Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is Amano Akira's
Warnings: underage sex & violence; multiple pairings; multiple character deaths; unlikely situations; partly depressing, but NOT a sad ending
Timeline: fifteen years in the future
Credits: this fanfic was inspired by, written with the kind permission of, beta-read by, and therefore dedicated to, dame_batsie
Author's Note: it's British English again for this fic
Beyond Mortality – The Love Life of Don Cavallone X
Where am I?
The blond Italian looked at his surroundings. Everywhere was sombre with no single object to define where he was. There wasn't even a clear boundary between the ground and the ceiling – or sky.
What is this place? Why am I here? Dino mused further. How can I see clearly even though it's so dark?
Then he realised it: his body was not only glowing, but was also translucent. Gradually, memories started to swim back to his brain.
###
That afternoon, the Cavallone leader was on his way collecting his custom-made tonfas. In another nine hours, Hibari Kyouya would be exactly thirty years old, and this pair of tonfas was the birthday present that the mafia boss had prepared for the one he treasured most.
'Also, I would like to add a bottle of Dom Perignon White Gold Jeroboam for tonight's dinner,' Dino told the waiter of the 101-floor rotating restaurant, reconfirming his reservation.
Ending the phone call, he sighed contently at the wallpaper of his mobile phone: Hibari Kyouya was smiling at Hibird, who was perching on his index finger. Hibari rarely smiled, so this picture was priceless, not to mention that the photo was taken with Don Cavallone's life at stake.
BANG!
The entire street broke into tumult at the sound of the opening gunfire. In an instant, the whole street turned into a battlefield. The civilians screamed continually at the sudden beleaguering appearance of a group of crimson-costumed gunmen.
They were a new syndicate that lately had been rumoured to spread its wings in the underworld. This syndicate, 'Chimaera,' was not a member of the Costa Nostra. It had been founded by a man known by his alias: 'Elpidios' − a Thessalian by birth whose real name and background remained unknown. In fact, very little was known about Elpidios and Chimaera, apart from their ambition of ruling the underworld globally. To acquire this target, Chimaera sent its hitmen to uproot the most powerful mafia family, Vongola, starting with the allied families.
Reborn still held the title of the world's strongest hitman; however, that was because he had not yet crossed his path with the latest discovered talent, a twelve-year-old prodigious assassin recruited by Chimaera. Not only the child was proficient at turning all sorts of harmless household objects into murderous tools, but he was also able to manipulate electricity with ease. The genius lilac-haired child was now right before Dino's eyes.
As soon as the child assassin laid eyes upon the sunlit locks of Don Cavallone, he emitted bolts of electricity from his palms as a greeting. Dino dodged them and the humongous voltage hit a parked car behind him. Taking out his box weapon, the blond called forth Scuderia, a winged horse as white as snow yet with blazing mane like fire.
His opponent did not stay idle: he darted like an eagle at prey, grinning, content to fight a powerful opponent, if not for the imminent glory that he would acquire upon defeating such illustrious target. So light and so swift were the boy's steps that the dust on the ground did not even stir, as though he had not trampled upon them at all.
The next thing the don knew, the child had passed him without perturbing the stillness of the fallen leaves, and Dino's winged white horse lost his balance. The child had cut down the femurs of the horse; an electric saw replaced the boy's right arm. As the four equine legs dropped, unrestraint, their owner made one last attempt to at least save his master. Springing its wings, the legless horse escaped into the sky just a for a few seconds, albeit these few seconds were enough for Dino to gain the footing for a proper landing before Scuderia returned into its box. Because the horse was made of energy, he could be 'repaired and restored' for next time – if 'next time' were to exist.
It would normally take more than that to conquer a horse that was vehement enough to be the box weapon of the third strongest Mafioso; there must have been more in child's weapon than meets the eye. Grateful to his loyal horse, Dino vowed in his heart that he would protect his famiglia no matter what.
Unfurling his trusted whip, the bucking horse advanced towards his opponent. The curls of the leather danced upon the atmosphere, swishing through the air as it coiled along the way.
However, Dino's weapon only freshened the gale into a hurricane. The child snapped because of the wound on his stomach: not many of his enemies could as much as graze him. His both arms now changed into electric saws, slicing a post box, two electric poles, a row of parked cars, and several other objects he passed on his way, with an angry yell tearing from his mouth. 'CAVALLONEEEEE!'
Blinded with rage, the hysterical child launched his onslaughts. Though he was emotionally unstable, his speed and accuracy remained exceptional. All Dino's endeavours of dodging only granted him nothing more than narrow escapes from death. Numerous cuts occupied Dino's body one after another, faster than the ticking of a clock. From each wound, drops of scarlet fell to the ground, and the weakening of the bucking horse's body became inevitable. Bit by bit, his feebler dodges facilitated the grazes to turn into shallow wounds, and the shallow wounds into deep cuts.
One blow, more fatal than its predecessors, was aimed at Dino's heart, and the don failed to see it in time. However, in the midst of the heated fight, Romario broke in, shielding his treasured boss with his own body and taking the damage caused by the electric saws all to himself as he grabbed the child's both arms. Dino's coiling whip, contrarily, landed around its target's neck, taking the enemy's life through decapitation with one clean hit.
But the blood pooling around Dino's feet didn't just belong to the child's.
'Romario!' Dino shrieked in panic as his right hand man staggered.
'At last … I managed to do … like a father should.' His voice was weak, but it was deafeningly clear that he did not regret his action.
