Title: Succumb to the Mockingbird

Pairing(s): Hibari/Chrome, slight Mukuro/Chrome and Belphegor/Chrome.

Summary: He wasn't used to be mocked, by a woman of all people, and although she said nothing, the amusement in her dark violet eyes irritated him to no end.

Stench of blood, alcohol, and smoke filled his nostrils instead of fresh air as he tried to even his irregular breathing. Both of his hands were shaking, his legs started giving out, and the pain on his right abdomen became unbearable after he had delivered another missing hit at the enemy before him whom, as it appeared, could still go on for another round or two. He had known Genikishi for a man that would never give up, never back down in a fight. He had also realized that even after all the rumours he had heard about him, that even though he was strong enough to work him to the point of exhaustion, this illusionist was not in the same level as that man he loathed with every fibre of his being.

Grinning, Hibari raised his tonfas at head-level and spat. The thick taste of salt and iron on his tongue made his stomach growl and his chest hollowed, making him somehow hungry, craving, and oddly excited. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, his heart rammed against his ribcage almost painfully as he glared at the illusionist with hooded silver eyes through dark raven bangs.

True that for a moment, Genikishi looked much better than him, almost flawless even, as if he had not been touched or hit or gotten in a fight with Vongola's strongest guardian in the first place, but it was wrong. Hibari narrowed his eyes as he tried to get past through the man's illusions—ten planes thick, for god's sake—and almost laughed in that cruel mocking way of his when he found that Genikishi himself was in a much, far too much worse than his.

His right eye was black and swollen from his last attack that also caused his cheekbone to crack if not a little; twisted lips and jaw, dislocated right shoulder and bruised neck, missing teeth and a few broken ribcage; the illusionist looked like he could lose consciousness at any moment. Even his knees had started to buckle, and that made the grin on his face widen if possible. His mind started to work on a strategy that could end this battle as soon as possible, since he had other plans to do, and he was going to win anyway, and then—

Genikishi smiled.

Alarmed, Hibari raised from his kneeling position, the cloud ring around his finger set ablaze brightly as he charged toward him. Genikishi did not smile no longer at this point, and he thought for a moment if he had somehow become too consumed and paranoid after lingering around that bunch Sawada Tsunayoshi had gathered for the last ten years, but then—

"Caught you." Genikishi said, and he was suddenly pulled back until he crashed against a wall. Sharp edges of broken stones pierced his clothing and managed to graze the skin of his back until it bled. His skull made a painful 'crack' as it connected with the wall, and he was overwhelmed by pain and dizziness that attacked his brain. Both of his ears were ringing, his visions blurred, his tongue bled after he had accidentally bit it during his crash. Hibari fell on the floor with a curse.

His hands supported him as he coughed out blood harshly, the back of his throat already sore and dry from the impact. His knees had gotten much worse now that he forced himself to kneel again, and he silently cursed himself for being so weak and low-guarded in this fight. This shouldn't become a habit, he thought as he watched the illusionist made his way toward him.

Genikishi said no word as he usually did; only stared at him with those dark onyx eyes, the corner of his lips slightly curved upward into a small smirk. When he raised his right hand, a thick mist swirled around it and materialized into a long spear with both ends made of big sharp polished daggers. Ancient words were carved deep into the daggers, down toward the wood to the other end of the spear. There was no colour or anything that stood out other than the marks, but Hibari knew that this weapon itself was quite deadly if the owner wished to stab him with it through his chest. And of course, knowing Genikishi, he would never hesitate or pass up the chance of killing him, again.

Gathering all the strength and pride he had left, the cloud guardian bared his teeth, white and sharp between his chapped twisted lips, and growled deep in his throat. He could think of a thousand ways to escape this kind of troublesome situation; his animal box was one of them. If perhaps he was able to reach into his pocket first... but no, Genikishi was fast in all sense of words, he wouldn't have the time. He would stab him before his hand could get anywhere near his clothes, but it wasn't impossible that he could stop him with his tonfa.

While thinking of this, not once did Hibari look away from the illusionist's gaze. It was intent and plain murderous, yet Hibari didn't plan to cringe away from a gaze alone. He planned to win, and he would have his victory. He could feel the drumming of his heart as his fingers tightened around the metallic hilt—

BOOM.

A loud sound of explosion suddenly filled the room, echoed through the walls so loud they might break down. The explosion sent both him and Genikishi flying through into the next room, and he fortunately crashed down against the king-sized bed while the illusionist crashed against a wardrobe of weapons. He saw the tip of a dagger managed to get past Genikishi's tick black tux and his flesh, blood dripping down from the wound, but he didn't stop to observe his opponent's wound as he felt several murderous presences walked into the building.

