OpalescentGold: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Conflicts
This is how the battles start.
Beginnings
"Juudaime? How did this start?" Hayato questions in a low tone as Noriko and Kyoya take their positions on the opposite sides of the school rooftop, the tension rising steadily.
"Ah, that's a funny story, actually," Takeshi answers with a laugh, ignoring Hayato's mutter of how he wasn't talking to him. "See, for some reason, Nori got it into her head that we should all be training sometime in fourth grade."
"Y-Yeah. And, well, what Nori-chan wants, Nori-chan gets," Tsuna says with a rueful smile that holds traces of many, many past misadventures. "So, Nori-chan struck a bargain with Hibari-san, or something. It's kinda blurry."
"Nori's like that," Takeshi agrees cheerfully, watching the two fighters eyeball each other closely. "From what I got, the basic gist of the deal was that Hibari would help train us and in return we would each fight Hibari once per month."
"I think Nori-chan also snuck in some clause about Hibari-san not attacking us except for training or sparring," Tsuna confesses, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I still don't know how she got him to say yes."
Takeshi shrugs carelessly, gaze sharpening as the fight begins with a charge from Kyoya, the tonfa smashing into the ground where Noriko was standing. "It's Nori."
Technique
This is Reborn's first time seeing Noriko fight, because in the past, when it came time for her monthly spar, she would always drag Kyoya out to somewhere in the middle of nowhere and away from Reborn's line of sight.
It doesn't help that coincidentally, there would be some sort of incident in Namimori that Reborn would inevitably need to take care of. He's starting to think the blonde has more influence than he'd initially given her credit for.
To make matters worse, Reborn still has no clue what type of Flames Noriko possess, as his every attempt to shoot her with a Dying Will Bullet ends with chaos and no valid conclusion. It's ridiculously frustrating.
And, annoyingly, the evasions - because his pride needs to know she has to be evading his bullets on purpose - are near seamless, deflecting any suspicion but his own.
But, back to the match at hand, the one and only line running through Reborn's mind as he watches Kyoya and Noriko duke it out is: Why did she say she couldn't interfere in the fights with Rokudo Mukuro and his associates?
Because, honest to Kami-sama, the girl fighting the demon prefect is more than capable of knocking out those small fry.
While Kyoya has his pair of tonfa, Noriko doesn't use a weapon at all. She twirls and ducks and weaves beneath his blows with effortless grace, laughs and smiles without a care as she slips right underneath his guard.
It's like she's not fighting at all. It's like she's reminiscing an old memory instead.
Noriko has a highly indirect fighting style, vastly dissimilar to Kyoya's but so much more lethal, visible only to his experienced eyes...and perhaps Tsuna's.
While the prefect hits hard and brutal, the blonde hits soft and light. However, while Kyoya is mostly indiscriminate on aim, Noriko notably goes for the important spots: the neck, the arms, the legs, the head. Permanent wounds.
Fatal.
Of course, Noriko pulls back before each hit to prevent heavy injury, but Reborn sees and wonders.
The way the two clash could be choreographed; they are so very used to each other's fighting styles. And they are well-suited to one another, to the point that Reborn can see why Kyoya agreed to her conditions despite his aloofness.
Sparring partners this in sync are hard to come by and more than worth it.
Stirring
It happens after their spar ends in another stalemate.
Kyoya's certainly getting better, not that she had expected anything less. Hayato and Takeshi are progressing at their own rates, though she's loathe to convince the dark-haired boy to take up the sword just yet, and Ryohei remains very extreme in his training.
And Lambo...is just a child. She's not at all sure what to do about that, but the Ten Year Bazooka will doubtlessly be an asset. Mukuro is even worse. It's difficult to even stay in the same room with the former criminal, although it's not any better with him out of Namimori.
Noriko's smile fades even as her friends continue arguing, bantering, or threatening, whatever it is that they're doing. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she turns her gaze to the cloudless blue sky, seemingly harmless.
She knows better. She has felt this feeling before.
Something...something is coming.
And it's dangerous.
Disaster
Unfortunately, she's right.
Noriko is writing in her log when the call comes to inform her of the latest disaster regarding the Vongola. She puts her pen down and flips open her cell phone, barely managing to get out a greeting out before Tsuna is talking.
She stays silent while he babbles about silver-haired swordsmen and a bunch of rings and an overwhelming fight that knocked out Hayato and Takeshi and would have been an even bigger disaster had Dino not arrived.
Huh. What do you know? That clumsy, whip-toting baby boss is good for something after all, other than causing mayhem with that pet turtle of his.
"Tsuna," Noriko says when Tsuna pauses to gasp in a breath. "Tsuna."
Tsuna hesitates, probably near tears by this point. "Nori-chan...?"
"Calm down," she orders simply. "Where are you?"
"At home," comes the prompt, shaky answer.
"Stay there," Noriko says, already pulling on a sweater and halfway out the door. "I'll be there in five minutes."