Chapter VIII: Recovery

Hibari Kyoya woke up at the feeling of something cold being swept across his face. Uttering a small groan of protest he tried to move away but suddenly felt someone taking a hold of him. He had to wake up, he had to wake up fast. He didn't really like the way things were going and, looking back to the events that transpired before falling asleep, he didn't like the things that lead up to this point either. Of course it could all be a coincidence but... the unexplainable tiredness, the weird dream, the glass breaking and now someone holding him down... and his head felt heavy and still ached and... voices... only he couldn't make out what they were conversing about. His lips were forced apart by a hard object -Kyoya assumed it was some sort of syringe and he was then made to swallow something down.

Definitely not good.

It felt like a small eternity had passed for him until he finally started feeling a little better. The first thing he realized was that the pain was slowly withdrawing like some sort of retreating tidal wave. It left him feeling tired, still, but better than before. He felt comfortable enough, though various facts of his theory didn't seem to add up. Except if... He forced his eyes open in order to look around but instead of the foreign place he thought he'd see, his eyes met with the familiar sight of his room's ceiling. Yet, with the returning of his sight and the rest of his senses by the flow of stimuli he noticed more things besides his theory were odd.

The angle from which he was looking at the ceiling, for example. Or the way he felt so comfortably warm. Not to mention that he was definitely being held, even now... The moment he realized, he immediately tried to break free only to be held down again. Someone bent over him. The person was seated behind him, oddly, holding him literally in his arms, so to have his body seated more properly.

"Ah, rise and shine Kyou-kun!" the tone of voice and that familiar affable smile... "Forgive us, but you were tossing and turning so much in your sleep that you fell off the bed a couple times. It was becoming quite tiring to collect you back up and so we had to come up with something to keep you down." his smile never faded. 'That idiot' was all Kyoya could think right now. And he went and got a good scare out of it too. It wasn't that it was something more than embarrassing, he just didn't understand how the other ended up in his apartment... not to mention he just used plural as well. Like... who else had gathered in his house? He hated gatherings.

"Mukuro..." he strained to pronounce the syllabes to the other's name, his mouth still feeling dry and his throat sore. He didn't even have enough time to attempt to continue or ask for some water to help clear his throat when he heard more voices, this time a yelp and a terrified scream. Just his luck, after all. There really was a crowd. There was a crowd in his house. A crowd... He heaved a sigh of exasperation and averted his gaze from the odd-eyed stare that was directed his way. The other simply smiled and leaned against the wall, positioning his body better to relax his legs. How long did he sit there watching over him, really?

'That creep'

And there he was, calling the other names without spitting them to his face. He scowled and allowed to himself to close his eyes again in order to try to relax. In any other situation he'd have gotten up and already given the herbivores gathered in his house a good beating before kicking them out to be left to enjoy his peace and quiet on his own. However, that odd illness that had crept under his skin so unexpectedly had made his body weak and weary. In other, simple words, he couldn't do what he wanted. This meant he'd have to agree on some sort of 'happy medium' but in his case the medium was all but 'happy' not to mention Kyoya wasn't the kind of person to actually settle on a medium.

He came to the conclusion that the best he could do was ignore the nuisance and act as if everything was fine. But this wasn't completely possible either. When he was sick he preferred to sleep through it, but now that he was feeling a little better there was no way that he could fall asleep with Mukuro over his head. It wasn't that he was bothered by the fact that it was Mukuro -in fact he had gotten rather used to the other just being there over the course of the past days- but rather that he was in the same room as him and being the light sleeper he was he wouldn't find rest unless he was left alone.

He was retrieved from the abyss of his thoughts when the voices from before grew drastically closer -close enough for him to be able to identify the people they belonged to without having to open his eyes-. He did end up opening them, still, in order to be able to properly glare at the pair of idiots standing at the doorway to his room. The one was, inevitably, Dino -which would also explain that glass breaking (and Kyoya would see to that the clumsy pony would pay every last yen of whatever it was that he broke back there)- the other, Sawada Tsunayoshi. And while he would understand what Dino and Mukuro were doing here, he just wouldn't understand why in the world would the latter come to his house.

Before he had any time to ponder over it again -and the lack of time to do things on his own pace was beginning to get in his nerves- both idiots walked inside without ever asking causing him to scowl, yet again, only slightly as always, so that most people wouldn't be able to notice. Dark lacquer eyes met a pair of worried gazes. They probably were really worried by his condition, however Kyoya just failed to empathize. And it should be noted and underlined that he still didn't care. All he wanted was for them to disappear.