Dino caught his most trusted companion's body before gently laying him on the ground, gazing at his paling face in stunned silence; he had always thought that he would die before Romario.
'Forgive me … just this once, allow me to call you "my son".' With ragged breathing and blood streaming from his pectoral wound, he continued, 'I'm really, really proud of you.'
Cavallone X continued to stare at his right hand man, knowing that the old man could no longer be saved. Rather than spending their last time together in controversy, he chose to listen to whatever his family's royal retainer had to say without interruption.
'Your parents initially thought that your mother couldn't conceive,' Romario began, 'But in truth, it was your father who was infertile although he didn't know this; your mother always went to gynaecologist alone. Your mother loved her husband too much to let him down. Instead, she came to me one day with a request of a lifetime. Your father and his men were out of town for a week at that time. We agreed to keep your biological father a secret – nobody in this world but she and I and the Lord above knew that you were not a Cavallone through your father.'
Tears streamed down Dino's cheeks. 'Padre…'
That became the very last word falling to Romario's ears. As the word vanished into a wisp of air, Romario's soul departed from its body. Gone was the man Don Cavallone X trusted most.
The don himself, nevertheless, got up; as much as he wanted, it was no time to mourn. Chimaera's other fighters had stepped in and Dino's bodyguards gradually diminished in number until they became naught while fighting to the last breath of their lives. The result had been propitious for the Chimaerae not long after the battle began, yet the Cavallones would rather throw their souls to the call of Death than fling themselves piteously at the enemies' mercy. Only later, much later, their brothers-in-arms, with the support from their ally, the Vongola, would try to avenge them and some would eventually join them in death. But for now, there was only death for all who were present, and they would not yield their lives without a fight.
Dino's whip ran amuck. Three of Chimaera's assassins – undoubtedly not as skilful as the genius child – fell. When he was dealing with the fourth, a stab came from behind. The sharp pain from his left breast, followed by the emergence of the tip of metal from where his heart was and the oozing crimson liquid that doused his shirt, made the Cavallone leader realise that salvation was no more.
He turned around to see his opponent and was for a moment surprised to find that the twelve-year-old assassin he had killed before was now standing and grinning. No! That wasn't him. The headless corpse was still lying some five yards away from this boy.
Identical twins? Dino surmised. He had not seen this murderer before and did not know why this child had not helped his brother earlier. Nor did the don know whether this child was now targeting him out of vengeance for his deceased brother or as a mere obedience to the order from Chimaera's top officers or even as a chance to reap the glory for himself now that his rival had gone.
Gritting his teeth in agony, the don pulled the blood-bathed knife from his chest and hurled it with all his remaining strength. Whether or not it landed on its owner's throat just as he intended Dino never knew. His vision had become blurry and darkness had enclosed him in. His body thudded onto the dusty earth.
That day, just as the sun glided under the carmine citadel of the horizon, the leader of the Cavallones lost his life in his strife.
###
Now, while walking aimlessly in the realm embalmed with the primeval colour of the night, Dino's spirit contemplated. The bright side of death was that he was going to meet those who had died before him, including Romario. As far as he knew, when the dead still has a lingering, mundane feeling – usually, regret − he or she would not be able to pass on, but went astray in the limbo until the unfinished business was settled. All right, it was humiliating that he, a thirty-seven-year-old man, lost to a twelve-year-old boy, but he had died in battle while defending his famiglia; what was there to regret?
He had lived a happy life. He had never suffered financially. He had visited splendid places like The Pyramid of Giza and Lake Baikal. He did not hate his status – well, maybe he used to, when he was a little boy, but certainly not after he grew up. He had been blessed with people who loved him.
Love.
Dino had never imagined that the day he received his first kiss was also the day he had his first sexual encounter.
He used to attend the same martial arts class with Superbi Squalo. At that time, he had not learnt to wield a whip. All he knew were swords and guns. One particular day, before either of them reached their fourteenth year, curiosity got the better of them, especially Squalo.
Dino used to be the wimpiest student in that class, so he stayed for extra sword practice alone after everybody else had left. Earlier that afternoon, while sparring, one of Dino's attacks hit Squalo on the ribs. Dino remained defeated in the end, but since none of the other students managed to hit the Sword Emperor-would-be, Squalo started to eye the blond, convincing himself that this was the Cavallone's potential rather than a mere fluke.
Squalo did not plan his action; he was merely returning for a forgotten towel. However, seeing an opportunity, young Squalo demanded a rematch with Dino. Although the scared blond immediately refused, there was no teacher – nobody – to prevent Squalo from attacking him.
Luckily for Squalo, it only took a couple of minutes for the young Cavallone to tumble. In an attempt to maintain his, he ended up grabbing onto the nearest object – Squalo's shirt. The two boys collapse on the ground, one on top of the other.
'I-I'm sorry,' gasped the blond, 'I didn't mean to…'
But the boy above him only stared.
Something within Squalo's gleam gave Dino a shiver. It was as if the violent boy had been enjoying this development. Gulping, the timid boy asked, 'Er, could you move, please? I can't get up.'
But the boy above him kept staring.
'Squ…' His face came closer.
'… a …' And closer.
'… l …' And closer still.
'… mmmph!' Their lips locked.
To Squalo, first kiss was ravenous. To Dino, first kiss was surprising. To Squalo, first kiss was gratifying. To Dino, first kiss was hesitating. To Squalo, first kiss was bliss. To Dino, first kiss was bliss.
Through that kiss, a spark ignited. One boy followed what his heart desired; the other could not bring himself to believe that either of them desired such thing. The latter tried to resist, however, the desire of the other boy was far too adamant.
