Last One Standing

"Boss, what are you doing!?"

"Stay back you guys!"

Then an explosion that sent everyone flying.

"Boss!"

"Bucking Horse!"

He fought his way through the smoke and debris until…

Snapping out of his trance, he continued looking at the polished wooden desk in front of him with a frown on his face and fists tightly clenched by his side. Aside from him, no one entered the room anymore; all the men in black that resided in the building were too busy mourning to even think about stepping into the room.

"Kyouya, we'll go out for dinner after this."

Liar…

He frowned at the thought and the silence that surrounded him. It was the first time this room had been completely silent. There'd been no one to greet him, and no one there to annoy him by talking too much and burst his personal space by crowding around him. Suddenly, the room lost its once warm and welcoming feeling, instead, it felt cold and the only emotion he could really associate the feeling with was loneliness.

"Kyouya, you came! How was your trip? Are you feeling jetlagged? I can have Romario prepare a room for you if you'd like."

Normally, he would've preferred to be left alone. Normally, he wouldn't have cared. But that was only if it'd been somebody else, anybody else. Somehow, he'd gotten too used to that constant noise beside him, always hovering around, always troubling him with one thing or another. He'd gotten so used to it that he found that he couldn't adjust to the silence anymore; it felt like someone pressed the mute button on the world for him.

It'd already been weeks since it happened, and instead of adapting, he found himself standing in Italy, in that office, and in front of that desk where that blond used to sit behind. And even though he knew it was stupid and unproductive, he couldn't help but to imagine the other sitting there, smiling at him with that damn sunny smile that always remained unchanged over all those years. He continued staring at the empty chair, thoughts running wild. It wasn't until his phone rang that he snapped back to reality and sparing the seat one last glance, left the room.

In the world he lived in, Hibari Kyouya was going onto twenty-seven, and Dino Cavallone never made it to thirty-four.

He hated how he stood in that room looking at that empty desk, but for some reason, that's what he ended up doing every time he traveled to Italy.

In the back of his mind, he knew just how many chances he had to see the blond again. With Giannini, Spanner and Shouichi working on a reverse ten-year bazooka and the possibility of Lambo shooting his past self with the bazooka, the possibilities were endless. The main problem was that even if he ended up traveling to the past, and somehow, by some uncanny chance, happened to meet up with the Cavallone, he wouldn't know what to say or do. After all, it's already been registered in his mind that he'd be talking to a dead person.

The thought was unsettling.

But he knew that it was bound to happen eventually, because even though Lambo had grown up a bit, ten years ago, he was still a crybaby and as klutzy as he'd always been, especially when Reborn was concerned.

And even though he knew this, and had told himself the same thing over and over again, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he was suddenly transported from Dino's empty office to the courtyard of his middle school, a place he found himself standing around even though he'd graduated from middle school already. Around the corner, he could hear people yelling at Lambo, for randomly shooting the ten-year bazooka, he was probably almost seven by that time.

He thought about going over and biting them to death but then reconsidered. It could've been worse; at least he was alone and it was only for five minutes. But still, curiosity got to the better of him, and caused him to take his phone out. Scrolling through his unexpectedly long list of contacts, he came upon the name of the person he wanted to call. It was something he knew he shouldn't do but did anyways. The phone rang twice before someone picked up.

There was silence, causing his brows to furl in confusion, "…hello?"

Then there was an instantaneous reply, "Kyouya? Sorry, I was just finishing something, it's rare for you to call…your voice sounds different, are you sick? Are you dressed properly? I don't think I can go back to Japan any time soon, but I'll ship a jacket over for you if you want, do you want something like mine? You're always wearing that uniform of yours, it's too thin, and you don't even wear it properly! You should take better care of yourself!"

And he just remained silent, listening to the blonde's voice as he rambled and spewed useless words anxiously. It was comforting in a strange way.

"Kyouya? You're alright, aren't you?"

"I…"

Then his time was up and he was transported back to his own time and back to the empty office where the blond was probably sitting ten years ago.

The second he returned, the line was cut and the history of what should've been impossible was recorded.

Call time: 4:08…

Call ended.

