It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry for that, I've had a busy week. I found out recently that I got grade A on all three of my modular exams so that's a load off XD

Thanks for reviews and everything!

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Chapter 21: Fight

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There was one advantage of being below ground and having no windows; I wasn't ever woken up harshly by bright, invading sunlight. I was able to slowly transition from sleep to consciousness, savouring the extravagant comfort of the bed. I stretched my hands forward automatically intending to push Hibari away, but my hands met air. I snapped my eyes open. I remembered I had stubbornly sleept leant away from him the night before, so he'd definitely been there – perhaps it was late? I scanned around the room for a clock; maybe he'd already got up.

There seemed to be a complete lack of time keeping devices in the room. Maybe Hibari hated clocks? Smiling to myself, I dug a thin silk robe out of one of the drawers and wrapped it tightly around myself, hugging the fabric to my chest.

I should be starting my training today! I thought ecstatically as I made my way to the main room. I still hadn't told Hibari about that – how was I going to mention it to him? I was sure he would be against it and stop me going somehow. Maybe I won't let him know for a while – what he doesn't know can't hurt him.

"IN THAT CASE WE'LL SETTLE THIS WITH FISTS AND BOXES!" I jumped as a loud, angry voice pierced the peaceful silence in the base.

"That's fine with me." I heard Hibari reply listlessly.

"Nothing can stop me… TO THE EXTREME!" The first voice roared in return.

Ah. So it was Ryohei. What was he doing here? Perplexed, I made my way towards the arguing sounds.

Ryohei was on his feet facing the prefect, determination and fury written all over his face. Hibari stood a little away from him, clearly uninterested. I could feel Ryohei's pain.

"I've been stopping you until now." Hibari retorted in a frustratingly calm but bored voice, looking up briefly as I entered the room. I slid down into a sitting position next to Kusakabe who was unsuccessfully trying to break up the fight.

"The guardians should not be fighting for such a senseless reason," he insisted. "Please stop!"

Unsurprisingly, he was ignored. "Nice try Kabe-san." I murmured, watching the pair uneasily.

"What do you mean by senseless reason?!" Ryohei shouted in response to Kusakabe's pacifying gesture. "Why am I allowed into the residence but the kids are not?! What's that all about?!"

"That's what this is about?" I shook my head exasperatedly.

"Truth be told, you're not welcomed either." Hibari said coldly. "Just looking at you dampens my will to fight."

"WHAT?! I'M PISSED OFF TO THE EXTREME!"

Taking everyone by surprise, I burst out laughing. The look on Ryohei's face had been priceless – Hibari had insulted him in probably the worst possible way, and so easily. I realised what antitheses the two men were – it really was a comical sight to see them fighting.

"Sorry, sorry," I chuckled, as they all turned to stare at me. "Ryohei, of course Lambo and I-pin can come over here. I'd be happy to play with them for a bit." I smiled, suddenly realising how much I missed all of my friends despite only being parted for them for a couple of days. It would be nice to see some of them again – and an alternative to escaping to visit them all.

"Great!" Ryohei grinned, throwing Hibari a complacent look.

"No." Hibari glared back at the boxer, stubbornly overruling me. "They aren't welcome here."

"Uh, actually," I protested hotly, springing to me feet and advancing on him. "I don't mind at all, and since you aren't the only one staying here-"

"All right, all right." Kusakabe interceded anxiously. "Let me take Lambo and I-Pin back to their hideout and I'll play with them over there. Please just let it rest already." He hoisted the two children onto his shoulders and exited the room as they chatted happily, I-pin holding a doll that looked suspiciously like someone in the room...

I wondered how the vice chairman had ever become a prefect – he had too much of a kind heart to be involved with someone like Hibari.

"Oh, we'll just have one round then." Ryohei raised his fists energetically, a frown still deep set above the bandage across his nose.

"That's fine with me." Hibari said apathetically, succeeding in riling the boxer up even more.

"No, that's not fine." I placed myself between the two men warily, blocking any attempt at violence. "Just talk, no fighting!"

"Do you have anything else left to say?" Hibari shot coldly at Ryohei, settling back into his cross legged position on the floor.

I followed suit, staring at the head prefect incredulously; it amazed me that he'd given in so easily – did I really have that much power over him? Maybe he'd been about to let it go anyway? But no, he hadn't; he had been ready to fight – I'd seen the flame flicker on his ring.

I was in awe. What else could I get him to do?

