Tsuna didn't know whether he was lucky or not.
Seeing as the kitchen was the emptiest place of the house in sight, apart from the bathroom, he had headed there in hopes of avoiding Reborn.
Now he almost wished he had encountered his ex-tutor, for what he found in the kitchen was easily ten times worse.
"Kufufu, hello there, Tsunayoshi-kun…"
"Hey there, Tsu-chan!"
He had hoped they would learn their lesson after being beaten up by Hibari-san and him, but, apparently, they had taken it as a personal challenge to get in his pants. To make matters worse, Byakuran discovered Mukuro was also after him after their own incident, so a very strange sort of rivalry had formed between them.
"What do you think are you doing?"
Despite his smile, Mukuro's creepy laughter was enough to make Tsuna shiver. Byakuran, who was mere inches away from kissing him –when had he gotten so close!? – cracked one of his eyes open to glare at the purple-haired boy.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm claiming my Tsu-chan –well, I was, before you decided to interrupt" the other responded, tightening his hold on the brunet's waist. Tsuna would have shoved him off and thrown him out of the nearest window, but the least thing he wanted to do was to cause a ruckus in Hibari-san's house.
Mukuro's eyes twitched. "'Claiming your Tsu-chan'? You seemed to have forgotten our previous chat, Byakuran" By the way he emphasized 'chat', Tsuna knew it must have been something closer to a 'fist exchange'. "Tsunayoshi-kun has already been claimed by me"
Tsuna shivered at his tone, and held back a whine when Byakuran pulled away from him, his ever-present cheerful smile still on his lips. Both teenagers seemed to be searching for the closest weapon, which were the meat knives for Tsuna's dismay, when they heard a voice.
"Is everything alright here, gentlemen?"
The man leaning against the doorframe was tall. His raven hair was tied behind his back in a loose ponytail, his steel-blue eyes looking keenly and the three boys with a raised eyebrow.
Tsuna noticed how Mukuro and Byakuran had frozen, although the man's laid back attitude was everything but menacing. They carefully set the butter knives they had been holding on the counter, smiling nervously at the newcomer.
"Of course it is, Shin-san" Mukuro said, Tsuna looked at him disbelievingly when his voice faltered.
"Mukuro-kun and I were just talking with Tsuna-kun" Byakuran added, trembling slightly.
"Is that so" Shin said, evidently not buying a word. "The kitchen doesn't seem a good place to chat, however. Why don't you go back to the living room with everyone else?"
No more persuading was needed. Both boys sped out the place, after sending each other one last nasty glare.
Shin sighed, smile still in place, as he turned around to the trembling boy in the corner. By the messy mop of hair he had, he guessed he was Giotto's younger brother; Kyouya's partner.
"Are you okay?" he asked Tsuna, who looked up from the floor and blushed slightly.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine…" he answered softly, averting his eyes. Shin raised an eyebrow; his attitude didn't resemble the blonde's at all.
Shin had never had any expectations regarding his kid's choice in love, but after he had met Colonello and Giotto, he had expected the youngest one to make a similar choice; somebody completely opposite from them. Well, in fact, he thought, he is quite Kyouya's opposite.
"E-Excuse me, sir…" the boy spoke softly, interrupting his thoughts. "C-Could it be that… y-you are Hibari-san's father?"
Shin chuckled. "The father of three of them"
At his statement, Tsuna blushed more. "O-Oh, right… I-I meant Kyouya-san's"
"In that case, yes I am" he laughed. "And you must be Sawada Tsunayoshi, if I heard right"
"A-Ah, yes! Pleased to meet you!" he replied, bowing deeply.
Such a peculiar boy Kyouya got…
"Tsunayoshi!"
Hibari pushed past him, earning a glance. He inspected the brunette, making sure there were no signs of crumpled clothes or swollen lips. He then pulled Tsuna into a tight hold, keeping a wary eye on his father.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Y-Yes…" Tsuna whispered, embarrassed by the fact Hibari-san was holding him in front of his father. His already pink cheeks turned redder when the raven kissed his forehead.
"Kyouya" Shin finally said, apparently unfazed by his son's display of affection. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Introduce who?"
