Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Rating: T.

Punishment Game

Kumiko woke up to the sound of a soft melody. She was lying in a bed. Blinking up at the ceiling, she slowly let her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. The curtains are drawn, and small paper cranes dot the room once more. At first she thought Hibari went back to Namimori to fetch her cranes for her, but the more she looked at them, the more she knew that they were different than the ones that she had left back in Hibari's house.

"Kufufufu~ Awake?"

There it was again, that soft tone. She looked for him and saw him standing by the corner, arms crossed. He had an indescribable expression on his face, a mixture between relief and longing. Longing for what, she didn't know. Kumiko sat up, tipping over a few cranes. When she saw that the cranes on the bed sheets beside her are all blue and purple, she picked up a purple crane, dipped her head and cried.

Mukuro came over immediately and hesitantly stroked her hair. He didn't dare embrace her, not while she was still vulnerable. Not while she can't fight back. Kumiko's tears continued to drip onto the bed sheets, drowning the purple crane she held in her hands. The paper became soggy, thin. It threatened to tear, and Mukuro quickly picked it out of her limp hands. She let it go.

"Don't cry." He urged her, his voice soft. There it was again, that hitch in his voice. He wanted to say something else, but he couldn't. It wouldn't come out of his mouth, no matter how much he wanted it to. Kumiko wiped away her tears angrily with a corner of the bedsheet and gave him a determined glare, much to his surprise.

"I want to become stronger." Her fingers etched onto his palm. Mukuro chuckled softly. "Would you like my assistance?"

She nodded quickly, looking at his fingers expectantly. He chuckled and patted her on the head softly. "Silly girl. It doesn't work that way. I can't just snap my fingers and make you stronger. First of all, tell me. What do you want to be stronger for."

Her mouth opened. Hibari, Mukuro thought, as he saw her mouth form his name. To his surprise, she bit it off in the middle. Hib-Mukuro looked away. So she was still pining after him. To Kumiko, he was nothing more than a mere stepping stone to get back together with the aloof skylark. How cruel was his fate. Mukuro decided then and there that he would win her heart, no matter what. She was still pining after Hibari, but that didn't mean that she would forever be missing him. She could have a change of heart, if Mukuro could show her the way.

Time to pull out his trump card.

"Kumo-san?"

Chrome's hesitant voice sounded out from the doorway. Hibari frowned. He had locked the door. How did she get in? He looked up, wary. She was a weak herbivore, yes, but that is not to say that she should be underestimated. One hand went to his tonfa, the other put down his book and reached behind him to...what? It was then that he realized Hibari was automatically trying to shield Kumiko from Chrome, but Kumiko wasn't there anymore, obviously. His hand fell limply onto the sheets. Chrome followed his movements.

"Kumo-san?"

"What." He snarled, his voice barely audible in the still air between them. Hibari Kyoya really did not need this tense silence right now. He wanted to read, to sleep. He wanted to fall back into the normal pattern of things, lest Kumiko come back and haunt him in his dreams. That's the last thing he wanted. Her becoming his weakness.

"Kumo-san...I want to say sorry."

This isn't anything an apology can fix."Hn."

Chrome flinched as his uncaring eyes met her purple orb. She blinked once and then dipped her head. "I won't do it again. I won't let her take over again." Hibari couldn't care less. Now that Envy wasn't going to try and break him and Kum-

He stopped himself again. Envy couldn't break them up anyway, because he had done the dirty deed himself. "Ku-"

"Shut up." He didn't want to hear anymore, didn't want to hear the pleas drop out of Chrome's mouth anymore. It was pathetic, that she would come running to him to beg for forgiveness, when she knew very well that Hibari didn't have any to give her. Chrome took two hesitant steps forward, and Hibari glared at her feet.

"Um..." She took a deep breath. "I can help you get back with her if you wa-"

"I have no intention of doing so, herbivore. Leave." But he did. His heart had risen ever so slightly at this. With a female to give him opinions, he would definitely be able to get her back. Why did he even break up with her in the first place, Hibari wasn't even so sure anyway. It could be that Mukuro wanted to taunt him, and that's wh-

Again, Hibari cut off his thoughts. Maybe it was meant for them to split up. The skylark is a solitary creature of the skies, anyway. There was no way he would be needing her accompaniment beside him.