Squalo did not fully remove their clothing, but simply yanked them out of the way. Soon Dino found his salty sweat fusing with the other boy's saliva: Squalo's tongue explored his torso downward. Down, down until it reached the most sensitive spot of his body.
Dino squirmed. Squalo smirked.
The young Superbi's index finger was the first to intrude upon his private area, and he gasped with widened eyes at the foreign sensation. Tears stung his eyes, but he tried his best to hold them back, and he succeeded at least until the next finger obtruded him. The tears finally fell when Squalo's virility penetrated him.
The pain, or rather, the shock from the pain, was more than the young Cavallone could bear. With tears flowing down his cheeks, he pleaded, 'I can't take this anymore.'
'I'm not even halfway in,' grinned Squalo. He stroked Dino's hair, stifled his mouth with a kiss, and continued pounding into him.
Dino did not know how many muscles within his body contracted at this intrusion. His back arched every time Squalo thrust in, and before he could finish exhaling in relief whenever Squalo withdrew, his tormentor went back in. Dino clung onto his partner's shoulders, but this was by no means enough to soothe the agony. He moaned and groaned, but his voice only enticed his molester even more. The thrusts only grew steadier. And faster.
At length, he even screamed, 'Squalo, it hurts, stop!' but a jet of white fluid had started to pour into him.
Squalo's body collapsed above him. Their hair intermingled like gold and silver. Dino was still sobbing despite Squalo's kisses. The silvery-haired boy was the one who tidied up his clothes for him. The crybaby would have probably become paranoid with sex after that, had the future sword emperor not escorted him home, held him gently – or at least, gentler than before − in the shower and begun round two.
Their relationship flourished for months after that. Sometimes, without prior notice, Squalo would drag him to a gelato store after sword practice. At other times, Squalo would coerce him to help him with schoolwork as an excuse for more kisses and, of course, sex.
Don Cavallone IX was actually fond of Superbi Squalo, hoping that this boy would become his son's right hand man when they grew up. He spoke nothing upon perceiving how frequent Dino hung out with Squalo, for such was the mafia way of expressing approval. He did, however, take the necessary measures as soon as he caught glimpse of how these two youngsters looked at each other when they were alone, or, more precisely, when they thought they were alone.
Before rumours that the future Don Cavallone X was a submissive fag would start to spread like wildfire, Don Cavallone IX hired the world's best hitman to make a man out of Dino Cavallone.
The result backfired. After undergoing Reborn's harsh training, Squalo's caresses were the only ones that soothed Dino from the pain. Squalo also demanded spars with Dino on regular basis in order to monitor their improvements in martial arts. Notwithstanding, what segued after those spars could only improve them in Venus' arts.
'Just keep it low profile!' Dino's father sighed in defeat. If he couldn't prevent his son from being submissive to another man now, he certainly couldn't do so in the future. It was best to let them be, as long as the family name was left untarnished. Now, without any interference, it seemed as if the relationship between the two youths would only continue to grow.
Sadly, Superbi Squalo was not meant to be Dino Cavallone's forever. He thought Squalo was his one true love, but it turned out that he was no more than a sex experiment to the silvery-haired swordsman. After joining the Varia, the latter's interest shifted to Xanxus, who responded to his feelings despite the number of women he had. Squalo had even, Dino suspected, grown his hair to an immense length as a token of loyalty to the Varia boss.
Dino let Squalo go without a word. But from that moment on, his life became an empty shell. Many considered the blonde gorgeous, but he was like an iridescent conch shell who refused to scintillate without Squalo's light.
Thanks to ample practices with Squalo, Dino had become an expert lover, though he had to ensure that Romario was nearby. To the ladies, Dino Cavallone was not only a Bucking Horse in battles, but also in bed. And yet, to him, these ladies were mere passers-by who could not break through his shell in the end. He could not even remember any of the girls' names as he kept changing partners after the first date. Every time he was with a lover, no, bedmate, Squalo was the one who was in his mind – but that had only been the case before he met a tonfa-wielding Japanese schoolboy.
Sure enough, the raven-haired boy had been a troublesome disciple. And yet, as they spent hours together, all the thrills thrived into appetency, and before their training came to an end, the don knew that his life could never be the same again without the boy. If destiny truly existed, and if he were not destined to be with this skylark, he'd break those chains of fate and fight for his own freedom. Nevertheless, it took quite a while to get through Hibari's steel defence.
Hibari did not talk much. Yet, whenever he was with the person who had touched his soul, Dino felt content letting silence speak for them.
Dino still remembered how grave the jealousy in his heart was when had to use 'Don't you want to defeat Rokudo Mukuro?' as a reason to train the skylark. At that time, the Cloud guardian's mind was full of vengeance towards the Mist guardian; he couldn't care for anything else… until a surprise kiss from Dino landed on his lips.
That day was supposed to be their last day of training; Hibari was ready to assist Tsuna facing Xanxus' group. All those times, Hibari had always refused Dino's invitation to have lunch together or even just to converse with him; therefore, still not fully familiar with the skylark's nature, the bucking horse deemed it impossible for Hibari to even think of him more than as a tutor. Still, the twenty-two-year-old Cavallone wanted a memento before he gave up. After hours of practice, with bruises and cuts all over their bodies, especially the Japanese's, and Romario away to prepare his car, Dino commented, 'This is the end of our training, Kyouya. You are ready to face Xanxus' group now.'
Hibari showed him nothing but a sullen expression.
