AN: I would like to take this time to thank our wonderful editor, Blaze Takishima. Without your patience and generosity, this would have never been possible.
The first few chapters of the story I will be playing as Dino. The other half, I switch to Hibari due to changing collab partners. This story has about 30,000 words so far but only this chapter is edited. The amount of updates depends on our editor. This is a role-play inspired fan fiction but we try to make it flow like a story as much as possible. As always, I love reviews. It gives us a chance to improve and lets us know whether or not you like the story. Warnings: Yaoi, smut, violence, language, spoilers, and one pissed off Kyouya.
If you are reading this, Isikaru, I really appreciate the time I was able to role-play with you. It sparked an idea for a wonderful role-play which turned into a fan fiction. I loved it too much to pass up the opportunity to continue with someone else. That being said, it's only right to credit you for your hard work since this is half of your story as well.
To my readers, this story will be much different since I actually have an editor now. I promise you that it will get finished.
Now, happy reading and I hope you enjoy~!
Chapter One: Falling
A couple of months passed after the fight between Checker Face and Vongola's allies. Tsuna and the rest of his family fell back into the normal routine of school. It was amazing how everything went back to normal so quickly. The brown-haired decimo was currently sleeping peacefully in his bed, that was until Reborn gave him a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him flying off the bed. "Oww!" Tsuna yelled, "what was that for!?"
"You forgot to set your alarm clock, dame-Tsuna. Now you're late for school." Before Tsuna had any time to ask why Reborn didn't just wake him up earlier, he stumbled his way to his closet and bathroom, grabbing clothes and quickly dressing for the day. Reborn smirked and pulled out a tiny cell phone from his pocket, and dialed Dino's number. The ceremony was set only in a matter of weeks. While Reborn worked on Tsuna, he needed to ask the bucking horse for a favour.
Hibari stepped out the school council room as the bell rang, his eyes immediately scanned the area for any students not in class. He, being the student council president, was an exception of course.
He was in a bit of a foul mood this morning. It had been too long since he'd been able to hit anyone. Things had been relatively peaceful since the end of the Checker Face situation. He spotted movement from the corner of his eye and his eyes lit up slightly at the sight of a familiar messy brown hair. Just the person he'd hoped to beat.
He tightened his grip on his baton and twirled it around once as he firmly walked up to Tsuna. "Late again, herbivore."
Tsuna froze in his spot as he looked up at Hibari who towered over him. Even after all this time fighting with and alongside Hibari, he was still scared of him. "I'm sorry, Hibari-san. I won't be late again!" He bowed and hoped that the skylark wouldn't beat him to death. Hell, Tsuna was lucky that he only walked away with a few bruises and no broken bones. Reborn had to step up before Hibari could inflict any damage, "Hibari, I would appreciate it if you fought Tsuna another time. He has a big day coming up, and he needs to look his best." The former-arcobaleno used his usual smile when giving advice to Hibari. The skylark seemed to respect him, as he should have.
Tsuna looked down at him with a confused look on his face, "eehhh?" If what Reborn said was true, why would he kick him earlier? What was Reborn hiding from him? The brunette felt someone tugging his arm, which was none other than Gokudera. The storm guardian went on his usual spiel about respect for his boss, and how he was a disgrace for letting Tsuna arrive late. While Tsuna just smiled warmly – the same sky class smile that could melt anyone's heart.
Hibari was more than ready to dismiss Tsuna's apologies and strike him anyway, but then Reborn stepped up. He lowered the tonfa and rolled his shoulders back. As powerful as he was, he held high respect for the infant, thus abiding by his wishes. 'Big day?' Hibari wondered, but not aloud, glaring at Tsuna as Gokudera bombarded his boss with praise.
He wondered what the infant meant by that. Had some other conflict come up in the mafia group? He almost hoped that was it.
Yamamoto joined the three soon after, greeting Tsuna cheerfully as he always did. Hibari was unsure on what he would do. He had two options: either go back to the student council room and take a nap, or sticking around a bit longer to perhaps hear about whatever Reborn had spoken of. Weighing the pros and cons of each, he decided on the latter.
Hibari disappeared without a goodbye and headed up towards the roof of the school building, figuring after a quick look out the window that it was nice enough weather for a nap up there. After effortlessly climbing the stairs he shut the door behind him and made his way to the railing, leaning his elbows onto it. He was feeling rather restless and wanted to fight someone rather than take a nap, but he didn't have much of a choice.
