A challenge of Sandy11-1990 / A gift to Sandy11-1990.
He pressed the button,
And started recording.
He opened his eyes, and saw something lying on his drawer.
Sitting up, he bent to take it, to get a better look at it.
It was a headphone.
Weird.
The weirdest thing of this headphone was, it was just a headphone lying there, only.
Confusing, no?
Just, it wasn't attached to anything.. so what was this for?
Display?
And he remembered not buying such herbivore-level things.
Staring at the floor, he saw a slip of paper.
Kyoya...! I supposed you had received the gift already, right?
By your usual brilliant self, I guessed you had already figured out that it's a weird one.
But no, it's unique. Another word for it.
Specially made for you, be happy, Kyoya...!
There's 99 songs in it, my favorite ones.
Listen to it, alright? (remember, in order!)
As for why... Don't ask me,
It's a secret.
You'll find it out yourself, someday.
So now, don't crush the paper yet and come flying to me, telling me how grateful you are for this headphone!
I'm in Italy already,
Take care...!
Hey, don't kill Kusakabe for helping me to put this in your room...! I had a hard time persuading him to do me this favor, you know.
Dino,
Your dearest teacher...!
Hibari walked out of the room, and took the slice of toast up to chew on it lightly.
And that was when he had noticed it,
His left hand was still holding onto the headphone.
Well... It was purely out of boredom that he wanted to listen to the songs.
Purely boredom, get it?
As he wore the headphone, he could feel the comfy soft cushion pressing onto his ears lightly, and he found the small button on the left one.
Pressing it, he heard the music play.
That was when, he listened to the first song.
-x-
The song played, thinking of you,
-x-
"So... This is the information you wanted, and I've gotten you some more, just to be safe."
The papers were slipped into a fine envelope, and the Rain guardian smiled as he handed Hibari that.
He nodded, without speaking, he took it.
"So, I'll take it that you accept it, and it's without any errors?" Gokudera stared at him, fiddling with the lighter he had in his hands.
He shrugged, and stood up to leave.
The door opened lightly, and a female voice was heard.
"Hibari...!"
It was the only female guardian of the Vongola,
Chrome.
She smiled softly at the other two guardians as she pulled Hibari to the door there.
"Dino-san... I've gotten news that he's a little ill, do you want me to-"
"No need, I've better things to do." Hibari held the envelope in his hands, and walked along the corridor.
Chrome sighed softly at that reply,
Apparently Dino and he were still in a teacher-student relationship, that was, in their minds.
It was so, just so obvious that they were way past that relationship already.
Just need someone to take the first move,
And apparently none of them were taking it.
"Kyoya is just like my little brother...! See?" Dino grinned as his hand just messed up Hibari's hair in a casual way.
And he stopped when Hibari sent him the death glare, which made Chrome smiled awkwardly.
"Hopefully we could get some good news soon..." Chrome turned and walked in the room, seeing a headphone lying on the couch.
He opened the purple car door, and rested the envelope in the passenger's seat.
Moving over and he sat down, he inserted the key, starting the engine.
The headlights were turned on, and he saw two hands pressing onto his car, the person busy gasping for air.
"H-Hibari, you left something behind!" She managed to remove one of her hand away from his car and waved the item lightly.
Hibari stared at the headphone,
He actually left something that impor-...
Well, it was alright for him to left something that useless there.
He was about to get off the car when she just put the headphone on top of the envelope lightly.
"Take good care of it, I heard that it's from Dino-san." She smiled and stepped aside,
Assuming that he would step on to the engine and move on, Hibari's next actions proved her totally wrong.
"Cavallone, are you dying yet?"
He called him.
Dino immediately got choke on his plain water upon hearing that voice,
"K-Ky-Kyo-"
"Leave your stuttering when I bite you to death."
He sat up, "You are coming to Italy?"
"No, obviously." He heard the noises of a car engine being starting.
"Bye, Hibari...!" And a soft voice followed.
Dino pulled the blankets up a little, "Kyoya, you're out-"
"Vongola Headquarters."
"I-I see, ..."
He wondered if he should ask him about the headphone.
Hesitating for a moment, he heard Hibari speaking.
"I've only listened until the 27th song,"
Dino grinned at that answer, "That's good enough already, really...!"