Chrome bowed and shuffled back out the door. Hibari scoffed and turned his back on her, waiting to hear the 'click' that meant she was out of the room completely. As soon as she had left, he pulled his book out again, and took out his bookmark, flipping back to the page he was previously on. His bookmark tore slightly, and Hibari grimaced. He was using one of her cranes as a bookmark. He wondered if this would cause her to have any illnesses.

"I didn't mean I wanted her to die." That line still made him wince every time he relived that scene. It sounded weak in his ears, an ex-boyfriend declaring that he didn't mean any harm to his girlfriend, even though he had just said and done the most painful things to her during their break up. Even now, Hibari could still see the pain and confusion on her face, feel her tucked into his arms securely as he tried to get her to respond. It was when he realized that she was an illusion that caused him to snap completely. He was falling for illusions, losing his touch, all because of her. Even though he knew that she wasn't entirely to blame, that it was himself that agreed to such a disastrous relationship in the first place, he couldn't help but use her as a scapegoat. Hibari Kyoya was used to blaming the people around him for things that go wrong, simply because he did not know how to take responsibility. His pride would not allow it. Even now, he was almost rejecting the idea that he knew himself so well as to admit his faults. Hibari always liked to believe that he did not fall to such herbivorous activities such as making mistakes, but the truth is, he is human as well.

And the worst thing is, he could sense his arch enemy, the hated illusionist Rokudo Mukuro, coming to understand him more and more. Without really knowing it, Kumiko had been bringing the two enemies together to stand on common ground. They didn't just try to kill each other aimlessly now. They had a reason to compete. But now that reason was gone with her. She was Mukuro's now, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Hibari snapped off the reading light and pulled the blankets up. He imagined her warmth behind him, and sighed into the emptiness of his room.

"Say 'ah'. It's a fundamental sound, Kumiko. You have to know it."

She opened her mouth and coughed out the sound. Mukuro gave her a look of amusement. "Oya, you're getting there." She rubbed at her throat. How did it come to her so naturally in the hospital before? It's almost as if something is preventing her from forming the shapes, even though she was no longer technically mute anymore.

Mukuro had fixed her voice box.

"How about we try with something you're familiar with? Do you know how to say your name?"

"Kuuu-" She tried, making Mukuro chuckled. "Kufufu~ That sounds like you're trying to imitate my laugh. How cute."

"Kuh...fu!" She managed, giggling when Mukuro patted her on the head. "No, not my laugh. Your name. You must know how to speak your name, yes?" She nodded eagerly, clasping her hands together and screwing her face up in concentration. "Ku...kuu...mieeeh!" She laughed. She was mangling her own name, and it was funny. She hadn't felt like laughing like this in ages. Mukuro laughed with her, and then tapped her on the forehead gently. "Try again. Oya, you don't expect me to keep this illusion for you forever? We can only practice a few hours a day. Make the most of it." Because as much as Mukuro disliked Chrome right now, he was not so heartless as to abandon her when she was being taken over by Envy. He continued to sustain her body with his illusions, leaving little room for sustaining anything else, especially something as complex as giving a person a voice.

He vaguely found himself wondering how his older self did it. Did he abandon Chrome for Kumiko eventually? Or did Chrome learn to stand on her own two feet?

"S...ee..eense...iiiih." She drawled sarcastically, and Mukuro smirked. "Oya, your first is 'sensei'. Were you born mute?"

No, I wasn't.

The terror of what made her mute struck her silent for a few seconds. Mukuro hummed and asked her what's wrong, but she couldn't find it in herself to answer as she relived her parents' death. There was a motorcycle, the glass...She coughed and covered her ears. The silence pounded into them, and Mukuro was starting to become panicked once more. He didn't know that talking about her inability to speak would touch upon such a panicked subject.

It was my birthday. Right, Papa, Mama?

