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.
-Present-
Yamamoto slowly opened his eyes, surprised that he was still on the rooftop with everyone else, judging from the cries of a certain cow. He had seen a flash of red and black right before the smoke came, so that must have been…
"Hi… Hibari?" he called out nervously to the smoke. 'Ha… yeah right… he's dead, remember?' He had to remind himself. He was scared to look but kept his eyes open nonetheless for the Cloud Guardian he didn't expect to see.
The smoke cleared, revealing the older Hibari, complete with a rather annoyed glare directed towards Tsuna and Lambo. "What is the meaning of this? I'll bite you all to death!"
"Ah! I'm sorry! Lambo, he…" Tsuna began, but Reborn whacked him with the Leon slipper before dragging both the Vongola Decimo and the Thunder Guardian off the roof, giving Hibari a last nod before disappearing down the stairs. The skylark's expression didn't change from before, effectively hiding his confusion.
"You're alive…" a voice brought the Cloud Guardian's attention back to his current location.
"And why wouldn't I be?" Hibari returned. He recalled that this younger Yamamoto was the one he shielded the bullets from that day at the warehouse, but that was no excuse for acting like such a…
"I… I saw you die…" Yamamoto continued, apparently still in shock that the older Hibari was talking to him now, looking alive and well.
"Well I'm obviously not dead, so stop being…" He noticed that the other was shaking ever so slightly. 'Did it affect him that much to see me 'die'?' He considered reprimanding the younger Yamamoto for being an herbivore but decided against it. Hibari didn't quite feel like using that word anymore today. He sighed. "You… The bullets were mostly nonfatal." He didn't want to mention that the older Yamamoto had saved him; it seemed like such an herbivore-like statement.
Yamamoto blinked, surprised for a second as he took the words in. He then chuckled in relief, "Thank goodness."
'Simpleton…' instinctively ran through Hibari's mind, but he wasn't about to say that just yet.
"Um… yeah…." The Rain Guardian scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry if we interrupted anything."
'Actually you did…' the skylark thought, but again, he wasn't going to say it out loud.
"I was talking to you… I mean the 'you' from this time, and Lambo came with his bazooka, like usual," Yamamoto continued, trying desperately to keep the conversation going.
"About what?" Hibari figured that he might as well collect some information to pass the rest of the five minutes since he was already here. He didn't quite feel like fighting at the moment, which surprised him. The skylark decided he was just tired and was very much in need of a nap.
"Ah… nothing important," Yamamoto chuckled nervously.
The other's weak attempt at dodging the question annoyed Hibari to no end. "What would be this unimportant thing that we were discussing, Yamamoto Takeshi?"
Yamamoto bit his lip, knowing that he was about to be bitten to death if he didn't produce a believable answer. "Uh… about whether I was bothering you or not…"
'What the hell?' Hibari felt a little of the familiar killing intent flowing back into his veins as he tried to restrain himself from hitting Yamamoto for being an idiot.
"Um… so anyway, I'm glad you're okay," Yamamoto grinned, trying to change the subject.
Hibari shrugged, deciding it wasn't worth his time, checking his watch. "It's almost five minutes; try not to get hit by the bazooka again, or I'll bite you to death next time."
"Huh? How did you know it was aimed at me?" the Rain Guardian looked at him with surprised eyes.
Hibari looked at him, this time forgetting to hide the confusion on his face. He was honestly thinking of the last time Yamamoto was hit, but didn't expect things to also progress this way in the past. Now that he knew his younger self had probably jumped in front of Yamamoto the same way he had in that warehouse, it seemed inevitable, and that actually perked his interest.
"What…" However, it was too late as his surroundings once again exploded in smoke.
-Future-
The younger Hibari blinked, trying to see through the smoke that had exploded all around him. He had only been hit by the bazooka once before and had even slept soundly through it until he arrived in the future, so he wasn't too surprised that the transition this time hadn't hurt much. However, like last time, he didn't quite like the scene that he saw when the smoke cleared.
'Graveyard…' He spotted Yamamoto a little too close to him, looking more or less a mess with his swollen eyes and tired disposition. Also, he had been sure that a split second ago there had a little too much warmth around him compared to normal but dismissed that as a fault of the time travelling.
"Hey, it's been a while," Yamamoto greeted the younger Cloud Guardian with an awkward grin. 'I hope he didn't realize…' Hibari suddenly swung at the Rain Guardian mercilessly. 'Oh crap.'
The Cloud Guardian swung again, treating it like an all out battle. He had already had enough trouble with the younger Yamamoto and wasn't pleased at all to see the older one in the same sorry state. Not only had the older baseball idiot probably cried like an herbivore over his death, now he's acting like nothing's happened by hiding it under his usual stupid grin.
