The Two Real Things
Summary: Epiphanies can come at the strangest times, with the strangest people. Written for Holy'Shrimp.
A/N: I take prompts, and this is one such prompt. This is for you, Holy'Shrimp. I hope you like it. =)
-x-
The sky was inky black, the stars obscured by thick, dark gray clouds. Even the full moon struggled to shine through the suffocating blanket. It was a warm night, nonetheless. Cicadas sang their summer song and crickets provided a strange harmony that meshed oddly with the other insects.
To assume that everybody was asleep would be a misconception. This was Namimori. This town always had at least one person awake, even at this late hour. But tonight, there were two.
The swing set in the park, situated on its four proudly angled legs, the metal glinting whenever the moon managed to shine through, had seen so much. During the day, it saw happiness, it saw joy and it saw exhilaration. But this swing set also knew loneliness, it knew love and it knew tears.
It creaked now, as a slender teenager sat with his head leaning against the chain, his feet never leaving the ground as he swung slowly, back and forth. Every time he moved, the swing would creak, echoing across the otherwise silent streets. There were still lights above him in the apartment buildings, but they were not the stars. Not the stars that he wanted. No, the ones he wanted were hidden tonight.
He lifted his eyes, feeling a hole of despair opening up in his chest. Where were the beautiful stars that always called to him?
What was going on?
He slumped forward, both feet now firmly planted on the ground as the swing stilled. Silence crashed down over him and he let out a poorly stifled sob. His silver hair fell over his face, his eyes dark and hidden as he fell off the swing. He sat on the ground, his knees spread, hands clenched in fists pressed against his thighs.
The only warning he got was the birdsong.
"Mi~dori tana~miku, Namimori no~"
He sprang to his feet, faster than he had ever sprung to his feet before, a harsh scowl replacing his former face of vulnerability. "What do you want?" he growled, already knowing who was there.
"It's late."
That voice. Why should that voice make his heart thud so? Why did that voice make him feel like a child again, safe in his real mother's arms?
He refused to let his emotions show. Reaching into his pockets, he gripped the cylindrical objects that were stowed away there, before slowly turning around. He let his green eyes meet those cobalt ones before he couldn't do it anymore.
"Herbivore," Hibari Kyouya stepped out of the shadows, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the quivering, hunched figure of silverette. He swallowed, resisting the sudden urge to brush that hair back. "The yakuza wander the streets at night. You should head home."
"Is Hibari Kyouya worried about my health?" the silverette raised his head, his voice scathing, but his eyes hiding just a little bit of happiness.
Hibari felt his lip twitch. This herbivore was observant. He walked closer, a little amused when the object of his…worrying? No, that wasn't the right word. The object of his notice shrank back in fear.
"There are only two real feelings in this world, Gokudera Hayato," Hibari purred as he stalked closer still. Green eyes locked onto blue ones, and this time, they didn't look away. "Fear and love," Hibari tilted his head ever so slightly as he spoke the last word.
"Wonderful, now the great Hibari is Confucius." Gokudera growled, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling when Hibari stepped even closer.
Hibari appeared amused. "Confucius didn't say that," he remarked softly.
Gokudera hissed, his hand inching out of his pocket. He knew Confucius hadn't said that. Hell, he didn't even know who had said that. Was Hibari suddenly a philosopher? Screw that!
"Come." Hibari suddenly stopped. His hands remained by his side, however, as he began to turn around, heading towards the street that was just ten yards away.
Gokudera stared after Hibari as the prefect moved even further away. The jackass couldn't be fucking serious? He expected Gokudera to follow him? But as Hibari looked back, he actually looked back, Gokudera's resistances all collapsed. He followed Hibari with grudging footsteps. He hadn't noticed the prefect had stopped until Gokudera nearly crashed into his back.
He managed to pull up in time, before Hibari opened a car door and shoved him inside. Gokudera opened his mouth to protest, but Hibari quickly silenced him with his hand, his eyes giving all the warning Gokudera needed. He bit his tongue as Hibari wrenched open the car door on the other side.
"What's going on?" Gokudera hissed.
Hibari didn't answer as he drove, taking the highway at ridiculously high speeds. Well, it wasn't called the highway for nothing. But as the speedometer inched towards ninety, Gokudera had to place a hand on Hibari's arm, hoping against all hope that Hibari couldn't hear his heart thudding in his chest.
Hibari pulled over on the shoulder, pressing the little triangular button on his dashboard as he turned to look at Gokudera. They were silent for a long time, before Hibari took Gokudera's hand off his arm and wrapped their fingers together. "Who are you?" Hibari murmured, his eyes unreadable. Gokudera could feel a very red blush creeping up on his cheeks and he ducked his head away.
"T-The fuck?" Gokudera didn't try to pull his hand away, although he supposed he should still act like he was resisting. But resistance was futile when your voice squeaked.