Able to sense the question troubling Kyoya's mind before it was spoken, Mukuro answered it before the other could ask it, even though he was fully aware that such an action would anger him -of course this didn't really matter seeing as there was close to nothing that he could do to prevent him from pissing him off, and it was quite true that he was enjoying himself immensely while doing just that. "When you didn't show up in Namimori for three days in a row, Tsuna-kun got quite worried over you, you know." The revelation made Kyoya flinch. No, not because he had finally come to the realization that Tsunayoshi Sawada cared for him or his well-being, of course not -after all he couldn't care less about that-. Thing was he was gone for three days... possibly four. And this was bad. Really bad. If he wasn't there... then who was going to keep an eye on his precious school?

"Go away." he mumbled under his breath, his voice cracked, while sending another half-hearted glare in the door's direction. But they weren't going to, for whatever reason, yet he would see to getting back at them once he was feeling a little better.

"Be reasonable now, Kyoya." Dino noted putting on his serious face "You are in no condition to care for yourself." and he was right, but Kyoya didn't want them there. "Really now, you should take better care of yourself, I didn't think you were this reckless..." but he was lying and Kyoya knew that because if anyone knew just how reckless he could become it was Dino, saying that just to make impression didn't work, however his own irrelevant thoughts did work perfectly well in distracting him.

"Too many" was all he managed to say the moment there was enough room to speak in between Dino's advice that he didn't want to take. And that was true as well, and he knew the rest of them knew that as well. Too many, as in too many people. Even if he was ill and in no condition to care for himself just a single person was enough to keep watch over him. Couldn't they have just taken them to the hospital? At least it would be quiet there -aren't sick people supposed to need the quiet, after all?

"B-but Hibari-san!" Tsuna protested in a sudden display of courage. However Dino held him back fast by looking in his direction and nodding his head in confirmation. "It's okay." he spoke in a flash of genius -Kyoya was more than surprised; first Sawada and now Dino, maybe this wasn't as bad as he had first assumed, after all. "Kyoya's right. Maybe we are over-reacting a little and he doesn't like being with people, after all." he went on. Hibari was something more than thankful to his tutor right now -and this was one of the surprisingly few moments he actually felt such things for the man- "So who should-"

"Mukuro." Kyoya stated in a sharp, absolute tone despite that he couldn't speak well still. He knew what Dino was going to ask and he while he didn't want to be indebted to Mukuro he dreaded to even consider his other two options. To leave Tsuna behind to care for him would be absolutely pointless seeing how the boy was not only completely clueless about most things but also downright useless, while Dino would start out well yet inevitably mess up in the meantime -and Kyoya wasn't feeling suicidal on the moment.

His answer triggered a short series of different reactions. Tsuna sighed in relief -he was probably already hoping not to get picked for the task-, Dino looked disappointed -maybe he was actually hoping that he would be the one to stay behind, reasons unknown- while Mukuro simply smiled over at the other two from his place seated behind Hibari -seeing how he had little room for movement with Kyoya's head placed right bellow his chest area so that he would be kept in a good position.

It still took the two of them a while to leave due to both of them being silly and doing things -as well as asking things- only idiots would, but once they were gone and the house grew silent for another time Kyoya surprised himself at the fact he didn't quite feel as relieved as he thought he would have. In fact he felt more unsettled than before, yet he blamed it on the sickness.

He sneaked a peek at Mukuro, silently wondering how long he had been there. For once he hesitated for a moment before speaking his mind. "We're still one too many..." he mentioned but it didn't come out like he wanted it to. Mukuro -who had begun to feel sleepy in the meantime- returned his attention to his 'patient' and smiled. "Oh, so you're really worrying about me, Kyou-kun? You move me..." he smiled as if he had read Hibari's thoughts. "I'm fine." he went on "But even if I had to leave it to her, I bet little Nagi would do a good work in keeping an eye on you." and Kyoya didn't doubt him but he still felt rather off. Almost as if he wanted to say something more but he couldn't remember what that was. Could he really be worried...? No, he decided. He couldn't and he wasn't. Worrying wasn't quite like him.

Since he was feeling a little better now he thought it would be nice if he could go get a bath, grunting a little he pushed off his current position giving birth to a sharp, stinging pain that originated somewhere behind his forehead and spread out making him dizzy. He had to stop for a moment, blinking, trying to shake the unpleasant feeling off. He felt his clothes cling to his skin, sweaty from fever and from the warmth itself, the separation of his back from its source already made him feel cold but he really wanted that bath, he felt even more sick than he was like this. On a secondary note he was glad that none of the idiots had the brilliant idea to try and undress him while he was out -otherwise there would have been blood and a lot of biting to death.

