Title: Ring, Bridle and Bite Mark

Warning: fluffy fantasy AU; human consumption theme, but nothing gory; realists will likely to find this fic ridiculously and naïvely annoying

Chosen Pairing: Dino (25 years old) x Hibari (18 years old)

Notes:

1) In the manga, the 22-year-old Dino is a klutz unless his subordinates are within the same precinct, but the 32-year-old Dino is doing fine as long as his subordinates is within 1 km radius. Hence, here, the required distance is 300m. For this reason, Romario became Dino's manager and chauffeur.

2) There's no mention of the specific whereabouts of the Cavallones' HQ in the manga, as far as I know, so I've taken the liberty to choose Lake Burano in Tuscany, Italy

3) In some folklores, kelpies dislike livers, but in other versions, they dislike hearts. In this fic, it has to be the latter for the sake of the LJ prompt's thematic requirement. The colour issue was made up; don't get mad, myth lovers.

'No! Please spare my life! Have mercy!' A little girl squeaked while retreating a few steps behind.

'A merciful heart does nothing for an empty stomach.' A blond man leapt forward with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

'CUT!' announced the thickly-moustached director. 'OK. Good work, everyone. The next scene will be the computerised one: the antagonist will transform into a kelpie and start devouring the victim. Therefore, tomorrow's shoot, will be scene thirty-two, in which the protagonist comes to save the day.'

The lights were extinguished and the all the filming crew took their leave – all but one. Hibari Kyouya, the lead actor's stuntman, despised crowds. Rather than joining the stream of people towards the exit, he'd rather lag behind until everyone else had gone and enjoy the passage himself.

'How's your wound?' A voice, the same one as the voice which intimidated the young actress earlier, resounded quietly through the darkness of the deserted room.

A sliver of annoyance mixed with alertness surged within Hibari upon knowing he was not the only one present in that room. He was supposed to be able to detect another's presence. And he normally could. And did. The fact that he couldn't do so now could only mean his adversary had been hiding his presence.

Furthermore, the wound he was talking about was a very minor cut that other crew failed to notice. There had been one inconspicuous protruding nail on the side of the table he had turned over – as a part of his required action earlier – and the point of this nail had pricked his ring finger. Of course, Hibari had not even winced. Why must this one man spot such triviality, especially when such scene was not supposed to be visible from his angle?

This actor, Dino Cavallone, 'a rising star in the cinema world' or whatever the media called him nowadays, was always friendly to anyone without exception. Hibari wouldn't care if that blasted actor distributed what his fans called 'dazzling smile' among the rest of the crew, as long as he left him alone. However, this was not the case. Everyday Dino greeted him with 'Good morning, Kyouya!' even though Hibari never responded to him.

'Kyoooouuyyaaa!' the current Dino made a childish pout upon Hibari's ignorance.

Actors. Hibari stepped away. 'Out of my way, herbivore!'

But Dino approached him instead. 'Kyouya, come on, I smelt blood coming out from you earlier. You could at least answer my questi–'

Smelt? Is he a dog? 'I'll bite you to death!' Hibari cut off Dino's sentence with a snarl as he walked towards the exit.

'But I am not an herbivore.' Dino caught one of Hibari's wrists as he asserted this. Smile had not disappeared from his face, but his childish tone deepened into a mischievous adult. Now he sounded like … an entirely different entity.

Chill descended down Hibari's spine. The shock was so overwhelming that he did not do anything when Dino brought his wrist onto his own mouth and licked Hibari's injured ring finger, no longer bleeding though it was.

Only then, Hibari quickly withdrew with a shred of ghastly look flickering in his usually tranquil eyes.

Yet, his capturer would not let him. Dino had caught his other wrist, and no matter where the Japanese stepped, the Italian would follow. Worse still, the blond now bent to plant a kiss on the jet's lips.

Half a minute later, Dino pulled back. Blood was trickling down his lips: Hibari had bitten him. Smirking, he wiped the trails of blood with his tongue. 'Shall I prove that I'm no herbivore?'

