OpalescentGold: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Reborn
This is how everything starts.
Call
Ten minutes after Tsuna hears of Reborn's mission, he's flipping open his cell phone and jabbing his finger into the number one button. All of his friends are on speed dial, though the day he calls Hibari is the day he's in mortal danger.
With what he has learned today, it doesn't seem so far-fetched now.
'Mafia!' his mind wails in a panic because Tsuna was under the impression that his life was plenty crazy, but he now realizes that this situation really takes the cake.
"Tsuna?" Noriko's voice, clear and silvery, comes through the speaker, and Tsuna nearly breaks down in tears as he spills everything to his first friend and confidant.
Anger
Noriko listens patiently to Tsuna's situation and tells him to calm down. She assures him that no matter what, she will always be by his side and chats with him about the mess dumped into their laps until he doesn't sound so hysterical.
She bids him goodbye and dials Takeshi afterwards to ask him to escort Tsuna to school. She doesn't trust this Reborn with her Sky. Hell, she doesn't trust anyone but her family with her Sky, much less a hitman.
Then, Noriko takes a deep breath and leaves to find Kyoya. She does not enjoy fighting - diplomacy, judgment is her domain - but she needs to work off the fury boiling in her gut.
Mafia
Noriko sighs and collapses on the school rooftop. Kyoya sits down next to her, both of them breathing harshly. It's a stalemate, but they have been fighting for near to an hour.
The silence is comfortable. He knows when not to push. She closes her eyes and lets her head loll back.
The Mafia. The Vongola are now a Mafia Famiglia, the strongest and most influential Mafia Famiglia in Italy, if Tsuna's new tutor is to be believed. She does not need to have it spelled out for her; they are a ruthless, violent organization.
One filled with crime and blood.
This...was never what they wanted. Never what was meant to happen. This is not the Vongola she helped Giotto create. This is an abomination.
This is the mafia syndicate that Tsuna is meant to inherit.
How dare they?
Arcobaleno
Noriko - Cynthia - knows of the Arcobaleno in a distant way, as she knows of nearly everything but her family in that past life. It was Alaude who'd first informed her of their existence, after the relocation to Japan.
They are said to be the seven strongest infants in the world, he'd said to her, low and even. Cursed but powerful.
It takes her less than a minute to identify the gun-toting, suit-wearing Reborn as one.
Dying Will
Noriko freezes when Tsuna shows up at her house in nothing but boxers, an orange flame burning on his forehead, and eyes narrowed in determination. "NORI-CHAN, LET'S GO TO SCHOOL!" he shouts, grabbing her hand.
She has less than a second to process what's going on before they are off, Tsuna all but dragging her the entire way, to pick up Takeshi. They reach TakeSushi ten minutes sooner than expected.
Oh. Noriko smiles brightly at the surprise in Takeshi's eyes before Tsuna grabs him too and lugs them both to school. It's been a long time since she's seen the Dying Will Mode.
She refuses to admit to herself that when she first opened her door and saw those eyes, saw that flame, she thought -
Match
Noriko is none too impressed when the judge from the kendo match favors Mochida heavily, not even awarding the points he should be awarding to Tsuna when he gets a few good blows in, courtesy of the training with Ryohei and Kyoya.
(Well, Ryohei loudly encourages Tsuna to keep up with his extreme workouts, and Kyoya fights them all, once a month, and he hits punishingly hard when Tsuna can't keep up. So far, only Noriko has been able to force a stalemate with Kyoya.
But that is to be expected. They are all still so young.)
Pursing her lips, Noriko rises to her feet and pushes past the gathered crowd to smile sweetly at the kendo judge. She decides to stay by his side the entire time, visibly unnerving the fool, and when Tsuna wins, a clear hit to the head, Noriko turns a stern blue-grey gaze on the judge until he declares victory.
Suspicious
Reborn does not accept coincidence. Few, few things in this world are coincidence.
The fact that Tsuna, while clumsy, quiet, and a little hesitant, is stable, happy, and occasionally assertive, wholly unlike the reports the spies gave, is not accepted as a coincidence.
And what do you know? When Reborn tracks down the spies, they are lounging about, not even giving an impression of doing their jobs, all clearly incompetent. He beats them up, fires them, and sends them crying out of Namimori.
He chews out Iemitsu, too, because Tsuna is certainly not his "fluffy, shy, adorable tuna-fishie!"
The fact that Tsuna has gathered around him three potential Guardians - Rain, Sun, Cloud - all brimming with aptitude in their own ways, is not accepted as a coincidence either.
Everything, he finds, links back to one Reiki Noriko's friendship with Sawada Tsunayoshi. A little digging tells Reborn that they became friends back in kindergarten, but the Sun Arcobaleno cannot identify the girl in any one category.
And perhaps that's the problem. Reborn finds himself hard-pressed to keep up with Noriko's shifts in mood.
With Tsuna, she is protective, encouraging, and reckless.
With Takeshi, she is relaxed, sincere, and mirthful.
With Ryohei, she is motherly, watchful, and supportive.
With Kyoya, she is quiet, introspective, and calm.
Reborn cannot figure out which Flame Reiki Noriko holds, to his slight discomfort.