'Come on, Kyouya, I'm even sure you can defeat Rokudou Mukuro,' his tutor added with an afterthought, thinking that his student's dark mood was solely caused by the fact that the skylark had not managed to beat the bucking horse yet.
Again, Hibari's face was no less sour.
Dino displayed his brightest smile. His smiles had made the ladies weak in the knees and even several gentlemen's hearts skip a beat, but they only made Hibari's mouth twitch even more downwards.
'What's wrong? Don't you want to defeat that illusionist?'
When 'not as much as I want to defeat you' came as an answer, the Cavallone heir could no longer control himself. Bliss swept over him – his mind, his body, his soul. Making bold of himself, he captured the teenager by the lips. The punch that he received in return was merely a piffling compensation compared to the taste of Kyouya's heavenly skin.
It was clearly the boy's first kiss. The skylark was too shocked to even respond. Not only were they of different ages, status, backgrounds, and nationalities, but they also were the same gender. Dino could understand as much that this was a big blow to Hibari. He also understood why the Japanese searched for him weeks later, even after Varia was defeated. What he did not understand was the kiss that followed the skylark's series of tonfa attacks.
The kiss – the first voluntary kiss Hibari had ever given to anyone in his life – was as unsophisticated as a first kiss could be. It was even rough enough to make anyone back off – anyone but Dino Bronco. Until today, the blond had never managed to unravel the mystery of why the pressure of Hibari's lips made the entire world fade away. He remembered, however, the delicacy, his clutch on Hibari's shirt and his susurration of 'Kyou … ya…'
Hibari turned his heel immediately afterwards and Dino could not find any reason to make him stay. In a panic, he called out for him, 'Wait Kyouya, does this mean "yes"?'
Hibari ignored this completely, showing Dino only his back as he stepped further and further away. Only later, much later, after bucking horse got to know the skylark's nature better, he concluded that Hibari could have left in a hurry in attempt to hide his blushing face that day.
###
After three and a half hours of preparation – two hours for thinking of a conversational topic that would not cause Hibari any discomfort and scribbling them on sheets of paper which later found themselves crumpled on the floor, forty-five minutes for practising in front of a mirror, and another forty-five for multiple rehearsals with Enzo and Romario – the Cavallone ex-playboy made the first phone call to Hibari, of which conversation lasted less than two minutes in total.
'Hello, Kyouya.'
'What do you want?'
'I-I … I'm coming to Japan tomorrow.'
'Why are you telling me?'
'I … uh … I was wondering if you could tell me the weather forecast for tomorrow. D-do I need to bring an umbrella or not?'
'Can't you look it up online?'
'A-ha-ha-ha … yes, I suppose you're right. Silly me. Ha-ha-ha…'
No comment came out of Hibari's mouth.
Thus, Dino spoke again, 'Is there any Italian food or souvenir that you want?'
'No.'
'Oh, okay then. Sorry to disturb you. See you tomorrow.'
As soon as he hung up, Dino frantically searched for Romario and asked him to get the airplane ticket to Japan no matter what. His arrival to Japan was an impromptu conversation to cover the topic that went completely blank inside his head as soon as he heard the Japanese's voice; he was supposed to talk about Vongola as well as a couple of examples in similarities and differences between Japanese and Italian languages.
That night, he had a wet dream about their encounter at the airport:
Hibari had been waiting for him in the arrival hall and his greeting was, 'You were asking about what souvenir I'd like to get on the phone yesterday.'
'Kyouya, I thought you didn't – never mind. Just name it, and I'll ask one of my men to bring it right here with the next flight.'
But the jet-haired boy smirked. 'There's no need. I've got what I want right here.' With that, he claimed Dino's lips regardless of the curious onlookers.
'Wow, Kyouya … I never knew you could be this passionate.'
Yet, Hibari pushed him onto a waiting bench. 'You didn't seriously think that was enough, did you?'
The skylark kissed him again, but his time, he proceeded to the jawline, neck and earlobe, while his hands deftly unzipped Dino's trousers and patted whatever available behind the boxers. Soon his fingers were replaced by his slick tongue. Seeing the head that nestled in-between his thighs, Dino bit his lower lip. He was very close to…
'Boss, wake up! We'll be late. The flight's at 8:50 A.M., remember?'
When he arrived in Japan, Dino would then learn that there was a thick wall between dream and reality.
###
It was on a pinch of fortune that Cavallone and Vongola are in good terms – at least, the Italian could use his frequent visits to Japan as an excuse for visiting the tenth Vongola leader. At first, Tsuna wondered why Dino needed to drop by so often; he knew Dino loved his mother's cooking, but surely that alone shouldn't be enough to make anyone fly overseas on such a regular basis. Months later, Tsuna gradually came to understand what the true reason for Dino's sojourn was: he noticed, more than once, how Dino gazed longingly at the Cloud guardian.
Hence, one evening when Dino returned, looking sad like an abandoned puppy, Tsuna whispered an encouragement for him. Earlier, Hibari had reproached him for making a mess with his food. Romario and the others had not been around when their boss was having lunch with his boyfriend. Tsuna's wholehearted support for their relationship made Dino's day.
Dino saw his younger self in Tsuna, and therefore, it was no wonder that he entertained feelings of warm brotherhood for the younger man. But with Hibari, even Dino himself wondered what magnet drew him to the wild skylark: their personalities were as different as night and day, and yet, Hibari Kyouya was the love who completed him.
###
There were times when Dino wished that Hibari would be more predictable like clouds, which changed their shape and colour in accordance to the weather. The graduation day at Namimori Middle School introduced him to the idea that Hibari's capriciousness was not bad at all.