"Sleep more, I'm ending the call already."
"Wait-"
Beep.
Dino still had the smile on him, and he looked at the door.
"Romario...! Bring in my medicine...!"
"You're finally willing to take your medicine?..."
73 songs... more.
Hibari saw the traffic light turned red, and he looked to his side.
The headphone rested there,
And his fingers touched it lightly,
He slowly held onto it,
Taking it up,
He wore it.
Music played.
-x-
Song played, the reason.
The 28th song.
-x-
It was a grand dinner that night, some kind of ceremony.
Men wore suits, while women wore evening gowns.
Seemed plain to him, somehow.
Most of them wore bright colors, but weirdly, they didn't capture the Cloud Guardian's eyes.
The weirdest point was, he only wore a plain white formal shirt, with a loose tie to go along, a pair of denim jeans and silver sneakers.
Yet he stood out.
Who, you ask?
Dino Cavallone, of course.
He turned, and their eyes met that simply.
The Cavallone smiled, and he left the crowd that was around him,
Walking to an empty balcony, only with someone standing there, looking at him.
"Kyoya, you came...! Where's the others?"
Hibari shrugged, and looked down.
They were at the poolside, all of them seemed so happy to be here, partying.
Hibari rested his elbows on the balcony railing, feeling the light breeze.
"Looks like your silver tie really stand out," Dino grinned as he leaned his back on the railing, his hand holding to a glass of wine.
Hibari looked down onto his tie, he sighed.
A silver tie doesn't goes along with a black suit, he thought.
He felt a light tug, and his silver tie was off him.
He looked up, and Dino's hands worked on his collar, with a new tie around it.
"Black tie fits you the most," Dino bent a little, to adjust the tie.
Hibari's vision was on the silver tie on Dino's shoulder, and his hand went forward to take it down.
Apparently the Cavallone boss didn't notice that, but he stopped when the silver tie was on himself.
He made it loose, just like the tie before. A way of saying,
Silver tie fits you the most, too.
Dino just smiled to himself, and the bright smile stiffened when he noticed he was very close to Hibari.
"Kyoya, I."
Hibari looked up, waiting for him to continue.
"I...lo.. You know, I." Stuttering again.
Hibari's stare, slowly, slowly, turned into a death glare.
"Shoot."
He was waiting... For those words, obvious.
"I-I love the sky tonight, the stars are beautiful, don't you think so?" He laughed awkwardly as he took a step back, before looking up at the sky.
Liar.
The sky wasn't starry, it was completely dark.
Hibari just stayed where he was, while Dino stared at the dark sky, not smiling anymore.
"Kyoya, I... I got to go back already." Dino turned and left the balcony in a hurry.
Looking down, he heard the footsteps getting fainted, and his grip on the black tie loosened.
Suddenly, he heard a voice.
"Kyoya...!"
Dino.
"Don't leave this around...!"
He saw a small shadow approaching, it was an item.
He looked up, and caught it.
The headphone.
Dino's eyes were staring at it, with a little disappointment.
Hibari didn't realize, at that moment of time, what made he said that.
"I won't lose it, again."
The Cavallone stared at him, before breaking into a bright grin.
"That's a promise then...!"
The song played, lost.
The 59th song,
-x-
The rain poured, and he could feel the faint heat.
The wound on his stomach hurt, but it was getting numb.
He was lifted off the ground, his forehead touching a familiar shoulder.
The soft cushion on the headphones rested on his ears, and he heard the soft music played.
Dino looked at the pale face, he saw his subordinates slowly running towards them.
He had a faint smile, filled with worried.
When he whispered so softly, to Hibari.
I love you.
But apparently he couldn't hear it.
-x-
The music played, breathe again.
The 69th song played.
-x-
He woke up, staring at the white ceiling, walls.
He was in the ward.
A letter, was lying beside him.
He took it up, and read it.
Cavallone's writing.
'I'm getting back to Italy already, see you if there's some chance...?'
Nothing more.
Just with a headphone lying on top of it, he grabbed it and left the ward.
The headphone was still wet,
The Cavallone's leaving hadn't been long.
There was still chance that he could catch up.
Dino heard the noise of water splashing behind him, and he turned to see Hibari behind.
"K-Kyoya...! You got to stay...!"
