Title: To tell you I love you
Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Ratings: T
Pairings: D18, Dino x Hibari (slight 6918 and D27 –in friendship means–)
Words (excluding details, forewords, and afterword): 2, 736
Summary: He restrained himself not to cry as he dropped the paintbrush. The painting he had done on the wall was finally completed. D18.
Disclaimer: Akira Amano owns Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Written for KHR Romance Writing Contest! FINAL ROUND! YEAH! *dance* I had to rewrite this because when I asked Mamma Boo, she said that AU is not allowed for this round *headdesk* Nevertheless, I've done the original fic, so please don't ask why this one have the same summary with the other one. Anyway, enjoy~ (*^o^*)b
Warnings: OOC-ness? Ahh…my works are never one to be completely IC anyway…
"Kyouya, did you behave today?"
He averted his gaze from the canvas to the blond who had entered his spacious room. Dino smiled as his feet touched the warm tatami—Kyouya's room was designed specially to be warm, as he couldn't stand the cold very well—and made his way to the raven haired male's side. Humming quietly, he paused to observe the painting on the canvas.
"You really have talent in this, Kyouya," the blonde chuckled, "Maybe you can work as an artist when you retired from the mafia."
"And forgetting the joy of beating people to bloody pulp? Never."
The mafia boss just grinned and petted his ex-student's head. He knew the younger man disliked it, but he did it for the sake of amusement from seeing his annoyed look. Decided to ignore the blonde's presence, Kyouya lifted his paintbrush and continued with his work, staining the white canvas with more color. Dino, who know better than anyone not to disturb the younger when he was being serious, could only smile while he watched various colors splashed onto one and another.
Everything started when the Cloud Guardian was mortally injured half a year ago. At the time, he was told not to move too much and rest all day. Hibari Kyouya was never one to obey easily or accepting the fact that he couldn't at least beat someone for a day; hence he ignored the order and snuck out of his room whenever he got the chance. It caused quite mayhem, because every now and then, his injury would cause him to collapse and he was again sent to his bed, then he would wake up and snuck out again and again.
Dino was the one who appeared with a solution. He recalled, during one of his days training Kyouya in Namimori, he found out that the boy had a passion for arts, especially paintings. He even said that biting people to death is a kind of art, though most people would disagree with him.
So, one day, the blonde came to visit the bedridden skylark, carrying a canvas and a set of painting tools for him.
"If you're bored, just express it onto the canvas, like your earlier days," the older man told him when he was asked as to why he brought those stuffs for him.
Thus, he began to take it as a kind of habit. Whenever he was injured and was told to stay and rest, he would pour down his emotions onto the white canvas. Most of the time, the paintings contain huge amount of red, symbolizing his desire to be allowed to leave his room and bite people to death. At other times, he would portray any place he had in mind. A park during spring times, a clear sky with white fluffy clouds, peaceful oceans, and lots other beautiful types of scenery.
People had to admit that Hibari Kyouya does have talent when it comes to paintings.
"Done."
His voice made Dino snapped out of his thought. He scooted closer to take a better look at the paintings. It was a picture of a big tree, with a bird nest on one of the branches where small, yellowish fowls stayed. The Italian chuckled as he noticed what Kyouya tried to express on his painting.
"Hibird, huh?"
The raven haired man shrugged and put down his paintbrush. "So, why did you come?"
The question caused Dino's smiling face fell, and it wasn't go unnoticed by the younger male. Something bad happened, he knew it.
"Well, actually…I'm going to say farewell to you."
His eyebrows knitted as he tried to decipher his ex-tutor's words. "What do you mean?" he asked—no, more like, demanded—him, eyes glaring at the older man.
Dino said nothing, but he pulled out an invitation card from his coat and gave it to Kyouya. The latter took it hesitantly, and was surprised to see what's written inside. In short, it was an invitation to come to a wedding party; the wedding party of Dino with a girl that he doesn't know (not that he cared to know her). Averting his eyes from the card, he glared at the man before him and snarled,
"What kind of sick joke is this?"
"It's not a joke," the blonde sighed, "I'm old enough to have a child, Kyouya. If I didn't have any offspring, the Chiavorone wouldn't last long."
"You can adopt a child or—"
"An illegitimate child isn't going to be approved to be a family's successor. You know the rules, Kyouya."
He hoped he could get up from his chair and slap Dino, shouting at him to leave. However, when he was trying to move his legs, the wounds stung and forced him to sit still. Noticing this, Dino inched closer and intended to check on his conditions, only to be pushed away, a sign of rejection from Kyouya.
"Kyouya—"
"Leave. Me. Now!"
Sighing, Dino rose to his feet and left the room, reluctantly. As his footsteps faded away, silence enveloped the Cloud Guardian. His eyes fixed on one certain object. The invitation card. It made his heart ache, to know that someone that he loved and cared so much will leave him to marry an unknown girl.
He had to accept the fact that reality was different than paintings, which couldn't be changed even though you splashed white all over your life.