The Storm Guardian had stopped using dynamites long ago, replacing his main weapon into the Sistema C.A.I that could make explosion a thousand time worse or better than dynamites. But this level of explosion he heard wasn't just ordinary dynamite, nor was it the Storm's C.A.I. It wasn't as strong, that he was sure of. That stupid empty-headed Sasagawa would never use explosive weapons, Yamamoto Takeshi had his swords, and Sawada Tsunayoshi wouldn't use such weapon unless he deemed necessary. Rokudo Mukuro would prefer to have his entrance more grand than that, and he would never, ever think of saving him anyway; quite the opposite, he was sure that the Italian would prefer to have him killed right in front of his mismatched eyes alongside that useless of a vessel of his.

Suddenly a large bloody hand pulled him by his purple collar and smashed him to the wall. Hibari gathered all the strength he had left on his fists as he punched his attacker's stomach with his tonfa, and Genikishi jumped back before it could connect with his body. From the corner of his eyes, Hibari could see a lot of mafia, all dressed in black, running toward him, their guns cocked and swords ready at hand.

Perhaps he wasn't so lucky after all.

Out of the blue, he remembered the morning after breakfast where he was walking down the corridor of his personal isolated base when he heard Yamamoto Takeshi and Sasagawa Ryohei's voices form one of his guest-rooms. A vein popped out on his forehead as he mentally pictured the two of them, and maybe more, there would always be more than three or four people when those two were around, crowding inside his territory. The thought alone made his blood boil and his piercing silver eyes to darken. It became worse when he pushed the sliding door open with force so great the bamboo cracked underneath his palm, and he was met with far-too-happy-and-careless-faces of both the Rain Guardian and the Sun Guardian.

"Oh, Hibari's here! Look at this, Hibari! Chrome just showed us something impressive!" Yamamoto Takeshi said in that soothingly deep voice of his, all the while staring at the cards placed upon his table. Sasagawa Ryohei said something that he did not care about, and he stayed silent the entire time, glaring intently at the purple-haired female that sat between the two guardians.

"What is she doing here?" he asked plainly, cutting off Sasagawa before he could finish his sentence. The girl—woman, he reminded himself, as he accidentally observed how the long glossy purple hair of hers cascaded down her shoulders and curled beneath her breasts—had enough guts to turn around and look him straight in the eyes; hers were bright, plain and seemingly bored, while his were dark and filled with murderous intent. She noticed—of course she did—but said nothing and explained with deadpanned face; "I was waiting for you, Cloud Guardian-san, but you didn't show up. Sasagawa-san and Rain Guardian-san just happened to show up after me, so I entertained them by revealing their fortune for the day."

She had told him in her soft, silky voice, and he was forced to look away, at anywhere but her face. His eyes decided that the cards were, after all, worth looking, and he raised his brows at The Death, The Lovers, and The Chalice cards on the table. Without the need to ask, Chrome Dokuro told him that the cards were his fortune of the day and gave him an annoyingly bright fake smile. He remembered that he sighed and ordered the other two to leave as he sat down in front of the woman he could never, never understand even after observing her (and the others, of course) during the past ten years.

"What do you want?" Hibari remembered asking her that, not in his usual cold-angry voice, but somehow calm and uncaring. She noticed and pushed a lock of purple hair behind her right ear with her index finger as she unbuttoned her black formal jacket. Beneath it he saw the plain white shirt he had bought for her long ago, before she betrayed him and went to free Rokudo Mukuro, before she betrayed the entire family. The memories alone made his mood a hundred times worse than it already was.

"It's about your plan to attack Genikishi's family base. I want in." She said.

"No. Leave." He rejected her right away and ordered her to leave just like that. She was becoming far too comfortable with him and he didn't like that. The woman made no attempt to leave whatsoever though. She put her jacket aside and stretched her long slender arms up; while her legs stretched so far across that they poked his thigh underneath the table. He mentally swore at himself for not wearing anything but the grey kimono after his sleep. Chrome's lips curved slightly upward into a small knowing smirk that made him want to bite her to death, in every sense of words.