March. The Sakura flowers were in bloom. The graduation ceremony was over. Hibari walked away from the school he was devoted to. But he did not head home. Instead, he called Dino's mobile phone and commanded him, 'Meet me now!'
Dino rushed to the unfinished underground construction that one day would become Hibari's headquarters – the location his boyfriend instructed on the phone.
I should have known, Dino groaned inwardly when he saw Hibari standing with both tonfas in hands, waiting for him there.
'Hi Kyou−'
'Have Romario wait upstairs!'
Hibari – the imperious Hibari Kyouya − did not like to be questioned and so his lover obliged.
The fight lasted much shorter than the blond had imagined; in fact, it was the briefest battle they'd had so far. The Japanese dropped his tonfa at the earliest symptom of defeat. Next, he swooped fast to snatch his ex-tutor's lips.
They had shared numerous kisses before and, along with time, the teenager's technique kept improving. Today, it was so good that Dino barely realised Hibari unbuckling his belt and undoing his lower garments.
'But Kyouya, you're underage.'
'Got a problem with that?' glowered his ex-disciple.
Hibari Kyouya had his own way of yielding to Dino Cavallone's embrace. Soon Namimori's steel of defense found himself turning into a wax in the Italian bucking horse's embrace: his flesh became pliant to the pressure of Dino's fingers and his insides melted to the heat that was Dino's passion. And, with Hibari today, the unfinished underground construction became Versailles in Dino's eyes.
###
Hibari's frame was smaller than Dino's, but, by no means, was it more fragile. In fact, the Japanese was a dominant lover. Perhaps, one of the reasons Dino found himself attached to this boy was because Hibari was similar to Squalo in this trait. Nevertheless, if both were available for him, Dino could not and would not hesitate to choose the Namimori prefect over the Varia squad captain without hesitation. Squalo introduced wonders to Dino's life, but Hibari − his Kyouya – was the one who filled his life with wonders. Superbi Squalo had been his past, but Hibari Kyouya was to be his future, for he did not only restore, but also enhanced the colours into the Cavallone heir's monochromatic life.
As time went by, he learnt that even the staunch Hibari could be a teaser … especially when it came to body licking. Hibari always pouted when Dino called him 'Kyouya' in the presence of others, but smirked when 'Kyouy-aaahh!' came out in breathless moans.
On the other hand, the Japanese refused to call – or even moan – the Italian's name during intimacy. Unlike Squalo, who loved making noise, lovemaking or not, Hibari preserved his composure as astutely as he could. Still, Dino loved seeing Hibari's chest inflating and deflating whenever he dealt with his lover's lower region, smirking from between the skylark's inner thighs.
Whenever they parted, Hibari's fists were never unclenched, though sometimes Dino could not see this, as exhaustion after copulation clouded his eyes with sleep. If the jet-haired teen had left when the blond was wide awake, he would leave with a kiss, letting he last trail of linger on the don's lips, but never a word of farewell – such a word would only hurt them both.
Hibari never smiled whenever they were reunited, since most of their encounters were in public. As soon as the others disappeared from sight, however, the skylark would pull the bucking horse into his embrace without hesitation. He would not let go until both of their lips were moist with each other's fluid.
Twelve years – the best twelve years in Dino's life, and Hibari's too, if only he would admit it – flew. Missions had made them travel to myriads of places, but no matter where they went, their hearts remained unwaveringly true to each other. Had they both not been males, no, had he not been a mafia leader, he would have asked the skylark to join his hand in marriage a long, long time ago. Reality, however, required otherwise.
###
'Why? You know perfectly well that Reborn is the only man I'm in love with!' was the reply Bianchi gave when the thirty-four-year-old Dino turned up at her father's mansion with a wedding ring out of the blue; they had never dated, not even once.
'That's why.' He looked at her straight in the eye. 'I have no wish to hold a woman with Kyouya in my mind. Still, Cavallone needs an heir. You're the only one I could turn for help. We'll adopt a son after bribing a doctor to state that I'm sterile. I promise, no, I swear I won't be intimate to you in bed.'
After standing stagnant for long minutes, Bianchi gave him a nod. Her family would never allow her to wed an Arcobaleno and Reborn was not exactly a homey-type either: he would not propose to her, while her family, out of age concern, kept urging her to marry.
Thus, their wedding bells rang. Right after they shared the wedding kiss, the bride glanced around anxiously and noticed Reborn clenching his fists. The groom did not bother to look at his surroundings: he knew beforehand that Hibari Kyouya refused to be present that day.
The feast was as extravagant as could be, with gold and crimson decorations bedecking Italy's most prestigious restaurant. The bride's gloves, specially made to nullify Bianchi's Poison Cooking, prevented the groom and the guests from experiencing food poisoning after slicing the ten-tiered wedding cake together. To both famiglias, their union deepened the existing alliance. To the bride and bridegroom, their wedding was one multi-functional solution to many problems.
Their honeymoon was on Bora Bora Island in three of the bungalows built on wooden stilts over the clear blue lagoon – the first one for Dino and Hibari, the other for Reborn and Bianchi, to whom they had respectively sent the airplane tickets in advance, and, at last but not least, for Romario, since Dino was simply too clumsy without him. Dino did not know what happened on the others' sides; only two out of their seven days were spent outside, thanks to Hibari's hatred to crowding, and none of them was within his sight.