Releasing the stuntman, the actor's standing torso stooped. His neck elongated. His shoulders changed in form and position. His arms reshaped themselves into legs. His fingers and toes were all replaced by hooves. Dino Cavallone was metamorphosing into a horse. Not just any horse either! This stallion shone brilliantly with gold radiance. His eyes were hazel and his crest and mane were golden, just as his eyes and hair in human form. He was not quite as 'solid' as a normal horse. Rather, his form felt like a cluster of water which, peculiarly, did not wet whoever touched him.

Of course, Hibari could have escaped the moment Dino released his grip, but the actor did not do his action without the full knowledge of the stuntman's character: Hibari Kyouya did not run, but faced his challenger head on.

Hibari squinted at the fabulous creature before him. Who'd have thought the actor whose role was as an antagonising kelpie in disguise was a real kelpie! Dino was true to his words: a kelpie was a carnivorous creature who devoured his or her victim's flesh and blood, leaving nothing but the heart.

With no further ado, the Japanese stuntman chanted inwardly, 'O Air which breathes lives unto our lungs, I call upon thee; o Air which grants us place to soar free, I invoke thee; o Air which flows ubiquitously, I summon thee. O Aether, lend me thy strength!'

Hibari closed his eyes briefly, and, the moment he opened them again, his hands already wielded a pair of ethereal tonfas. These were his trademark weapons, as light as the air itself, visible only to him, yet, while combined with his martial skills, became potent enough to snatch away hundreds of mortal lives.

'Wait, Kyouya!' the actor tried to calm the stuntman, 'I'm not trying to eat you.' He even returned to his human form to prove his good intention.

But all of his attempts fell to deafened ears. The jet-haired Japanese swooped onto him; it was Hibari's nature to fight, especially if the opponent was strong.

Dino let out a small sigh before pointing to one of the coffee cups on the staff table. In a blink of an eye, the remaining coffee in that cup swirled into the air like a ribbon-like fluid towards the Italian's expecting hands: a liquid whip had been created out of coffee.

The kelpie in human form moved gracefully, eluding Hibari's tonfas as though he had been dancing. The more Hibari rushed, the more frustrated he became: none of his attacks hit Dino so far. At length, he revealed his true form. Fur covered his skin. His arms were replaced by wings. He no longer stood on his feet but on his talons. His head remained as it was, but from neck below, his body resembled that of a skylark. He was a harpy, a menacing harpy with jet black feather.

'Kyouya,' beaming excitedly, Dino emitted a hardly audible murmur, 'You're gorgeous.'

A cut now adorned Dino's left cheek; Hibari's talon had just grazed him. In his harpy form, Hibari's celerity increased at least tenfold; air was always the perfect medium for birds.

'Oh well, I guess you want to say that this is no time for conversation.' The Italian wiped the dripping blood from his face as he dodged the Japanese's next swoop. Time to get serious.

The actor transformed into a kelpie once again. Land was not an ideal medium for an aquatic horse, so he did not gain as much advantage as Hibari did. Still, his kelpie form granted him more power than what a human could do.

Thus, the horse and the bird engaged each other in a heated combat. One was superior in strength; the other, in speed. No human could predict the outcome of the battles between water and air. If this were to be a mortal combat, the battle could have lasted for days. Nevertheless, this was not the case. Dino just had to respond to Hibari's offence, while the birdman was simply annoyed by his suitor's approach, but he had no real reason to fight the golden kelpie. After all, the aquatic horse did not disrupt peace.

What brought an end to the heated battle was the landing of Dino's powerful kick on Hibari's stomach. The harpy attempted to back off, but in such rush, the upper back of his head collided onto the ceiling instead. The crash was vehement enough to knock consciousness out of Hibari.

'Kyouya!' The last thing he heard was the panic-stricken kelpie neighing his name. Then, darkness enshrouded his whole being.