He peered over the school grounds before, looking for a victim, but he found none. Sighing, he turned and slid down into a sitting position. Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the past while was that he hadn't been able to have his match off with any one he had wanted to fight. Mukuro had mysteriously gone off somewhere, as usual, and no one knew of his whereabouts.
The bucking horse had run off back to Italy before Hibari had gotten a chance to confront him. He took a moment to wonder what Cavallone was doing there in the foreign land. Was he getting stronger? Hibari doubted it, but the thought slightly excited him none the less. Moments later, he found himself drifting off into a deep sleep.
Dino was in his office, going over paperwork another family faxed over to him. The blonde sighed and rested the palm of his hand against his cheek. After the mess with Checker Face, the bronco returned to Italy and had a pile of paperwork to conquer. "The perks of being a boss." Dino laughed quietly to himself. He looked over to the phone on his desk and realized it was ringing.
He decided to answer the phone, knocking over all the ordered papers in the process. He sighed heavily, realizing that his men weren't in the room. "I'm hopeless," he said before picking up the phone, "Dino Cavallone parlante (speaking)." When he heard the other voice on the end, he immediately relaxed and sat down on his chair.
"I have a favour to ask you, and I know you're probably busy in Italy… but it's important." Reborn said on the other end. He explained the situation Tsuna was in. Apparently the Ninth was sick and wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it. He wanted to personally give the title to Tsuna of Vongola decimo, and was willing to grant the brunette about a month to decide.
Therefore, he needed Dino to persuade Hibari to attend the important ceremony, while Reborn persuaded Tsuna. The former-arcobaleno told Dino that 'he was counting on him', which made Dino extremely nervous. He can't let the Ninth or Reborn down. After all, he had once managed to persuade the fussy allodola, so he could do it again.
When Dino ended the call between him and Reborn, he was fully determined to train Kyouya. This time, it would be much different. First he needed to persuade the skylark into actually going to the ceremony, and then drag him to the rehearsal and make him listen. It sounded like too much for Kyouya. If he didn't have to do anything, then he wouldn't unless someone beat him or a fight was involved.
"Ahh, Kyouya. What am I going to do with you?" Dino smiled to himself, and paged Romario up in his office. When his right-hand man entered, Dino ordered to prepare his private jet as soon as possible, so he could arrive in Japan the next day. It was currently 9 AM in Italy, which meant that it was around 2 PM in Japan. Oh, Dino could just imagine his skylark taking control of his school (when he was actually taking a nap).
The Italian don informed Romario of the situation in Japan, and yet again, he would be away from his family (but he needed Romario there). Romario was always the one who flew with him to Japan. At first, Romario was reluctant to go back since they just returned two months ago, but eventually agreed with his boss. His right-hand man began to wonder how anyone could disobey someone with sky flames, especially Hibari.
A day and a half had gone by and still Hibari had not heard anything about what Reborn had mentioned, about what was going to happen with Tsunayoshi. He wasn't sure if it would even have anything to do with himself at all. Perhaps it was nothing, and he should stop worrying about it. He shuffled a bit in his seat and rested his palm in his hand, his elbow resting atop the schoolwork he had scattered across the desk. He rarely actually went to class, but he did do schoolwork occasionally, when he wanted to. He didn't think the teachers would pass him otherwise, despite being as intimidating as he was. He couldn't control adults as well as he could people around his age.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter to three now, close to the end of the school day.
Dino had arrived in Namimori the time that he expected, and made his way towards Namimori High School, alongside his right-hand man. Everyone looked at Dino as if he was a celebrity, with his odd style of clothing and the limo he drove around in. The bronco knew Namimori school inside and out, from all the battles that took place there and when he substituted as a teacher. Some people recognized him, girls especially, and he waved in response. But really, the only person he cared about was Kyouya.
Of course he cared about Tsuna too and the rest of the Vongola, but there was something about Kyouya. The haneuma (bronco) snuck his way through the roof of the school and passed the rest of the disciplinary committee. They all knew who he was anyway, from his fights with Hibari. Dino continued to ninja his way through the window, and saw his favourite skylark from behind in a chair. "Sleeping on the job, Kyouya?" He leaned against the wall casually.
Hibari startled as he heard the familiar voice from behind him. He immediately stood and spun around, grabbing for his tonfa as he did so. He blinked several times, registering the blonde's face. Haneuma? Well that explained how he'd managed to get so close without alerting Hibari.
