"Kyou-san, please be careful," Kusakabe had warned him throughout the entire week. Hibari knew what Kusakabe meant, and he gritted his teeth at the weakness the seeped out of this realization.
It all began with a student who became sick with an unknown illness. The student, thinking it was only a simple cold, kept going to school (as much as Hibari liked the diligence of this particular herbivore, he still beat the crap out of the student for the crime of infecting his school) and ended up transmitting the virus to other students. Yet, only one of those students went to the doctor and discovered the true nature behind the disease: the influenza. But the chain reaction was inextricable—it had spread like wildfire, devouring most of the school population. Besides the fact a little more than half of each classroom was dead to Namimori Middle School, the Disciplinary Committee members were biting their nails for a much more important reason than the health of mere students: the omnipotent Head Prefect and official watchman of one of the wonders of the world, which was namely the small town Namimori southeast of Tokyo. The grave situation was this: for the life of him (in a very literal sense), Hibari could not get sick.
Much to the annoyance and horror of Hibari as though he had just jinxed himself, a sharp throbbing, tickling sensation began to build itself within his throat; it slowly rose with the stealth of a ninja and oozed out in the form of the air in his lungs being cut off at intervals. Hibari cursed. Of all the people in Namimori to catch this disease, it had to be him, the Hibari Kyouya; and of all the days in a year to become sick, it had to be the month he simply could not miss, the month in which he had a shortage of prefect-supply, for most of the members were recuperating at home. He cursed again—that tickling began to surface to rip apart his breathing pattern and add to the pulsating pain in his temple.
A knock on the door had Hibari attempting to muffle as physically possible on the crook of his arm the coughs that he was starting to believe were incessant. Kusakabe's deep voice boomed from the hallway. "Kyou-san? Is everything alright?"
Hibari silently cleared his throat once his lungs stopped trying to gut themselves onto the neat stacks of documents scattered over his desk. "Bring me the rest of the reports, Tetsu. I will review them all today." For once in his entire lifetime, Hibari was glad the door had a tendency of acting as a barrier for sound; it smoothed out the rough edges his voice formed from that stupid coughing and constant clearing of his throat.
Kusakabe chuckled as silently as he could, careful Hibari's keen hearing would not be able to pick it up—it was so predictable of Hibari to never answer a question regarding his wellbeing. "Right away."
Sighing, Hibari slumped on his chair and rubbed his temples a few times with soothing circles to relieve the pressure clouding his vision, ignoring the abnormal temperature radiating off his skin. A yawn rippled past his lips, his hand politely over his mouth, and moisture began to clump together in the corners of his eyes. His head hit the desk none too gently. I'll rest until Kusakabe comes back.
….
"Kyou-san?"
A shake on the shoulder.
"Are you feeling well?"
Another shake.
"…Kyou-san?"
Kusakabe was about to shake Hibari's shoulder for the umpteenth time when the latter suddenly sprang to his feet, eyes wide and blinking, hair disheveled and wet with sweat, and breath coming out in rapid, raspy gasps; and the leather chair cluttered to the floor after slamming against the wall. Then, as though all of his energy was taken when he sprung to his feet, his eyelids began to droop and his world to tilt. He clutched the side of his head when the headache brewing there felt like it was splitting his head open with a butter knife.
The S.I.C. placed his hands on either shoulder of Hibari to keep him from swaying precariously, but his efforts were in vain when Hibari fell against his chest with a heavy thump. He stumbled for a moment under the dead weight pressed against him while slowly dragging Hibari to one of the couches to lay him there. Once done with the incredibly difficult task, he ran his hand over his face in a troubled manner. Kyou-san is obviously sick…even though I warned him several times this would happen if he came to the school. He sighed at the next thought. He lives alone, so there won't be anyone to tend to him there (I'll get killed if I leave Namimori unattended). He tapped his chin thoughtfully, the grass hanging from his mouth swinging from side to side. Isn't there a self-proclaimed tutor Kyou-san tends to "train" with on the rooftop?" He nodded to himself. Yes, it is the blond foreigner, the "horse herbivore". Di…no…-san? I believe that is his name. Kusakabe beamed—he could ask Dino to care for Hibari! With that decided, Kusakabe probed around in his pocket for Hibari's phone—the Head Prefect gave it to him while they were at school so Hibari wouldn't be interrupted as he reviewed the surveillance reports and approved or disapproved the propositions for Namimori concerning political matters (Hibari was practically the mayor of the town)—and brought it to his ear once he found it and after clicking on a contact listed as "Bucking Bronco"; he waited several seconds for the other line to connect.