"My...bir...birthday." She choked out. She was overcome with the need to tell someone. Her hands reached out and grabbed Mukuro's hands suddenly, gripping them with all her might. Mukuro didn't wince at all. He stared into her eyes solemnly. "What about your birthday?"

"Th...e...the...car...c-" She stopped there, waiting for Mukuro to make sense of what she said. All her previously happy feelings were gone. She was serious. This was the first time someone would hear her story from her own mouth. Told with her own voice. She wanted to remember, and she wanted Mukuro to acknowledge. Mukuro nodded. "The car crashed, right?"

She swallowed painfully, looking for the courage to go on. Flashbacks of the accident came back to her in shards of memory. There was her mother, her father, the motorcyclist, broken bones, broken windows. "B..broken..." She declared, rubbing her throat with one hand. Mukuro took on a different expression. He looked completely understanding. Sympathising. Kumiko swallowed once more, noting the dry state of her throat. Mukuro gently stroked circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, silently giving her comfort. "What happened? What was broken?"

"M..my voice."

And she feels proud of herself for once.

They were in the bamboo grove. The grass surrounding Hibari's house was wet with the dewdrops. It had just rained a few hours ago. Hibari had lain a blanket down, and they were lying on their backs, staring into the sky. It was just him and his younger self, and nobody else. Not even Kumiko.

"She taught me the constellations." He murmured to nobody in particular. His younger self struggled to sit upright, but Hibari pulled him down roughly. He couldn't forgive him for what he had done to their relationship. Hibari had wanted them to stay together. It would've saved a lot of pain that was sure to happen later. Now that they had broken up prematurely, Hibari had to change his plans. His younger self let out a growl of protest, but he was like a whining tiger cub to Hibari's sharp movements. After a while, the younger Hibari gave up. Leaning back, he let out a disgruntled snarl. "What do you want."

Hibari got up off the blanket. After a moment of hesitation, the younger Hibari got up as well. They dusted themselves off, finding amusement in the fact that their actions were mirrored exactly. Old habits die hard and they were practically each other anyway.

"Walk with me." Hibari murmured, and his younger self obliged without complaint. They strayed off the main path leading back to the town, and ended up fighting their way through thick foliage. Hibari walked silently, while his younger self occasionally let out huffs of irritation. It was with this method that Hibari worked out how mature he was. He smirked softly. His younger self still had quite some way to go, it seems.

"Where are we going." It was a demand, not a question. Hibari sighed softly and chose not to answer. They were going to a place that he visited frequently, and he didn't want to explain to his younger self just yet.

Finally, they reached a small clearing. Here, there was a small koi pond, decorated with stones and bamboo. It was clean, orderly. Disciplined, just as Hibari liked to call it. A small stone structure stood elegantly curved around the pond, inscriptions carved into the stone new and sharp. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, that his younger self had automatically stumbled towards the now identified tombstone in an effort to read the inscribed name. Hibari pulled him back quickly, unaffected by the glare that the younger Hibari sent his way.

"Sit down."

Hibari lowered himself slowly to a patch of dry soil beside the pond. The fish in the pond swam aimlessly round and round, and Hibari found himself dipping his finger into the warm water and stroking their scales. The fish nibbled at his exposed skin gently. They are as friendly as she was.

"Wh-"

"Don't talk." Hibari craned his head back to look at the sky. This was her favorite spot in the whole world, she had once told him. Because she could see her favorite constellation at this angle, and also because Hibari and her were both shielded off from the world when they came to this clearing. It was almost like their secret, except everyone in the Vongola knows where it is because Kumiko often brings people over for group picnics. He remembered that there was even a group camping expedition, right here, a few steps away from his house. He had openly insulted her idea, and Kumiko had gotten so upset that she didn't want to talk to him for hours afterwards. Until Hibari agreed to be the one setting up the tents, of course. Then she had hugged him. Hibari remembered that he often scoffed with disdain at these 'herbivorous crowdings', but now he would do anything to hear her voice once more, asking him if she could hold a family picnic, or even have a family camping night. He wouldn't mind. He wouldn't even mind setting up the tents again. He wanted to hear her voice so much.

