Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

To haganenocutie94: XD Thanks for mentioning the typo. Haha I agree though; Gokudear's a pretty awesome pet name for Gokudera. I wonder if he'll like it ^.^.

Quick Note: The phones they use can also work as web cams, so they can see each others' surroundings and talk at the same time. Yay! (Actually, I just realized how stupid it would be for Lussuria to carry a giant video camera like the ones they use in the news during a mission.)

-Present-

"Hey Hibari!" Yamamoto called out when he spotted the other in the hallway. The skylark suddenly whirled around and walked the other way, around a corner, and out of sight, his jacket barely missing the wall. "He ignored me!" the swordsman said, laughing it off.

"Did you say something stupid to him?" Gokudera asked.

"No! Of course I didn't…" he ended a little falteringly, not wholly believing himself. Yesterday, they had indeed run all around the roof half sparring until Yamamoto got knocked out by a final blow from Hibari. 'Maybe he just didn't like the crowding here?' he tried to convince himself that the skylark was not ignoring him on purpose.

"Speaking of which, did you ever manage to talk to Hibari?" Tsuna inquired.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Well… kind of… At least, it lasted longer than my other attempts."

"So, what did you talk about?" Gokudera asked, smirking a little too deviously for even Tsuna, who tapped him lightly on the arm.

"Ah… I think he hit me more than talked to me," Yamamoto admitted, chuckling. "But it was still better than being ignored."

Gokudera stared at him blankly before exclaiming, "You're weird!"

"Ah ha ha…"

"Well, at least he's not ignoring you anymore, right?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Tsuna realized that Hibari had done just that a few minutes earlier. "Uh, I mean…"

"It's okay," Yamamoto said, still smiling. "Thanks, you two."

"I'm sure he's not ignoring you," Tsuna encouraged.

"Yeah…"

"He's just running away," Gokudera added helpfully.

"Gokudera!" Tsuna reprimanded him while Yamamoto laughed.

Unfortunately for Yamamoto, the pattern continued for the rest of the day. Whenever he saw Hibari, he'd call out happily only to have the Disciplinary Committee Head turn around and walk off in the opposite direction. Again, the swordsman found himself chasing the skylark all over school and managed to finally catch him on the roof where the only exit was a one way trip to death off the roof, and Yamamoto knew Hibari wasn't suicidal, unless some of the situations his impossible ego got himself into counted.

"What do I have to do to make you stop following me?" Hibari asked him calmly, yet his fingers tapped impatiently as if they were itching for the tonfa hidden up his sleeve.

"Huh? I'm not following you," Yamamoto returned as innocently as he could and ducked just in time to avoid a concussion. "Okay okay!" he chuckled. "If you stop ignoring me, I'll stop following you… too much…" He dodged another blow after the last two words.

Hibari sighed, looking away. A spot under his the left part of his rib cage was bothering him and he wanted to take a nap already since he failed to take one during lunch between extracting punishment on a group of punks attempting to smoke on school grounds and avoiding a certain swordsman that was now standing in from of him. A thought hit him, and he decided to go with it. If it'll get him peace and quiet for the rest of the day, it was worth a try. "If I kiss you, will you go away?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Yamamoto considered the offer, frowning. "Nah."

"What…"

"Let me kiss you," he said with a grin on his face. "I'd rather not get bitten again," Yamamoto added when he saw the strange look on Hibari's face. "Deal?"

The tonfa lowered. "Hurry up and get it over with," he sighed, closing his eyes. It was better not to look. He was tired. He wanted to rest already.

Yamamoto on the other hand, took this as an invitation and moved in, kissing Hibari softly, experimentally. 'Is this how it is to kiss a guy?' the swordsman thought. 'Soft…' He gave the other a playful lick on the lips. 'Not bad…'

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, to his surprise, a hand instead of a tonfa pushed him back. "What was that?" Hibari demanded, his breath slightly too fast, the color of his cheeks deviating a little too much from the usual pale.

"Huh? I was even finished yet, and you had your eyes closed," Yamamoto teased, grinning. 'Did he mean the lick?'

"Yamamoto Takeshi…"

"A lick," he answered quickly and truthfully. 'Well, it was a lick, right?'

"And why did you feel the need to lick me?" Hibari asked dangerously, pressing the tonfa to the other's throat. "I thought we only agreed on a kiss."

"Hey! You bit me last time. It's only fair." The tonfa pressed closer. Yamamoto decided to try his luck. "Besides… you… kind of taste good too…" It came out a little strange, and the swordsman felt the beginning of a blush on his own face. 'Uh oh… I wonder what he's going to do now…'

To his surprise, the tonfa left his throat. "Get out."

"Huh?"

"Get off the roof. I'm going to take a nap. Don't even think of staying here."

"But…" The tonfa once again graced his neck, and he saw sleep deprived eyes staring back at him. "Ah, okay okay!" Yamamoto chuckled, beginning to walk away. He stopped a few feet away, his back still facing Hibari. "You know… I meant it when I said that I like you… please think about it…" he said seriously before waving a casual backwards goodbye.

Hibari stood his ground as he watched the other like a hawk until the door closed. Only then did he press the spot on the left side of his chest, finding a quickened pulse; it was burning.