"Kyouya? How lovely of you to call me for the first time!" a pleasantly cheery yet attractively suave voice answered.
Kusakabe coughed awkwardly into his hand, feeling like he had somehow gotten himself mixed up in the personal bubble of his superior. "Sorry to disappoint you, Dino-san. This is Kusakabe Tetsuya, the Disciplinary Committee's Second-in-Command."
Kusakabe could very vividly see the way Dino drained. "I see." Then, his voice gained a worried tone. "Is something wrong with Kyouya?"
He's sharp-witted. "Yes" was the solemn reply. Kusakabe explained in a hushed voice about Hibari's health condition, how his illnesses had the uncanny habit of taking a sudden turn for the worse, the fact Hibari's condition should be kept a secret because of the numerous amount of people who want his head served on a silver plate, placing special emphasis on the disturbing part that "the silver plate was a velvety bed" and Hibari's head was "not the only section of his body they wanted to devour".
Dino went as far as to interrupt his own incoherent question to state he will arrive at the school in around five hours.
How Dino knew Hibari and he were at the school will forever remain a mystery to Kusakabe.
….
Kusakabe sighed lightheartedly and sat down cross-legged on the carpeted section of the floor as he placed a stack of documents on the coffee table. He picked one of the documents up and placed it in front of him, his pen ready to begin to working, and stopped to take a long glance at the shivering form under a few fluffy blankets for the umpteenth time. He shook his head, an internal chiding for not focusing on the work that would not get done on its own, but he leaped to his feet faster than what he would have liked at the moment (I need to calm down, he reminded himself) and made his way around the table towards the lump on the couch when a pale hand popped from under the covers to weakly beckon him—and if Kusakabe did not know the structure of Hibari's hands well enough, he would have thought it was a ghost. "Yes?" Kusakabe asked softly as he lowered his stance to meet Hibari's blurry line of vision.
Hibari opened his mouth to speak but closed it immediately after when he considered the rough state of his throat. He tapped his chest once and clenched his hand into a fist.
"Your chest feels tight?"
A nod asserted his assumption.
A gentle knocking pattern hitting the door Hibari had come to familiarize himself with over the months interrupted whatever Kusakabe was about to say, and the door slowly creaked open to reveal a tall, sun-kissed, young man.
Hibari frowned and glared at the new presence, while Kusakabe smiled and proceeded to formally introduce himself. Why is that herbivore here?
Dino walked to the couch and leaned on the edge to hover and peer down at Hibari. A frown Hibari found (surprisingly) should not be there was etched on Dino's handsome features. "How do you feel, Kyouya?"
The glare Hibari conjured seemed to say, "Don't ask, herbivore."
"Right, right, a stupid question," Dino mumbled and chuckled as he walked around the furniture to situate himself in front of Hibari, and Hibari wondered how in the world Dino did not show even the slightest sign of his feet randomly locking together to face-plant the floor. He peered down at Hibari with a questioning look, his eyes trailing over the silhouette of shivering limbs. "Are you able to walk on your own?"
"I don't believe it is a good idea to allow Kyou-san to walk; it'd strain him too much," Kusakabe interjected.
Dino took a gander at Kusakabe, and a small smile graced his lips. He crouched in front of Hibari, his arms extended as if to scoop him up like ice cream. "May I?"
Hibari stiffened. There's no way I am getting my way with this…He unconsciously sucked in a breath to cool down the flame eating his pride.
Taking those actions as a "go ahead", Dino carefully picked Hibari up by the knees and behind the shoulders.