When he returned to Japan, and back to his base, he found Uri waiting for him. The cat purred as he entered the room and padded over onto his lap after he sat down. He was almost certain that the Tenth's right hand man would come barging in at any moment now.

"Uri, where'd you go!?" He sighed as the door opened violently, revealing an angry Gokudera, "ah, you're here again!? Damn it Hibari, are you hiding catnip or fish on your person or something!? Why does she always go to youof all people!?"

He shot him an unimpressed look, "why are you asking me?"

"Uri, come back here!" The cat hissed at her owner and continued nuzzling the brunet contently. Gokudera glared at him before giving a huff of exasperation and turning around, "the Tenth told me to be nice to you so I guess she can stay here a bit longer, I'll be back to get her though."

Hibari raised a brow, what was that herbivore of a leader thinking? He got up and carrying the cat with him, headed over to the Tenth's office. "Do you want to be bitten to death?"

Over the years, Tsuna has gotten used to his Cloud's threats and sudden appearances, but despite his calm exterior, he continued to feel the same fear he'd felt since middle school in the pit of his stomach. "What do you mean, Hibari-san?" He always felt a twinge of accomplishment when he spoke without his voice shaking or going up a pitch.

"Do I look like an herbivore? I don't need any of your crowds to sympathize with me." Despite his angry glare, Hibari continued petting the purring cat in his hands.

Tsuna sighed, he wasn't surprised by the news at all, "Gokudera-kun…even though I told him to keep quiet about it…but I guess that's like telling Lambo to stop crying whenever someone hits him…even though he's seventeen already…"

Feeling his annoyance rising at the meaningless rant, he turned around, "if this ever happens again, I'll bite you all to death."

The second time he returned to the past, he was face to face with the Italian who had strands of spaghetti dangling from his mouth with tomato sauce coating his lips. There was an awkward pause between the both of them until the blond snapped out of his state of shock and slurped up the rest of his pasta and began prodding him curiously, "Kyouya? Is that really you?"

He looked at the taller man with unmasked annoyance, "who else would I be?"

Dino laughed easily and stopped, "I haven't seen the ten-year-later you in a long, long time. But you haven't really changed, have you? Even after ten years…well, except your hair's a little shorter and you're wearing a yukata, that's what you call it, right? …hey Kyouya, it was you that called me last time, wasn't it?"

Turning his eyes away, he huffed in irritation, "what are you talking about?"

The blond placed a hand gently on his head, "There's only one thing I want to ask you."

Hibari watched him curiously, though it still annoyed him that the Cavallone could pat him on the head so casually even though he was technically older at the moment, he snorted, "What is it? Get your hand off me or I'll bite you to death."

"Hey Kyouya, in your world ten years later, am I dead? Because I can't come up with any other logical reason as to why you'd call me like you did last time." He was slightly taken aback by the question, even though he knew that despite his actions sometimes, the blond was anything but dumb. There was a sad glimmer in the other's eyes, "by your silence, I take it that I guessed right, then?"

The other retracted his hand with a rueful smile, and out of reflex, he caught the retreating hand and held onto the sleeve tightly, "…I won our bet…"

Dino looked at him anxiously, "Kyo-?"

The next thing he knew, he was back in his room, fingers grasping thin air. From a bit away, Uri immediately made her way back towards him, purring, while Hibird landed on his head, singing happily, "Hibari, Hibari!"

"Ah, Kyou-san, you're back," Kusakabe greeted from behind the door, "it seems that Uri enjoyed the presence of you ten years ago as well."

He picked the cat up and sat down, then he took Roll out and placed him on the floor beside him. Surrounded by animals, he relaxed and let his mind wander, and for some reason, his thoughts wandered to the blond with tomato sauce covered lips. Looking over towards the door, he muttered offhandedly, "I feel like pasta right now…"

"Then I'll go fetch some right away," his follower bowed and disappeared.

After he was left alone, he sighed and looked up at the ceiling, flexing his fingers in front of him, he could still recall the warmth that radiated off the other.