Yamamoto barely managed to dodge in time, exclaiming, "Wait, what did I do?" although he was already half betting on the wrong reason of Hibari realizing that the Rain Guardian was hugging him upon entering the future..
"Stop being such an herbivore," the Cloud Guardian hissed.
'How many times I have heard that word today?' Yamamoto thought, both amused and a little confused, as he dodged another attack. He had once again forgotten his Box Weapons at the hotel, having left in a hurry earlier, and considered himself lucky that the younger Hibari wasn't as quick as his future self. However, that didn't mean that he'd get off unscarred if he did get hit. 'Here we go again…'
"Why," he dodged, "am I," he dodged again, "an herbivore?" No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out why the younger Hibari would call him an herbivore. 'Is hugging considered an herbivore act? That might be it,' he concluded. Yamamoto accidentally tripped over a gravestone and fell backwards, the skylark looming above him, moving in for the kill. However, to his surprise, Hibari lowered his tonfa.
"Isn't it enough that you had to lose your mind in the past?" the skylark asked quietly.
"I… I did?" Yamamoto frowned. He hadn't realized that his past self was the one who had to see Hibari get gunned down. Yamamoto had signal-handedly murdered an entire gang because he had seen the result of what they did, and he wondered what he would have done if he had witnessed the actual shooting. He bit his lip, starting to get a little worried. "What did I do?"
Hibari looked away, turning a little red. "What am I supposed to say to a question like that?"
"Eh? What did I ask?" Yamamoto thought it was a fairly reasonable question, unless… He decided to take that wild guess. "Do you love me?" Simple and clear.
Hibari stared at him, eyes wide with surprise. It suddenly became clear to him why he had mulled over the question for so long, why he was so confused; he had been incapable of putting it into words. However, after recovering from the initial shock, he realized that it didn't quite make sense for the older Yamamoto to even come up with such a question. "How can someone who's dead love you back?" he finally countered.
The Rain Guardian blinked. "Huh? Wait, you thought you were dead?" It was Yamamoto's turn to be surprised, and he burst out laughing at the realization only to receive a whack across the face by a tonfa. "Ow!"
"Why else are would we be in a graveyard?" Hibari hissed, obviously angry at being laughed at.
"Wait wait, if you were dead, then you'd be inside the coffin, right?" Yamamoto tried to reason with him while rubbing the definitely bruise forming on his face. "Remember Tsuna? When he came here, he was in the coffin! Oh wait, you came later…"
Hibari stared at him. "I'm… not dead?"
"Nope," Yamamoto chuckled. "You're very much alive."
Hibari considered this for a moment. "Then why are your eyes red?"
"Ah… because…" the Rain Guardian really didn't feeling like telling the other anything at the moment.
Hibari pressed a tonfa at the other's throat. "What, Yamamoto Takeshi?"
"Um… well you see…" the Rain Guardian chuckled awkwardly. "Time's up!" A pop accompanied by a blast of smoke marked the return of the older Hibari.
"Wow, you're heavy," Yamamoto joked when the weight on him suddenly increased and almost received another blow to the face. He closed his eyes shut right before the tonfa hit him only to find the anticipated metal replaced by fingertips ghosting over the bruise. "Ow ow, that hurts," he whined.
"Herbivore," Hibari accused, finally giving into the urge to use that word as he got off the Rain Guardian, who struggled to his feet quickly and followed the other out of the graveyard.
.
On the way back to the hotel in Kusakabe's car, Yamamoto found himself fighting with his brain to stay awake, not received any help from Hibari, who was looking out the window, apparently deep in thought. However, as much as he wanted to talk to the skylark now that the other had finally responded to his confession, the Rain Guardian's now obviously swollen eyes didn't help a bit as he struggled to keep them open.
"Ah sorry, I'm going to take a nap," he finally announced.
"No problem. I'll wake you up when we get there," Kusakabe told him from the driver's seat.
"Thanks," Yamamoto said as he contently closed his eyes. Hibari absentmindedly stole a glance at the Rain Guardian out the corner of his eye, wondering if the other could really fall asleep so fast. A sudden weight on his shoulder, Yamamoto's head, answered for him.