-Future-

"Look at it burn!" Lussuria adjusted his sunglasses a fraction as he admired the flaming building. "Oh!" he perked up when the phone rang. "Miss us already?" he asked, grinning into the screen.

"Shut up!" Gokudera retorted before noticing the flames in the background. "What the hell happened?"

"Oh, Fuoco's just short one outpost, that's all. How is that Sun Guardian of yours doing? I wouldn't want him to get his beautiful body hurt! The muscles…"

"We've just lost contact with them. There's something blocking the communications device," Gokudera interrupted him.

Lussuria frowned. "Oh dear… should we head over there now?"

"I think they'll have enough on their hands without having to prevent you from blowing up the base," Gokudera returned, sighing.

"Aw, so that's a no?" Lussuria pouted.

"Voi! What are you talking about?" Squalo snatched the phone away. "Need us to take care of the other base too, trash?"

"No! I was just trying to make sure you guys were still alive," Gokudera retorted sarcastically.

"How sweet of you!" Lussuria said over Squalo's shoulder. The swordsman pushed him off.

"You owe us a nice long fully paid vacation, trash!"

"What the hell! You've been on vacation since last year!"

"Babysitting is not a vacation!" He detected a new presence in the vicinity but continued to argue.

"I bet you hired someone to do it for you!"

"As a matter of fact we di…" Squalo looked up and suddenly froze. The phone slid from his fingers, landing facedown.

"Hey! What's going on?" Gokudera's yelled, his voice muffled.

"You…" Xanxus said emotionlessly as Squalo gave his boss a baffled glance.

'How could Boss just say it that emotionlessly?' However, when the newcomer stepped into the flame light, he understood why. Lussuria let out a relieved breath next to him, also figuring it out.

The Varia healer laughed nervously. "You have a bad sense of humor, using that form," he commented to the man, who merely smiled at him amusedly, which didn't seem to fit his face at all. His lips began moving, but no sound came out.

Squalo squinted at the others mouth and only managing to make out the last word. 'Hurry.'

"Voi! Hurry what?" Squalo yelled at him. "Speak up!"

The man shrugged and waved. 'I'm busy at the moment, so I wish you good luck.' He disappeared.

Xanxus began walking away from the wreckage, the wind picking up as if suddenly freed from the man's overwhelming presence.

"Wait, what's going on?" Squalo called, running after him as the others shrugged and followed.

"Hiro's in trouble," Xanxus replied curtly.

.

"Ow… ew…" Lambo said, trying to wipe some of the blood off his face. He sat up, looking around for the other two. He found them easily enough; the explosion had thrown Ryohei against the wall and Gamma into one of the large smashed crates. "Gamma!" he ran to his fellow Thunder Flame user when he saw the streak of blood that was moving down Gamma's already bloody clothes.

"Gamma! Gamma!" Lambo called him repeatedly, panicking. "Oh no! What do I do? What do I…"

"Hey, can you move a bit?" Ryohei told Lambo, who jumped aside. He examined the wound, frowning. The explosion had thrown Gamma straight against a protruding piece of wood, impaling him.

Gamma stirred and looked down, frowning. "This looks kind of bad…"

"Nonsense! I will heal you to the extreme!" Ryohei declared. "Just have to get the wood out really fast…"

Lambo shivered and looked at his feet. A hand on his head made him look up to see Gamma grinning at him. "Don't worry; I'll be fine. Go find the password."

Lambo looked at Ryohei, who nodded.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Lambo reassured them a little shakily and ran off.

"Energetic kid…" Gamma commented as Ryohei tried to detach the piece of wood from the box before removing it from the other.

"It's been tough for him. Ever since Sawada-san's death…"

"You mean your previous boss?"

"No… well… him and… his mother…"

Gamma bit back a yell when Ryohei suddenly wrenched the wood from him. Fortunately, he immediately began feeling the Sun Flames healing the broken tissue. "What? Lambo's mother?"

"No! Uh…" Ryohei bit his lip, realizing that he might have disclosed too much.

Gamma looked away. "Sawada's mother… I thought we… we didn't…"

"No, you didn't. From what I've heard, she passed away during childbirth. Although… I don't think Tsuna's death didn't have a role in it."

The other thought for a bit. "So your former boss has a brother…"

"Yeah," Ryohei chuckled. "He's cute to the extreme! My sister's taking care of him. His name is… is…" He contemplated for a second. "I forgot!"

Gamma sighed, shaking his head.

"All done!" Ryohei announced while the other examined the wound.

"Thanks."

"Now let's go help Lambo! We'll find that password to the extreme!"

.

'Must… tolerate…' Lambo thought as he ran from corner to corner, trying to stay out of sight from any of Fuoco's men. Strangely enough, he was approached by no one and soon he found himself inside a room with many computer screens and keyboards. 'The command room?' He stepped cautiously towards the computers when he suddenly heard a sickening squelching sound along with a slightly uneven bulge under his shoes. Gulping, he looked down and saw the reason: bodies littered the floor, fresh blood still seeping out from the dead scientists.

