Characters:

Tsuna - White Rabbit

Hibari - King of Hearts

Kusakabe - Knight of Hearts

Gokudera - Tweedle Dee

Yamamoto - Tweedle Dum

Shamal - caterpillar Absolem

Hana, Kyoko - chefs in the Red palace

Haru - gardener

Reborn - Cheshire Cat

Dino - Alice

Mukuro - Mad Hatter

Chrome - Mice Mallymkun

Ken and Chikusa - Hares

Varia - the Royal guards of Hearts

Vindice - the Others

Six Funeral Wreaths - the White Royal guards

Yuni - White queen

Byakuran - White knight

Checker face - Time

Ryohei - Captain of the palace guards

Bianchi, I-pin - chefs in the White palace

Lambo - gardener

〜 〜 〜

Urge to just slaughter everyone in the room was stronger by every minute he wasted sitting there. He was angry. No that was too weak. He was furious, so furious that just look at those stupid ignorant herbivores irritated him more and more. Their smiles, their applause, their chatting - he hated it.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, his mind was full of what just happened. They hurt him. His cute little animal was hurt by those bastards. Do they have any idea what is he going to do to them? He will bit them to death, kill them mercilessly, make them suffer, destroy them, he will do anything just to let out this thick anger that ate his insides.

He barely stopped himself from leaving. Though he could only see red, his self-control and sense of responsibility stopped him. He knew too damn well what was at stake and why did his rabbit do that. Keeping that in mind he decided to wait. He wasn't normally like that. Normally he would just go and kill them no matter what and without waiting for anything. He wasn't very patient kind of person but knowing the reason for rabbit's behavior, he just sat there and drowned in hatred.

His little animal wanted to make this ball perfect and surely he would cry if he were to ruin it now, so he will wait, but just until the end of this damn play. Then he will enjoy their deaths to the fullest.

The King let out his breath and closed his eyes for a while to regain bits of his cool. He glanced at Dino and expected to see anger too. After all they endangered his play too but what he saw wasn't anger in his eyes but something different and it surprised him to the extent that he forgot his hatred for a half of a second. Shock, disbelief, confusion and desperation. All of this was written on Dino's face.

It was in this moment that the skylark found out his suspicions were right. He suspected that the rabbit was hiding something from him but he didn't think it was something big till now. He intended to ask him later after the ball cause he thought it wasn't too important but when he saw Dino's expression he knew instantly that he was missing something very crucial. Something he should've known sooner, something that triggered all of this - Tsunayoshi's strange behavior, his sudden strength and resolve.

He looked at the stage again and his eyes became even darker. There was way more to this the whole time and if he wasn't so ignorant he would've known long ago. Now he felt like killing everyone in the room more than ever just to let out the steam a bit.

The King sighted and couldn't wait for the play to end. He will get everything out of that blonde idiot immediately and then with no more waiting he will slaughter those two bastards. He didn't care what will Yuni think after he kills her Knight, he didn't care what will people think when he will force them out of his palace, all of that was minor to him. What mattered was his little animal. The skylark had no idea when did his feelings towards the brunette grow so much and it was pointless to think about it anymore. No one will touch his cute rabbit and if they do they'll pay dearly, cause that rabbit, Sawada Tsunayoshi, was his and his only.

〜 〜 〜

"Ok! I'm done! Tsuna-san! Can you hear me?"

"Shouldn't we let him sleep?"

"No! Though I would like to we can't because the plant I used in order to close his wounds is actually very dangerous. It's a double-edged sword - it heals very quickly but if the patient were to fall asleep there's a very high possibility he wouldn't wake up again..."

While the brunette was listening to their distant voices, he tried to open his eyes. He saw both Haru and Kusakabe standing next to him as he lied down on the large table. Chill ran through his body when he realized his chest was naked. 'Gosh, this is embarrassing...' he thought and slowly moved his legs towards the edge of the table.

"Sawada! What are you doing?" Kusakabe yelled at him when he noticed his sudden movements. Tsuna glanced at him and gulped to clear his throat a bit. He was terribly thirsty and quite cold.

"...I j-just wanted to-..to sit..." he muttered, trying to support himself with his trembling arms.

"Tsuna-san, just take it slowly!" Haru immediately wrapped one arm around him while the other one kept prepared just in case Tsuna would fall. The rabbit heard Kusakabe sigh but in the end he helped him too. "Do you need anything?" she asked him with caring eyes.

He smiled weakly and nodded. "Y-yeah...I'm a bi-..t thirsty..."

"I'll get you some water right away!"

Tsuna watched her as she was looking for some glass or cup and tried to get his thoughts together. He was still out of it. Unable to understand what happened he glanced at his body and his eyes widened, when he saw his chest covered in bandages. He paled when he remembered his blood flying in the air seconds before splattering on the floor. This was new and very terrifying experience for him. 'I've never been injured like that in my life...'

"Are you alright, Sawada?" the Knight asked him suddenly. Tsuna flinched and forced a grin on his white face. "Oh, y-yes."

"Really? Don't hesitate to tell us if there's anything wrong."

The rabbit only managed to nod and accept a weird-looking cup full of water from Haru. "I'm sorry for giving you this ugly cup but I'm afraid there's nothing better than that..."

