OpalescentGold: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
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This is how everything shattered like glass.
Cold
It's cold.
Always so cold.
Noriko - or is Cynthia now? Who is Cynthia? Who is Noriko? Is she both? Is she neither? - drifts in dull darkness and feels the chill settle in her bones. Painkillers have strange effects on her. During an Eclipse, they don't work at all.
She is tired. She feels weighed down. She is so, so cold.
Noriko sleeps. And as she sleeps, she dreams.
(Or does she?)
Reason
"Why?"
The voice comes distant and faraway. Familiar, so familiar. An ally, but not. An enemy, but not. A former-friend. A former...
"Cynthia. Why?"
He's asking her why? He should know. Of all people, he should know. The strain in his voice is frustrating. He's not meant to sound so sad. He doesn't have the right to sound so sad.
The last time he sounded so sad...
"Why?"
Grief
"Why!?" Daemon spits out, furious and wretched. "Why did he do it!? I told him not to! I told him we needed to keep the Vongola strong! Why!?"
Cynthia doesn't say a word as the front of her dress grows damp with his tears. Elena's dead body appears every time she closes her eyes. Silent tears roll down her face, but she doesn't join in his agonized diatribe against Giotto.
Instead, she strokes her fingers through his hair and lets the world fade away.
Elena was Daemon's lover. But Elena was Cynthia's sister, too.
Report
"Hey, Nori-chan. I, uhh, I know you probably can't hear me right now, but I'm going to tell you what's been going on anyway, okay? We were able to activate the Vongola and Simon - they're working with us now, by the way, we came to an agreement - Rings, so we've been trying to find Daemon Spade."
There's a pause. The voice, comforting, gentle, turns hesitant.
"Nori-chan...I don't know what's between you and Daemon, but we'll try not to hurt him, okay? Even though he almost killed you, and I can't stand for that, I'll bring him back to you in one piece and then you can decide what you want to do. It's your right. The Simon have agreed."
What she wants to do? What does she want to do?
Cynthia doesn't know. Noriko is a bit better off, but she's uncertain, too.
They are both not sure whether they'd like to wake up or not.
Play
Daemon is very, very good at pretending, but Cynthia knows better.
She can see the darkness in him, that darkness that only Elena was able to hold back with her light. She can see the bitterness and the anger, the festering hatred and the cold calculation.
He pretends to recover, to move on. He gradually starts smiling again, indulges in banter once more. He listens to Giotto's guilt-filled orders and spars with Alaude until the walls of the mansion shake.
It's almost as if Daemon has mourned and bounced back perfectly.
Cynthia stands by Giotto's side and watches Daemon become a stranger.
She doesn't say a word, despite the horror that churns in her gut.
Melancholy
"Cynthia."
The voice is quiet, insubstantial. Flickering. Warm. Not quite so comforting as saddening, a ghost with orange eyes and orange flame and silent regret.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it go so far. I never thought he would hurt you."
Strange. She never thought he would either.
"I should have settled this in our time. My time. Decimo shouldn't have to handle this, and for that, Cynthia, Noriko, I am truly, utterly sorry."
A pause.
"Forgive me."
Warnings
"What happened was an atrocity," Daemon growls.
"The Vongola cannot afford to be weak," Daemon murmurs.
"Help me. For Elena's sake," Daemon says.
Whispers in the dark. Betrayal in their midst. Death murmuring on the wind.
Cynthia shakes and curls in on herself. She doesn't answer his insidious invitations. She doesn't tell a single soul. The Judge is compromised for the first time ever, and the Adviser is stumbling, falling.
She doesn't know what to do. She looks at the Vongola, at the organization that she helped create, at the result of her life's work, and she sees corruption and turmoil and all the signs of an impending internal collapse, and she doesn't know what to do.
Giotto finds her and kneels by her side, concern a warm beacon in his eyes. He doesn't say a word but wraps her up in his arms and holds her until she stops shivering. "It's okay," he says, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "It's okay."
No, she wants to say, it isn't.
But her voice doesn't work, so she says nothing.
Wings
"My, how the mighty have fallen." The sound of wings beating is strangely disturbing, as is the playful, mocking voice. "You look rather pathetic lying there, you know. Say, are you Cervello Cynthia or Reiki Noriko now?"
She doesn't know.
"Both? Neither?"
She wishes he would leave.
"You shouldn't worry. You'll figure it out soon enough."
Will she?
"I really should just leave you there after you imposed such a harsh Punishment on me. But then, that is your job, isn't it?" A soft, knowing laugh. "The Judge, the Arbiter. You left him go, and now, I bet you're regretting it."
She isn't so sure.
"If I leave right now, you'll be stuck here for another six weeks. I suppose I can be generous. I've already paid a visit to Yamamoto Takeshi, so I may as well take care of you, too."
The world explodes in a surge of blinding white light.
And at last, she wakes up.