Title: Farewells and Goodbyes

Genre: Romance/Humor

Ratings: T

Summary: Hibari's meaning of farewells and goodbyes. Wise Kusakabe knows it all. D18. Written for thPeekBoo's contest.

-whin phail whin phail whin phail whin-

"Well then, I'll see you around, Kyouya!" Dino Cavallone grinned at his student.

His right-hand man, Romario, and a couple of his men stood behind him in the highly polished airport, alert for any signs of danger. Dino seemed completely at ease, smiling lovingly at his beloved Japanese student. Sunlight from the high glass windows in the airport only served to make his smile more radiant.

Hibari Kyouya rolled his eyes. "Hurry up and get lost, Cavallone."

This only served to widen the Italian's grin. "You're so shy!" Swooping down rapidly, before any of the people present could react; Dino pecked Hibari quickly on the cheek.

"Addio, Kyouya." (Farewell, Kyouya.)

Hibari's eyebrow twitched. Okay- amused, angry, surprised… His lips drew into a thinner line. Hmm not a very good sign. The hardening of eyes… Oh no he is-

WHAM!

Dino winced as he was struck in the head.

Hibari, with all his tonfas glory, snapped at him, "I know Italian too, Cavallone. Goodbye."

And with that, he left.

Dino sighed. Could it be that he does not know Hibari that well yet?

-phail whin phail whin phail whin phail-

"You're leaving." For any onlooker, it would seem that Hibari is stating a fact. But after years of fighting alongside Hibari, Dino had learnt to interpret his tone rather than his words. A very important skill indeed.

Are you leaving already? Dino hoped he interpreted it right.

Dino smiled a soft smile as he straightened the blankets absent-mindedly around Kyouya. "Yeah. Romario received a call today. The gangs are starting to gather, we need to disperse them before-"

"Yes, yes, just go already," Hibari's lips were pulled into that long thin line again. Is he displeased? No wait… There's a slight… pout?

"I'll miss you, Kyouya…" Dino leaned over the bed, planting a kiss on Hibari's cheek while caressing the other.

"Goodbye, Dino." Is it him or is there a faint tint on pink on his cheeks?

Dino leant over again to whisper in his ears.

"Addio, amore mio." (Farewell, my love.)

Hibari's eyebrow twitched. Okay- amused, angry, surprised…? Then his lips drew into a thinner line. Hmm not a very good sign. The hardening of eyes… Oh this reaction is familiar-

WHAM!

"Ow! Kyouya!" Dino whined. It looks like being hospitalized does not stop Hibari from being a dangerous tonfa-welder.

"Goodbye, Cavallone." Hibari gave an exasperated sigh. What is Kyouya… thinking? Dino did not understand.

-phail whin phail whin phail whin phail-

"Kusakabe!!! I need your help!!!" Dino exclaimed one fine day on the rooftop of Namimori Corps. Hibari was having a meeting and Dino decided to wait for him in the rooftops, and was surprisingly accompanied by Kusakabe, whose presence… seemed unneeded at the meeting.

Kusakabe let out a laugh, "I'll help you if I can, Dino-dono."

"Well…" Dino scratched his head, tilting his head slightly up to glance at the clouds, as though collecting his thoughts. Kusakabe waited patiently.

"Kyouya… He…" Dino scratched his head again, this time in a sheepish manner. "Am I doing something wrong? Why does he always have to hit me every time I leave for Italy? It's not like he does not understand why I had to return to Italy. I've tried explaining to him countless times, but every single time, as I was about to leave, he'd tonfa me!" Dino blabbed out all his troubles.

Noticing Kusakabe's slightly stunned look, Dino let out a worried chuckle. "Do you think Kyouya hates me?"

At this point, Kusakabe laughed. "I don't think that's the case, Dino-dono. I'm sure Hibari-dono does not hate you. In fact, it's quite the contrary."