Hibari stood there, his hand pressing onto his wound, another holding onto the headphone.
"Leaving?"
Dino smiled slightly, and nodded his head.
His legs just forcefully turned, and he saw something flew past himself, his left arm stretched out to catch it.
The headphone.
"Kyoya, you said you wouldn't lose it again, right?" Dino turned, and looked at Hibari.
His eyes, glared at him.
Dino held the umbrella tightly, before walking towards Hibari.
His lowered his head, his fringe covering his eyes a little.
He held Hibari's hand up a little, letting his hand close around the handle of the umbrella.
"It's not good to get sick." Dino forced a smile out, and again slid the headphone down on Hibari.
Dino bent, a little.
His lips brushing past the forehead of Hibari's lightly,
Dino didn't had the courage.
Letting go of Hibari, he turned and ran.
That fast.
Hibari's hand clutched onto his wound, feeling blood coming out again.
And he just collapsed.
-x-
The music played, talk to me.
The 80th song played.
He left for some weeks now,
And all Hibari did was to stay at his home, sleeping whole day long.
Feeling weak and all.
Additional information,
Occasionally, he would pick the headphone up and listen to it.
The calendar wrote 5th of May, and apparently someone was not calling him.
It wasn't like he cared.. was he?
His grip on the headphone tightened, and he wore it.
Adding to the sadness, no?
-x-
The music played, what hurts the most.
The 96th song.
Running, he didn't care if his clothes were soaked in rain or not.
He got to find the Cavallone fast.
Turning, he found himself lost.
Just where was the alley?
Gunshots were heard, and he went straight.
-x-
The 99th song played, I'm still breathing.
The last song.
-x-
He saw corpses.
Lying in the narrow alley.
He walked cautiously, and as usual,
He stood out.
The blonde hair of his.
Hibari sat beside him, and lifted the Cavallone so that the blonde could lean on him.
"... Kyoya...?"
There was too much blood.
All the people died here.
Hibari didn't noticed, he himself was trembling a little.
Dino just smiled, and his eyes widened a little when he felt the cushion around his ears.
"Your turn to listen," Hibari whispered softly,
Dino closed his eyes, hearing what was there.
"Kyoya, looks like I lost again..."
Hibari didn't get what was he talking about,
His grip on the Cavallone just tightened.
The silver tie, tainted with so much blood.
-x-
The Cavallone left him.
-x-
So quietly.
The rain did nothing but to worsen his mood.
Just for once,
Hibari Kyoya, the strongest guardian of Vongola,
Had tears falling.
He saw himself lying in the room bed, with fresh clothes.
No longer tainted with rain, no longer tainted with blood.
It seemed like everything remained the same,
But the Cavallone was gone.
His hands held onto the headphone,
And that was when he noticed there was a repeat button.
Pressing onto it,
He had yet to listen finish.
Noticing there was no music,
He heard someone speaking instead.
Looks like you've listened finish!
Kyoya, all these songs are my favorite ones, you know.
W-Well... That wasn't important, no?
I didn't had the courage to tell you this when I looked at you.
I felt weak, as a Cavallone's boss, I actually couldn't bring myself to say such simple words.
Kyoya, just to say.
Would you,
Just listen to me this one last time?
My stuttering.
I-I...
N-No, just would...
Would you want to become a part of my family?
N-N-Not like Romario all these, you know.
It's... That kind of family, you know what am I talking about?
…
To put it in simple words,
Hibari Kyoya, would you want to be Dino Cavallone's most important person?
…
Alright, I said it.
Do-Don't... bite me to death yea?
Just give me an answer will do,
I'll be waiting!
The headphone,
Wasn't for Hibari to know Dino better.
It was a confession.
At the funeral, a new headphone was found lying beside the Cavallone.
To be specific, the Cavallone was listening to it.
Hibari wasn't there, at the funeral.
No, he was there.
In a way.
The music in the headphone played,
A person started speaking.
Unlike the Cavallone,
No stuttering,
No hesitation,
Just a simple sentence with 6 words.
Dino Cavallone.
My answer is,
Yes.
-x
-x
-x
-x
-x
Too late,
Owari.
Author's notes .
The 'song' that Dino heard, ah yes. It was his own recording. He thought his attempt to confess to Hibari failed again.
Reviews are deeply wanted and appreciated.