"You plan to attack an abandoned mafia-base with at least four hundred active traps with the possibility of the said base surrounded by two hundred fifty of Genikishi's loyal underlings, Cloud Guardian-san," she paused, emphasizing his title rather seductively or maybe it was his ears playing with his mind; either way, he did not like the way she talked to him, at all. He sent her a glare that might as well melt the ice bergs that crashed against the Titanic ship back in the twelfth, but she didn't flinch or look away from his eyes, and continued in a somehow calm and professional manner; "And while of course I have no doubts in your ability to eradicate the entire mafia family, the assassins, women and children alike after your previous failed mission with the Delphenora Family—"

"Stop. You sound like him just now, woman. Tell me what do you want and leave." He had cut her off because the way she spoke reminded him of her Master; the mocking was not clear in her voice, but he heard it all the same; the excellent sarcastic choice of words; she was pissing him off. Strangely, she also reminded him of a certain leader of Vongola's independent assassination squad, but he pushed the thought back deep into the corner of his mind. She smiled again.

"Like I said, I want to join you—"

"If that is what you really want, you would have come to Sawada Tsunayoshi instead, yet here you are."

She was silent for a moment, before she replied; "Boss would have told me to come to you personally, Cloud Guardian-san. He knows you as much as I do know you, and we both knew that you would never agree to the idea unless I come to you myself. That said—"

"Stop spouting nonsense and tell me what is it you want, Chrome." This time, when he cut her off, she looked genuinely surprise, like she hadn't expected him to say her name or something. She regained her composure in a second though, before finally giving up; her shoulders hunched down in what looked like desperation and exhaustion, the fake smile was replaced by a sad, yet somehow playful smile across her lips.

"You know what I want..." another pause, and—"Kyoya."

He had seen it coming. Of course he did. But he was still surprised at the effect of his name being said by this woman; the way it rolled on her tongue, the way it passed her thin pale-pink lips, and the way her voice softened and got slightly huskier and simply intimate in his ears; it felt... pleasantly weird. He felt his pulse quickened and his chest tightened, but Hibari showed nothing that could give his emotion away.

Chrome had always known that if Hibari spoke, then he would 'think about it' or 'reconsider' about something. If he nodded or looked at her in the eyes meant a 'yes' or he agreed of whatever it was she got to offer to him. If he said nothing, followed by a long pregnant pause, then it's a no. Seeing from his face, she knew what this meant.

Sighing, Chrome fetched her jacket and regained her composure before standing up and pushed the sliding door open. She looked back across her shoulder and told him:

"Be careful. I don't think you will be so fortunate today, as you were yesterdays."

The sound of Genikishi's sword slicing the air just a few centimetres near his right ear broke him out of his reverie. Hibari jumped back just as one of the mafias pulled the trigger of their modified shotgun, and spun around just in time as Genikishi launched two rocket launchers at his way. His animal box was activated in a flash, destroying both rocket launchers in less than five seconds, and he slid one of his tonfas beneath his sleeve as he threw a silverware knife from a nearby cupboard at the shooter. The knife stabbed him between his eyes, and the mafia fell down with a 'thump'. Genikishi made another monstrous illusion out of thin air; this time, a carnivorous plant with lion's head inside the flower and leaves sharper than any swords. Unfortunately, this said plant could throw countless of leaves at him and regenerated without a lot of efforts, much to his dismay. Hibari deflected the attack with his tonfas before they could reach his eyes.

His right thigh was shot, and there was a big gash where Genikishi had stabbed him on his left abdomen, between his lower ribs. He could feel blood flowing down his shirt and pain shot throughout his entire body each time he made a sudden move while blocking the plant's attack. Too absorbed on the plant, he failed to notice Genikishi's presence behind him as the illusionist kicked so hard he flew into the wall across the room. A groan of agony escaped his lips as he coughed, all blood and saliva, and he fell.

Blood flew down from his forehead down to his eyes as he forced his body to stand, but to no avail. His knees were weak and hurt, and he was sore all over. He was starting to lose his consciousness, and Genikishi became more and more impatient by the second. Hibari knew, because the illusionist's boots, all black and metal and heavy against the tiled floor, kicked him right in the chest, causing him to cough more and more blood than before.

Next, he was pulled up again by his collar, his feet barely touching the ground. Genikishi's eyes were cold and merciless as he stared up at his silver eyes, hooded and darkened from blood lust and hatred, and Genikishi smiled.

"Well," the illusionist said as the smile grew into a cruel smirk. "This is the end of Vongola's strongest guardian, it seems. Do you have any last word you wish to say, Hibari Kyoya?"

Even though his visions were blurred, he could see that more and more of Genikishi's subordinates flooded into the room. Until the last, he still hated the sight of crowds as much as he hated Rokudo Mukuro. Hibari grinned toothily, and was going to say something along the lines of 'fuck you', when a soft feminine voice, cold and sharp and dripping with venom, beat him off the bat.

