Kyandi: Hey, guys!
Roksana: She's really excited today.
Kyandi: Today's chapter has a bit of a reveal to it, though I'm pretty sure a lot of you already guessed this.
Roksana: Even with this reveal, though, there's still questions left to be answered.
Kyandi: Let's just say, I'm going to be having fun with this arc and the mini-arc that's going to follow.
Roksana: Oh, fun. Another mini-arc.
Kyandi: Hey, you need character development, too. There's an event coming up in the next chapter or two that I'm really looking forward to.
Roksana: She refuses to tell me what it is because she knows it'll upset me.
Kyandi: But the readers will love it! So, with that said, everyone enjoy and review!
Roksana: Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman REBORN.
Chapter 58 Deciding Factor
The next day, news reached Roksana that a force sent to take care of the people behind the attack on Tsuna, was wiped out. According to Reborn, it was an assassin family and their bodies had been left in shapes he had never seen before. He even went as far as to describe it to her.
Roksana promptly set her lunch aside.
Reborn went on to tell her to keep her eyes peeled because they still had not leads as to who was behind all of this. Roksana, herself, had a sinking feeling in her gut that the people responsible, were closer to them than was comfortable.
When Reborn told Tsuna and the others later that day, Tsuna freaked out, insisting that the ceremony was a bad idea. Gokudera tried to comfort him and tell him that he wouldn't let anyone interfere with the ceremony, Adelheid agreeing that she and her comrades would help. Despite the fact that Tsuna wanted to call the whole thing off, the others all assured him that everything would be fine.
It made Tsuna wonder if Roksana would have agreed with them if she had joined them.
As it was, as the others left to patrol the area, Tsuna was left with Reborn, losing his mind over the whole thing. As Tsuna was called out by Timoteo, Roksana, herself, was already patrolling the area. It was as she was circling Tsuna's neighborhood, Tsukuyomi circling the sky over head, when she came across Enma talking lowly with Adelheid, Kouyou and Rauji. The four paused in their conversation when they noticed Roksana approaching them, thumbs hooked in the back pockets of her short, black jean shorts.
"Let me guess...you just came from Tsuna's house." Roksana said, coming to a stop a few yards from them, rolling the lollipop in her mouth.
"Yeah. You weren't there." Kouyou stated.
"I was not." Roksana confirmed. "Let the rest of my friends crowd together in that small room. I'd rather be out here, actually patrolling. Besides...Tsukuyomi doesn't like crowded rooms. He likes having room to spread his wings."
Roksana leaned her head back, peering up at the sky as Tsukuyomi circled over their heads before soaring away to circle the neighborhood once more. Roksana watched him for a moment before she returned her attention to the four in front of her.
"So, which one of you is on guard duty tonight?" Roksana asked.
"Me." Enma answered.
"Oh, well good."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Kouyou demanded, getting a little defensive.
"Nothing much. Just that Tsuna feels the most comfortable with Enma. Tsuna feels like the two of them are an awful lot alike." Roksana replied.
"Don't put me in the same category as him." Roksana's eyes snapped to Enma's face when he said this a little more sharply than he probably should have. The girl rolled her lollipop to the left side of her mouth, catching the ball of candy between her incisors. "Unlike your lot, we have had a lot of scary things inflicted upon us by other mafia families. We've dealt with a lot of crap from other families because we're famous as a small and weak family. You, and Tsuna-kun, could never understand our pain."
"Is that how you really feel?" Roksana asked, her eyes narrowing. Enma stiffened as Roksana crunched clean through her lollipop, her expression going from idle and almost bored, to something close to cold. "Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Enma. Just as we might not understand you or what you've been through, you have no idea what we've been through."
"What could you have possibly been through that could compare!?" Kouyou asked, Adelheid warning him to lower his voice.
"You really want to know?" Roksana asked.
Before any of them could answer, Roksana reached up, unzipping her sleeveless hoodie. Parting it, she pulled back the neckline of the lace trimmed tank top she was wearing underneath just enough to display a vivid scar on her chest just an inch or two away from being directly over her heart.
"What's that?" Rauji asked.
"One of the many scars that assassins have so eagerly left on me over the years." Roksana replied.
"Assassins?" Adelheid asked.
Roksana released her neckline and zipped her hoodie back up.
"Do you really know anything about me and my friends? Aside from the obvious, that is?" Roksana asked. Their silence was answer enough for her. "I'm a Russian politician's daughter. Ironic for a mafia guardian to be the daughter of a politician, and one with a strong stance against the Russian mob, huh?"