His finger came out of the water, and trailed slowly down her gravestone. It traced her name, as if having a life of its own. After meeting Kumiko, he's gotten a lot more sentimental. Hibari couldn't even muster the energy to scoff at himself. It was ironic, how she was his weakness and his strength at the same time. The light that balanced the darkness within him.

"It's okay to miss her, but once you have her, you should've never let her go."

His younger self said nothing, but as Hibari turned, he could see his own pain mirrored in his younger self's eyes. He smirked. They were one person after all.

"Ciaossu, everyone! We're going to be arriving at Mafia Land soon, so please gather all your belongings and make sure that you leave nothing behind!" Reborn tossed the mic to Yamamoto, who caught it with a smile. Reborn's eyes swept the hall from his perch on the back of a chair, looking for Hibari and Mukuro and the brown haired girl who was always with them. He made out Mukuro's hair near the window, spiky and standing out from the normal hairstyles as always. There was Kumiko, standing next to him, head bowed and fiddling with something colorful in her hands.

The raven haired male was nowhere to be found.

Reborn wasn't worried though. It was just like Hibari to not come to a whole family meeting. After all, he was a hater of gatherings and crowds. But still, Hibari is known to be punctual. Reborn hopped off the chair and went to greet Tsuna.

Reborn is sure the lonely skylark is fine.

"Here. I win."

Kumiko stuck out her tongue and tucked her fingers back into fists. They were playing 'chopsticks', a very childish game that Kumiko often used to pass the time. Mukuro is winning every single time, which she found very frustrating. At this rate, she would actually have to do a punishment game with him, in which he gets to tell her what to do for the whole day. It goes the other way as well, so Kumiko was quite eager to play. She wondered what Mukuro would look like with a pineapple atop his head for the whole day and giggled softly behind her hand. "C..Can we pla...y something else?" She whispered, still not quite used to having her voice back. Mukuro arched his eyebrow.

"Best of three. I'm obviously going to win, kufufufu. And then you'll have to listen to what I say."

She let out a small whimper, before taking on a determined gaze. "N..not loos..sing!" She sang, pulling out a notepad from her bag. Mukuro chuckled. "What are we playing, pictionary? Remember how that went?"

"Tic...tac-"

"Toe." Mukuro finished with a pleased expression. "Excellent. I'm very good at that game."

"So...ah...am I." She shot back at him, trying to sound confident through her stutters. Mukuro patted her condescendingly on the head, and then watched as she shakily drew the grid. "Alright, why don't you start?"

Three minutes later, Mukuro was losing the game really badly. The more he tried to connect the things together, the more she was able to put her pieces together faster. He was becoming a little bit frustrated, which shows in the way that he drew out his laughter as he waited for his turn. He really wanted to win, for obvious reasons. Kumiko smiled. "All or no...thing?" She offered him, drawing the last grid on the table.

Mukuro gladly agreed. This time he would win for sure.

She started with the circle in the top right hand corner, and Mukuro started with an 'x' in the bottom left hand corner. Both of them were so immersed in the game, so bent over the pad of paper, that they didn't realize their foreheads were touching. They were so concentrated on beating each other, that Hibari walked right up to the two of them before either of them knew what was wrong.

He cleared his throat. "Herbivores."

Kumiko was the first one to look up. She blushed immediately upon seeing that she and Mukuro were at such close proximity. Mukuro looked up in a much slower manner, his arrogant attitude showing once more. "Oya, if it isn't the Skyla-"

Hibari grabbed Kumiko's hand and tried to drag her away. Mukuro stopped him immediately with a firm hand on his arm. "Why don't you ask her first? Lest you hurt her more, Hibari Kyoya." His heterochromatic eyes shone with defiance, and Kumiko slowly pulled her hand out of Hibari's grasp, wide-eyed.