"Why are you here?"
"Kufufu…does Kyouya dislike my presence?"
"You should know the answer better than anyone else."
Mukuro just smirked and kept his eyes on the figure sitting in front of him. Kyouya was sipping his tea calmly, ignoring the mischievous stare directed at him by the other man in the room. The illusionist was visiting the skylark right now, despite the fact that he knew the latter hated illusionists so much and he put his life in danger by staying here. Nevertheless, he was worried about the slightly older man since he received the same invitation yesterday.
"So, you're not coming to his wedding?"
"Why should I?"
"Well, you're his ex-student, and Tsunayoshi-kun requested that all his Guardians to accompany him…like some sorts of formality."
"I hate Italy. I despise him and you, who came from that very place and pissed me off each time I see your face."
"Really...? I don't think so."
The navy haired man inched closer; his gloved hand lifted his fellow Guardian's chin so his dark eyes would meet his mismatched ones. Kyouya growled and attempted to push the taller man away, when he found himself staring at Dino. His eyes widened visibly, and he was frozen. However, moments later he realized that he was seeing the other's illusion, and the image of the Bronco disappeared almost immediately.
"See? You're seeing that Cavallone, right?" Mukuro smirked naughtily, satisfied to get Kyouya half-furious at him.
The raven haired male scoffed and looked away. He hates to admit it, but he truly was in love with Dino. He could never bring himself to hate him, his Sky…
"If you can't have him," the long-haired one shifted his gaze from the man before him to the paintings scattered all over the place and continued, "why don't you 'make' a Dino for yourself? One that you can always touch and stare at whenever you want?"
Kyouya gave the Italian psycho a confused look, demanding an explanation from him. Mukuro didn't say anything, but he pointed at his paintings, which were stacked in a corner of his spacious room. Almost immediately, the Cloud Guardian comprehended what his fellow Guardian intended to say. He grabbed his brushes and oil paints—almost tripped due to the injury on his legs, but noticed that he had ran out of spare canvas. Knowing this, the illusionist stated while smirking impishly,
"If you're looking for a canvas, I had prepared a gigantic one for you."
"So, Hibari-san won't leave with us to attend your wedding?"
Dino nodded. He was having a dinner with Tsunayoshi in one of the first class restaurant in Namimori, discussing about the Vongola departure to Italy to attend the ceremony. Actually, the brunette would be happy if he could bring his Family to attend the special event, but with Kyouya rejecting the invitation, probably Chrome and Mukuro will stay too (the three, despite the Cloud Guardian constantly declaring that they disliked both illusionists' presence, were quite good friends with each other).
"He hates Italy, or so I heard, so his decision was understandable," the younger Decimo sighed.
The blonde smiling sadly and shook his head, gaining a questioning look from the younger man. "That's not the case. Kyouya can stand staying in Italy when it comes to mafia business."
"Is that so? Then…why he rejected the invitation?"
Dino could only smile. The affair he had with Kyouya was supposed to be kept secret, although some observant people were aware of it, for the sake of Chiavorone's reputation. That aside, he didn't want to stain his dear 'little brother' innocence with his dirty secrets.
A familiar ringtone resounded. One that sang the phrase of 'kufufu', a certain someone's trademark laughs, over and over. Tsunayoshi sweatdropped as he saw Dino laughing awkwardly while he was answering the call from, obviously, none other than Rokudo Mukuro.
"Yes, Mukuro...? What's wrong?"
"Cavallone, can you come over to Vongola Underground HQ right now?"
"Is there something wrong happened to Kyouya?" the blonde presumed immediately.
"Kufufu~ no, nothing bad, but I'm sure you'll love to see what he's doing right now."
"What? What do you—hello? Mukuro...? Mukuro...!"
The call was off. Dino traded glances with Tsunayoshi, who was wondering why his 'big brother' had his male Mist Guardian's number in the first place. Deciding that they should check Vongola headquarter and Kyouya's condition, they quickly left the restaurant and drove to the said underground base.
Upon their arrival, they were welcomed by Mukuro, who had his usual playful smirk plastered on his lips. He refused to explain what he said earlier and dragged Dino to their deepest basement and Tsunayoshi had no choice but to follow them. At first, they were curious as to what they can find in that place. None ever set foot there, because it was only an empty room that made a good place to hide. However, they quickly took back their words when they saw what Mukuro wanted to show them.
There, standing near one of the wide wall was Hibari Kyouya, holding palette of various colors in one hand and a paintbrush in his other hand. He was painting the white wall, and he did it with much ease, as if the wall was simply a canvas larger than his normal ones.
Tsunayoshi gasped when he noticed what the raven haired tried to depict, and was about to speak when he saw Mukuro put a finger on his lips, telling him to stay silent and kept watching. Dino, who was already used to watch Kyouya painting the wall, decided to lean against the wall and smiled as he waited for the picture to be finished. The artist remained oblivious to the trio's presences as he focused on his work and concentrated to pour all his feelings into this one grand creation of his. And it wasn't long until he completed the picture.