"I'm too sleepy to fight." He suddenly said after a wide yawn.

Oh. So it wasn't because of what I said? I scowled. It was as though he'd known what I was thinking.

"Ah, well anyway," Ryohei seemed to be calming down as he spoke, and he produced a bottle from behind his back. I wondered vaguely where he'd managed to hide such a thing all this time. "I just wanted to offer a friendly drink!" He waved the bottle in front of us enthusiastically, causing the contents to slosh around dangerously.

"I don't drink sake." Hibari said frostily, taking a sip of his tea. He did not even spare Ryohei a glance, causing the boxer's face to fall slightly.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

He considered me briefly before answering. "I don't handle alcohol well."

"Pffffftt!" I stifled a giggle with my sleeve. I noticed his withering glance as the laugh burst forth, sending me into fits. I couldn't shake the mental picture of a drunk Hibari from my brain – it was too entertaining! "D-Don't worry R-Ryohei," I joked as the giggles died down, though my body was still convulsing from silent laughter. "I'll drink it."

"Eh… Sayuki I don't think that's a good idea." Ryohei seemed amused by my outburst, but was probably wondering how much more hyper I would become if I had a drink.

"Haven't you left yet?" Hibari spoke flatly, but there was an edge of irritation to his voice. I could see that Ryohei was all too happy to oblige; he'd clearly had enough of the prefect.

"Oh, Sayuki," he turned mid-exit to address me. "I thought we could begin your training today, it's best to start as soon as possible right?! There are plenty of battle rooms free…"

Hibari's dark hair shook violently as he his head snapped up to look at me. A slight crease between his eyebrows highlighted the scrutinising glare he wore on his flawless features.

Oh crap! Not now!

I shook my head frantically as he spoke, trying to silently tell him to stop talking.

"Not in front of Hibari!" I mouthed desperately, but the boxer seemed oblivious to my messages.

"I can't wait to be a tutor!" He continued, the amplitude of his voice increasing. "IT WILL BE THE ULTIMATE TRAINING!"

"Uhmmm…" I mumbled incoherently, though he didn't seem to mind my unenthusiastic replies. I could see Hibari's furious glower from the corner of my eye and I already knew I was in deep trouble.

"I'll meet you later!" Ryohei grinned, and I wanted to call after him as he left – Don't leave! I'd be better off if there were witnesses – I could almost feel the radiating heat of the prefect's wrath from across the room.

I sat frozen as the boxer's departure filled the room with silence. I couldn't bring myself to look into Hibari's face – my body seemed to be stuck, keeping me where I was though shifting uncomfortably.

Out of the blue, I felt a hand grip my forearm, wrenching me backwards; the resultant momentum had me falling into him. How did he move so quickly and silently?

"That herbivore had better be lying."

"Uhm…" I stared at the floor resolutely.

"I won't allow you to fight." Hibari pulled my chin up with his free hand, forcing me to look at him.

I felt anger well up inside me - why did he think he was allowed to make that decision? I hadn't actually done anything wrong so I had no need to be apprehensive of him – I was allowed to train if I wanted to! It wasn't as if it was even the real thing!

"I don't care what you will or will not allow me to do." I folded my arms stubbornly, pulling away from him. "I'll decide what I want to do in my life thanks."

"And you think I won't stop you?" Hibari's face was inches from mine; I could feel the wisps of breath from each word brush across my face. Any attempt I made to put a little distance between us was foiled by his resounding grip, capturing me even further into his arms.

"I don't care if you try and stop me." I breathed quietly.

He smiled a little at this, and I wondered what the joke was. "Heh." I shivered as he pressed his lips just below my ear, tucking me tighter into his grasp. "You think I won't be able to stop you?"

Any word of reply I may have had died in my throat when he kissed me on the mouth powerfully, squashing my lips underneath his. I tried to speak, to keep up the argument, but I my mind lost all ability to multitask, focusing only on the kiss.

I realised that there was a small part of me that was reluctant to break away – did that mean deep down I wanted to kiss him? No, I'd already decided it was just because he was attractive, and a good kisser, nothing more than that.

Nevertheless, I'd almost entirely forgotten what we were arguing about when he allowed me to pull away, though only permitting a distance of about a foot between us.

"Who was that purple-haired girl yesterday?" I asked after a brief silence.