As for Dino, he had it tough. The first half of the day was spent to appease Hibari's dark mood. He was overjoyed to see, nonetheless, that after three and a half hours of whip against tonfas fighting, the Japanese showed him the special usage of his Alaude Handcuffs – the very special usage, which the skylark showed no other living soul. Dino had tied Hibari with his whip in the previous year and now his inamorato wanted revenge. Continuous moans tore from Cavallone Decimo's mouth soon after when his Kyouya entered him.
Spending time with the Vongola Cloud Guardian demanded a plentiful supply of energy: to fight, to fuck, and to be fucked. Furthermore, since most of their meal depended on room service, due to Hibari's dark mood once he stepped outside, the heterogeneity of the food was limited. Still, the week passed by like dream.
Dino still remembered, very vividly, of his lover's jealous warning during their last minute fuck, just before their honeymoon ended, 'You're mine. No man or woman on earth will touch you with impunity.'
Bianchi was a perfect consort. Having been raised in a mafia family herself, she sure knew what to expect from a mafia boss' wife, and this was reflected through her manner of speech and her taste in fashion or even lifestyle in general. Unlike the girls Dino had dated years before, who would scream in panic upon an attack from another famiglia, Bianchi knew how to defend herself. She held his hand, leaned to his shoulder, or kissed him lightly on the cheek in front of other mafia bosses, but never approached him in private; and he treated her as 'my tutor's wife' when no outsider's eye beheld. Sometimes, she went out to seek Reborn, just as he sought for Hibari. And they were happy with this marriage of convenience.
Two years after the marriage, they started scouting young boys from orphanages for a Cavallone heir candidate. And, having been carefully selected from so many filtering stages, their eight-year-old adoptive son, Vittorio, did not disappoint them. He was caring, kind and gentle, but most of all, his martial arts adeptness was high enough to make 'Uncle' Reborn smile during their spar and 'Uncle' Kyouya not mind spending time training him.
###
There was once a time when he and Romario faced quite a grave danger and temporarily lost contact with the rest of the famiglia. As soon as the news about the Cavallone missing leader and right hand man reached the Vongola Cloud Guardian, Hibari rushed to Italy. By the time he arrived at the Cavallone mansion, Dino and Romario had returned, hours before, only with minor wounds.
Dino had been playing with a water sprinkler in the garden with the gigantic Enzo when Hibari came out of the taxi. The water droplets spattered in slow motion compared to the swiftness of Hibari's legs, rushing to meet his inamorato in an embrace. Never before had the skylark's grip felt so deadly − it was as though he never wanted to let go of the Italian ever again!
A husky voice accompanied the Japanese's glare. 'I'm the one who will bite you to death; remember that!'
With hungry lips and clutching arms, the Japanese claimed the reward of keeping him worried. It was the day that Cavallone X received the most ferocious kiss in his life.
###
The most ferocious − or he should say, craziest − sex he had in life, however, came in a different year in the form of a lesson, a lesson he got from igniting the flare of jealousy within Hibari Kyouya.
It was no secret that a castrato named Giovanni Rabuano became enamoured with Cavallone Decimo. Giovanni was the youngest and the most favourite son of Don Melchiorre Rabuano, who, despite his busy schedule, agreed to discuss the forming of an alliance with the Cavallone Famiglia. The discussion took place in a boxed seat of an opera house, for the don wished to see his son's performance.
After the end of Act V of Monteverdi's Orfeo, the twenty-one-year-old divo came to greet his father. His eyes flickered at the sight of the don half the age of his father. Following a friendly conversation, he asked for Dino's mobile number. Under Don Rabuano's pressuring stare, Don Cavallone had no other choice: he gave him the same number as the one he gave all other dons.
When the opera star called him the following afternoon, Dino intended to shake him off, but changed his mind at the mention of 'my father would love to have you join us for dinner.'
Don Melchiorre Rabuano really did come, but he left early after a phone call. To make things worse, Hibari, who was on an assassination duty in the same hotel, entered the restaurant when Giovanni flirted with Dino.
Casting a homicidal look, the Japanese approached their table.
'Kyouya, no! I can explain this,' Dino began, but the skylark walked past them. Age had trained him to prioritise mission over personal feelings.
The day after, there were sounds of heavy breathings when Hibari picked up Dino's call.
'Kyouya, are you all right?' because I'm not. Those breathings sound like you're having sex.
'Yes.'
'May I come over?'
'No.'
'Why?'
'Can't you hear that I'm busy?' With that, the skylark ended the call.
Mind befuddled, Dino rushed to Hibari's hotel room. There, after forcing the door open with a silenced gun, Dino could only gawk, his vision riveting upon the Japanese's choice of partner: underneath the naked raven lay an equally naked silver-haired swordsman who used to be his lover. Judging from the mess around them, they must have cleared quite a few rounds before he arrived.
'Squalo?' Why? Since when? In spite of Dino's curiosity for the nonce, these little words got choked in his throat.
'Vooiii, are you just going to stand there or are you going to join us?' invited the Varia squad captain.
Don Cavallone gulped. Never before had the notion of sharing a bed with his current and ex-lovers ever occurred in his mind. Nevertheless, if this were the one path he ought to cross to prevent the loss of the Japanese skylark from his life, so be it.
Peeling all clothing attributes from his skin, Dino then proceeded to the bed. Hibari, however, rose to leave.
Quickly, Cavallone Decimo caught his lover's slender waist. 'Kyouya, nothing happened between Giovanni and me.'