Hibari innerly cursed his luck, tightening his hold on Tsuna, who looked up at him worriedly despite he had difficulty breathing. A blond-haired woman had entered the kitchen, an eyebrow raised and hard steel-blue eyes, which immediately softened when she noticed another person aside from her husband and son in the same room, and almost let a giggle out her lips seeing his son embracing said boy.
At that point, Tsuna thought his face would explode from the blood rushing to it. He thought it was best to try to get away from Hibari-san's possessive hold, but, of course, the raven didn't bulge. Tsuna almost whimpered.
"Oh! Hello…" Hiyori said softly, allowing herself a soft smile. She shot her son a significant –rather scary – look, which the other purposefully ignored.
"Um, hello…" Tsuna said, tearing the other's hold. "U-um, we w-were not introduced y-yet, I think… M-My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi" the brunette bowed deeply. Hiyori almost let out a squeak.
"So you're Giotto-kun's little brother" she said, bowing also. "I'm Hibari Hiyori, and I guess you've met my husband Shin"
Tsuna nodded, a little more at ease, until he noticed his raven's tension from behind him. He guessed it had to do with his parents' presence, but now that the moment had arrived, he couldn't understand why Hibari-san was so nervous. His parents seemed to be nice people.
"Oh, look at the time!" just when Hioyori spoke did Tsuna realize silence had ensued. "People must be hungry. Kyouya, did you set the table as I told you?" she asked, receiving a nod for an answer. "Good! Let's get everyone to the dining room then"
Hiyori left with her husband close behind, and Tsuna noticed Hibari letting out a soft sigh of relief. He turned around and gave him a sincere smile, seeing it had been quite a tense moment for him. The raven wrapped his arms around Tsuna's waist.
"It was better than I had expected" he admitted.
"What were you so nervous about anyway, Hibari-san?"
He decided he'd leave that question unanswered.
His parents seemed to be in a better mood than usual that night, for what Hibari was thankful. His mother hadn't started yelling at him or throwing things for not telling her about Tsuna earlier. His father was a lot harder to enrage, but if a single disrespectful answer towards his mother had left his moth, he'd have been in trouble. At least they hadn't made a scene.
Not in front of Tsuna, anyway.
"Hibari Kyouya"
His mother's voice was surprisingly deep for a female, and surprisingly threatening for a mother, too. It was in those moments, when Hiyori gave off a killer aura ten times worse than his, that he took notice of how muscled the woman was.
"When were you going to tell me that you were dating someone?" she hissed.
"Never"
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK BACK, YOUNG MAN!" Hibari mentally sighed. In a reflex, from the sleeves of her blouse, Hiyori drew her silver tessen, which showed red spikes on their edges.
Hibari knew his mother drew her weapons at the minimum provocation, a trait he himself had inherited. Scary enough, his father didn't need weapons; his hands were enough.
Hibari refrained from drawing his own tonfas at the sight of Shin's warning glance. At a call of one of the guest's –Shin's mother, to be exact –Hiyori fumed and set her iron fans aside, directing one last glare at her son.
"This is not over"
When she left the kitchen, Hibari couldn't help but sigh in relief at Tsuna's absence. He had decided it; they would get married when Hibari finished college and move to a faraway country, change their names and start a new life away from his psychotic family. He almost, almost felt bad for Lal, Colonello, Alaude and Giotto, since Hiyori's giddiness and fangirl-ism would be directed only towards them, but…
"She acts like that because she's hurt"
His father's tone gave him the shivers. He had been the one to teach him the values of discipline in an indeed military disciplined way. Hibari held a deep respect for his father. That was why the reprimanding and concerned tint to his voice surprised him.
"You were just like that, too. Towards Tsunayoshi" he continued. His steel-blue eyes were set on his son, not showing anger, but a deeper emotion Hibari could never decipher every time his father and mother showed it. "Your mother and you are very similar"
"That's not true"
"Don't you trust us, Kyouya?"
The question caught him by surprise. Hibari couldn't recall a single time their parents had cared about what he thought about them. Contrary to what happened in most families, the third son had been the one to be ignored the most, and that was why he was the strongest and most determined of the three.
