntly. "Noriko will never be a Guardian. That's just how it is."
Tsuna is silent for a beat. When he looks back at Reborn, the Will in his eyes could have destroyed lesser men. "Even if she's not my Guardian, Nori-chan will always be my best friend," he declares.
That is what Tsuna says.
That is not what Reborn hears.
Don't think you can take her away from me.
The Greatest Hitman in the World bows his head briefly in acknowledgement. "...very well."
Then, Tsuna blinks and the orange in his eyes is gone, leaving behind a resigned, tired boy who sighs and looks down at the ring in his hand before slipping the chain over his head.