"S..sorry...Hiba..bari-san, but I t..thought you..didn't want me anymore." Hibari's eyes widened. She could speak? Did she actually ask for Chrome's assistance? His eyes travelled to find the female illusionist, but met Mukuro's proud smile instead. He let out a scoff of disgust. So of course, it was the sly pineapple-head that decided to win favors from her with this little trick of his. Hibari felt heat rushing towards his head when he realized that he really had nothing to offer her. Nothing to get her back. She didn't even have any reason to come back with him, what with the way he's been treating her, throwing her around like trash. By now, Hibari had swallowed a good portion of his pride and was seriously considering enlisting Chrome's help, no matter how difficult she was going to be in this impossible quest to get his hurt Kumiko back. And to make matters worse, she didn't look like she wanted to get back together with him yet.

It wasn't this simple. He couldn't come back to her just out of the blue and drag her off anymore. Kumiko steeled her heart and took a step back from Hibari. His face twisted with pain for a second, before he too took a step away from her. It was as if he was acknowledging the distance between them, and that simple fact broke her heart all over again. What happened? We were supposed to stay together! She coughed and smiled, albeit painfully. "Sorry...but y..you hurt me, Hibari." She felt selfish, full of arrogance and pride as soon as the sentence came out of her mouth. He had hurt her, so she had the right to hurt him? A few days ago, and she would've disagreed entirely with this, but she had learnt that giving herself wholly to Hibari wasn't going to keep him by her side.

Hibari's expression became even more miserable, though he tried hard not to show it. His careful mask of apathy was cracking, shown through the slight downward curve of his mouth and the glint of disapproval in his eyes. Kumiko's own eyes stung with tears, but she promised herself that she wasn't going to give in, and that she would follow her own beliefs this time. "Sorry.." She whispered, before turning away from her ex-boyfriend and running off, Mukuro trailing closely behind. Hibari stood there, slightly stunned, slightly annoyed.

His face darkened further when Mukuro turned back to give him a look of sympathy. It tore a whole new hole in his pride when he realized that it was genuine.

Their roles had reversed suddenly. Mukuro was the one that she needed more now, and Hibari was the chaser. He was no longer with her, they were no longer together, Kumiko no longer needed him.

And Hibari didn't know what to do.

"Ne, ne, Chrome...or should I call you Envy? What was with that? You went up to him and actually apologized? Were you just trying to win favors from the bird boy? That's disgusting." Chrome could practically hear the contempt oozing out of her voice. She didn't flinch at all.

"I do what I want, Komatsu."

"Getting feisty, hoh, Envy?"

"I do what I want, and I get what I want."

"So then, what would you like to try and do? Eliminate her?"

"Hmm, that would be a good idea."

Komatsu's face twists into an ugly expression. "Tch. I remember when I last thought it would be easy to kill her. Ah~ She was so weak looking. Easy pickings, ya know? And then suddenly, she has all these disgustingly powerful allies. Tch. I'm definitely going to kill her this time."

"Sorry, but she's mine to kill."

"...Envy..."

"This time it'll be easier without Hibari by her side right? All we have to do is draw Mukuro-sama away. And then she'll be all alone and helpless. This time, we should make it quick. Last time, you had too much fun torturing her. So, what do you say about being the distraction?"

"Tch! That's what I always am, anyway. Besides, it's not like I can do anything with this stupidly broken body. It's all I can do just to stay alive, Envy."

"Who knows?"

"Hn?"

There was that look on her face again. It frightened even Komatsu. Chrome had an unnaturally evil look about her, and her aura was dark. Komatsu shivered involuntarily as she wheeled past the chuckling girl. "Ne, Komatsu, who knows if the extent of your abilities reach up to your physical state? It's not like you're ever going to become weaker just because your imobilized, are you, Pride?"

"Heh, Envy, not too bad at it yourself, are you? How did you find out?"

"It was your eye." Chrome fingered her own right eye, smirking. "Nakamura's passed it on to you?"

"Nah. I am Nakamura."

Hibari watched her walk away with Mukuro. They departed from the ship soon after, making Hibari ground his teeth together in anger. How dare she just ignore him like that. She should at least listen to what he has to say!