"Yamamoto Takeshi," Hibari muttered threateningly, but the other didn't budge, and instead a light snore was all he heard. He seriously considered opening the car door and flinging the Rain Guardian out. Then again, if he only used his tonfa, then they didn't have to turn around to pick him up if Gokudera threw a tantrum back at the hotel. Instead he poked the bruise with his finger again, earning a flinch from the other, before using his whole hand and managed to move the Rain Guardian off of him with Yamamoto now sleeping against the car door window. However, even in such position, Yamamoto continued sleeping, and Hibari found it just a little hard to not whack the other awake for looking so vulnerable. Deciding that it just wasn't worth his time, the skylark sighed and closed his eyes. He'd bite the other to death later after they had both fully rested.
He thought of the younger Yamamoto for a bit. The two of them had obviously not been in any dire situations at that age, and from what he'd seen, the younger Rain Guardian was definitely acting like an herbivore. Why in the world would his younger self even consider… he decided to leave the question for later, giving in to the comfortable environment of the car: Kusakabe's safe driving and the sleeping idiot next to him.
.
"What the hell are you not telling me?" Gokudera yelled while having the Sun Flame user of the Varia up against the wall by his collar.
"Hey! I'm just as confused as you are! I would never do anything to our dear Hiro-kun," Lussuria insisted, prompting the Storm Guardian to drop him.
"I don't believe this. How did he just disappear?" Gokudera looked in the empty cradle again, trying to think rationally and not panic at the same time. At that moment, the door opened, revealing Xanxus and Kyoko. "You…" Gokudera turned his frustrations on the leader of the Varia.
"What's wrong?" Kyoko asked, sensing that something was wrong. 'Did Fran not tell them?'
"If Hiro were to suddenly go missing, wouldn't that be awfully convenient for you? Now no one would be in your way now," Gokudera accused him quietly as the rest of them fell silent. Kyoko felt Xanxus tense next to her.
"Hiro is missing?" a new voice added to the oncoming storm. "We must find him to the extreme!" Ryohei announced as he charged into the room. He saw Xanxus and Gokudera throwing death glances at each other, and got into his boxing stance, Sun Flames flaring up. "It was you after all… How could you do this to my sister?"
"Wait, Brother!" Kyoko began, jumping in between them. "This is a misunderstanding!"
"Move aside, Kyoko," Ryohei warned her. "That creep's been using you!"
"Don't you dare…" Kyoko began, but at that moment, a gunshot rang through the room, the bullet narrowly missing Ryohei and colliding with one of the tables. The piece of furniture gave a shudder and then collapsed into rust.
The Sun Guardian jumped back unsteadily, having suddenly lost a portion of his Sun Flames, while Gokudera and the others looked towards the door, ready to dodge. Kyoko found herself behind Xanxus, who had moved between her and the door the split second the bullet had been heard from that direction.
"I'd suggest you don't move," the newcomer said, fingering his gun. "Now who is this 'Hiro' I keep on hearing you guys argue about? He must be pretty important to Vongola."
"Why do you have that bullet?" Gokudera gasped, tensing, ready to counterattack at any moment.
The man laughed. "Why? Because I'm the last of the Fuoco. You guys did a number on my Famiglia, but really, I'm not too upset over it." He patted his pocket. "I have the last of the bullets here, and once I find out who this 'Hiro' is, it's simple enough for me to climb up the ladder of any Famiglia I wish." He pointed the gun at Xanxus. "You seem to be behind all of this. Now, who exactly is this boy you all seem to be missing? He was present in that little group we kidnapped earlier."
"Dead," Xanxus answered. The Fuoco assassin could feel the red eyes boring into his and shuddered, but he took care not to let his gun arm shake. He had seen on the cameras what this man had done to his Famiglia and was not about to die the same way himself.
"You…" Gokudera gasped, looking at Xanxus.
The assassin sighed. "What a shame. Well no matter, I'll just kill you all now and be done with it." His finger tensed on the trigger. "Bye bye." He gasped as his hand seemed to go limp; he saw the Rain Flames lining it, and the gun fell to the floor, unused. Everyone watched on in surprise as a ball of spikes suddenly came from the outside corridor, collided with the assassin, and continued on until it was out of sight. They heard a loud crash signaling the impact with the wall at the other end of the corridor.
"Hey! Be careful where you're aiming!" they heard Fran yell from other end of the corridor, which probably now sported some blood and a sizable hole.
"Ah, sorry!" Yamamoto said as he appeared in the doorway.
"Wait… wasn't that Hibari's…" Gokudera began but gasped in surprise when Yamamoto suddenly fell, only to be caught on one arm by none other than the Cloud Guardian.
"Ah… sorry… I really need to sleep…" Yamamoto chuckled. Frankly, he was surprised at how much effort he had to put into summoning his Rain Flames. He hadn't done so since being hit by the bullet, and now, seeing what had just happened, he figured he probably needed a long time before his Flame levels returned to normal.