"Not exactly normal." Adelheid agreed, not really seeing where Roksana was going with this.
"Yes, well...I come from a very superstitious community in Russia, and, there, eyes like mine are a bad omen that someone is demon possessed. From the day I was born, I was marked with a stigma that, even though science can explain it, has left me shunned and outcast-ed among my own people. To top it off, I'm the illegitimate heir to a very old and influential family and the daughter of a very hated politician among the Russian underworld. Because of that, I have survived hundreds of attempts on my life and have suffered through beating after beating just to survive. All so my baby brother, who is the legal heir, doesn't have to face it. You really want to say that I can't understand?"
None of them could think of anything to say in response to Roksana. Finally Adelheid stepped forward.
"I apologize. We weren't aware." Adelheid told her.
"Nor was I aware of your situation. Hence the "glass houses"." Roksana replied, stepping around them to continue on her way. "That's why you shouldn't just assume. For the record, I wasn't trying to say that your family is anything like mine, merely that when it comes down to key personality traits, you're a lot like Tsuna, Enma. If you'll excuse me, I'll be returning to my patrols now."
Roksana walked away then, whistling to Tsukuyomi who swooped down to land on her shoulder. Before she could get too far, Adelheid called out to her.
"Volkov-chan-"
"Roksana." Roksana corrected, cutting Adelheid off as she turned to look at her. "Just call me Roksana. I'm Russian and we don't do honorifics."
"Right. Might I ask you a question?" Adelheid asked.
"Go right ahead." Roksana told her.
"You haven't been here in Japan for long, right?" Adelheid asked.
"Around a year and a half." Roksana confirmed.
"And your family...it has no prior connections to the Vongola?" Adelheid asked.
"Not to my knowledge, no. What are you getting at?" Roksana asked.
"It's just curious that someone with no connections to the mafia, a politician's daughter, would become a mafioso." Adelheid remarked.
"If that's what you think." Roksana replied.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Kouyou demanded.
"It means whatever you want it to mean. But really...you should stop just assuming things. It'll get you into trouble one of these days. Especially where I'm concerned.." Roksana replied before turning on her heel again. "Good night."
Roksana walked away then, waving a hand over her shoulder as she went. She didn't feel the need to explain what she had just said. She would let them draw their own conclusions.
After all, that's what they had been doing so far.
-0-0-0-0-
The next day, the day before the ceremony, started off as any other.
Roksana started off her day off with her committee duties. As far as she was concerned, the day, so far, posed no threats to her and her friends. After dealing with Hibari and his usual stunts, Roksana moved on to class and to her afternoon duties. She was in the Reception Room, filing away some paperwork from other clubs and committees when she suddenly got a chill down her spin. Not even a breath after that chill, her heirloom ring lit up, once again, as it had the first day she met Enma, the strange, y-shaped flame appearing once more.
Looking down at that flame, Roksana had a bad feeling, her instincts screaming at her that something was very wrong. Abandoning her paperwork, Roksana grabbed her phone and sansetsukon and ran out of the door. She wasn't sure where she was going, or what she was looking for. She merely followed the strange flame on her ring until it faded.
When it faded, Roksana found herself on the baseball field.
"Baseball field? Does that mean...Takeshi!"
Roksana whipped around, praying to God that she was wrong, and made a b-line for the boys' locker room. She really hoped she would just burst into the locker room to Yamamoto and whatever other club members were left, in the middle of changing, because she would take that over something having happened to Yamamoto.
"Takeshi?"
Roksana slammed the door open to the locker room...and had to clap a hand over her mouth as a strangled cry left her lips. There, laying in a pool of his own blood on the floor, was Yamamoto.
"No!"
Roksana rushed forward, falling on her knees beside him, not caring that blood stained her stockings red at the knees. Reaching out, Roksana checked his pulse. It was weak and thready, but at least he was still bleeding. Calling Tsukuyomi forth, Roksana used her flames to maintain his life, renewing Yamamoto's blood even as it flowed out of him. She couldn't heal him, couldn't replace his destroyed blood vessels and tissue before his injuries killed him, but she could keep him from bleeding out while she got help.
"Keep him alive, Tsukuyomi." Roksana told the phoenix as he perched on the ground beside her.
Tsukuyomi gave a sad chirp in response while Roksana turned to her phone, wiping blood on her skirt to clean it off her fingers. First, she needed to do whatever she could to make sure Yamamoto didn't die. That meant she needed to get him someone who could heal, first and foremost. With that in mind, Roksana dialed Ryohei's number. The boy answered on the second ring.