A grand oil painting of smiling Dino in his favorite outfit—the clothes he wore in their first encounter.
He restrained himself not to cry as he dropped the paintbrush. The painting he had done on the wall was finally completed. And it was done in less than three hours, for God's sake! He was so proud of himself, yet part of him felt that he still loss something important to him. Of course, a portrait of Dino could never replace the real thing.
He almost let his tears fell down his cheeks when he heard someone clasped their hands behind him. Turning around, he was shocked to see Tsunayoshi clasping happily beside Mukuro, who was smirking and gave him a thumb up for completing the painting on the wall. However, what surprised him further was when he noticed Dino was there as well, smiling contently at him.
"What are you doing here?" he inquired—no, demanded—once he regained his composure, obviously angry because they were secretly watching him while he worked.
The brunette—who had learned to overcome his fear toward his Cloud Guardian—grinned and stopped clasping his hands. "It's adorable, Hibari-san. It looks like Dino-san a lot."
"Why, are you embarrassed that we watch you, Kyouya?" the navy haired one chuckled his signature laugh, "How cute."
The two quickly scurried away when he saw the skylark pulled out his box weapon and lit his ring. Dino laughed nervously as they hid behind him, then he waved his hands to attain his ex-student's attention.
"At ease, Kyouya... I'm sure you don't want to ruin the picture by any means?"
Kyouya scoffed and put away his box weapon, finding his legs gave up after standing in front of the wall for two hours finishing the painting. The three approached him when they saw the raven haired man fell to the floor, anxiety overwhelmed them.
"Hibari-san...! Are you alright?!"
"Oya, do your legs hurt again?"
"Kyouya, tell us which one's hurt!"
"All of you herbivores are so annoying," he scowled, shoving them away as he rose to his feet slowly. "I'm just tired, nothing serious."
They sighed in relieve, and Kyouya put an almost unnoticeable smile on his face, glad that his Family cared about him so much. His attention once again returned to the grinning blonde beside him. Mukuro, who remembered the main reason as to why he called Dino to come over, grabbed Tsunayoshi's arm and dragged him out of the room.
"M-Mukuro...?! W-what are you doing?"
"Let's leave them to have a proper farewell, Tsunayoshi-kun. They probably wouldn't see each other for quite awhile in the future."
The brunette Decimo blinked several times before smiling. "Yes, I suppose so."
Back to the basement, the two remained silent and waited for each other to speak. Kyouya busied himself by cleaning his paint stained hands. He could felt the blonde stared at him, but he ignored it. He wasn't one to start a conversation, especially if he was going to talk with Dino.
The Cavallone himself said nothing as he stood before the portrait of his. He lifted his hand to touch the image of him, smiling gently. "It's great, Kyouya. Too bad you draw it on the wall. I'll bring it to Italy if you drew it on a canvas…"
"That's the point."
"Huh?"
"I don't draw it for you. I draw it for myself."
"I see…that's too bad. But…why are you drawing me?"
Kyouya looked up to the blonde, his expression contained no emotions. "So I can see and touch you when you're not here," he said, "So I can own you, while you're already someone's husband."
The words caused Dino to freeze. He didn't know that the Japanese man loved him so much, although he wouldn't admit it. He looked at the painting again, this time smiling happily. He always understood the meaning of each painting Kyouya made, and he was glad that he comprehended this one too.
It was none other than a confession of love.
The Cloud Guardian was surprised when he found himself pulled into the Bronco's warm embrace. He winced and tried to push the older male away, but found that the arms that wrapped around him were too strong. Finally, he gave in and rested his head on Dino's chest, relishing the other man's alluring fragrance.
"Kyouya…"
"Hmm…?"
"It's not like we can't see each other anymore, you know."
"I know, but…the next time we meet, you're already someone else's husband."
"Well, marrying another girl doesn't mean I stop loving you."
He lifted his head to meet the owner of those amber eyes, who was grinning like a fool. "Do you mean that…?"
"It doesn't matter, Kyouya. If it's for you, I'll do anything."
"That's…so cheap."
Dino laughed and leaned inward to claim the younger's lips. Kyouya shyly returned the kiss, and they stayed like that for the following minutes, without a care in the world.
Because for them, as long as they stayed at each other's side, nothing else mattered…
Yay, done 8D Dino seemed like a cheap bastard, huh? Well, I know he's cool and all, but he gave me the idea that as long as it was for Kyouya, he'll put aside everything else *nodnod* oh well, that's what I like from D18: so strongly attached lol
I always made Kyouya and Mukuro as a kind of friend. They looks like one to me, always supporting each other in their own unique way (this is the side-effect of reading lots of friendship fic and 6918 doujinshi) but don't mind me.
Anyway…please review this, or you can look up my other D18, Ridalnae yor, which is my original entry for the final round. Thanks for reading :D