His muscles protested harshly at the movement and the cool air scratching his back, and a grunt informed his carrier of his discomfort.
Blinking in shock when Hibari cuddled closer to him to steal the warmth radiating from him as he began to walk out of the Reception Room and Nami Middle in general with Kusakabe following close behind him, Dino somehow managed to fish his phone from his pocket and dialed Romario's number.
"Yes, Boss?"
"Romario, I'll be staying in Japan for a few weeks. Not sure exactly how long."
Romario's soft sigh caused static to ring in Dino's ear. "Understood. Do you need anything?"
He nodded despite knowing he could not be seen. "Yeah, I need a doctor."
"A doctor?" Worry was slowly turning into panic. "Is anyone injured? Are you hurt? I'll beat—"
Dino's amused chuckle stopped his ranting. "Calm down. No one is hurt; my precious student is merely sick."
The panic was gone in an instant, but worry still laced his voice. "Is it severe?"
Humming in thought, he made mental notes of the amount of heat transferring to him from the skylark, the unhealthy paleness of the colloquially porcelain skin, the whistling noise whenever Hibari took in a rattling breath as though he was struggling to breathe, the shakes and shudders, and the aches and soreness plaguing Hibari. "Perhaps. I really hope it isn't, but, according to Kusakabe-san, Kyouya collapsed, and that alone is pointing against what I wish for it to be."
Romario could not contain the gasp of surprise. "'Collapsed'?"
Dino hummed his assertion.
"A doctor it is. I will make sure to acquire the best one."
Dino smiled. "Thank you, Romario."
"No problem, Boss." He chuckled. "Just don't try anything funny on him; we don't want you getting infected as well."
A dark blush colored Dino's cheeks. "Romario!" Not wanting to hear more teasing regarding his love affairs, Dino snapped his phone—his subordinates' laughs roaring through the phone—and shoved it down the pocket he produced it from.
Kusakabe raised an eyebrow at the hue decorating Dino's cheeks, knowing fully well it was not the cause of some illness, yet he refrained from asking what that was all about when he heard the weak snickering from Hibari and the way Dino's blush seem to darken at whatever Hibari whispered after that. He frowned. Huh. And here I thought Kyou-san was immune to love. Kusakabe stopped in his tracks when he found himself standing in front of a red Ferrari. So fast…I lost track of time.
Dino probed in his jacket for his key; finding it with a small cry of victory, Dino pressed a button on the remote control hanging from the keys dangling around a metal loop, and the sound of the door of the passenger's seat next to the driver's unlocking and sliding open followed the command. He gently lowered Hibari onto the seat and closed the door silently to not arouse Hibari from the light slumber he had fallen into shortly after teasing Dino about whatever it was that made Dino's blush take on several more shades of crimson. With that done, Dino pivoted on his heels to face Kusakabe with an amount of grace thought to be impossible for such a simple action. He extended his hand, and Kusakabe promptly took it. "It was nice meeting you, Kusakabe-san. I'll make sure to take care of Kyouya."
Inclining his head in appreciation, Kusakabe replied, "It was nice meeting you, too, Dino-san. Thank you so much for taking on this task—I must admit it is no easy feat to accomplish. Please inform me of his condition if it worsens."
They released hands after shaking them, and Dino grinned. "Of course!" He turned around, waving his hand as his salutation, and entered the vehicle.
Kusakabe kept waving as Dino drove off, his eyes scanning the scenery for any presence eavesdropping that may lead to the threat of the Head Prefect's safety (and virginity), and even though Kusakabe had no doubt Hibari was the strongest in all of Namimori, there was the potential of an equal rival from another town as much as Kusakabe wanted to deny such a being existed—but Rokudou Mukuro was proof these beings were not part of a fairytale. When Dino rounded a corner, Kusakabe dropped his hand to his side, and the air surrounding him became veiled by grey clouds of depression. I sincerely hope Kyou-san will remain safe. He turned around to return to the school when he found no one had seen Hibari and Dino drive off.
….
Kusakabe never noticed the dark silhouette of a figure shadowed by the darkness of the alley, its nails digging into the cement of a crumbling wall viciously.