"What's up, Rok-"
"Ryohei! I need you to high-tail it over to the boys' baseball team locker rooms! Now! Takeshi's hurt bad." Roksana told him, cutting him off.
"I'm on my way!"
Roksana hung up, turning her attention back to Yamamoto. She heard Ryohei before he came flying into the locker room. What he found, was Roksana, blood smeared on her clothes, bent over Yamamoto as she tried to get the bleeding to stop. She turned to look up at him as he came into the room, her expression twisted like she was fighting back tears.
"I can't get the bleeding to stop. Even with my flames. Help." Roksana pleaded. Ryohei jumped into action, calling out Garyuu to try to heal Yamamoto, but the boy's wounds were too deep. "Call an ambulance. I'm calling Hayato and Tsuna."
Ryohei pulled out his phone while Roksana dialed Gokudera's number. She explained the situation to him quickly, telling him to meet Ryohei and Yamamoto at Central Hospital before she tried Tsuna's cellphone. When the boy didn't answer, she remembered Reborn saying something about Tsuna meeting with Timoteo that night to discuss the ceremony. With that in mind, Roksana called Timoteo's hotel room. Croquant answered the phone as the ambulance arrived to cart Yamamoto away.
"Roksana, is that you?" Croquant asked.
"Yes. Is Tsuna there? It's an emergency." Roksana asked, trying to keep her voice calm and leveled.
"Just a moment." Croquant replied. Roksana could hear him as he turned away from the phone. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting! I have a call for Tsunayoshi-sama. It's from Volkov Roksana. She says it's an emergency."
A moment later, Tsuna picked up the phone.
"Hello, Roksana? It's me." Tsuna said.
"Tsuna, there's been an incident with Takeshi." Roksana told him.
"Yamamoto? What happened to Yamamoto?" Tsuna asked.
"He was attacked, Tsuna. It's not looking good. I need you to go to Central Hospital, please. Ryohei is riding there with him in the ambulance. I'm staying here to look for clues." Roksana told him.
On the other end of the phone, Tsuna froze. He didn't need to see Roksana to hear the fear in her voice. He told her he'd be there before hanging up, horror and dread filling him. He had never heard Roksana's voice sound like that, shaking and filled with fear and concern. Tsuna left then and there, rushing to the hospital while Reborn went to the locker room to meet up with Roksana who was looking for clues as to who attacked Yamamoto.
When Tsuna arrived at the hospital, Yamamoto was in the middle of an operation and in critical condition. Gokudera was there with Ryohei, Chrome, Kouyou, Kaoru, Rauji with Lambo on his shoulder, and Adelheid. After bursting into the operation room to see Yamamoto for himself and getting kicked out, Tsuna dropped to sit on a bench, hanging his head.
"Yamamoto's dad is heading over too." Gokudera told Tsuna.
"I see..." was all Tsuna said in reply.
"Boss...water..." Chrome offered, holding a cup out to him.
Tsuna shook his head, the girl taking a step back in concern.
"Roksana was the first one to find Yamamoto. I was patrolling the grounds when she called me. When I got there, she was covered in his blood, trying to get the bleeding to stop. I've never seen that kind of expression on her before so I knew it was bad. I called the ambulance. I tried to heal some of his wounds with Garyuu's Sun flames, but...the wounds were too deep and Roksana's Moon flames weren't working fast enough." Ryohei told them.
"Damn it! I won't forgive whoever did this!" Gokudera snapped.
"We need to ask the baseball team what they know. Wasn't Mizuno with Yamamoto?" Ryohei asked, turning to look at Kaoru.
"Yeah. He and I were playing Catch yesterday, but I left before him." Kaoru replied.
"I see...so Yamamoto must've been attacked when he was alone. Roksana said she was in the Reception Room when she got strange sense of foreboding that had her checking on each of us that were still at the school." Ryohei said.
"That idiot! Letting his guard down! Good thing Roksana's instincts are so sharp." Gokudera growled.
"Considering they were strong enough to take down a Vongola Guardian, there's a good chance that they're the same culprit who attacked the Giegue Family." Adelheid remarked.
"It's just as Adelheid says. Which means we still have no clue who the culprit is." Kouyou asked, both Ryohei and Gokudera growling under their breathes.
"No, there's a way to dig out the culprit."
