I actually uploaded this some time ago on LJ, before school swallowed me whole.
I'm not a very consistent writer, but I hope you have a good read. :D
And ffnet, fuck you and all the editing I have to do to a perfectly fine .docx copy of this fic in your shitty doc manager thing. Seriously, what the fuck do you have against spaces in between paragraphs and lines? #$%^&*(
1.
There is a Polaroid in Hibari Kyouya's pocket.
It is old and crumpled an ugly, mistreated little thing.
2.
On the table is a letter an invitation embossed with curving golden script and the crest of the Chiavarone family.
Tsuna does not know what to say he does not know what to think but Dino does – he is Don Chiavarone today despite the plasters and the bruises on his face, the bandages on his arms, the limp in his step, decked out in a smart black suit all confident smiles and smooth talking, Romario standing behind him.
'I'd like you to come, Tsuna,' he says, grinning and the smile does not reach his eyes.
And Tsuna thinks where is the goofy smile the sheepish grin and the tripping and the falling and the jokes and the laughter and 'Kyouya Kyouya Kyouya' –
'Your presence would be an honour to the Chiavarone family, Don Vongola,' Romario says quietly, when Tsuna does not reply does not know how to reply.
He should be happy he should be congratulating Dino because this is a happy occasion a joyous occasion a wonderful thing – this is marriage, holy matrimony, 'I do'.
Tsuna clasps his hands together under his table and stares at the letter the invitation not at Dino not at Romario.
'Thank you for inviting us,' he says and he stops and ponders, his mind freewheeling with plausible reasons for this drastic decision, for Dino's superficial smile, for Romario's solemnity, but there is really nothing much he can do nothing much he can say so reaches out and takes the letter and nods and says, 'I accept your invitation.'
Dino smiles at him and he is not Don Chiavarone anymore he's Dino again and he looks tired and haggard and shattered and there are angry red teeth marks running down his neck.
'Thanks, Tsuna.'
And then they shake hands and Tsuna finally looks at Dino, feels his fingers trembling and he knows that Dino does not want this.
3.
After the meeting Tsuna tells his guardians to stay while men and women in black suits file out of the room.
He looks around the room and there is only Yamamoto and Gokudera and Chrome. Ryouhei and Lambo are away on an assignment together and Hibari is predictably absent.
Tsuna stands and clears his throat and wonders how to begin.
'Dino-san is getting married, and…we've been invited,' he finishes in a rushed jumble and he holds up the letter with the Chiavarone family crest for his guardians to see.
Gokudera jumps out of his seat with a look of horror and shock. 'They've legalised gay marriages in Italy, Tenth!'
Yamamoto bursts out laughing and he smiles like the sun while Chrome chuckles to herself and says something akin to, 'Poor Mukuro-sama.'
Tsuna would have smiled with the rest of them and laughed nervously and warned Gokudera against joking about Hibari but he can't not now maybe not ever.
'No, Gokudera-kun,' he says and he looks down at the letter in his hands slightly deformed from all the opening and closing and reading and re-reading, 'he's marrying the only daughter of Don Fiorelli.'
There is an awkward stony heavy silence and Tsuna wonders if he should break it but in the end he cannot bring himself to, so they continue to sit, contemplative and solemn, and wonder and ponder but really there is no point it's decided it's in black and white and gold and –
'Tenth,' Gokudera speaks up and Tsuna turns to him, 'does the bastard know?'
And Tsuna thinks of Dino and the bruises and the plasters and bites and places the abused letter on the table.
'I think so,' he says, and that is it that is all, his guardians stand and they leave and Gokudera pats his boss on the shoulder before he goes.
4.
Hibari's room is small and white and boxy like every other room in the base but it is out-of-bounds.
Kusakabe has never been inside and thinks he never will but one day Hibari calls him to his office and tells him to take everything out of the room and crush it trash it burn it.
'Even the furniture, Kyou-san?'
Hibari glares and raises his tonfa threateningly it is stained with dried blood and Kusakabe remembers that Hibari detests repeating himself.
5.
Kusakabe pushes the furniture out by himself one-by-one and orders underlings to bring it out and burn it.
He opens the clothes closet and it is full of suits and an oversized black coat for wintry days and Hibari's Namimori uniform and in the deep dark depths of the closet is a messy crumpled ball of graphic t-shirts too big to be Hibari's, trousers too long to be Hibari's, a pair of sneakers nearly double Hibari's shoe size.
Kusakabe wordlessly takes them all out and stuffs them in a black garbage bag.
Hibari's desk is almost empty except for a writing pad and a transparent box of stationery. It is not screwed to the ground but it is made of metal and heavy so Kusakabe spits on his hands and gets a firm grip and pulls.
And then he has to stop and let go and laugh because the Bucking Horse that foolish idiotic ridiculous goofy childish fellow has taken a penknife and carved I LOVE YOU KYOUYA ambitiously in hiragana and kanji on the side of the table and he has gotten every character miswritten and wrong except Hibari's name.
Kusakabe finds a rectangular box in the stack of drawers by the table, containing mostly papers from Hibari's research but now they are empty and gone and there is only the rectangular box and Kusakabe recognises it as the box that houses A4-sized printing paper.
The Bucking Horse has taken a pink marker and written KYOUYA&ME on the cover and Hibari has responded by crossing out the foolish Italian's handiwork with thick black marker.
He doesn't think Hibari will appreciate him checking the contents of the box but he does anyway he pauses and tries to listen for footsteps and there are none and the door is locked so he slides the lid off and he peers into the box and it is full of Polaroids and 3Rs and 4Rs and the Chiavarone's megawatt smile and Hibari's glares and blood and bandages and Sicily and Namimori – their life, the past.
And Kusakabe drops the box into a large black garbage bag and carries it away.
6.
Hibari sleeps in his office now and when Kusakabe offers to bring blankets and pillows he is nearly bitten to death.
When they get home Dino sends Romario away and locks himself in his room, burrowing deep beneath covers and pillows, crying over what is already lost.
7.
There is a Polaroid in Hibari Kyouya's pocket, always.
It is old and crumpled an ugly, mistreated little thing, his only treasure.