Silent Heartbeat Chapter Five- Compassionate Soul

The next day- After school hours

"So you think Tsunayoshi will help me?" Hibari asked. He had every reason to be skeptical, after all, the boy was horrified at the sight of him, so why would he help the prefect, who had frequently bullied and beaten him?

"Of course he will," Dino replied, a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You don't really know Tsuna, but he's a really nice kid, I promise."

"Okay," Hibari sighed, "I trust your word, Dino. Don't let me down."

"I won't," the other man chuckled, before giving the prefect a one-armed hug. "You're going to love him."

Hibari laughed quietly, and said, "That's one strong word to use, don't you think?"

"Not really," Dino said, before looking deeply into the prefect's eyes. "I love him, too, after all."

For a moment, the ravenette felt a twinge of some really foul emotion. Something inside him that made his heart ache with anger and pain. What did it feel like to be loved by Dino? The prefect needed to know. He looked down, and murmured, "What's it like?"

"Hm?"

"To love someone," Hibari explained, glancing back up at Dino. "What does it mean?"

"Hehe, it's... hard to explain," Dino replied, gazing into the prefect's cold stare with his carmel-colored eyes. "When you love someone, you care about them a lot. You like to spend time with them. You're happy to see them, and you mind when they're hurt. You don't fight them."

Hibari felt his face heat up as he stared at Dino's smiling face, wondering what it was that Tsunayoshi had, that he didn't. Was it the fighting? "So you love Tsunayoshi," Hibari commented, turning his eyes to the blue sky above and letting out a sigh. Dino looked back at the prefect.

"Well, yeah," he said, "he's like a little brother to me, I mean."

"Hn," Hibari grunted, feeling slightly better. He was pleased to hear that Dino didn't love the other boy in a romance way, and instead felt more of a kinship for the young Vongola.

It was about then that they had arrived at Tsuna's house. Dino walked up the door, leading Kyoya as he went, and knocked. "Stay by me," he whispered, holding the prefect close by his shoulders. Strangely enough, Hibari gave a silent agreement to the command by leaning into the blonde, while in most cases he would shove Dino back. It had only been a number of days, yet already, the prefect was feeling closer to the Italian man than ever before.

"Hello? Oh- Dino! And- hii! Hibari-san?" Tsuna gasped, stepping back. "What-?"

"We're here for advice," Dino said, before murmuring, "feel free to talk to Tsuna about anything, okay, Kyoya?"

"Right," Hibari said.

"Can we come in?" the blonde asked.

"No way!" Tsuna cried. "I'm going to get beaten up if I let Hibari in my house!"

"Trust him," Dino coaxed. "Kyoya won't hurt you."

"... Okay, fine," Tsuna sighed, "I'll take the risk. Come on in, Dino, Hibari-san."

Dino stepped in, tugging Hibari in with him, and indicated to where the prefect could take off his shoes. Moments later, the three headed upstairs to Tsuna's room to talk. Reborn was already in there, with his usual all-knowing aura. Hibari did as Dino and sat on the ground with Tsuna, and Dino began the story in Hibari's place.

"Okay, it all began a couple-"

"A few days ago," Hibari cut in, "the day before our fight..."

"Right, okay, what happened before our fight?" Dino asked quietly.

"A feeling," the ravenette began, looking down. He was a tad embarassed to come clean about all of his new emotions, especially to people who he wasn't very familiar with, but with Dino there, he felt he could manage. "I wanted to see people. Hang around a crowd, for once. I didn't like the feeling... it set me out of order."

"Is that when you called?" Dino asked. The prefect nodded, and he didn't want to go on, but then Dino took his hand, and held it perfectly in his own, making the ravenette blush as he felt the other's smooth skin, and every ounce of fear disappeared.

"I knew that you would be there for me," Hibari said, almost becoming unaware of Tsuna's presence as he whispered, "I knew you would help me."

"So you called Dino," Tsuna said, "and then...?"

"Oh, right!" Dino started, his cheeks dusted the lightest pink as he glanced back at the brown-haired boy. "The next day, I showed up at the school, and I fought with Hibari, as requested. But when I hit him, he was actually really hurt."