Everyone turned as another voice joined the conversation. There behind them stood Reborn at the side of Roksana. Gasps left a few of the others when their eyes landed on Roksana and the blood staining part of her clothes. The girl didn't look too happy, her expression betraying her barely contained fury.
"Reborn, Roksana! Roksana, your a mess!" Gokudera said.
"That doesn't matter right now." Roksana replied.
"We just went to check the locker room where Yamamoto was attacked. We were looking for any leads as to who the attacker was." Reborn told them.
"Leads? And did you find any?!" Gokudera asked.
"We did." Reborn replied. Roksana's eyes narrowed as she watched the reactions of the others. "But it'll take some time to reveal the culprit."
"Since, from what Reborn tells me, this concerns secret information about Vongola, we're going to have to ask you members of the Simon Family to leave for a while." Roksana added, though her tone didn't contain any of the civility and politeness that Reborn's did.
Adelheid's eyes narrowed as she met Roksana's gaze.
"Secret information of Vongola?" Kouyou repeated.
"If you let us in on it, we would be able to help you." Adelheid insisted.
"No, thank you." Roksana replied instantly, even a snippy.
"Excuse her. She's worried for Yamamoto. What she means is that if we need help, we'll ask for it. But for now, we need to have a little privacy." Reborn told Adelheid. "You lot should be careful too. You might be attacked as well."
"We would want yet another ally family to be harmed." Roksana added, but something about her tone made it sound less genuine than Reborn's.
"Understood." Adelheid said, though her eyes were set sharply on Roksana.
Roksana's eyes followed Adelheid and her family members as they walked past her and Reborn. Adelheid met Roksana's gaze as she drew even with the younger girl, and, in Roksana's two toned eyes, Adelheid could see suspicion. Continuing on past them, Kouyou drew close to Adelheid.
"Adelheid?" he asked lowly.
"She knows something." Adelheid told him.
All of them turned to look back, finding Roksana watching them leave, her expression sharp and intense. Turning back around, they vanished around the corner.
"What do we do? Deal with her?" Rauji asked.
"No. She's probably shared her suspicions with others. We can't afford to do anything to confirm her suspicions. She has no evidence. For now, we carry on with plans as they are." Adelheid ordered.
Back in the hall outside the operation room, Roksana turned back to her friends once she was sure Adelheid and her comrades were gone.
"What kind of leads did you two find, Reborn-san?" Gokudera asked.
"Yamamoto left a message in blood, just before he passed out." Reborn replied.
"A majority of it was wiped out by blood, though. We suspect that it was the part naming his attacker. The attacker probably tried to erase the evidence." Roksana added.
"However, next to that, the letters "Deritoto" had been written in small letters." Reborn told them.
"Deritoto?" Ryohei repeated questioningly.
"Not a clue, right? Looks like the culprit over looked it too. I didn't get it at first either." Reborn remarked.
"But if you rewrite it in Romaji it become "delitto"." Roksana explained. "It's the Italian word for "sin"."
"But "sin"...what does it mean?" Ryohei asked.
"From here on, this is information that only a few inside the Vongola Family know. "Sin". It's the name of the small bottle that the boss of Vongola inherits at the ceremony with each new generation." Reborn explained.
"Bottle?" Chrome asked.
"'Sin' is something Primo created to leave the memories of his battles to all his successors within the family. It is the proof of the Vongola Boss. In legends, they say that the bottle contains the blood that was shed during the battle." Reborn told them.
"Blood...in the bottle?" Ryohei mused.
"There's such a thing in Vongola?" Gokudera asked.
"But why did Yamamoto write that word?" Ryohei asked.
"More than likely, Takeshi uncovered the culprit's identity and that they, whoever they are, has a connection to the "Sin". Their attack on him was probably to shut him up before he could warn the rest of us." Roksana suggested, Reborn agreeing with her.
"The "Sin" is what they're after. Considering the fact that the only time the "Sin" appears before people's eyes is at the Inheritance Ceremony...there is no mistake that they culprit will come to the ceremony. Of course, if the ceremony is held, that is." Reborn added.
"If it's held?" Ryohei asked.
"What are you talking about?" Gokudera asked.
"Apparently, earlier, Tsuna turned down the title of Vongola boss. The ceremony has been cancelled." Roksana told them.
All eyes turned to Tsuna in shock and questioning. The boy still had his head hung, not looking up from the floor.