Hibari smirked as he released Gokudera's hand.
He pulled off the shoulder and continued to drive, this time keeping to the speed limit. He took an exit and before Gokudera knew it, they were on a cliff overlooking the city.
Hibari stepped out of the car and motioned for the silverette to do so as well. The clouds had cleared somewhat, enough for the moon to finally shine through. The silver light bathed the two of them, turning Gokudera's hair white.
"Think of it this way," Hibari broke the silence. Gokudera raised an eyebrow. Hibari was unnaturally talkative this night. "We could be the only two people left in the world."
He stepped closer to the edge of the cliff and Gokudera's hand involuntarily reached out to stop him.
"But we're not," Gokudera murmured, stepping up to stand just a little bit behind Hibari.
"That's not what you think," Hibari turned around, his gaze locking Gokudera in place. The silverette recoiled slightly, and Hibari knew he was right. "I don't know what has happened to you, Gokudera Hayato." Hibari closed what little distance had been between them, capturing Gokudera's lips in a kiss. When they broke apart, the furious blush that crept up Gokudera's cheeks was very visible. "But do know that I will keep a close eye on what will happen to you."
Gokudera lifted his hand to his lips, brushing them softly. Had that just really happened?
Hibari turned to look out as his beloved Namimori, just as a soft breeze blew. The sleeves on the jacket he always wore over his shoulders flapped in the wind and that snapping sound broke Gokudera out of his reverie.
"Why?" was all he managed to choke out when he found his voice again. Of course, there were no other words, no other questions Gokudera needed to ask anyway.
"We're quite similar, you and I," Hibari said as he lifted his hand up towards the sky, catching a leaf that had flown towards them on the wind.
"In what way?" the silverette frowned. No they weren't. Not at all!
"Hnn," Hibari didn't answer, but continued to look out at the city. Slowly, the lights began to flash out as people returned home, returned to their warm, loving beds, with their warm, loving families. As Gokudera watched, he understood what Hibari was trying to tell him, in Hibari's strange round-about fashion.
Gokudera was lonely.
That little fact probably shocked Gokudera more than it should, but as he realized it, he realized it was very, very true.
Love and fear.
Those two really were the only real feelings in the world. Everything could be traced back to them.
The fear of being loved, the love of being feared. Hatred, happiness, anger, joy, it could all be drawn back to love and to fear.
Hibari was more insightful than Gokudera gave him credit for.
"So what are you telling me?" Gokudera stepped up until he was now standing next to Hibari. "That because both of us seem to be lacking those two very real things, we don't really exist? We really are the last two people in our own little worlds? And in order to continue to exist…"
"Very good, herbivore," Hibari continued to look out at his city, as Gokudera struggled to find the right words to retort. When he couldn't, the silverette just settled for Hibari's warm hand. The prefect stiffened when their fingers touched, but he relaxed, even squeezing back.
They made quite a pair, the two of them.
Always in denial, always fearing love and loving fear.
The only real things in the world, the only two real things they had ever sought. And now they found it, found it in the strangest of places.
Love.
What was love really? Could it be defined? And fear. Fear could not be defined clearly either. It could only be felt. One could know it only through one's own reactions.
Then…was what Gokudera feeling right now fear or love? Maybe it was a little mixture of both. Because now, Gokudera knew what he hadn't known before. He knew what he had been running away from, what had made him end up on that swing set, staring up at the missing stars.
It was love.
His feet had taken him, unknowingly, to where Hibari's path would cross his.
Fate had brought them together, and now, through a mixture of love and fear, their hearts were intertwined with the only two real things in the world. Did other couples find this as well, this realization, this peace, this strength of two hearts beating as one?
"This is true love," Gokudera murmured in amazement. Hibari's hand twitched and Gokudera blushed lightly when he realized the other had heard what he had uttered. But what difference would that make now? They were one. "This is true love," he spoke it louder, glee filling his voice as he leaned forward, as if he wanted to fly, spring right off the cliff right then and there, taking to the skies, with nothing but his name and love and fear.
The only anchor now was Hibari's hand around his own fingers. Because now, he had something to hold him back. When the stars beckoned to him, Gokudera had something that bound him to the earth.
And as the clouds parted and the missing stars came back, Gokudera turned away with no lingering regrets. Because the only two things he now knew all rooted him to the prefect. The stars had no hold anymore. Elation filled Gokudera as he stood there with the last person he ever thought he'd be happy with. Hibari Kyouya.
-x-
A/N: Haha. I hope that was okay. Now, for everybody else: Yes, I am taking prompts. Yes, I will probably write them really fast because I have nothing else to do in the summer. And, on a side note, when I finished this on MS word, the actual fanfic (between the A/N's) had 1859 words. XD