Hibari scoffed and brushed off Dino's hand from his body. Hence, the Italian tried to convince his lover through another way. It only took a few seconds before blood started trickling on the bucking horse's chin as he planted a kiss on the wild skylark's lips. Despite this violent bite, Dino refused to let go of Hibari.
Cupping the Vongola Cloud guardian's cheeks, he spoke again, 'Kyouya, please, I didn't sleep with that boy; I've never slept with anyone else but you ever since we met.'
'Until now!' added Squalo, who had leapt from the bed to enter Dino from behind without preparation. Jealousy burnt inside the Varia captain: his own lover, Xanxus, would never treat him the way Dino treated Hibari, and yet, this Japanese seemed to take the don's profuse affection for granted.
'Aah!' A surprised gasp tore from Dino's quivering lips, followed by the streaks of blood on his thighs; his grip on Hibari's skin tightened.
'Today, you're going to sleep with me whether he likes it or not,' declared the sword emperor.
Dino had never seen such a downward curve of Hibari's lips, perhaps it was due to Squalo's insanely merciless thrusts that was causing his eyes to water.
The jet reached for the silvery head's nape, dragging it to meet his mouth in a hard kiss. 'Bring it on!'
By bending forward towards Hibari, Squalo's member immersed even deeper within Dino. The don embraced the man before him even tighter, while gasping his name, 'Kyouya!'
But the name's owner retreated, far enough to give the blond's mouth the space to reach his groin. Next, he grabbed the bucking horse by the hair and ensured that his manhood was wrapped by Italian's mouth.
Varia swordsman smirked and continued rocking back and forth with more virile movements, causing the Japanese's manhood to be coated with puff of breaths formed by the strangled gasps of what was supposed to be his name. Even while groaning in pain, Dino took extra caution so as not to graze Hibari's flesh with his teeth.
When a gush of liquid spurted from Dino's erect member, tainting the floor with its creamy white colour, his desperate fingers squeezed the twin mounds of Hibari's rear. Nevertheless the Cloud guardian was engaged in tongue wrestling with the sword emperor.
'Voi, let's move to the bed!' offered the Varia as soon as he noticed that Dino's legs were giving away post-climax.
There, lying supine and sprawled by both legs, Dino kept looking up during Squalo's second ravish. Above his body was Squalo's, but above Squalo's body was Hibari's. Now on his back, Dino's new field of vision consisted of Hibari above Squalo who was on top of him. With each kiss Squalo stole from him, Dino never took his gaze off of Hibari; every thrust Squalo plunged into him made Dino more desperate to touch Hibari.
Squalo did not go lenient with his raid upon Dino; unlike the latter, Hibari was not a gentle lover. Squalo's rear and stomach were sore; he would not let his torturer's lover get away with impunity. Moreover, the experience of being taken while taking another was a new sensation worth repeating.
Using both arms as pillars to support his own weight, Hibari bucked his hips to and fro against the fissure of Squalo's buttocks. He could see how much Dino wished that he, rather than Squalo, had been bedding him instead, but decided to tease the blond further by kissing and licking Squalo's nape.
No sooner had the Cloud guardian released his load on the Varia squad captain's back than the door burst open once again. There stood the Varia boss himself with utmost indignation. Peering at his second-in-command's direction, he snarled, 'I don't like sharing what's mine.'
But the long-haired man paid no heed to this and continued going in and out of Don Cavallone. Hibari, on the other hand, shifted away. He hated crowding, and by that, he meant a group of more than three people – a little improvement, seeing that he used to consider three unforgiveable enough when he had been at school age.
Xanxus strode onto the bed and pulled his right hand man's long hair, 'I never gave you any permission to screw other trash!'
'Screw your permission; I'm not your property!' Squalo gave his response without even looking at his boss before licking the crook of Dino's neck.
Xanxus was not so tolerant as to let another insult be uttered towards him. Without further warning, he lifted Squalo and hurled the swordless sword emperor to the other side of the bed. Then, with one hand, he began to strangle his right hand man's neck.
Dino was quick to act: he leapt up and stole Xanxus' lips, causing the latter to become wide-eyed, Squalo to become speechless, and Hibari to freeze in his tracks.
'It's really rare for the four of us to gather like this,' Dino told Xanxus after the unanswered kiss, trailing his fair-skinned fingers along the buttons of Xanxus' shirt, 'Shouldn't we use our chance more wisely?'
Finding Squalo's expression more interesting than Dino's invitation, Xanxus decided to play along: kissing back the blond, the Varia boss started to strip. In the meantime, Dino explored Squalo's body inch by inch with his tongue. And, eventually, Dino entered Squalo, hoisting the long-haired man's legs over his shoulders.
Hibari was still motionless and breathed no word of indisposition, yet the look of his face could undoubtedly make children cry. As Xanxus penetrated Dino from behind and the blond moaned his molester's name with an arching back, the Japanese could not stand it any longer.
'That's as far as you go.' Hibari held Xanxus by the shoulder. The warning 'Stay away from my lover or else!' was unsaid, but was written all over the skylark's face.
At long last, rescue comes, thought Dino happily.
'If I refuse?'
Hibari's Cloud ring emitted purple flames at Xanxus' reply. But Dino, not wanting to spoil the mood, encircled his arms around the Japanese's waist. 'Care to join us, Kyouya?'
'Don't group me with the likes of you.' The tone of this answer was as firm as could be, and yet, no action was taken when a blond head dove down to envelope the hardening member of the skylark's nether region.
Even Squalo cooperated with Dino, snarling, 'What's the matter? Afraid your stamina won't catch up?'
Hibari only let a furious gaze become his answer.