When he came to, he was surrounded by blinding light. It was not the light of the stage spotlight or any lighting device for shooting purposes, but the radiant countenance of Dino Cavallone in his human form. The harpy's adrenaline raced faster; never before had he seen Dino this close. The blond smiled in relief to see him regaining his consciousness. The skylark, nonetheless, would not get rid of his pout: he hated to admit that the opinion of Dino's fans – regarding the actor's dazzling smile – might be true.

As soon as Hibari changed back into his human form, he was ready to leave the scene. When this damned Cavallone stayed close to him, there was an unfamiliar discomfort – nervousness, anticipation and perhaps ... elation? No! How could that be?

'Kyouya,' Dino called for him again.

'What do you want, kelpie?' growled the stuntman.

The phrase 'I want you' was struggling to release itself from the actor's restraining tongue. The mouth owner apparently decided that such candour would not be of any aid to get him what he wanted. Hence, he emanated, 'a proof' instead.

'Proof for what?'

'The proof that I won our fight. I believe the winner should have the right to request.'

Through clenched jaw, Hibari uttered, 'Be quick.'

Notwithstanding, the expected words of 'bow to me' and the like never came out of Dino's mouth. Instead, his conqueror approached him.

'What are you doing?' The stuntman rebuked the actor as the Italian started unbuttoning the Japanese's shirt.

'Kyouya, let me sink my teeth into your heart.'

'Fancy devouring harpies rather than humans?'

'No, I don't. For us, kelpies, consuming heart is similar to food poisoning, and a lethal one at that. Please, Kyouya, trust me. I need to sink my teeth into your heart without injuring it significantly. You will live.'

Hibari scoffed.

However, Dino retreated slightly. Next, he closed his eyes for one full minute. The air around him grew colder and soon beads of dew gathered near his feet. His whole being glowed as though gilded with gold. Dino then reopened his eyes, revealing an unfocussed gaze from his glistening orbs. He then touched his left arm and pulled very fine threads from it; so fine that they were almost invisible had they not been luminescent. These fine threads, in turn, wove themselves into a golden bridle, which subsequently was presented to Hibari.

'As you have known, a kelpie cannot disobey to the possessor of his or her bridle. The moment I betray your trust will be the moment of my death. Use this to command me to kill myself.'

Hibari remained silent. For a kelpie, a bridle was the very essence of life itself; for what reason was Dino willing to leave his life in his hand?

'And, Kyouya, I want you to promise not to interrupt whatever I do until your heart has returned to you.'

As expected, Hibari said nothing. Therefore, Dino egged him on, 'Do I have your word?'

A reluctant nod was all the harpy gave. The kelpie seemed satisfied, nevertheless.

The jet resisted no further when the blond came closer to him. He didn't win from Dino; what could he do if this bridle had been a fake and the kelpie forced him anyway?

If Hibari had thought Dino was going to slit his chest open and dive his head to gnaw on his heart while soaked in blood, he would have been dead wrong. Dino simply touched his chest with fingers as cold as icy lake water in winter and murmured an unheard incantation. Then, painlessly, Hibari's heart emerged into the air, leaving no cavity on its owner's pectoral flesh. All his life, Hibari had never seen any weirder scene than having his own heart floating before his very eyes, still pulsating, yet unblemished with blood.

Dino moved forward and began to station his incisors onto the floating heart. He did not chew it; his mouth simply stayed there. Stagnantly. Enigmatically. Almost gracefully. It was as if… he had been kissing it instead of biting it.

Hibari knew his spine was shivering at this sight; he just didn't know why – until seconds later.

Somehow, after Dino's teeth touched his heart, Hibari heard a voice Dino's voice even though the blond was kneeling before him with mouth still attached to his heart. In Hibari's head, the kelpie asseverated, 'From the depth of Lake Burano, from the depth of my heart, from the depth of my soul, this I vow to you, Kyouya: for as long as the breath of life still resides within me, I shall love you the way I have loved you all these years.'