"Hibari-san was?" Tsuna repeated. "That's not a good sign."

The prefect stood and walked over to the window, then looked out longingly. "There's something else, that I don't know if it's connected to all of this..."

"What is it?" Dino asked.

"I haven't seen Hibird for more that a week," Hibari said, his voice quiet. He sighed and walked back over to the two, then knelt down, and said, "I miss him."

The blonde came close to Hibari and hugged him as his eyes grew teary. Being Hibari's tutor, he knew how important the fluffy, little, yellow bird was to the prefect. They'd met in a dark, dusty cave of an area, where Hibari's deathly pale, torn body had lied, his breathing rough as he struggled for oxygen. There, when all seemed lost, a little bird had reached out to him. The animal had flown through the top of the cage-like area and landed beside Hibari, chirping quietly. His affection for animals had allowed the prefect to sit upright, and he let the bird fly onto his finger, then, as what he believed would be his last pleasure in that dark hell, taught the bird how to sing the Namimori middle school anthem, and say his name as well. The bird's chirping had indirectly saved his life.

It was his first friend.

Dino soothed the prefect as he cried softly, then asked Tsuna, "Would you help Kyoya? He... really needs friends."

"I don't need friends," Hibari whispered, trying not to return Dino's embrace in front of Tsunayoshi, even though suppressing his instinct to do so was difficult. However, it took even more effort to not say to Dino, 'I need you,' because Hibari was fully convinced of that as the blonde held him in such gentle arms, such strong, gentle arms, taking away every negative feeling he had. It was amazing how soothing Dino's energy felt against him.

"Uhm... Hibari-san," Tsuna began. "It's okay. If you ever want to... I don't know, join Gokudera, Yamamoto and I for lunch, feel free to. It'll feel better to hang around other people."

"... Right," Hibari sighed, before muttering, "as if they'd take me."

"Hey, it's okay," Tsuna insisted, "Really. I'll explain everything to them, and I'm positive they'll accept you."

Hibari looked up into Tsuna's eyes, heaved another sigh, and said, "Okay."

"Don't worry, Kyoya," Dino said, rubbing the prefect's back. "Tsuna will be a good friend for you. I promise."

"I trust you, Dino," Hibari murmured, glancing up at the blonde.

"Good," Dino said, smiling.

And, after a few moments of small talk, Dino and Hibari headed back out. "Mm, well, now that we've got a date set up for you and them, how about we set up one for us?"

"I beg your pardon?" Hibari said. The other man stopped, and Hibari followed suit, turning to face him. Dino reached up and placed his hands on Hibari's shoulders, and the prefect blushed, feeling his heart rate increase.

"Kyoya," Dino began, "listen to me. We've been getting really close lately, haven't we? All hugging and touching..."

"Y-yeah, I guess," Hibari mumbled, looking away.

"That's why I want to go on a date with you, Kyoya, and get to know you even better," Dino said, his face close enough for the prefect to feel his breath. "You're important to me. So what do you say?"

There was a moment that stretched time as the prefect gazed into the other's captivating, caramel eyes. He could feel the air flowing through his own lips as he watched Dino, and he thought about the words, trying to comprehend them. What did Dino want from him, again? Was it just an intrest? What had he said about Hibari? Important, was it? What did that mean?

Then, Hibari trembled as the meaning flowed into his mind. A link of chain melted inside him, heating his undeveloped soul as its molten form seeped over the sweet spot nestled inside his chest, because Hibari had just realized that it meant he was someone SPECIAL. He was no longer Dino Cavallone's student, but a friend, and a close friend, at that! He was someone with whom Dino wanted to spend his time- someone who could talk to Dino openly, and he would listen, maybe give a response. Someone who was, to use Dino's own word, 'important.'

It made the prefect's heart flutter with joy, for he was the one and only who was being asked to go with Dino in that precious moment; and he almost fainted as those warm, golden brown orbs stared into him, tugging the single word from his lips that would forever change his fate...

"Yes."

-End Chapter

Phew! This fic is sooo much fun. X3 Reviews, pleaaase~.