Hiyori had spent her life spoiling her only daughter, and Shin had concentrated on training his oldest son. That left Hibari to care of himself, to arrive at night and have dinner in the loneliness of his room, to spend family Sundays patrolling the town, to know nothing about feelings, to fall in love with the most loving and caring person in the world, and not to know how to show his love in return.
All he had known his entire life from his parents had been violence, the occasional conversation with Alaude and a few jokes with Lal.
And of course, they hadn't been accused of introducing their respective couples late.
"No. I don't trust you in this matter"
A flicker of pain showed in the older man's eyes for a second, before he turned around and left to follow his wife.
The head of the Hibari clan, an old and very sharp woman, had settled herself next to him on the table to start a small chat. She had met Giotto a few months before on a very rare coincidental visit, since she lived in a far district, and had felt curiosity so as to who could Kyouya's lover –Tsuna had blushed at the word –could be.
From the way she spoke, she was very fond of her youngest grandson. Tsuna was surprised to find out of stories about Hibari-san, about how well he used to get along with his deceased grandfather and how he considered Hibari Nanko-baa-san to be his mother. The brunet was surprised, pleasantly so, that a Hibari could be so chatty.
"You know, Shin was always a very lonely kid, since his father and I had to work all day long." At this point, Tsuna's interest perked up even more. He could finally hear about Hibari-san's parents! "It was such a surprise when she brought Hiyori home. She had also grown up rather lonely and was a little violent at times, but her eyes were so soft when she looked at Shin. And Shin always looked at her like he was ready to stop a bullet for her…"
"Hibari-san definitely has the best of both" Tsuna mused out loud. He blushed when the words escaped his mouth, earning a loud laugh from the woman. Inwardly, he was pleased to come in good terms with a person Hibari-san respected and loved so much.
"Ah, poor Kyouya, being the youngest and all, he didn't get much attention, you know? He used to call me every day and chat, when I got too old to travel. Now he seems… busier, I guess" she grinned. "But he still calls me every time he can. That boy, he was sad with the death of my husband, God bless him. I'm glad he got to fall for someone like you"
Tsuna blushed heavily at the last statement, and changed topic towards his own family. Nanko had perked up at the mention of his grandfather, Timoteo, and confessed she had been the one to encourage him to settle his own company… and maybe she had been the one to teach him a few 'mafioso ways', as she called them, in their youth.
When he started speaking about his positively demonic home-tutor, Nanko jumped from her seat, not even supporting herself with her walking stick, towards Reborn. Tsuna almost squeaked in fear when she made the man trip and soak his yellow shirt with wine. Nanko had accused him for not watching and hit him with her cane, making Tsuna almost crack up with laughter.
At that same moment, Hiyori walked into the dining room, where chatter, fights and flying objects abounded. She apologized to Reborn and sent Nanko a funny look, but, for someone so… Hibari-experienced as Tsuna, she seemed to be distressed about something. And knowing that that family didn't feel distress unless the situation really called for it, he felt worried.
"Hiyori-san?" he called.
"Hm? Yes, Tsunayoshi-kun?" she asked, smiling. But Nanko seemed to notice the fakeness in it, and was about to ask her, when Tsuna interrupted.
"Would you like to go outside with me?"
That admittedly caught Nanko's interest and Hiyori's too. The latter was too surprised to feel joy by Tsuna's request, and the former raised an eyebrow. Tsuna's meaningful look told Nanko not to interfere, and she did just that. If Tsuna wanted to talk to her, she wouldn't reply. Besides, she wasn't particularly well-known for her tact.
Hiyori and Tsuna grabbed their coats and went out. The warmth of the house in contrast with the outside's coldness left Tsuna frozen for a second, before he started the walk along a path that leaded to a small gazebo in the back, barely visible in the darkness.
They walked in silence. Tsuna didn't find it uncomfortable; he understood Hiyori-san was lost in her own musings. His intuition told him it had something to do with her son, and he understood, in this particular family, it was a delicate issue.
When they got to the gazebo, they were surprised to find a figure already seated on the wooden bench. Shin had been staring at the sky until he had seen them arrive. The three of them sat, Tsuna in the middle, in silence, under the wide beautiful blue night.
It was Hiyori who spoke first.