The pledgee wanted to spout, 'Stop this nonsense at once!' and attack the pledger for such shameless impudence, but he mustn't. Hibari Kyouya always kept his promise. For now, he could only clench his fists in abashment.

The voice went on, 'To kelpies, cardiac consumption is equal to seeking for death; no remedy can heal a kelpie who has eaten a victim's heart. Yet, there is one exception: only the heart of the one a kelpie loves truly and sincerely will not affect the kelpie with this mortal peril. Even so, this heart is not to be devoured, only be marked upon.

A kelpie's bite mark acts more than a mere signature in a contract. It signifies the kelpie's fidelity to the one held dear above the rest, the one and only soul mate.'

All these were the voice of Dino's heart, but as for how these words reached his mind, Hibari would not ask. It must have something to do with Dino's bite anyway, and what was more important was to get rid of it as soon as possible. Had he not been Hibari Kyouya, he'd probably have died from embarrassment now.

Gently, delicately, Dino pushed Hibari's heart back to its owner's chest.

Once his heart was safely tucked inside, a gleeful feeling came out of nowhere. And this annoyed Hibari. Thinking that this must be one of Dino's tricks, Hibari pressed his tonfas again against Dino's throat. Pride precluded him from using Dino's bridle.

'What did you do to my heart?' he barked.

'I just…'

'What. Did. You. Do?' hissed the jet-haired teenager.

'I … I made a link between us. If you are in danger, I'll know it straightaway and vice versa.' Also if you are extremely joyful or excessively depressed or greatly infuriated.

'I don't want such link to exist. Take it back!' It was not a request. Hibari's eyes were seriously blazing with fury, and, even if they hadn't, Dino still felt the harpy's wrath inside him.

'I can't Kyouya. Once a kelpie submits his or her feelings it will irrevocably last a lifetime.'

Hibari scowled. He knew Dino was telling the truth; the linked heart told him so. Grasping the blond on the collar, the jet growled, 'Am I so weak as to expect your help each time I get into trouble, Cavallone?'

'No, not at all. That wasn't what I…' But Hibari had let go of Dino's collar and swung his tonfas once again with murderous intent.

Dino eluded while defending himself with his faithful whip. '… intended.'

The fight carried on for one and a quarter more hours. Following the fight, the two of them tumbled on the floor, both too depleted to get up any time soon.

'Shouldn't you hunt a loch in Scotland or Ireland?' The silence was broken by the harpy's very voice.

The Cavallone heir could hardly believe his ears. The Hibari Kyouya, the one who had been ignoring him for three years, now initiated a conversation! Therefore, trying his best to keep himself calm, he answered, 'My ancestors used to and some branch families still do, but the Cavallones have chosen Tuscany as a home base for centuries now.'

Nevertheless, the bliss within his heart was channelled into Hibari. By now, the skylark started to suspect that state of danger was not the only thing that his heart could link. Nevertheless, he would never admit that he did not mind to be kept informed of the kelpie's feelings. Hence, he chose to feign ignorance. 'Aren't you supposed to have a water-weed among the strands of your hair?'

'Only the less skilful kelpies would make such a mistake.'

'Why isn't your fur colour black or white?'

'In our society, those are the colours of the plebeians; the patricians have wider range of colours. Regardless of the parents' colours, when a green foal is born, he or she is bound to hold the rank of a knight. A red foal, a baron or baroness. Brown, viscount or viscountess. Orange, count or countess. Purple, marquis or marchioness. Blue, duke or duchess. Silver, prince or princess. Gold…' Dino swallowed.

'Crown prince or princess?' Hibari finished the sentence for him.

'Does this mean that the next heir to the throne does not necessarily have to be the ruler's offspring but any kelpie who was born with gold colour?'

Dino nodded. 'Yes, and there's only one golden kelpie per kingdom per generation.' He wanted to study Hibari's expression, but the skylark rose to his feet, showing the steed no more than his back, and even began to step away.