But now that he thought about it, he never gave her a chance to explain anyway. How would she ever give him a chance this way? "Tch." It's almost ironic, but Hibari would say that he deserved this treatment from her. It was only fair that they reacted to each other in this manner. Hibari huffed and stepped off the ship himself, shading his eyes from the sun. It was blindingly bright, painting his surroundings white and yellow for a short minute. As soon as his eyes had adjusted to the blinding brightness, he swept his surroundings for the familiar bob of brown hair, and that small figure. There she was, running along the beach. She was alone, Mukuro was to the side talking to Chrome about something.

Here's his chance.

Hibari took off, his loping strides bringing him closer to her by every second. Her retreating back made him more determined to reach her, more determined to grasp onto her arm.

"Herbivore."

She turns, eyes bright with happiness. Shock flickers across her expression, and Hibari smiles slightly. She wasn't expecting him to come after her in this manner, after all. Hibari grasped onto her arm, careful not to hurt her. "Herbivore, stop."

She flung herself into his arms, hugged him briefly, and then drew away just as quickly. Hibari let go of her arm, painfully aware of the way his heart had stopped when she had hugged him. He could still smell her chocolatey scent, and he vaguely wondered where she even inherited that smell from. It's not like she used chocolate shampoo, did she?

She gave him an apologetic look and turned away. Hibari didn't bother to go after her anymore. He was man of few words anyway, and Kumiko respected that, being a girl without a voice. That simple motion of hers told him everything he needed to know. He knew what she meant already. She had said her goodbyes. She wanted a new start, because he had hurt her too much for her to take him back just because he wanted to say a few words of apology. And if Hibari wanted her back, he would have to show her that she meant more than just a herbivore to him. That was his true challenge, and it was one that Hibari was willing to take up. After seeing her grave with his older self, after seeing the living, breathing proof of how broken he would actually become if he lost her forever, Hibari knew that he had to get her back by his side. The only problem is that apologizing is not an option for him. Hibari knew that he wouldn't have said those two damned words anyway.

He's too proud.

"Oya, oya. What are you doing to my tropical fruit punch?"

Kumiko stirred it with a determined expression on her face. She picked up a slice of lemon, squeezed the juice into the drink and then continued stirring. She added a few more ingredients, including a pack of sugar, some orange juice, a mushed up, pulpy chunk of pineapple and blended guava, before passing it back to the waiting Mukuro.

Mukuro had decided to keep a close eye on her, because of Envy being able to come out of Chrome any moment. They decided to stay in a twin suite, where there are two rooms but it's connected by a door. Of course, since this whole amusement park is built on the money that Mafioso's earn through their trade, everything is ten times more luxurious than what you would find in a normal five-star hotel. They had their own kitchen, own bathroom, floor to ceiling windows of the view of the whole island. Everything, from the curtains to the television to even opening the fridge, is controlled by a small remote control. The television has every single channel available, including the CIA top secret broadcasts, much to Mukuro's amusement.

They were currently sitting together in the kitchen, Mukuro taking a perch on the bar and Kumiko mixing him a tropical fruit punch. All the ingredients were delivered right to their hotel room as soon as they call room service, and everything is free of charge because Tsuna is the Vongola Don, which means that he basically owns this whole resort. Of course, while Tsuna is still trying to get his head wrapped around that fact, Reborn is already training him to act the part. The poor Vongola Decimo is currently running laps around the whole resort with his faithful right hand man, as well as the noisy boxer. Mukuro chuckled. This is one of the rare times that he is actually thankful for having joined Sawada Tsunayoshi's rag tag gang of tenth generation Mafia.

"Done..." She whispered. Mukuro noted with the proud air of a parent whose toddler had just started to walk that her pronunciation is getting better with every word she spoke. It really is true that she was a quick learner, and Mukuro is strangely prideful of that fact.

Kumiko finished off the fruit punch with a cute little umbrella and cherry, stabbing the umbrella into an unsuspecting, floating piece of pineapple. Mukuro winced slightly, not sure if she had done so deliberately to taught him or had done so in her unknowing, innocent way. She passed the drink over, smiling at him widely and clasping her hands together, as if awaiting the judgement of a seasoned food taster. Due to the fact that their game of tic-tac-toe had been interrupted by one annoying Skylark, the two had agreed on a mutual punishment game. Mukuro could make one request, and then Kumiko could make a request, and this would continue on for the whole day until exactly 8 pm at night.

