OpalescentGold: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Expedition
This is how things accelerate.
Conditioning
They don't get very far.
Daemon creates his scythe, Mukuro's grip tightens on his trident, tendrils of illusions sing mutely in the room -
Beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.
The discrepancy in background noise makes them both pause and turn to look at the heart monitor. It's gone erratic, which is...interesting, considering that Noriko is still unconscious, though lines are appearing on her forehead and she is beginning to frown.
Daemon scowls. "...this is your fault."
"My fault?" Mukuro scoffs, eye twitching. "Look at her. She has anxiety around Mist Flames because of you." It's almost impressive, considering all of this must be completely subconscious.
They linger uncertainly for another few moments, eyeing each other and the sleeping girl with all of the wariness of bastard schemers. Noriko's heartbeat continues to increase, until it's bordering on being dangerous to her health.
"At this rate," Mukuro drawls, spinning his trident, "you actually are going to kill her. Or is finishing the job what you're here to do?"
Daemon glares at him and promptly turns and walks out. Hmm.
Mukuro leans back in his chair and lets his trident fade away with a chuckle. "You've been keeping more secrets, I see," he says to the girl on the hospital bed.
Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep. Beep.
When Kiku arrives in the morning, there is no one in her daughter's room.
Maternal
Kiku isn't an idiot. She knows that her daughter is caught up in something, knows that while she is out at work, Nori gets up to things that Kiku would rather not think of. She's known that something strange has been going on for a long time.
Oh, she doesn't think that Nori is into drugs or gangs or anything like that. Kiku knows her daughter as only a mother can; Nori may be free-spirited but she knows the lines that mustn't be crossed. And Nori's friends are good children, loyal and supportive.
Kiku and Yoshio accepted Tsunayoshi a long time ago. Hayato, for all that he smells like smoke, is always polite and the shocked expression on his face when they invited him for dinner spoke plainly. Takeshi is a joy, always so cheerful.
Since childhood, Nori has always been too intelligent for her own good. Independent, too, and Kiku, despite not wanting to let her baby go, allowed her to do as she wished. It was the only way to keep her daughter with their family, and she doesn't regret the decision, not even now.
And she's blossomed beautifully. A lovely, strong young lady, though as the years have passed, she's grown inevitably more distant, spending less and less time with Kiku and Yoshio. They have accepted it gracefully, half because she is growing up and half because they are busy, always busy with the financial situation.
The mysterious sums of money that show up whenever they're on the brink are suspicious as well, but Kiku doesn't want to know and has never asked Nori. Some things are better off unsaid.
As the years go by, Nori's gotten deeper and deeper into whatever it is. She goes out at strange times at night, always has some sort of event planned. She comes back sometimes with haunted eyes and a false smile, and recently it's been so bad, Kiku's been looking up affordable therapists.
Just a few days ago, things came to a head, she supposes. Nori doesn't lie. It's one of the defining facts that Kiku knows. Her daughter might deflect or laugh it off or give insubstantial answers, but she has never lied directly to her parents.
That day, at the dinner table, she had.
Kiku wanted to push. Wanted to ask her daughter what was wrong, why her eyes were so dark and her smiles so strained, why she looks exhausted and rundown and heartbroken. The request to go off to Italy came as a surprise, and a refusal was on her lips before she realized Nori would go whether or not she gave her blessing.
Now, Kiku sits by her daughter's bedside, her cold hand clasped in both of her own, and thinks that she should have tried harder to keep Nori at home, safe from the horrors of the world.
They tell her that she had an accident. A sharp projectile almost penetrated her heart.
Kiku knows they're lying, perhaps unwittingly. Tsunayoshi couldn't meet her eyes when he came to deliver the news, guilt staining his voice. He looked terrible, wrecked, and Kiku didn't hesitate to give him a hug before making for the hospital at top speed.
It doesn't escape her notice that Takeshi is injured, too. Whatever the kids are dabbling in, it is dangerous.
Kiku would tell her daughter - her sensible, stubborn daughter - to back out now, if she thought that Nori would listen for a second. Instead, she can only sit by her unresponsive girl and pray to someone, anyone, that Nori will survive and flourish in whatever she chooses to do.
Enhance
"Ready?" Tsuna asks, looking around the room. His Guardians signal their agreement in their own ways, and Enma smiles at him, determination in his eyes.
"Ready," Enma says, his own Guardians gathered around him. On their fingers, the Vongola and Simon Rings glimmer, still uncut gemstones waiting to shine.
They only have one chance at this. They can't afford to lose.
Tsuna nods. "Let's do it!" he orders, eyes bleeding into orange. His Will hangs heavy in the air, and in seconds, fourteen different kinds of Flame burst into vivid, defiant life.
As the full force of his Sky Flames envelops him, Tsuna thinks he hears a proud voice in his head:
Protect what is yours, Decimo.