"Fuck you, you fucking fucked up damned trash." The voice said, and Genikishi was sent flying out of the building in a flash.

The roof was torn apart and falling down his black raven hair and onto his eyes as he looked up to see Chrome Dokuro standing in front of him. She was wearing an oversized-long black jacket—Mukuro's, he immediately realized to his dismay—but the shirt beneath was his shirt. It was white and long, and wasn't really suitable for women as her breasts were visible through the material, no matter how thick it was. The jeans were her own though, but the boots were Yamamoto Takeshi's, he knew. They shared the same size and similar taste in boots, so it was often that they got mixed up. The knowledge did not stop him from being somehow pissed though.

Soon, a loud battle cry of 'VOOOOIIIII' filled his ears, followed by Belphegor's strange laugh, Lussuria's weird feminine voice, and Leviathan's awkward choices of words. As he sat up, Hibari saw Belphegor stopped for a while to sneak his arms around Chrome's shoulder and bite her lower lip. She didn't try to stop him, not angry at him, nothing. She just arched her brow in confusion, but that's all, and somehow, the scene pissed him off again more than it should. Hibari felt sick and wanted to throw up out of sheer hatred alone.

Chrome turned around to look down on him, and he was forced to look away. She was smiling, he knew. He could feel her mocking smile from her aura. The next thing he knew was that she was already kneeling beside him; her cold slender fingers wrapped around his neck before they reached his chin and forced him to look at her straight in the eyes.

Her nails were long and sharp as they dug into the skin of his neck, sending shiver down his spines, and he almost, almost let out a pathetic little whimper when her knee rested down between his parted legs, nearly touching his inner thighs but not quite, and her tongue flicked out to lick a trail of blood on his forehead down to the corner of his lips, and his lips parted almost willingly. He could feel Superbia Squalo's eyes and the other Varia members' hot on them, but he paid them no mind. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins once again, this time faster than before, perhaps because he was angry enough that she dared to steal his prey away from him with her 'friends', or that simply because she was there. Her skin and body were cold, but her legs were warm against his thighs and the knowledge made him smug and smirked at her. She shrugged her shoulder emotionlessly.

"It's the rush of battle, nothing more." She said, but he knew she was lying, and they both knew that too. For a moment there, he felt like he was getting the upper hand—

But Chrome's lips twisted slightly before they set into a firm line; her face lightened up like she really, really wanted to laugh, but she forced herself not to. Her eyes, dark violet and big, were dancing though. They shone and sparkled, and her breath came out slightly uneven, and he knew that she was trying not to laugh. A vein popped up on his forehead once again, and the urge to smack her across her face was so big that if not for his injured-exhausted body, he would have done so, probably.

For his sake, Chrome stood up and tried to look passive, but the burning rage in his stomach felt overwhelming that he couldn't help but scoffed and glared at her through his bangs. He wasn't used to be mocked, by a woman of all people, and although she said nothing, the amusement in her dark violet eyes irritated him to no end. Hibari looked away and pretended that she wasn't there. His action seemed to amuse her more than it should.

"Shouldn't you start finishing up by now?" he snapped coldly, and Chrome shrugged in that careless way she obviously got from Yamamoto Takeshi.

"They can handle it. Plus, Xanxus-sama told me that Squalo-senpai doesn't like being accompanied during a fight. I'd rather watch you suffer." She told him plainly, and her sentences irked him. Everything she said or did irritated him to no end. Hibari wanted nothing but to kill her, or fuck her senseless just to shut her up. Clearly that staying with the Varia for the last three years did her nothing good except for the insanely crazy speed her power had increased, as both her language and attitude seemed to change and made her as annoying as the loud bunch of those assassins and Rokudo Mukuro were. Hibari sighed in defeat.

"You can share my bedroom with me," he started slowly, cautiously, "Only," a pause, a heavy sigh, and he added; "If you stop using his clothes, fight back when that stupid prince bites your lips, and stop bringing that frog-headed disciple of yours into the base." Hibari stopped, glaring at her face that was suddenly lightened like she was the happiest person in the world, before hissing the last words under his breath. "Are we clear, woman?"

Chrome nodded and pressed her lips quickly against his.

On the darker side, both Squalo and Belphegor groaned loudly in disgust.

He never kicked her out of the base ever since.

Uhm. Lol. What the fuck was I doing even, haha, oh my god. This is supposed to be full of aaanngggssstttt dammit, how did it turn out into humourless humour?

Let me die already. Just. Let me. Die.