Much though the kelpie desired not to part from the harpy, he was lacking of any reason to detain him further. He could only cast a melancholic gaze towards the harpy's unswerving torso getting farther and farther from him. His forlornness, however, was destined not to last long: the skylark-man halted his step, causing the aquatic horse's heart to skip a beat.

A quiet, yet irate voice traversed through the air. 'What did you do to my finger?'

'A-ah, you've caught me!' Dino was back to his cheerful tone again, like a prankster who did not regret his misbehaviour while getting scolded. 'O ring woven from the waters of Burano Lake, show thyself!'

With these words, a blue sapphire ring gradually made its appearance, perching on Hibari's ring finger, on the precise spot where Dino had licked him earlier.

Unequivocally, Hibari removed it from his finger at once. Only he couldn't; the ring wouldn't budge no matter what he did!

'Er, I guessed you'd refuse, so I took the liberty to declare you my fiancé in my own fashion. That ring is irremovable by anyone other than its creator,' the crown prince explained, only to earn another deadly glare from his speaking adversary. 'You see, as of late, another royal family has kept urging upon an arranged marriage between their daughter and me. The only way to refuse without creating a war will be to show them that I have already had a betrothed. There's nothing wrong with the princess, except that I can't give my heart to her.'

At this point, Dino took a deep breath. 'My heart is no longer with me. It was taken away eleven years ago, by the lake, by a little boy who gave me hope in my darkest despair.'

Hibari's eyes flickered at the mention of the word 'boy'; nevertheless, he let Dino continue without interruption.

'I was really clumsy, so many noblemen's sons often mocked me. Every kelpie in Lake Burano said that I wasn't fit for the throne in spite of my colour. No kelpie was willing to approach such a wimp; even my own parents gave up on me and cared for my siblings only. I had no friend, save for my pet turtle, Enzo. Ah, back then, Enzo was still a very young and small turtle. His full size was only about the size of a flattened tennis ball. Now, when immersed in water, he is bigger than this room. He shrinks on dry medium, though.

One day, the bully became too excessive. The children knew I was getting used to their torture, so they victimised Enzo in addition. I fled from their chase, carrying Enzo in my hands. But they are far greater in numbers; they positioned their cronies on each part of the lake. Within the lake perimeter, I had nowhere to run. Therefore, I had no choice but to emerge to the surface.

Kelpies younger than twenty-one would normally avoid surfacing; their not fully-grown bodies cannot sustain the waterless air. For this reason, my fled that day was regarded as a daring escapade when I returned. The kelpies thought that it was by miracle that I managed to survive and that it must have been some sort of divine omen that I should be the rightful heir to the throne.

The bullies stopped. My parents began to see me from a different light, saying that I was not a hopeless son after all. They started to love to me and even endowed me with loyal assistant named Romario; you know, my manager. But let's get back to my encounter with the boy who took my heart away.

As soon as Enzo and I surfaced, our injuries aggravated. Nevertheless, we could still consider ourselves lucky, since it was raining that day. At least, the air was not completely waterless and the damage it caused to our bodies stayed at minimum level.

Back then, a class of students were having lesson: those young harpies were supposed to transfigure themselves into humans and hunt whilst maintaining their human form. Timid as I was, I chose to remain hidden behind the shrubberies, praying that none of them would notice my presence. To draw less attention – the size of a horse is quite big, and I've got golden fur on top of that – I transformed into a human.

Of these young harpies, one caught my attention. He was the first to catch his prey, but let go of the squirrel as soon as he noticed the injury on the squirrel's hind leg, and searched for another target instead. As a result, he only came second best. His teacher rebuked him in disappointed tone, saying that his standard had fallen. He spoke nothing in defence. When another student who had seen the injured squirrel scene informed the teacher, the one who had released the squirrel said that defeating an injured victim would only prove his incapability in defeating an uninjured victim. Nevertheless, when everybody else was gone, that little boy returned to tend to the squirrel's injury.