"I thought you were in your home country. Did you come back to get bitten to death?" With that he smirked and readied his stance. "Perfect timing. I was just itching for someone to beat to a pulp." He neglected to mention that he'd been wanting to do so for a while. His pulse began to speed up in anticipation. The haneuma was always his favorite to fight, though he seldom got to do so. Dino was strong, unpredictable, and similar to Tsunayoshi in several annoying ways.
"Now, now, Kyouya. Can't we just have a peaceful conversation?" Dino held his bullwhip in his hands, ready to go in case Hibari tried anything. "I wouldn't want you to break anything in your precious office. That would look bad on the president, no?" Cavallone teased. Originally, he wasn't planning on messing with Kyouya, but looking at his face proved otherwise. He couldn't resist the temptation to see his favourite raven lose control.
Really, he wasn't sure why Reborn thought it was a great idea for him and Hibari to meet. Maybe the arcobaleno knew that Kyouya would instantly captivate Dino – well, of course he did! Who was he kidding? Reborn knew everything. Hibari had a way to excite him more than anyone else the bronco met, and he met a lot of people as a mafia boss. Kyouya was like an addiction, a distraction from other problems. He didn't find Kyouya annoying or intimidating like most, in fact, quite the opposite really.
Hibari winced slightly at the mention of damaging the office. The haneuma had a point, and Namimori was Hibari's pride and joy. But at the moment he was simply feeling too edgy not to move. He'd worry about the damage later. And at that he sprung towards Dino, wielding his tonfa downwards toward the other with as much force as he could muster. One thing he loved about fighting Dino was that he could go all out. Even if the blonde had his clumsy moments and Hibari could land hits on him, he'd probably be able to avoid any serious damage. It was frustrating but exhilarating at the same time.
Dino really thought that Kyouya would be willing not to fight inside his own office, and take it outside. But that's exactly what Dino loved about his skylark; Kyouya was difficult to understand, unpredictable, a man of few words, but so many actions. The haneuma could feel the coldness in every swing of Hibari's tonfa. When he looked down into those cobalt eyes, anger radiated into his own. The bucking horse held his whip in his hands, blocking Hibari's swings one by one, and managed to wrap the whip around Hibari's wrists.
Hibari had enjoyed the sparring until Dino had managed to wrap the whip around his hand. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he attempted to pull away from the tight grip of the whip. Soon enough, he had begun breathing normally again. There were ways he could escape the temporary hold, of course, but that really would cause damage to his office, but now that he'd gotten at least some of his energy out he felt more level-headed.
Even if he pursued this fight here he would have lost, as much as he hated to admit it. Perhaps later when they were out in the open it would be a better showdown. He stared into the haneuma's golden brown eyes defiantly, showing him he wasn't giving in, just putting this off. Hibari was still in control. Well, at least as far as he was concerned.
"Going soft on me, Kyouya?" The blonde teased in his usual tone. Even saying Kyouya itself was a disgrace; Dino knew he was the only person who dared to use that name.
Hibari ignored Dino's attempt to annoy him by calling him by his first name, though it did succeed to irritate him, and he knew Dino wouldn't stop. "What 'peace' did you come here to speak of?" Hibari kept his eyes locked on Cavallone's. "I wouldn't want to beat a man when his head's not in the fight is all." he taunted.
Dino kept his hold on the skylark's wrists, much like Hibari's own handcuffs he loved to use. As much as Dino hated to admit it, he loved the surrendering look on mister stubborn himself. The haneuma took mental photographs for later, milking the memory frame by frame. "So now you want to talk, huh?" Cavallone ignored the last sentence. He was too focused on resisting the urge to make Hibari beg for mercy further, but that wouldn't do much, now would it?
It was a miracle Kyouya was even willing to listen. Out of the generosity in his heart, he let go of Hibari's wrists and spoke quickly, knowing he only had a few moments to entertain the skylark. As fussy as he was, he was also impatient. "Vongola Ninth isn't doing so well, so he wants to give Tsuna the ceremony for Vongola Decimo at the end of the month. I need you to go, Kyouya."
Dino pleaded, "it's just two hours of your time, maybe less. I'm not sure of the details," he started, knowing that would piss Hibari off. He liked to know as much detail as possible, something about Japanese etiquette he appreciated. "Please, Kyouya. You know you're not going to get rid of me if you say no. So, make this easier on yourself for once."
Hibari thought about trying to make his tonfa kiss Dino's jaw as he let him go, but then he began to talk, and so Hibari listened, thinking of what he'd do if what Cavallone had to say wasn't important. His eyes narrowed as Dino finished. So this must have been what the infant was talking about. He looked away in disinterest. A ceremony for Tsunayoshi?