Mukuro raised the concoction to his nose and took a sniff of the liquid warily. It smelled really fruity, which was not at all a bad thing. At least she didn't inherit the very deadly skills of one poison scorpion, who had tagged along just so that she could stay close to her 'beloved Reborn'. Mukuro sipped at the fruit punch cautiously. It tasted fine...very pineapply, but he didn't have any problems with pineapples anyway.

It was when he took a big swig of the drink that he realized...maybe Kumiko did inherit Bianchi's skills after all. It tasted terrible. The tastes collided in his mouth, giving the whole drink an overall bitter and sour taste. The orange that she had used was overripe, slightly rotting. The lemon was over juicy yet underripe, giving it the bitter, sour taste. And the sugar had made the whole thing start to taste artificial and fake, almost like eating a plastic, fruit fondue cake. Mukuro pressed a hand over his mouth and resisted the urge to gag, because Kumiko was right in front of him, looking impossibly proud at her creation. He forced down a mouthful and tried to set the drink back on the table, silently promising himself that he would not ask her to cook anything anymore. Or at least make a drink that she didn't know how to make.

"Kufufu~ That tasted interesting." Her eyes travelled to his glass once more, and Mukuro grimaced slightly. She couldn't be expecting him to finish the whole cup, right? He winced when she eagerly offered him the drink of doom once more, and Mukuro had to gag down another mouthful. He had half a mind to tell the girl to taste her drink before she gave anything to him, but knowing her, she would take offense at such a comment and refuse to play the punishment game all together.

Thankfully, Kumiko beamed and cleaned away the drink when the cup was only half emptied. Mukuro let out a barely audible sigh of relief, convinced that he had just narrowly escaped death through drink poisoning. He turned to send her a smile, and that's when she set a plate of freshly made pancakes in front of him.

Mukuro gulped. It's not that they don't look appetizing...

Hibari had ordered one pack of green tea for him to put in his cup, and they had come up with a whole box of the most finely farmed green tea leaves. With a sigh, Hibari had set about preparing his favorite drink in the whole world.

With his cup of freshly brewed green tea and a book in his hand, he started towards his bed. He didn't feel like doing anything, and he didn't feel like thinking about anything either. Hibari found that the best way for him to relax is for him to read a book and drink green tea. It's ironic, because this is how it all started. But then again, this is also going back to a routine lifestyle for him, and so Hibari found that he didn't really mind it that much.

"Hibari~"

Hibari had somehow managed to take Hibird with him. Though with his authority as Vongola Cloud guardian, it's not as if he couldn't take his beloved companion with him wherever he went. Hibird chirped happily and fluffed up his feathers, drifting down to land on his finger. Hibari absentmindedly started stroking Hibird's feathers, feeling comfort in the familiar softness and canary yellow.

"Hibari! Kumiko~ Hibari?"

Hibari sighed. He was proud of Hibird's intelligence, but there are some times when he simply wishes that the bird wasn't so perceptive. The little canary had it's head tilted slightly sideways, and was looking for Kumiko, who it acknowledges as it's master's possession almost as sure as it knew it himself belonged to Hibari. To Hibird, Kumiko was another one of master's pets, albeit one that he lavishes attention on constantly, and talks to more. Despite this, Hibird was too intelligent for petty jealousy, and had merely watched on the sidelines as his master's feelings became easier to deal with, and that the female herbivore, as his master so liked to refer to her as, was becoming really close friends with Hibari.

"Kumiko?"

Thus, Hibird would look for her, because Hibird knew that Kumiko being there would make his master happy. The sweet little bird was always looking for ways to make Hibari happy.

"She's gone."
Hibird tilted his head. As intelligent as the bird can get, it didn't understand the meaning of those words. "Find? Hibari find Kumiko?" And Hibari's heart was torn in half once more.

He glanced out the window, trying to block out the noise of the bird. Across his floor, through the floor to ceiling glass windows on the opposite side of the building, Hibari could make out a very Kumiko-like person walking around. He narrowed his eyes. He's seeing her everywhere, like a heartbroken herbivore. It disgusted him.