The two stared at each other. He'd just gotten out of the shower when he was brought back in time again and ended up in the other's office. He'd actually been teleported to the past a quite few times before, but he'd been alone during those times, and he spent the five minutes either beating on random strangers, the herbivores, or contemplating whether or not he should call the blond.

The first thing Dino said was "Kyouya! Aren't you cold!? Here, I'll close the window, I can't believe you only have your towel-did you just come out of the shower? Do you want something to wear? Damn I don't have my jacket with me, here, just take this suit jacket, it's not as warm but it's better than what you're wearing-or I can get Romario to bring you something to change into if you'd like."

He studied the other silently, suppressing the faint traces of grief and nostalgia that threatened to arise. Dino always wore suits in Italy and t-shirts and jackets in Japan. He remembered Romario chiding his boss for wearing casual wear in a place where anyone could drop by to visit.

"Boss, you can't possibly wear that, even if it's your favorite jacket. Imagine if people see you like that around here, it'd cause a riot. Please save it for when you travel."

"…fine, you're right, I get it. It's just that Kyouya's visiting and I thought being in a suit would be a little too much and it'd make him uncomfortable," a sigh, "I guess it can't be helped…"

Ironically, despite Romario's reprimanding, that same jacket was buried with the blond at his funeral.

Finally, he gave a shrug, "I'm fine, it's only for five minutes anyways."

Then there was a long moment of silence, and as always, the Cavallone was the first to break it, "So how do I die in the future?"

Hibari looked over, "are you going to stop yourself from dying if I tell you?"

Dino shrugged, "depends on how I die, I guess. You get annoyed every time I mention my death, that means you were there, right? …and being the last one standing, that was the bet you were talking about, right?" There was a subtle flinch from the other but he remained silent. The Italian sighed and continued, "Kyouya, you know, I like to think of myself as someone who knows you better than anyone else. And if I'm not wrong, you're angry at me dying because you somehow feel…I wouldn't go so far as to say guilty or sad…I guess bound by it?"

He glared at the other and snarled, "Shut up. Don't flatter yourself, you herbivore. I could've handled the whole mission without your help, but you just had to step in and get yourself killed."

The blond remained unfazed, "what happened, Kyouya?"

There was a pause before Hibari asked him again coolly, "will you change the future if I tell you?"

"Depends on what I did."

Hibari turned away, "I was on a mission and Sawada decided to call you and your family for backup…"

The Cavallone sighed and shook his head, "Sorry Kyouya, I already know my answer then. I'd never change the future if it meant endangering you or my family. If that's how I died, I'd gladly repeat it over and over again, otherwise, I'd regret it forever."

He felt angry at the response and wished he had his weapons. Why was he being so selfish? Who cared if the blond regretted anything or not? He was the one that was left to clean the mess up. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered coldly, "you're always so annoying, it makes me really want to bite you to death. I didn't tell you to run ahead, I never even asked for backup. It's because you're such an herbivore that the mission ended up the way it did. I would've been just fi-"

A kiss cut him off, "Hey Kyouya, I love you. I hope that in your world, I've told you that many times before I died."

His eyes widened at the abrupt statement as he felt himself placed back into his own time. He looked around his bathroom and was upset that there wasn't anyone to attack, so he clenched his fist and punched the wall.

Until your last breath, that's all you managed to blab…

"Kyouya…I'm so sorry…I love you…tell Romario I'm sorry…"

"Tell him yourself."

A weak laugh, "I guess you won…you're the last one standing."

"…"

"Don't cry, Kyouya."

"I'm not crying."

"I love you, Kyouya…I love you, I love you, I love you…"

"Shut it or I'll bite you to death."

There was a long pause.

"…Bucking Horse?"

No reply.

He looked away, "you're so useless, I don't want to be the last one standing…"

Almost a year had passed before he managed to see the blond again. He was reading up on Shouichi's reports on parallel worlds when he was teleported. This time, he wound up a familiar scene, the Italian's office again. The blond looked up happily from his laptop; he'd grown accustomed to the adult brunet, "Kyouya!"

Looking around, he wondered how he managed to get shot by the bazooka in Italy.