"What does that have to do with me? I could care less what happens to that weakling or the rest of the mafia." He walked over to the sofa in the room and plopped down on it lazily. "To think you came all this way to waste my time with such rubbish." Not that he wanted Dino to leave, either. Not without a real fight first anyway.
Dino opened and closed his mouth a few times, really wanting to yell at Hibari, but he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. That was one very amazing thing about having the sky attribute; it meant his ability to control his anger was the very reason why he was a mafia boss. It was also the very reason why he was madly in love with Kyouya. But how could Kyouya say that Tsuna was weak?
More importantly, how does he not realize how much of a major asset he is to the Vongola? "Kyouya, I've said this before. You are a guardian of that important ring on your finger. It's what unites the entire Vongola family. Without the Vongola, you wouldn't have gained this much strength." Dino said cautiously. He knew that Hibari hated anyone questioning his strength. "You know it's true; you've gained so much for the Vongola family. Furthermore, without you, a lot of the Vongola would die or eventually fall without you. Isn't it your duty to protect students of this school?"
Hibari's eyes darted angrily to Dino at the mention of his strength, but then calmed when he mentioned the students of Namimori. "I protect them when they are in this school, but what they do outside is none of my responsibility." He crossed one leg over the other and draped an arm around the back of the sofa. "It's only a ceremony, isn't it? I have no reason to participate in trivialities like that."
He wondered honestly why Dino was trying so hard to convince him when it was obvious he wouldn't go. Was it really so important for him to be there? Perhaps one of the dignitaries had put him up to this.
Dino really didn't have much time to waste. If Kyouya was going to register any information, it would be now. When Dino had his attention and they were in a controlled environment where he didn't want to break anything. Otherwise, Kyouya would barely complete a sentence. At this point, he was willing to get down on his hands and knees and beg the skylark.
Obviously that was completely ridiculous as a boss, and anyone who saw would think of him as a disgrace, specifically Hibari himself. The cloud guardian didn't give into any display of weakness, which was why Dino always stood his ground. He was always ready for a fight, which was the only way Kyouya would listen. "You like Japanese etiquette, right? Well, this would be one example.
It's your duty as a guardian to attend the ceremony. I'm sure you don't have to do anything, you just have to stand there and look professional." He would give Hibari any reason to go, anything the raven would like to hear. In the back of his mind, he kept thinking about how much the Ninth and Reborn counted on him. If he couldn't persuade his pupil, how much was he worth?
Hibari sat there as the haneuma tried further to convince him. Still there seemed little reason for him to actually go. He hated crowds and although he had seen for himself that Tsunayoshi was strong, he would still never acknowledge that runt being his boss. He examined his sleeve cuff for no particular reason as he thought, hoping his silence was beginning to get to Dino. After a moment he finally glared up at him, a glint in his eyes. "Then fight me. Outside. Now. If you win, I'll attend." He pushed himself from the sofa, awaiting Cavallone's answer. Maybe this way he would fight seriously. He seemed desperate for Hibari to go after all.
Dino blinked a few times, "what just happened?" The blonde smiled, "That's my Kyouya; always unpredictable, but when it comes to a fight, he's in no matter the circumstance." The Italian don considered himself lucky as he walked outside, bullwhip in his hand. "Kyouya, you realize your school might get damaged, right?" But it would seem that the skylark didn't care with the way he lunged forward, tonfas glowing with cloudy rage.
"You never cease to amaze me." Dino complimented playfully. Sky class flames extended his own weapon as he whipped it around several corners, eventually leading to Kyouya like a snake. Fighting with Kyouya was an endless battle of short and long ranged tricks. It was never Dino's intention to inflict too much damage on the raven, but he needed to win, for Tsuna's sake, the Ninth, and Reborn.
Hibari was pleased that the bronco had agreed, and so quickly too. He didn't seem to want to mess around today, and Hibari was thankful for that. As soon as they were outside he lunged at him, encasing his weapons in purple cloud flames. He swung quickly and fiercely, trying to get a hit in, but Dino's abilities hadn't rusted and there were no openings. Getting out the boxes would likely cause a lot of commotion and damage, but at the moment he was willing to make that risk.
Realizing his tonfa wouldn't be enough, he leaped back and removed the purple box from his belt swiftly, pressing his middle finger with the cloud ring into it. Instantly his box animal, the hedgehog Roll, appeared. Immediately he called forth his cambio forma: Alaude's Handcuffs, and the hedgehog formed into spiky black handcuffs, encased in purple flames. He twirled them around one finger, watching the haneuma closely. He had never had a chance to use this technique on Dino before.