It was only until the Kumiko-like person was joined by a Mukuro-like person that Hibari realized that the apartment across from his is indeed Mukuro and Kumiko's shared twin suite. Mukuro came and went, slamming the connecting door and opening it again and again. The very fact that they were sharing a room, even though it was technically two rooms connected by a door, enraged him. She was getting so intimate with Mukuro already, almost as if she had planned to be dumped by him from the start, had planned to play with his heart and cause all these herbivorous emotions to emerge before dumping him for his arch enemy. IT almost seemed like a bad joke, or a bad dream.

"Kumiko~" Hibird chirped quietly, fluttering at the window. Kumiko turned her head in his direction, almost as if sensing the call. Their eyes met, and she blinked. No longer was there fear in her eyes. She seemed determined to keep her eyesight trained on his steely gray orbs, almost as if testing herself to hold her ground. There was that spark of unreasonable pride, shooting through Hibari's chest. The herbivore is learning from her mistakes. She's trying to overcome her fear of him.

After a few seconds, Mukuro sauntered into view once more. Hibari picked up the remote for the curtains and drew them across his windows. He didn't want to see what happened anymore.

It was Mukuro's turn, and it was his last go. Kumiko yawned and stretched her arms high above her head, turning to grab the handle of the connecting door. The two of them had made sure that their curtains were drawn, both for different reasons. Kumiko, because she didn't want to hurt Hibari any more than she had to, and Mukuro for his final request.

"Kumiko, I want to ask you something."

She knew what it was by the way his tone suddenly became serious. Mukuro hadn't had his heart in the game throughout the whole morning, occasionally giving jokey commands such as "Do a tap dance across the hallway." or "Star jump on the bed 60 times." Kumiko had known that he was preparing something big for the end, else he wouldn't have wasted his chances so much. In a way, the joking commands were either to tease her, or to get her more comfortable with him, or to decieve her into thinking that he wasn't going to ask anything serious of her.

"Look at me." He murmured, and Kumiko did. A punishment game is a punishment game, and there is nothing she can do about it, lest she makes herself seem like a cheater. Mukuro caught her gaze with his eyes, staring into her brown orbs solemnly.

"Go out with me. I've lik-..no. Loved you for quite a while now. Yes, loved. At first, I wasn't quite sure why I felt this way about you, but then I realized that I wanted you simply because you are beautiful, you are strong, and I want you to be mine. It wasn't that the Skylark had his eye on you first. I won't go to such petty levels to compete with him. It was the fact that I had been in love with you for quite some time now, and I didn't realize it until it was too late. It was the fact that whenever you got hurt, whenever you cried, I felt in pain as well. I want to love you properly, and I promise not to hurt you as Hibari has done. So please..." At this, his voice dropped a bit, almost to a raspy, desperate whisper. "Please. Give me a chance."

And then Kumiko realized that the punishment game was uneven, that she was missing her turn. So she responded with a simple two words, even though it made her feel slightly uncomfortable to say them. All she knew is that both she and Mukuro needed to hear it.

"Kiss me." She replied, her voice soft and sweet. She wanted this too, she reminded herself. Maybe Mukuro would help her heal her heart.

Mukuro wasted no time in complying.

A/N: Another update! YAY!

Sensei - Teacher

Thanks to those who reviewed...

Chapter 24: starish-sky, Kairi0403, Kei-sama18, Rotten Heresy and Chocolate, mirageseason132, ShizukaRen-Hime, xXBloodyIllusionXx, Bree Renee, Clair Kingsleigh

Chapter 25: VongolaViv, NairaxHibari, Clair Kingsleigh, LadyShinkukaze, Victoria Alyss Selene, xXBloodyIllusionXx, Musica Masaharu, , Noface, ShizukaRen-Hime, novellanite12.

Thanks so much for the show of support, guys, and I promise that I will get back to you directly through PM to thank you all individually, but right now I'm a bit busy, so some of you have gotten replies but some of you haven't. Sorry, and please know that I appreciate all your lovely comments!

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