Sorry for the long hiatus! I'm gonna be busy because of my tests and other fanfic, so it might not be updated regularly :p
Please r&r ^^
The hot water spilled on his pants.
Tsuna yelped and Gokudera, who was attending Nana Sawada with washing the dishes, dropped his plates and ran to the shrieking brunet. Nana Sawada smiled, but grimaced when she laid her eyes on the silveret.
"Tenth, are you hurt?" Gokudera got to his knees and applied a small towel on Tsuna's pants, pressing it down gently.
"Umm…Gokudera, I'm fine." Tsuna hastily ushered the silveret to stand up. "Come on, it's gonna look weird if we stay like this."
Indeed it was. Gokudera face was right in front of Tsuna's zipper, and now the silveret was slowly unzipping the brunet's pants to wipe the burn on Tsuna's thigh. If anybody saw them like this—aside from Yamamoto and Ryohei—they would probably get the wrong idea, especially that herd of women that everyone called 'Fujioshi'.
Nana Sawada cleared her throat, startling the two boys as they jerked their heads to look at the older woman. Nana Sawada forced on her best smile.
"Well, I hate to interrupt." Nana rolled her eyes teasingly. "But I need you to check Hibari-kun. Is he okay?"
Tsuna and Gokudera grimaced. Two hours had passed, yet Hibari was still unconscious.
"Tenth, I think it's appropriate for you to check on Hibari now." Gokudera's eyes were downcast as he frowned.
Tsuna really wanted to snap at his self-proclaimed right hand man for looking like that, but Tsuna smiled anyway.
"Alright, Gokudera. I'll be back."
Tsuna made his way to the guest room where Hibari was kept. He swiftly passed Yamamoto and Ryohei, who were giggling at a reality show airing on the television—Tsuna never really found it funny.
When the brunet was in front of the guestroom, he knocked on the door just to make sure if the prefect was already awake. Not receiving a response, Tsuna opened the door and tiptoed into the darkness.
Even in the dark, he could see the lump on his bed.
Tsuna was not an expert in medicine or first aid, but he took a basin right beside the bed and cupped a handful of water. Then, he carefully poured it on Hibari's bruised forehead; the cold water trickled on Hibari's pillow. Hibari turned, grunting. Tsuna jerked, rubbing his hair in frustration; Tsuna really didn't know how to treat sick people.
"I don't wanna…"
Tsuna blinked once, twice. He was sure he'd heard the familiar voice somewhere. Then he noticed Hibari's parting lips, shaking and twitching in an uneasy manner. Assuming it was Hibari's voice, the brunet leaned closer to the sleeping male, trying to listen for Hibari's heartbeat.
"Sawada…Tsunayoshi."
Tsuna widened his eyes, pulling backwards. His heart raced against his chest. Soon Hibari's eyes shot open and Tsuna bit back a scream.
"Where am I?" Hibari's voice was cracked.
Tsuna opened and closed his mouth. He looked at Hibari, who was trying to understand what was going on. Hibari's tired gaze steeled when his eyes fell on Tsuna.
Tsuna, gulping, could only stare down at the grumpy male helplessly. Hibari could attack Tsuna any time if he wanted to since his infamous silver tonfas were hidden under his jacket. Tsuna thought about what to say carefully, as if one wrong word could unleash the beast from its cage.
"You collapsed," Tsuna said slowly. "My friends and I were just passing by and we decided to treat you…or something like that."
Tsuna's words didn't ease the tension. Actually, he thought they made things worse.
Grunting, Hibari tossed the covers away, groggily getting up to his sitting position. He looked like he was in deep pain, and sheer concern flashed on Tsuna's eyes. The brunet was just about to sink to his knees to help the prefect before Hibari slapped his hands away indignantly.
"Don't let your dirty hands touch me, herbivore," Hibari spat, glowering at him.
"Herbivore or whatever, you're not vulnerable right now." Tsuna was surprised by the way he spoke, but held his ground.
Blinking, Hibari let out a dry chuckle. "You're arrogant, Tsunayoshi."