….
"Where's my lovely girl~?"
Crap. Why did it have to be this pervert? Dino fake a pleasant smile, his eyebrow twitching with annoyance, and showed the "pervert" to the room Hibari was occupying in the hotel room the blond booked while flying to Japan from Venice. "This way, Dr. Shamal."
Shamal cooed all the way, "Lovely girl, lovely girl."
Rolling his eyes at the hormonal-teen behavior, Dino opened the door and entered the room, followed by an exited Shamal.
Shamal skipped over to the bed, his arms flapping up and down and side to side, and peered down at the sleeping beauty shielded by the silk covers. A blush Dino could only describe as creepy spread across the tanned man's face. "Ah," he cooed with lust lacing his tone, "such a beauty you are, Hibari-chan~."
Dino chocked on the air at the girly nickname. Shamal would be dead by now if Kyouya was not dead to the world right now.
Shamal rolled the blankets off the skylark, his expression suddenly serious (though, he did glance none too innocently at Hibari's lower regions) when he sat on the chair situated next to the bed—Dino sat on it looking over Hibari until the doctor arrived—and began the usual procedure of checking a patient. "It all points out to the influenza, yet the symptoms are much harsher than what they should be." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'll give you extra dosages of the stronger medicine; I should warn you it will make her feel extremely weak."
He reached his hand up and began to caress Hibari's cheek, inwardly cringing at the heat seeping into his hand. "Darling, wake up for me~!"
Hibari's eyelids immediately fluttered open and scowled at the unknown face staring at him with what he could only describe as a repulsive expression.
Shamal was pleasantly shocked when he saw the two, piercing silver irises glaring intensely at him. Wow. A true beauty. He dropped his hand back to his side, and his expression returned to its serious one. "When did you first notice symptoms of being sick?"
Hibari shrugged and turned his attention to the velvety curtains, suddenly finding them interesting.
He sighed. "Right." Shamal produced a notepad and golden pen from a pocket on his white coat. He scribbled several notes there before standing to walk to Dino and give him the paper he had written on. "She has the influenza. I will send you the medicine in a small package tomorrow. Give her two dosages per day until she is entirely recovered," he told Dino while standing up to face the latter. He gripped Dino's shoulder harshly, his eyes burning with a passionate fire. "I'll make this visit free; your girlfriend is too sexy." And with that he left, leaving Dino a laughing mess on the ground and a furious Hibari rage-coughing.
"H-he thought you were a girl...!" Dino said among laughs as he clutched his side that was beginning to hurt from the laughing.
"Shut. Up." Hibari somehow managed to muster the strength to throw a pillow at Dion hard enough to make him loose his balance.
Picking up the pillow after he reestablished his balance while attempting uselessly to contain his laughter, Dino replied, "As you wish, la mia bella principessa."
"Accidenti a te."
...
A shiver wrecked Hibari's body, his teeth clacking together consecutively as he attempted to draw warmth from the blankets curled around him by rubbing his legs against each other and his hands up and down but considered refraining from those actions for the night-tainted cloth cladding most of his body was causing a painful friction. He groaned, the signal of his resignation to feel pain in return for warmth, and propped himself by the elbows until he was in a sitting position. He swept away the moisture clinging to his eyelashes and looked around the room for a familiar presence; he nearly showed his surprise when he saw the silhouette of a tall, muscular man treading silently into the room by covering it with a few coughs. Being sick can be useful at times. "Dino?" he whispered to not strain his voice.
The figure vaulted slightly, an obvious sign it had not noticed Hibari was awake. The figure waved uncertainly, its hand being the only part of its body made visible by the moonlight that seeped through the cracks at the edges of the curtains.
And that was when Hibari noticed the hand that waved was missing the all-too-familiar tattoo. He threw the blankets off of him, ignoring the way his muscles tensed under the cool air, and reached under a pillow for the weapon hidden there. He pointed it at the figure, and the soft clicking of him cocking the silver gun echoed throughout the room.