Lambo jumped back and opened his mouth to scream when a hand suddenly prevented him from doing so. The hand let go, and he turned around only to let out a small, "Ah! You… how?"

The person placed an impatient finger in front of his mouth, and Lambo gulped, wondering what he should do. The newcomer walked over to the computers and began typing vigorously while Lambo stared on, still in shock at seeing him here. 'Zombie?' He tried very hard to dismiss that possibility.

The other stopped typing and turned around, nodding to Lambo and giving him a familiar smirk that didn't fit his face at all. Lambo finally managed to see his face in full view under the computer light, and his helper promptly disappeared. 'Him? He's alive?'

"Lambo!" Ryohei ran into the room, followed by Gamma. They saw the bodies on the floor and the still dazed Lambo. A beep from the screens made them look up.

.

Hibari opened his eyes a fraction, letting the room come slowly into focus amid a white mist that threatened to cloud his vision again. He never expected that the effort it took to carry one man up the stairs from the basement would cause such a strain on his still healing wounds. Nevertheless, he sat up, ignoring the pain that spread throughout his body like fire. A chuckle made Hibari look left to see a quite awake Rain Guardian staring at him from his bed.

"I beat you," Yamamoto said, grinning slightly.

"I fail to understand the joke," Hibari retorted softly as he tried to stand. Unexpectedly, a wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to sit back on the bed to avoid landing face first onto the floor, or worse, Yamamoto's bed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yamamoto's worried voice reminded the skylark that, irritatingly enough, that the swordsman had seen that momentary display of weakness.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" he hissed.

Yamamoto chuckled, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry… I didn't know I was so heavy…"

Hibari stared blankly at him when he realized that Dr. Shamal or one of the other herbivores had insensitively told Yamamoto what had Hibari had done for him.

"Thanks." Yamamoto's grin relaxed a little; Hibari thought that the other looked extremely tired, both mentally and physically. The swordsman leaned back into his pillow sighing and closing his eyes. "It's funny. When I want to sleep, I can't, but when I want to stay awake, something tells me to sleep." He opened his eyes wearily, smiling. "I kind of want to stay awake right now."

"If you are going to try flirting with me, then you can stop now," came the quick response.

"Ah, so you know what flirting is then?" Yamamoto asked, amused.

"I'm going to hit you."

"Don't you mean 'bite'?"

"Yamamoto Takeshi," he warned dangerously. Yamamoto could hear the killing intent in the other's voice; he would even admit that he could smell it in the air, but for a moment, he dared to believe that he heard something else in his own name, something that sounded like a cross between relief and another emotion he can't quite put a finger on, but it was definitely strange coming from the Cloud Guardian.

"Were you worried?" Yamamoto asked him.

"Why would I be worried?" Hibari looked away, crossing his arms.

Yamamoto laughed, "Now you look like you're pouting." To his surprise, the skylark jumped out of the bed with the grace of a predator, and a split second later the swordsman can feel the cold touch of steel against his throat.

"Hey! I didn't mean…" Yamamoto began, but Hibari pressed the metal harder into his throat, cutting him off.

Hibari, on the other hand, had wanted to land a quick finishing blow, but felt the world spinning as soon as his body left the bed. It was all he could do to make sure the tonfa stayed on the other's throat, but soon even that proved too much, and he felt himself falling. An arm grabbed his and pulled him up, keeping him from sliding to the floor.

"Hibari?" Yamamoto's worried voice called him. His body was on fire, muscles limp with pain, and again the clenching feeling on the left side of his chest took away his voice, not that he would've used it to call for help. He still had that much pride left.

Then, suddenly, everything started to fade as if a blanket of water extinguished the flames, the burning, and the pain. He opened his eyes and saw blue Flames, cool to the touch and soothing like a healing aura. He was laying half on Yamamoto's bed; head on the swordsman stomach and legs limp on the floor. Hibari hoisted himself up and began to get back on his feet, expecting pain but feeling completely normal. To his surprise, he was suddenly pulled down again by a pair of arms around his shoulders and once again found his head resting on Yamamoto's chest, although this time only separated by clothes.

"Let me go," Hibari said to him and realized that Yamamoto was shaking. "Yamamoto Takeshi," he warned again.

"So… sorry…" Yamamoto whispered. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have provoked you. You… you scared me… fainting like that…"

Hibari opened his mouth to snap back, but his left side had suddenly tightened again, stopping him. 'This is…' He sighed. "It's fine…"

Yamamoto perked up, surprised by the lack of venom in the other's voice. "Really?"

Hibari wiggled out of his grip and returned to his own bed. "I'm going back to sleep. Don't even think of doing anything strange." He pulled up the covers a little too forcefully and faced the other way, feeling the heat travelling up to his ears. He pulled the blankets up a little more to cover them.

Yamamoto grinned at the gesture. "I'll just stare at your beautiful sleeping face then."

"Shut up!" Hibari pulled the rest of the blankets over his head.

Phew… made it… Haha I'm a little worried; I'm not too sure what to write for the present arc. It'll be bad if it ended earlier than the future arc, which still has quite a way to go…

Anyways, thanks for reading! May the wind blow more so that the summer is less hot. T.T In my dreams…