"It's ok, Haru. I don't mind at all! Thank you." Tsuna said after he drank everything. He felt a lot better but he was awfully tired. He looked at them and smiled at them again, feeling unbelievably grateful to them. "Thank you Haru, Kusakabe-san. If it wasn't for you I would be dead for sure."

"Waa! Tsuna-san is so thankful! Stop it! You make me blush! It was nothing!" Haru squeaked, holding her flushed cheeks.

Kusakabe glanced at Haru and shook his head. He sighed and looked back at Tsuna. "What you've done was very reckless. You got yourself injured so badly and made everyone worried. It was very irresponsible and foolish of you." he frowned at the brunette, who looked down, feeling guilty when he thought how must his colleagues felt when they saw him like that.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered.

"Hey! Don't say such bad things about Tsuna-san!" Haru shouted angrily and wanted to defend Tsuna some more but the Knight didn't give her an opportunity.

"I didn't say anything that would be out of place but I forgot to say one more thing." Kusakabe said and his stoic face suddenly crumbled into an ashamed grimace. "I'm sorry too, Sawada. If I were to do my task as I was supposed to none of that would happen. I failed and disappointed you, Haru, servants and my King..." The last word wasn't almost heard when he uttered it with difficulty.

In that moment he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He looked up only to see Tsuna's calm eyes. "That's not true, Kusakabe-san. You haven't disappointed anyone. You've done your best and unfortunately it just didn't work as we thought it would, that's all."

"Tsuna-san is right! Don't blame yourself!" Haru grinned happily.

"Even if you say that the King won't see it like that. He ordered me to stop the fight and I wasn't able to do anything." he sighed with saddened look. He was really disappointed in himself. It was his job to settle things down or at least make it happen without any casualties but instead he didn't do anything and let the rabbit get hurt. "Kyo-san must be furious..." he mumbled.

"Then let's just go together and apologize."

"Huh?!" Kusakabe looked at Tsuna again, caught off guard by his words. "Apologize?" he muttered still surprised.

"Yep, we should just apologize to everyone. To Yuni-chan, Dino-san and Hibari-san for making them worry. They will probably be angry but in the end they will be happy to see us again." the brunette stated and smiled to himself when he remembered the skylark. "I'm sure Hibari-san will understand so don't worry Kusakabe-san."

The Knight stared at him and then a faint smiled appeared on his face too. "You're really something, Sawada." he said, shaking his head.

〜 〜 〜

After changing into new clothes Haru brought him, they went back to the theater room together. The play was at its end when they finally came. Fortunately nothing went wrong after Tsuna was taken to the infirmary. The audience was satisfied and stood up to go back to the ball room.

The brunette let out relieved sigh and looked at his colleagues with delighted face. When they saw him everyone quickly ran to him and asked him about his health but luckily Tsuna was spared from explaining them everything because Kusakabe told them everything.

"Anyway now that you see Sawada's alright I need you to keep quiet about what happened during the play. It was part of the play, do you understand what I mean?" the Knight looked at each servant and satisfied with their response, ordered them to clean up.

"Now we just have to confront the King..." Kusakabe muttered gloomily. Tsuna nodded but somehow he wasn't afraid at all. On the contrary he felt really at ease. He didn't die and Dino was alright too, there was no problem with the play and the ball together with the play was saved.

"I'll go with you, Tsuna-san!" Haru shouted with resolved but still a bit worried eyes. The brunette glanced at her and smiled at her, trying to look as much alright as he could. "It's ok, Haru. I think it would be better if I went alone."

She stared at him with doubtful look but then Kusakabe appeared next to the brunette. "You don't have to worry. I'll be with him."

"But..."

"Don't worry, Haru. Just trust me, ok? There's nothing that can happen to me now." Tsuna put the most reassuring tone to his voice he was capable of. Though he still wasn't feeling well he truly believed there was no threat anymore. He and Dino survived! They beat up their fate and this thought filled him with feeling of victory and pride.

"...alright. But don't move too rashly, so that your wounds won't open!" Haru ordered him, clearly dissatisfied she wasn't allowed to go. Tsuna nodded and couldn't help himself but smile happily. He was just so glad that everything worked out in the end that he almost forgot what was awaiting him. Hibari's wrath, Dino's disappointment, Yuni's sadness - all of those feelings and then there was also Mukuro and Byakuran...

'It won't be easy but the most important thing is that I'll see them all again.' he thought and glanced at Haru with eyes that were completely unable to show how much thankful he was to her. If it wasn't for her he would be dead... "Haru!" he called out to her before leaving.

"Hai, Tsuna-san?"

"You are really amazing!" he grinned at her red face and wide open shocked mouth and eyes. Leaving her like that he earned Kusakabe's stoic stare. "You're quite a heartbreaker..." he stated with a bit amused tone.

"HEEE?! I-..I didn't mean it like that at all!"

"Hmmm..."

"Kusakabe-san! I really-.."

"I know." Kusakabe interrupted him suddenly but didn't look at him. Hearing brunette's loud relieved sigh, he smiled to himself. 'I know too well who's in your heart.' he thought and caught himself thinking that Alice wasn't the one for the King from the beginning.

〜 〜 〜

Hiya! ^^ so Tsuna survived but Hibari's kinda on edge :D well next chapter will be even better so don't worry ;)

Thank you all for your support so far :)) hope you'll stay until the end~