"Lambo's around here somewhere, I invited the whole Vongola family over," the other explained, taking his glasses off. "Sorry, I was just writing…"

Mildly curious, he asked, "Writing what?"

"My autobiography."

He gave a snort, "who'd read that?" But despite saying that, he'd read it, in fact, he'd spent weeks reading it, deciphering the Italian paragraph by paragraph, trying to recall all the verbs and tenses as they appeared in the text.

Dino looked up with a pout, "Kyouya said that me just now too when I told him…you should read it for one, I'm writing a chapter all about you right now."

Hibari raised a brow, "there wasn't a chapter like that."

The blond grinned, "Doesn't that mean you've read it?"

"Shut up, I'll bite you to death," he snapped, whipping out his weapons while the other took out his whip to block the attack.

The two stood there for a moment before the Cavallone sighed and put his weapon back down, "My life seems to be in danger whenever you get embarrassed, Kyouya. Was the only line about you something like 'at the age of twenty-two, Reborn personally requested that I help train the future Cloud Guardian.' Then something about how you remained a very important part of my life even now?"

A shrug, "Something like that."

The leader sighed but he didn't look too disappointed as he traced the edges of his screen, "I knew it, Romario would never let me to publish something like this in my autobiography…but you know…I probably have original manuscript somewhere around, even in the future…let's see, where would I put it? Oh, I know!" He fished a key out of his pocket, "don't worry, I have a spare, it's the key to my drawer, it's where I normally hide my junk food from Romario, it's probably in there."

He accepted the key and looked up, "you…"

Dino glanced at the clock on his screen and waved, "Ciao Kyouya, ti amo."

"Wha-" he looked around only to find himself back where he started, his room. He never got to finish what he wanted to say. Looking at the key in his hand, he called out, "Kusakabe."

There was an immediate reply, "yes, Kyou-san?"

"Book me a flight to Italy."

"Yes, sir!"

Sighing, he picked up the report and continued reading.

A few days later, he was back in the blonde's office, except it was as empty as it'd been before. Romario had greeted him at the door, but left him alone when he walked into the office. Fishing the key out, he sat down in Dino's chair and unlocked the drawer. Like the blond had said, there were bags of chips and boxes of chocolate inside along with a bottle of red wine and an unused glass, but underneath it all, there was an envelope.

Taking the contents out, he flipped through the manuscript until he came upon the missing pages the other mentioned. Leaning back in the chair, he began to read.

Hibari Kyouya,

I already know Romario won't let me publish this so technically, I'm allowed to write whatever I want, right? There are things in life that you really just can't say no matter how hard you try except for when you're dying or alone, and I'm alone right now so I think I can write it all down. But it's still embarrassing, hm?

Reborn must've known that something like this would happen, because if he didn't, he wouldn't have told me not to get too attached before I started training you. Obviously, I didn't know what he'd meant back then, but when I met you, I think I understood a little. And honestly, my original plan was just to train you and to leave it at that. But you were so violent and wild…I realized that if I were to turn away for even a moment, I'd probably get hurt if not killed, so for those ten days, I never took my eyes off of you. And since I saw only you, before I knew it, I fell in love. I wanted to tame you, but I wonder who tamed who in the end?

Romario wasn't all for this at the beginning either, but I know he sees you as family now, since you're practically my wife-in the sense that you're the only one I'd go back to over and over again…I mean, we even have our own penguin song, right?

Unable to continue, he put the pages down and glared at his lap, wishing there was someone to hurt physically, "obviously no one in their right mind would let you publish this, it's a letter, it's not even an autobiography…penguin song? …how stupid…it's not like you ever sang it properly anyway…"

The blond pulled one of his headphones out and looked over at him, "Hey Kyouya, do you want to listen to some Italian music?"

He didn't bother sparing the other a glance, "No."

The older boy shot him an anxious look, "…would you prefer Japanese music? I got Tsuna to get me the names of popular artists around here…"

"No."

Dino blinked, "Hm? Then what do you listen to?"

Just then, Hibird flew over their heads singing the one song it knew best. Hibari smirked and pointed up, "that. The only song I'll listen to is my school's anthem. I can teach it to you if you'd like."