'Either go away or position yourself!' This time, it was Xanxus who commented.
'In that case, I'll take this one.' Such a weak pretext for the intransigent Hibari Kyouya's standard; still, one is better than none. The skylark pulled the golden strands of hair hard enough to keep their owner's mouth away.
'Kyouya, that hurts! Can't y−'
Don Cavallone's protest was cut short by a long, violent kiss. His ex-disciple bent to claim his lips hungrily, as though they had not met for months. Still in a liplock, Hibari pushed Dino to the bed, lying supine next to Squalo.
Xanxus had exploited his trophy, licking, biting and, of course, intruding upon Squalo's most private aperture. It was impossible for Dino to pay full attention to the other couple while Hibari – impatient, demanding, ravenous – was inside of him. How Dino missed the younger man! He wanted to cry out 'Kyouya' at every brush of his skin; he wanted the skylark, from every curve of his supple body down to the last drop of his sweat.
To Dino, sex with Squalo might have been pleasurable, but sex with Hibari was definitely irreplaceable. As Dino kissed the crook of his beloved's neck, his fingers caressed Hibari's rear and the muscular abs on his abdomen contracted with each penetration. Bodies conjoined, his silent lover fulfilled his soul in a way no other lover could. This was the man he was in love with – regardless of how cold and cruel he could be at times. This … this was the very man in whom he felt, truly felt, life was worth living for; no matter how long they spent in each other's company, they could never have enough.
During the next round, Squalo was eager to kiss Dino, so Xanxus and Hibari, respectively, had to take their lovers from behind while the former classmates embraced each other.
Since Dino was technically facing Xanxus' direction, he could see that despite his rough penetrations below, when unseen by Squalo, the scar-faced man would lightly, secretly kiss the tip of the swordsman's hair, and how he treasured every string when he did that. Perhaps Squalo isn't as poorly loved by Xanxus as he imagines himself to be, Dino surmised. And yet, it was not an ex-lover's place to let Squalo knew this.
No words were exchanged among them until the moon was high in the firmament, only sweat − the sweat that drenched their spent yet sated bodies and the bed.
'Not too bad as a parting gift,' Squalo remarked to Xanxus as he began to drape himself.
To which his boss replied, 'I won't authorise your early retirement.'
'Who says I'm going to retire? I just mean…' but at this point, Squalo's volume dropped drastically, '… that girl is going to marry you, so you can't … we can't…'
But Xanxus cut him off, 'She can marry any man for all I care, as long as the groom is not you or I.'
'She had been a virgin before she slept with you and she proposed to you!'
'And I turned her down.'
'You're mad!' Squalo's eyes bulged in disbelief, 'She's Don Morelli's favourite daughter!'
'Let those who dare to mess around with Varia learn their lesson!' Xanxus answered with air of impatience. 'Are you coming or not?'
Squalo did not reply. Notwithstanding, nobody − save for Xanxus, who had stridden outside − missed the sword emperor's broad grin.
As for Dino, he prepared a more proper make-up session, which he himself personally arranged just two days after that. In a small chalet for two, concealed by the thickness of the foliages in the Black Forest, where pine-scented logs burnt away in the crackle of the glowing fire, fervid as their breaths when they were in each other's arms, the world and its wintry season melted away.
###
Sometimes, when the two of them were not doing anything significant – eating on the same table, walking in the same corridor, any mundane activity that was too ordinary even for ordinary people – Dino prayed in his heart, thanking the Heavenly Father for blessing him with Hibari Kyouya in his life. Every little thing, every moment he spent with the Eastern skylark remained priceless.
Yet, every beginning had its ending: no longer would he be able to breathe the same air as his soulmate, no longer would he be able to stand under the same sun as his most important person, no longer would he be able to see Hibari Kyouya.
Dino Cavallone had lived his life to the fullest. He was sure Bianchi and Reborn would still live happily, and, under their guidance, Cavallone XI, Vittorio would grow into a fine man who would bring a golden age to the Cavallone. Yet, if, if there were one thing he was reluctant to let go, it was this.
So this is anguish. As an ordinary man, Dino was not free from failures, deaths of friends and relatives and other sorrows; none of them hurt this much. Streams of tears slipped down from the corners of his eyes. Covering his face with a palm, Dino murmured, 'Kyouya…'
For some inexplicable reason, more like an instinct, he looked to his left.
There was no sound of footsteps; all who came here were spirits with no tangibly solid form, also known as 'ghosts'. Still, Dino felt the presence he missed most. A few more seconds – if he could call them so, for he was not even sure that Time held sway here – was all it took to reveal a jet-haired, tonfa-bearing figure from behind the mist.
'Kyouya…' Dino greeted the figure right before his eyes, bearing the same insubstantiality and incandescence as himself. He wanted so say more than his true love's name, but his own deep feelings prevented him from doing so. There was no need to ask for the cause of his death: his ex-disciple bore battle wounds similar to his own – he must have perished in the same enemy's hands while trying to avenge Dino's death. And yet, why must Hibari Kyouya wither while he could have been overflowing with life in the prime of youth, on the very eve of his thirtieth birthday? Guilt encumbered Dino while he rejoiced at the reunion with his soul mate.
The man before him spoke nothing in reply. Before his eyes could blink, nevertheless, the skylark grabbed his inamorato by the collar and kissed him fiercely. After all, they had an eternity to share, and a kiss was a good starting point. Heaven or hell – regardless of what lay ahead, as long as Hibari was with him, Dino would be more than happy.
IL FINITO