"What do you think of our son, Tsunayoshi?"
Shin directed his wife an undecipherable glance, while Tsuna thought of what to answer. Why was she asking? He highly doubted it was to start a casual conversation, for the serious tone and Shin's tension. Was it to discover the nature of Hiabri-san's and his relationship? Was it the start of an interrogation? The questions flowed through Tsuna's mind, and, somehow, found himself answering without thinking.
"He's a lot like Shin-san and Hiyori-san"
At the unusual dumbstruck looks he received, which surprised and amused him a little, he decided to formulate.
"Nanko-san told me stories…" Shin stiffened. "Good stories about Shin-san and Hiyori-san… about how they met and they loved each other"
At the lack of response, he continued.
"Nanko-baa-san told me how Hiyori-san was little violent and how Shin-san was lonely and didn't talk a lot. And she also told me how you changed when they met each other, how your eyes softened and felt the need to protect each other.
"Hibari-san is like that, too. He doesn't talk much, and proves his love towards me by protecting me, not by smiling or nice words. But I can tell, for the way his eyes shine." At this point, both adults were listening intently to him, despite how corny it felt for Tsuna to spill out his feelings. He hadn't even had the courage to speak to Kyouko and Haru when they asked, and he didn't even know why he was doing it. He just had the feeling it was what his... audience needed to hear.
"Nanko-san told me Hibari-san had felt… lonely when brought up, because he was the youngest one. But I think Hibari-san just had problem with sensing feelings from an early age. I think Hiyori-san and Shin-san didn't put any expectations towards Hibari-san because they had two other children, and he felt he was being abandoned. But, maybe, Hibari-san didn't see the love and affection he was receiving, because you have a particular way of showing it.
"Truth is, Hibari-san has the ability to love greatly, to protect what he holds dear and to stand up for what he believes in… and I wanted to meet the people who made him into the person I love the most"
For a long time, no words were spoken. Tsuna stood up and left silently when he saw tears forming in Hiyori's eyes, and left Shin and his loving arms to hold her.
He was doomed.
He was more than doomed.
Hibari Kyouya felt utter dread clenching his chest, making him unable to breath.
It was too late when he saw Tsuna and his mother making their way outside. Kyouya could clearly picture the situation in his head: his mother losing her head for some innocent stupidity the slipped Tsuna's plump lovely lips and throwing a log at him, spitting foam from her mouth and growling like a savage. Well, maybe he was exaggerating, but the truth was the woman would manage to put up a threatening enough situation to scare the brunette away.
It was the end.
And that bastard Dino just wouldn't shut up.
" …and then I fell from the stairs. Haha, it was quite unexpected, really, because Romario was right there with me. Now that I think about it, you've never been to Italy, right? You should come over to my place sometime!"
Kyouya was now positively sure the man hadn't quite gotten over his crush.
"No" he hissed.
"Awww, but Kyouya…!"
And Dino pinched his cheek.
Hibari snapped.
He drew his tonfas menacingly. Before Dino or Romario could react, he hit the blond in the abdomen, knocking the air out of him. Before the other could recover, he hit again, throwing him across the room and effectively making him land in the middle of the dessert table –luckily, the pudding and cakes softened his fall.
"Dino-nii?"
Kyouya stilled for a moment. There, in the doorway, Tsuna stood, his caramel shiny eyes widened at the sight of his older brother covered in cream. He then turned his sight to the raven, dumbfounded. It was enough for Hibari to stride away from the room, cursing under his breath.
The real reason why he hadn't wanted Tsuna to meet his parents was nonexistent. He knew, despite everything, that the brunet would love him no matter what.
All that time, he had been afraid that Tsuna saw his defects under a different light. That he would become aware of his violent ways, of his coldness, of his lack of sensitivity. Because it was easy to love Tsuna, with all his flaws and virtues, but Hibari knew it was impossible for Tsuna to do the same.
The front door opened, revealing the object of his adoration. In his own mind, Hibari couldn't label him something as common as 'boyfriend'.
Before the brunet could speak, he interrupted.
"I know. You don't have to say it"
He didn't realize, since his back was turned towards Tsuna that the brunet's eyes had watered at his cold voice.