Dino brightened up at that. "Really! That's great! Argh. What am I saying? Of course Kyouya loves me. Otherwise, he wouldn't let me…" Dino's eyes darkened in lust and drool starts to form at the corner of his mouth. Kusakabe twitched awkwardly.

Dino gathered himself quickly. "I mean, then what is it that I've done wrong? Is it… I'm not gentle enough?!" Dino wailed. "Or or…"

Kusakabe let out an exasperated sigh. That's too similar to Hibari's for Dino's sanity. Dino stared at Hibari's right-hand man, urging him to say something.

"I think it has something to do with what you say when you leave, Dino-dono." Kusakabe inferred, nodding sagely.

"What I said? I merely said "addio"…" Dino scratched the back of his head again.

"And it means "farewell". What does Hibari-dono say you to whenever you leave?" Kusakabe prompted.

"He'd say "goodbye"." Dino tilted his head, confused.

"And Hibari never says "farewell?" doesn't that tell you something?" Kusakabe smiled, impressed that Dino takes note of such little detail about his Boss: Dino is good for Hibari-dono after all.

"Erm… Does it?" Dino rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Although, rightly speaking, 'farewell' and 'goodbye' has the exact same meaning, many people have the misconception that 'farewells' meant a longer 'goodbye.' Maybe that's why Hibari-dono doesn't like it."

The younger Asian man could almost see a light bulb go off above the foreigner's head.

-phail whin phail whin phail whin phail-

"I'm flying back to Italy tomorrow, Kyouya." Dino had appeared suddenly at Hibari's doorsteps that night, but Romario was nowhere to be seen.

"Something came up." There's that statement with a tone that tells a different story to what Hibari actually wants to say.

"Yeah. So I'd thought I'd drop by first. The plane is tomorrow afternoon." Dino invited himself into the house, Hibari made no move to stop him, and followed him into his own house.

"Ah." Hibari acknowledged that he heard Dino.

"Kyouya… I…" Dino turned around, his bangs fell over his eyes as he fumbled for the right words.

"Hurry up and spit it out, herbivore." Hibari's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Not a good sign.

"I… came to say my last farewell to you." Dino wrapped his arms around Hibari as he stood there, shell-shocked and unable to believe his own ears. Is Dino saying what he thinks he's saying?!

"Humph, so you want to end this relationship huh, Cavallone? I should have known, you need an heir after all you-" Hibari's voice was clearly shaking… but with anger, confusion? Or possibly even sadness?

"Kyouya! What are you saying?!" Dino exclaimed, cutting him off.

"You came to say your last farewell. So, are you never setting foot in Japan, or do you have some whore waiting for you back in-" Okay, that's a clear sign of anger.

"Kyouya! Listen! Kusakabe he-"

"Oh, so it's not a whore, you are seeing Kusakabe?" There was a strange smile on Hibari's face.

"NO! Kyouya, Kusakabe, he told me the difference between 'farewells' and goodbyes'!" Dino grabbed Hibari at the shoulders, holding him tight so that he would listen.

Hibari's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner. So I'm not going to say farewell to you any longer."

"You…" Hibari lowered his head so that Dino could not see his face clearly.

Dino "hmm"ed and waited for Hibari to talk.

"YOU STUPID HERBIVORE!!!"

-phail whin phail whin phail whin phail-

Kusakabe paled a little as he heard crashes and yells from Hibari's apartment. Seriously, Dino must have said something wrong again.

But who knew, that Namimori's most feared prefect-now-turned-mafia, is not that proficient(?) in his languages after all?

Smiling slightly when he started to hear moans of pleasure from the house, Kusakabe smiled and walked away into the night.

-phail whin phail whin phail whin phail-

A/N: I hope I didn't get too off topic. "Last Farewell" was such a… difficult prompt for me. I don't do tragedies or sad endings. Please forgive me for uploading this late. Whoot. Barely half an hour before the deadline. (-.-)