"Do you want me to make you something to eat?" Mukuro noted sitting up on the bed to relieve his muscles that had started to grow numb from sitting in the same position for too long. Kyoya raised a brow at this. "Do you even know how?" he snorted sending a scrutinizing gaze at the other's meager form obtaining a faint idea of an apologetic smile -at least it was a change from that smug look he was so used in seeing- "I'm sure I'll come up with something." he beamed. Despite the reassurance Kyoya didn't feel quite convinced as he followed the familiar route to the bathroom, stopping only once in order to retrieve a clean set of clothes, socks and a towel from the wardrobe in his room.

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in his bathroom mirror and was none too pleased to discover that he looked downright horrible. His hair was a practical mess, strands sticking together with grease and sweat, his skin was pallid, eyes glistening feverishly, a dejected look about him. He frowned at his image and moved to getting rid of his dirty clothes. He felt sick of it, himself... whenever did he manage to get himself so ill? How did he in the first place? He hadn't felt powerless in a rather long while so it came as a shock to him.

Even so, the water, like a panacea, swept away this feeling once he was underneath it, washed away all the tiredness and sickness and the heavy dreariness of his condition, relieving him even from his headache -if only for a little while- and left him feeling slightly better yet famished. It was about time his body started to realize that he hadn't ate anything for something more than three days in a row. He felt like smirking at his reflection in the mirror. Irony. Wasn't he the one going on and on about eating correctly? And now this happened... but no need to worry about things that can't be helped, correct?

He slipped into his clean clothes feeling refreshed, the clean, cool cloth leaving the sensation of almost being liquid as it pleasantly brushed against his skin. Vaguely wondering if Mukuro handled himself well in the kitchen he walked back, a spark of curiosity lit in his eyes. It didn't matter that it was obvious. There were just so many things he didn't know about the other... like how was he, really? Professionalism, fighting and mafia games aside... of course he shouldn't originally care about things like that, and yet he somehow couldn't help himself. It was at times like that when he came to realise that the mask of apathy he was constantly pulling was but another defence mechanism towards survival. He was cutting himself off, seeing everything as if he was no part of it and all of it for... what? And he had to get sick like that just to realize such a simple thing, not that it would change much even though he seemed to be surrendering things subconsciously.

Everyone is who they are because they are somehow. And he still didn't like people. And he certainly wasn't interested in them for reasons other than knowing where they were standing either.

Getting into the kitchen he felt like a fool for hoping otherwise. Of course Mukuro didn't even know how to boil an egg so to speak, so they were stuck with instant noodles. Making a note that this was to be expected so he shouldn't be feeling down about it he sighed taking his usual seat at the table.

"Should have known..." he trailed off, a playful smile gently tugging at the corners of his lips. He didn't pay enough attention however, probably due to the fact that he was still feeling light headed and he was also famished. This ended up with him being somewhat taken by surprise when he lifted his head to see not Mukuro but Dokuro Chrome instead. It wasn't that he didn't know about it, more like he didn't expect it even though he had already noticed that Mukuro was looking rather tired.

"Is he gone?" he simply asked even though it was pretty obvious.

Chrome made a small nod of the head before placing the cups of noodles on the table. "Mukuro-sama was really tired..." she said quietly "He said that he's sorry that he couldn't stay longer and that you can expect him to be back sometime within the week, then he went to sleep." she made a short pause before sitting across Hibari on the table, as far from him as it was possible. "I will help take care of you while he's gone, so..." she mumbled awkwardly "Don't hesitate to tell me if there is something you want..."

Hibari's smile didn't fade. Chrome was so much more manageable than Mukuro after all. Plus he was quite sure he could send her off in Namimori in his place. Yes, starting on the next day that was what he was going to do. It should work out fine. She'd be his proxy until he was better.

"It's okay, for now." he said before peering over at his noodles. He would bring the matter up a little later that evening. He was sure that the girl would have no objections. After all she did tell him to tell him if there was something he needed and for now Kyoya Hibari only needed one thing. And that one thing was getting that annoying Ghost out of his school the soonest possible.


Snow here, on her most delayed chapter of all time too! DD: Please don't commit murder everyone... I had exams sapping my time and creativity away from me...

I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. I know there is no ACTUAL romance involved -even though I said there would be a more romantic/lighthearted overtone to it.

We're still a long way away from the story's end and I don't like rushing things, especially relationships (but hey, Mukuro and Kyon at least show signs of caring for each other's well being, so that's an improvement, right? )

I hope you enjoyed chapter Eight and are looking forward to chapter Nine -which will come within this week or the next to make up for the lost time, plus I need to get back to writting, I have the impression as if this chapter feels a little rusty in comparisson to the others, even though it turned out to be the longest one this far-.

As always, comments, critique, thrown daggers... all welcome! I wish you all keep reading this story!