The Cavallone laughed, "You must really love it if you're willing to teach it to me, did you teach it to your bird as well?"

The younger boy nodded, "of course, it had to be perfect."

"Ja, please teach it to me as well, it'll be our penguin song."

Gray eyes looked over, "penguin song?"

Dino smiled, "don't you know? Every penguin couple has a special song to call to one another and they stay with that penguin for the rest of their lives."

"I don't care about penguin songs, but if you get a single note of my school anthem wrong or off-key, I'll bite you to death."

The blond looked slightly nervous at that, "I'll try my best then…"

Nine years later, just a day short of ten, Hibari looked around warily, the rain impairing his vision slightly. He'd gone on a solo mission and the number of enemies was higher than expected. Looking around, he found himself surrounded, raising his weapons, he grinned, "tch, only herbivores would group together like that. But I'm so happy I'm shaking, it looks like I'll get to bite you all to death at once, how convenient."

As he fought, in the back of his mind, he was reminded that tomorrow would be the day that Dino died, ten years ago and chewed on his lower lip. After tomorrow, even if he was to get hit by the ten-year-bazooka, there'd be no chance of seeing the blond anymore. Blocking a bullet with his tonfa, he turned and knocked another two down. In his pocket, the prototype of the reverse-ten-year-gun sat heavily as he fought.

It wasn't until all the men around him were lying in piles that he took the gun out to contemplate the idea. As he took the gun out, he winced at the pain that came from his back and reached behind only to find his fingers red. "…so there's really nothing left to lose," he muttered and held the gun up to his head.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself facing the Italian. "Kyouya, what a surprise! I just got here too! W-what's with all that blood!? You're all wet too, is this your blood or someone else's!? How did you even get here, Lambo's not around-never mind that! I'm going to go get Romario! Just hold on!"

Before the other could run off, he grabbed the other's sleeve tightly, staining it with blood and water. The blond would die the next day wearing that jacket…his favorite jacket. "It's not my blood," he lied quickly, because the only thing he wanted to do was to listen to the other talk even if it was only for five minutes, "I was the last one standing again…"

Dino stopped panicking and let out a small sigh of relief along with a soft smile, placing a hand gently on his head, "so you were on a mission just now? Of course you're the last one standing, you're my student after all. Don't do that to me Kyouya, I'm getting old, can't handle surprises as well as I used to, you know? You nearly scared me to death there…"

There are things in life that you really just can't say no matter how hard you try except for when you're dying or alone.

He shook his head, fingers wrapped tightly around the other's sleeve, "I don't want to be the last one standing…I didn't want to be…"

Amber eyes blinked, "Kyouya? Is something wrong?"

His vision was starting to blur from the blood loss, "You're going to die tomorrow."

"I know, since this is the mission Tsuna asked me to assist you in…I was sort of hoping that I'd be wrong but I guess not. Here," he blinked as the jacket he was clutching onto was wrapped around him, "I won't be using it anymore anyways, right? It'll keep you warm since you never dress properly for the weather. Honestly, I'm going to be worrying about you even in my grave, you need to learn how to take care of yourself properly. And Kyouya," lips met his own, "I love you."

He gave the slightest smile at that.

That's all I wanted to hear.

"I…" his legs gave way and he collapsed onto the concrete, and the rain continued pouring down on him. He was back in his own time with Dino's favorite jacket wrapped around his shoulders. It felt warm around him as he took in that familiar scent. He closed his eyes and sighed, holding the jacket close, "…stupid horse…"

Dying or not, he simply couldn't say those simple words back.

In his world, Hibari Kyouya never made it past thirty-six and Dino Cavallone had stopped aging at thirty-three.

Nya~

I really should apologize for my amazingly bad summary-no, make that summaries, one day I'll be rich enough to hire a summarizer person who will actually make the story sound interesting within a paragraph. There will probably be a second part to this though it's debatable, oh well, let's just call this a two-shot. I don't know why but deaths seem to come naturally to me when I think of D18. Yay only finals left to deal with then I'm free for a bit until classes start again. Anyways, I believe it's time for me to hibernate so enjoy!