"I'm just stating a fact," Tsuna said and sat on the bed beside Hibari.
Hibari didn't seem to mind. Instead, he let out a long
"Herbivore, I need to stand." Hibari turned his head away pointedly, a faint shade of red on his cheeks.
Tsuna chuckled inwardly. Carefully, the brunet got up from his seat and helped Hibari up as carefully as he can. It was a slow process—the prefect constantly winced, scaring the brunet to make another move. Around five minutes later, Hibari had successfully stood up on his feet.
Tsuna rolled his eyes. "My mom treated your wounds and she wasn't too happy about them. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"
Hibari's eyes slightly widened. He quickly regained his composure and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm leaving."
"You took five minutes just to stand," Tsuna snapped. For some reason, the prefect's stubborn attitude kind of pissed him off; it was rare for a Namimori student – or anyone in that matter - to stand up against Hibari. In this case, it was Dame-Tsuna versus the blood-lust prefect—oh, the irony.
Tsuna walked out of the room to get Hibari's porridge. His mom should be done by now.
After Tsuna's steps faded, the prefect forced every muscle in his body so he could walk. He tightened his grip on every object he passed by to lessen the pain and regain his balance. After ten minutes, the soreness in his muscles toned down and he was able to walk without too much strain.
The prefect wasn't inclined to stay longer, but he needed to at least thank Tsuna and his friends for their hospitality. Well, maybe staying here for the night wouldn't be a bad idea after all. If he spent the whole evening buried under the sheets without talking to anyone, Hibari wouldn't have a problem staying overnight in the Sawada household; but judging from Tsuna's pushy and charitable personality, he doubted that the brunet would leave him alone. His stomach slightly churned, but it's not like he had a choice…
It's better to stay than going home,Hibari thought.
Suddenly, he remembered.
The book. Misty Pineapple.
Cursing inwardly, he increased his pace and started digging through the sheets frantically. The raven-haired male bit his lip and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his book lying on the table opposite of his bed.
But then, Hibari froze.
The book was opened.
Blushing vehemently, Hibari snatched the book and quickly scanned the content. It was the page with the lonely, cold-hearted vampire. He slaughtered and drank the blood from his loved ones; however, he did this to protect them from the destruction that would come: the end of the world.
The vampire had no friends, but he had loyal followers who he saw as nothing but blood-lust troops. Together, the vampire saw the weak as his prey and he would bite them to death to eliminate them from the world. As time passed, his goal to protect that people had melted into his own selfish ambitions—to make the whole world bow before him and accept him as its ruler…
Indeed, Hibari was familiar with this chapter; it was his favorite part of the book. As stupid as it sounded, Hibari understood the vampire and empathized with it.
He felt…human.
Hibari's brows furrowed. How could someone coincidentally open this chapter of the book? But then he remembered the bookmark he placed on this page. Hibari slapped his face.
With nothing else better to do, Hibari slipped onto a chair and trained his eyes on the book before him. He flipped the page, continuing where he left off…
"But then one day, a bright light flashed before the vampire's eyes. A kind, familiar voice called out to him, but the vampire ignored it and cursed at his blindness. For a few days without his sight, the vampire lost control of his troops, and soon his clan diverged and the vampire was left with nothing. Nothing… So this was loneliness."
Usually Hibari would be amused whenever he read this part, but for some reason, the more he read, the more the bile rose in his throat.
Without reading any further, Hibari knew how the story would end, for he read this book a hundred times. But instead of rereading it like he used to, he closed the book shut and clenched the hem of his shirt.
"It's tough when old wounds reopen, huh?"
Hibari turned to see Reborn sitting on the opposite side of the bed. Smirking, the baby hit man slurped his coffee.
"Oh you the infant," Hibari said weakly. Usually, the prefect would jump in his battle pose and be ready to fight, but his muscles wouldn't cooperate.
"Well, I want to ask you one last question." Reborn's eyebrows arched amusingly. "Are you ready for the final chapter?"