Such strength with gentle heart … he had touched my heart ever since. I wanted to be his friend, but I was too afraid to approach such a small yet strong child; after all, we're of different species. I was too absorbed in the young harpy to be alert to my surroundings. A crow snatched Enzo. Panicked, I shrieked and the harpy boy took off into the air at once, fighting the crow. He retrieved Enzo with ease in mere minutes, while only having a partial transformation on the wings. After that, he returned Enzo to me.

At that time, I was too astounded to even thank him properly. My tears were even still falling from my eyes from the fright of Enzo's former abduction. He noticed Enzo's and my wounds, nevertheless. Therefore, he chanted something about the air to grant us remedial power and the majority of our wounds were healed. He spoke nothing to me; he did not even warn me not to reveal his harpy secret to other humans. Only when he had turned to go, I clutched at the edge of his shirt, "Teach me how to be strong." – that was all I could say.

He smirked. "No one is going to help you. If you want to be strong, stand on your own feet; otherwise, you'll be an herbivore forever."

Although these were the simple words of a seven-year-old child, they inspired me profoundly and gave me strength to go on. The child had become my saviour – physically and psychologically – and I've always wanted to thank you since that day, my saviour.'

With that, Dino Cavallone knelt before Hibari Kyouya. Then, after taking Hibari's right hand and bringing it onto his mouth, he abjured, 'You are the least affable individual I've ever come across in life, but my feelings to you shall not waver. My duty belongs to the underwater kingdom; yet, my heart, my life, my love – I devote them to you.'

Hibari stood statuesquely. He remembered of helping a lachrymose teenager when he was seven years old. To be honest, he'd never dared to imagine that the weakling from that time would grow into someone who triumphed over him. Putting that aside, the skylark also felt an odd sensation in his stomach. It was different from nauseant sickness. It was different from diarrheic pain. It was no constipation either. It was something new to him and he had no clue what it was, except that the sensation tended to be pleasing rather than the opposite.

The harpy clenched his jaw. First the ring – the solid proof of their relationship – then the bridle – Dino's submission to Hibari given through the essence of the kelpie's soul – and now the bite mark – the link between them? These were too much, even for Hibari Kyouya; no, especially for Hibari Kyouya.

'So,' a voice, toned to be as vicious as possible, once again tore from Hibari, 'you are planning to tie me for life regardless of my consent?'

With a somewhat doleful smile, Dino explained, 'No. I knew from the start that my feelings would be unrequited. It's all right if you marry someone else; I'll remain a bachelor all my life. I shall only ask you to meet the princess' family, once, to be introduced as my betrothed. After that, I'll remove the ring from your finger.

As for the bite mark on your heart, don't worry; it isn't reciprocal. Only the one who has left the bite mark will die if the couple is separated. Of course, it has become customary for lovers to exchange bite mark on each other's heart. However, to enable separation, most kelpie couples opt not to engrave each other's heart with bite mark even after centuries of marriage.'

Dino would die if he loved someone else other than himself? What had he done to deserve such idolatrous worship? Hibari pondered.

Since no further reply came to existence, Dino began to worry. 'Kyouya?'

Without verbal explanation, the harpy strode towards the kelpie. Dino thought Hibari would launch another tonfa attack on him and prepared himself for it, but the Japanese sent his lips crushing against the Italian's instead. Flabbergasted, the aquatic horse did not respond to the first kiss of his life.

Gradually, as reality started to sink into his brain, the kelpie wondered why, before now, he couldn't have appreciated that the world was such a happy place to live in. It was then Dino returned the awkward kiss – this must be Hibari's first kiss, as well.

After they broke the kiss, panting for air, a half-reluctant half-hopeful voice came out of Hibari's mouth. 'A crown prince in the harpy society is required to present a royal partner at his eighteenth birthday,' the jet-haired skylark struggled to keep his tone nonchalant, 'Are you coming or not?'

A smile adorned the kelpie crown prince's face as he followed his royal fiancé towards the exit. Outside, Romario had been waiting for him next to the car, but he would tell the middle-aged man to go home alone that day.

THE END