"I...I'll ask Ninth to open the ceremony." Tsuna said, surprising everyone, even Reborn. "The culprit is bound to attack another one of my friends again, and I won't forgive that. Whoever did that to Yamamoto...I'll catch them, no matter what it takes! I'm going to the Inheritance Ceremony!"
As Tsuna declared this, he looked up with a serious look on his face. For his friends, he would do anything, even something as unpleasant as this ceremony. Roksana stepped forward then, dropping to one knee in front of him. Reaching out, she placed one hand on his interlocked hands and met his gaze.
"You can count on us to have your back. We will find who did to Takeshi. They won't be allowed to get away with it." Roksana assured him.
She would drag the culprit before Tsuna herself, kicking and screaming if she must. They would regret the day they attacked one of her friends. Tsuna nodded, thanking her. There was no need for him to, though. Roksana would have done this even if Tsuna hadn't asked her.
The doctor exited the operation room then, Roksana rising to her feet as the others crowded around him.
"Doctor, how is Yamamoto?!" Tsuna asked.
"His condition is severe. The worst should be today and tomorrow." the doctor told them. "I need to mention this first, but even though we were able to save his life. There's a good chance he will never be able to walk again."
Roksana stood back from her friends, watching as they took in the news, both good and bad. Reborn jumped up on the bench beside her, looking up at the expression on the girl's face.
"You already have your suspicions on who's behind this so why didn't you tell Tsuna and the others?" Reborn asked.
"Because, if I'm wrong, I will ruin the relationships they had forged. If I'm right, I'll break their hearts." Roksana replied. "I couldn't bare to do either to them. Instead, I'll be the buffer should the situation turn out that I'm right. I'll accept full responsibility and I will protect my family. That's what a Moon Guardian is suppose to do, right? Guide the family through the dark times and into a new cycle of rebirth?"
"Right. And if you're right?" Reborn asked.
"I'll make them regret the day they ever came to Namimori. No one is going to get away with hurting my family." Roksana replied instantly.
Reborn chuckled lowly to himself.
"That's our Moon Guardian." he remarked.
Roksana didn't say anything, but she knew it was more than just being the Moon Guardian. These were her friends, the people who loved and accepted her when several others wouldn't even give her a chance. They were the ones that took all of her flaws and baggage and still wanted to be her friends. Even those among the ninth generation, Cedef and Varia were her friends.
Though, not all of them acted like very good friends.
Roksana would be damned if she allowed someone to attack those friends and get away with it. Regardless of who it was behind the attacks, she would make them pay for it. Her fury would know no rest until she did.
Even if her suspicions were right and the culprits turned out to be Enma and his group.
Roksana, after that, decided to spend the night watching out for Yamamoto.
Tsuna was able to go home and sleep soundly knowing that Roksana was there to watch out for Yamamoto. Dimitri and Maeve came to the hospital, too, situating themselves outside Yamamoto's room while Roksana made herself comfortable inside. By the light of a small lamp, most of the other lights in the room dimmed, Roksana pulled out the papers Dimitri had brought her. Unfolding them and spreading them across the little roll-away bedside table in front of her, Roksana looked down at the family registry spread out before her.
Finding her name as the newest addition to the long family tree, Roksana's finger traced back to her mother's name; Kaguyama Misuki. From there, she traced back to her mother's parents, her finger landing on her grandmother's maiden name; Kitsugami Tsuki. Going further back, Roksana traced the family line that her heirloom ring came from, her finger landing on her grandmother's mother; Kitsugami Mizuki. The family registry with that part of her family ended with Roksana's great great grandmother, the woman Roksana had received part of her own name from.
Roksana's finger landed on the last name, a chill sweeping her body as she started at the name before her. She had known it. Staring back up at her, in black and white, was the proof she couldn't deny.
Kozato Tsukiko.
END
Kyandi: I know some of you saw this reveal coming.
Roksana: Like we said, though, there's still many questions left to be answered.
Kyandi: Yep. Like, how are Enma and Roksana related.
Roksana: The connection my ring plays in this whole thing.
Kyandi: And a few others. You'll all have to keep reading to find out the backstory here. Also, if none of you noticed, take note how every woman in Roksana's family that ended up with the ring, had a name with some kind of meaning that means "moon".
Roksana: I got double the celestial power because I have a name that means "moon" and and a name that means "star".
Kyandi: You did. Even Roksana's great great great grandmother has a name that means "moon".
Roksana: And there's your clue.
Kyandi: With that, everyone enjoy and review.
Roksana: We'll be back tomorrow.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!