Instead of raising his hands up in the universal way of saying "don't shoot", the figure popped out a gun as well and pointed it at Hibari. Carefully, the figure walked towards the window and drew the curtains open with one hand, its eyes glued to Hibari like a lion stalking its prey. The moonlight cascaded down his form to reveal his fierce, golden eyes and orderly disheveled, long strands depicting the fallen leaves of Autumn that draped down his shoulder. A crooked smile oozing many different kinds of lust contorted his admittedly handsome features. "Found you, Kyouya."
Hibari followed his movements with the gun held between his hands. "Don't call me that," he growled back. "What have you done with Dino, Marcello?" Hibari winced internally at how weak he sounded.
Marcello shrugged casually, his smile turning to a feral grin. "This and that. Nothing too much. I simply needed to get him out of the way."
If looks could kill, every living creature within a kilometer radius would have died a thousand times in the most torturous and dramatic ways.
Marcello chuckled. "Ah, don't be mad, dear skylark. I'd much prefer you screaming my name when you are lost in the paradise of Pleasure."
Hibari scrunched his nose in a repulsed manner. "Fucking pervert." He's worse than the Pineapple.
He threw his head back with a melodic laughter and threw his gun onto the floor. "Shoot me, then."
Hibari gritted his teeth and fired his gun without a second thought-and the bullet missed by an entire foot and imbedded itself in the wall. An unbearable ache ignited by the recoil of the gunshot within his arms, and the gun fell onto his lap when his hands began shaking uncontrollably. Crap.
Marcello whistled lowly. "Wow. You really do become as weak as a cat when you are sick." He smirked, the gesture sending chills down Hibari's spine despite feeling no fear. "This makes things much easier." Suddenly, he launched himself onto the prefect, their faces dangerously close so they could feel their breaths ghosting over their skin. He leaned down to nip at a patch of skin on Hibari's neck that rang warning bells in the prefect's mind. Marcello muttered aggressively in Hibari's ear, "Do you know how long I have waited for this?" As if to prove his point, he grinded their hips together to show off his problem below, which earned him a small gasp from Hibari.
"You can wait for the rest of your life in hell!"
The sound of a whip cracking against flesh was all Hibari's brain could process as he stared off into space, reiterating a silent mantra to not fall into the clutches of Slumber that were released by the new wave of Fatigue. He muttered an expletive when his eyelids began to droop against his will.
The last he saw was a swirl of brown and gold dancing with splatters of ruby shards.
...
"Who was that?"
"Marcello."
Dino drew his brows together. "You know what I mean, Kyouya; don't avoid the question."
Hibari halted the wrapping of the bandages around Dino's forearm, glared at Dino, and yanked on the bandages harshly, making Dino bite down on his lip to muffle the yelp that rose. "Don't order me around, herbivore." Nevertheless, he said, "I met him when I was twelve at one of the balls my father was hosting. He told me he wanted to make me his in every possible way. I cut off all ties with him right then and there, and my father fired him from his company. I have not heard or seen him until yesterday." He coughed several times onto the crook of his arm.
Chuckling, Dino teased, "Did he confuse you for a girl, too?"
Right after finishing adjusting the bandages, he smack Dino's arm, and the latter shrieked in a rather unmanly way. "No."
Dino retracted his arm away from Hibari and stood up, the skylark eyeing the bandages that poked out from behind the white, button-down shirt. Noticing this, Dino leaned down to the other's eye-level and hooked a finger under his chin to tilt it back. "You'll always be mine in every possible manner, and I'll 'bite to death' anyone who gets too close to you." As if to prove his point, he closed the gap between their lips and reluctantly withdrew after several seconds of pure bliss. A gentle smile graced his lips. "Ti amo, Kyouya."
A dark roseate dust spread over Hibari's cheeks. "Idiot, you'll get sick."
...
Dino did indeed fall ill, and Hibari remained by his side until the very last day.
….
To suit my tastes for this One-Shot, I made it so that Shamal has no idea who Hibari is, but the incident of the Sakura-kura still happened; therefore, the hated existence of Rokudou Mukuro by Hibari thrives here.
This fan-fiction is dedicated to Cherie-chan~! Lots of hugs from me to you!