On the other hand, unable to contain the urge any longer, Hibari finally whacked Yamamoto on the stomach for being an idiot, knocking the wind out of him. The others watched on in shock as the skylark then dragged the unconscious Rain Guardian away, and Fran, who was also looking to the where the two had disappeared, replaced the area the assassin had previously stood.
The Mist Flame user looked back at the ones inside the room. "Should I call room service to get rid of the body?"
Gokudera, having finally come back to his senses, looked towards the empty cradle, about to continue their argument from before.
"Oh, Hiro-kun has been sent Italy. Orders. He's safe now," Fran answered for him.
Gokudera sighed, biting his lip. He took one last look at the others before storming out the room, disappearing around the corner. Ryohei finally looked away from his sister and followed suit, the rest of the Varia following them with their eyes.
"Um… Xanxus… I can't breathe…" a subdued voice broke the silence. Xanxus had thrown an arm around the girl earlier, pressing her into his jacket, saving her from seeing the man get impaled by Hibari's hedgehog.
.
Gokudera sighed, slumping into the sofa, taking a long drink from the bottle he had grabbed on the way to his floor's lobby.
"I heard Hibari made quite a mess upstairs," Dino said as he entered the room.
"That's not what I'm pissed off about," the Storm Guardian responded, irritated.
"Tsuna's brother, then?" the Sky Flame user asked, knowing he had hit the spot.
"Why am I never informed of anything regarding that kid? In case they've forgotten, I am almost running Vongola now. How am I supposed to do anything if I don't know anything?" Gokudera hissed, taking another gulp.
Dino took the bottle away from him. "Eh, you really shouldn't be drinking so much during the day."
"What does it matter?" Gokudera hissed but didn't attempt to take the alcohol back.
Dino sighed, knowing his trump card would only hurt the other. "What would Tsuna think?"
The Storm Guardian glared at him. "Don't you dare use that excuse."
"I'm serious. He's entrusted you with Vongola. You wouldn't want him to let him down now, would you?"
Gokudera sighed. "There's someone else out there giving orders, and I need to know who."
Dino shrugged. "I wouldn't look too deeply into it."
"So you'd just let them lead you around on a leash?" the Storm Guardian exclaimed.
"Well, apparently Fran and the rest of the Varia trusts this person, and they've been pretty tame lately, if you haven't noticed."
"Tch."
A knock on the door made Gokudera jump from his seat, having not quite recovered from the previous encounter with the assassin. He relaxed when one of the hotel staff came in. "You have a phone call, Gokudera-sama."
"Oh, okay. Just connect it to the phone in this room."
"As you wish."
Gokudera picked up the phone when the light started flashing, trying to ignore the alcohol in his system just in case it was really something important. At the moment, he highly doubted it. Another ring from Dino prompted the leader of the Chiavarone to leave the room to answer his cell phone, leaving a less than sober Gokudera alone with the phone call.
"Hello?"
"Hayato Gokudera of the Vongola Famiglia, am I correct?" a subdued, rather deep voice answered him.
That strange address sobered him up a little. "Yes? Who are you?"
"We will be holding a formal meeting of all invited Famiglia leaders in three days' time to discuss the future of our world. Should you wish to attend, please follow the rules that will be sent to you along with the location in precisely two hours."
"Who's hosting this?" He was completely sober now, sensing the approaching danger.
"The meeting will be regulated by guards hired with a combined donation of those who attend, so there is no need to worry about security," the man answered, avoiding his question.
'What the hell? This is obviously a trap. But if I don't go, then there's no way of finding out who…'
"Fine, I'll attend," Gokudera told him a little too brashly.
"Very well. We look forward to seeing you." He hung up.
At that moment, Dino came charging back into the room. "Did you?"
"Yeah I got the message too," Gokudera told him, grimacing. "I'll tell everyone to relocate to the Vongola manor base near Namimori."
"You accepted?" Dino gasped, earning a glare from the other.
"Didn't you?"
"Ah… yeah I did actually," Dino chuckled. "Ah whatever, we can do this! No problem!"
'A meeting now of all times? This might get ugly…' Gokudera shook his head as he left the room to gather the others. He believed that the dead assassin was really the last they'll see of Fuoco, but the timing of the phone call seemed a little more than just a coincidence.
Hello! Ah, I admit, I'm having trouble with Hibari's character. I didn't want to write him as a sadistic kind of lover, but it's really hard imagining times when he's not physically beating someone up haha! I was just going back and forth and back and forth, changing stuff. I hope the result isn't too bad…
Anyways, thanks for reading!