Dino watched carefully as Hibari's hedgehog morphed into black handcuffs with cambio forma. At that moment, all he could think of was how kinky Kyouya looked twirling around his handcuffs. If this were any other day, he would have made a joke – but not this time. This was incredibly different.
The fate of Tsuna was on the line, and with Kyouya's new power-up, he needed to use his full strength. It pained him to use this power on Kyouya, but his goal was not to kill him. It would take a lot to kill Kyouya anyway, which made it easier to fight the skylark.
Dino pulled out a box weapon from his parka and injected sky flames into it, revealing Scuderia, his horse. He walked up to it and pet the long orange mane, still clutching his whip in desperation. Similar to Tsuna, Dino had a difficult time fighting his pupils seriously. He had to continuously remind himself that next to his little brother, Kyouya was the strongest in the Vongola. But even Kyouya didn't stand a chance if Tsuna really went all-out. "Are you sure you want to do this, Kyouya?"
Hibari was pleased when he saw Dino release his box weapon. The horse, glowing brightly in the orange and yellow flames, was always impressive to look at. The beast let off a majestic and powerful aura and suited his owner well. Hibari circled slowly. The hardest part was finding a proper opening to clamp the cuffs on. When he was as he was able to, the haneuma would be his. He quickly sprinted around the blonde and lunged forward, hoping to be speedy enough to catch him in a blind spot.
Dino ducked down when Hibari went flying at him from behind, and wrapped the whip around the skylark's slender legs. He stood up as fast as possible, knowing that it wouldn't be a great idea to get close to Kyouya with cuffs in his hands. One wrong move and he could find himself buried in handcuffs. "Scuderia, Pegasso Super Salto Volante." He commanded the horse, causing the majestic horse to grow wings, therefore transforming her into a Pegasus. The blonde climbed on Scuderia, who left a large space between him and Hibari. The Italian don untied the whip from Kyouya's legs, "you're not the only one with hidden tricks."
Hibari grimaced as the whip wound around his legs, causing him to fall back hard onto his elbows. Before he could react, Dino was already in the air on the horse, now a Pegasus. He cursed under his breath but reacted quickly and commanded his box weapon to transform back into a hedgehog. At least Roll would have plenty of flames to feed off with an opponent this strong.
The skylark activated Roll's Propagation ability and it began feeding on the flames around it, both his and Dino's. Within seconds the spikes on its bag had grown exponentially and it hovered in the air. Hibari wasted no time in using the spikes as leverage, moving swiftly and gaining height, trying to close the gap between himself and Dino. When he was close, he swung at one of the shin's of the Pegasus with one hand, using the other to hold on to the spikes protruding from Roll.
The Pegasus neighed with pain at the blow to her shin. Somehow, she still stayed up in the air, pure orange flames shining brightly. A blow like that wouldn't bring a sky box weapon down. If Dino didn't have his men around, he would have definitely fallen off Scuderia with the moment of off-balance. Quickly, Dino had wrapped his whip around Hibari's torso and waited.
It only took a moment to hear cracking emitting from Kyouya's box weapon, as it turned to stone and crashed to the ground. Kyouya seemed to forget that anything that even touched Scuderia's wings turned to ash. However, Dino was not as ready as he thought he was for that much impact, so he ended up falling with the skylark. "Wahhh!" Dino yelled and tugged on the whip to bring Hibari closer, wrapping his arms around the raven's body and turned him around so he would receive most of the impact.
Hibari hissed in annoyance when the whip wrapped around his torso. His opponent had probably done it to spare Hibari from the effects of the Pegasus, but Hibari could only think of how disappointed he was that his box weapon was gone and he hadn't been able to so much as get another hit in for it. He'd wanted to at least get one shot at Dino's pretty boy face before sacrificing that much.
Things didn't seem to be going in Hibari's favor. He struggled to free himself as he heard the crack of his box weapon crashing to the ground below. It would probably take a long time for Roll to recover from that. Perhaps he should have been more conservative.
He struggled more, but the impact was too near and seemed to off-balance Dino and his stallion. Hibari gasped as he felt himself falling, the whip still attached. His breath cut short by a tugging motion of the whip, and then he found himself in Dino's embrace, both of them plummeting to the ground some twenty feet below.
Before Hibari could react, they met the ground, Dino hitting first. Even with the protective cushioning it was enough for Hibari's remaining consciousness to escape him, and his vision immediately went black.