The question had been buzzing at the back of my mind constantly since her appearance – I'd never seen her before, but Hibari seemed to know her quite well. I found myself questioning the depth of their relationship – what was that about? I bit my lip in frustration, half wishing that I hadn't let the question slip out.

But why shouldn't I ask? It was natural for me to be curious, to wonder who she was. So why was the thought accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling in the depth of my stomach?

"Chrome Dokuro, the mist guardian." Hibari's uninterested tone seemed to please me, though I wasn't really sure why. He probably wasn't anything to him; I wanted to be sure I was the only one who meant something to him.

Because I wanted to make sure he wasn't having me on with his whole 'loving me' scenario.

But was that the real reason?

Yes, what else? I argued irritably with myself, annoyed that I was thinking too deeply about the situation.

That was definitely the reason.

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I grew frustrated as I sat alone in the centre of the room, tapping my fingers on the wooden floor in an act of impatient fidgeting. My ring and box sat motionless in front of me; I'd exhausted enough practicing for at least a couple of hours. But there wasn't anything else I could do.

It wasn't as if I was planning to obey Hibari; my ambition to fight had not wavered on the count of his tirade – I couldn't even find a trace of reluctance within myself. Someone was prepared to pass on the skills of combat to me, to make me stronger and to aid in the battle that would ultimately save our future. Why would I not want to train? I longed to.

I wasn't staying put because I wanted to abide by his rules; it was because I knew he wouldn't have left without inducing measures to stop me. I assumed it was Kusakabe – all he needed was someone to keep me in sight, and who better than his right hand man? I hadn't even bothered to try leaving; I knew I would be stopped.

Nevertheless, as I stared stonily at the potential weapons that lay before me, I finally snapped.

I had to leave. I had to train.

The pat of my bare soles against the floor was the only sound to be heard in the room as I crept all too hopefully over to the exit. It was to no surprise, though, that Kusakabe sat in a peaceful cross legged position between me and freedom.

"Hey… um?" I gestured to the door in a wordless question – he already knew what I wanted.

"Sorry." The vice-chairman accompanied an apologetic look with a subtle shake of his head – just as I thought, it wasn't going to be that easy.

"I just need to get something from my room – it's really important."

"I thought all your necessities had been provided for?"

"Erm, not this, I really need it." I tried to look convincing but I wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"What is it?" Kusakabe asked suspiciously.

My hesitation as I tried to improvise was all he needed to confirm my lies. With a resigning sigh, I decided honesty was my only option.

"Look, I know he's told you to keep me in here because he doesn't want to fight, but don't you think it's unfair?" I pleaded. "It's not his decision to make!"

"Is it not? You are lovers."

"Not yet!" I shouted exasperatedly.

Not yet? Did that mean I'd accepted it as what was going to happen?

"…or ever!" I added stubbornly, seconds too late - the damage was done. "Anyway," I continued, blushing. "I am my own person, he has no power over me – if I want to fight, I should be able to."

"You don't think it's a bad Idea?" I could see Kusakabe's judgement was waning.

"If it was a bad idea, why did Reborn suggest it?" I retorted triumphantly.

"You're right…" He bowed his head in acknowledgement and I stepped forward excitedly. "Wait!" He stopped me. "How are you going to stop Kyou-san from finding out?"

"I'll be back before he is." I assured the prefect, scuttling past him eagerly.

"Thank you!" I shouted over my shoulder as I crossed the threshold to the other side of the base.

*

I nearly skipped down the hallways out of happiness – I hadn't expected to get as far as I had! I'd been prepared to return to sulkily repeating the same ignition of the ring in my own pathetic training regime. But there was no need for that now – I was going to be trained properly! The lift didn't move fast enough for me as I jiggled restlessly. I urged the lift downwards until a blue B suddenly slid into view. The basement.

As the metal doors parted in front of me, a tall male figure was revealed to be leaning casually against the opposing wall.

"Let's start this training, to the extreme!!"

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I swear my titles are getting lamer I can't think of any decent ones.

Anyway, I know I said the training would start this chapter, but it didn't work out that way sorry! It'll definitely start next chapter.

On a random note, I'm REALLY into writing at the moment. I've been writing loads of short pieces of story for random things, one of them was a random swordfight, another had something to do with devil may cry and I even wrote a page of Sayuki and Hibari stuff that I can't use because it doesn't fit into the plot ANYWHERE. Damn. /stuff you don't care about

Oh ALSO there's a poll in my profile vote please!!

I'll try and update faster this week… review please :D