"I scared you a lot. It's understandable" he continued, unaware of the other's nearing steps. "This was one of the reasons I didn't want you to come. I'm a hard person to be with"
Tsuna stopped. He couldn't…
"By meeting my family, I thought you would see me under another light, since their aggressiveness has rubbed off on me through the years" never in his life had the raven been so honest, but he felt he needed to excuse himself in Tsuna's eyes. "I have shown you the side of me I wanted to hide… so if you leave now, I won't…"
"You're such a drama queen"
Hibari stopped mid-sentence, too surprised at the brunet's words to feel offended. But everything washed away suddenly when he saw tears flowing freely from the other's warm, lovely, deep, beautiful, bright eyes. He made no move to approach him.
"Because, seriously, sometimes Dino needs a good punch" Tsuna sobbed, shaking. "And… and I don't care if you're violent and cold and a psycho and whatever other ridiculous thing you think you are. I love you, and I don't how what else I can do to prove it"
"Tsu…"
"Let me finish!" Hibari almost saw Nana's dark side emerging from the boy, and decided, for his safety, to keep silent. "I talked to your parents before, and let me tell you, you are right to believe they have rubbed off on you…"
He wrapped his arms around the raven's neck tightly, bringing their foreheads together. Only rarely was he the one to initiate contact, but he knew Hibari-san was more of a physical person. They looked at each other to the eyes.
"They are wonderful, but slow when it comes to feelings. That's why, maybe, you didn't realize they loved you so much…
"Nanko-san told me that she was glad you had found someone like me. Everybody keeps saying that, but I'm the one grateful, the one lucky for meeting such a marvelous, intelligent, caring, brave, honest, protective and amazing person…"
Hibari wrapped his own arms around his waist, too, holding onto and listening intently to every word he said. He was beginning to see a tiny, tiny light of hope at the end of his dark tunnel.
"Why can't you see how amazing you are?" It came out as a gentle whisper, but the brunette's next words were the ones that finished him completely.
"You are the person who has stolen my heart, and now I can't live without you"
"I love you"
Something clicked inside Hibari's mind. It was as if a thousand lights had suddenly been lit above him, revealing the person he was holding against his chest.
He knew a lot about that person: he had lovely warm eyes and soft sienna locks. When angry, he pouted adorably, and when furious, he wore a calm look that soothed Hibari's soul and reminded him he would protect that person, no matter if he was a carnivore in disguise.
Said person disliked wearing tight clothes, but everything fit him perfectly, and Hibari had a vivid imagination. He didn't like vegetables, but he liked the sushi made by his friend, and also he liked sweets, which he shared with his younger siblings.
Through their time together, Hibari had discovered that person was shy to look at him and kiss, that his touch was gentle and loving, that he was lazy and that he liked to cuddle.
Long ago, Hibari had discovered he loved that person, and always would no matter what.
That night, he discovered Tsuna loved him back, and would do so forever.
Never had a kiss felt so good. Never had a kiss been so loving and sweet, so passionate and mind-numbing as the one shared by the two. Never had they felt so itching for closeness, for intimacy, for each other. Never had they carved for another person so much, or never had they been so sure their hearts were finally fulfilled.
"Hands to the North of the Equator!" Giotto snarled, being immediately silenced by Reborn's free hand, since the other one was holding a camera.
"Do you want them to hear you?" he hissed. Quite the crowd had formed behind the picture window, from which they could all see with detail the increasingly heating kiss the teenagers were sharing.
Aria ushered both Byakuran and Uni somewhere far from the spectacle, holding a bloody tissue to her nose. Mukuro was fuming incoherencies, while his brother Daemon laughed at him openly. Ryouhei's mouth was being held by a very nervous Yamamoto, who was watching worriedly as Gokudera's face changed colors. Xanxus was indecisive between breaking the glass and detaching the raven's tongue from his cousin's or laughing and taking pictures. Nanko was looking at everyone disapprovingly, while Shin and Hiyori were feeding each other ice-cream, sitting on the couch.
When Hibari licked Tsuna behind the ear and sneaked a hand underneath the other's clothes, making him moan, they decided it was time to draw the curtains and let the couple have their privacy.
