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
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They went through the maze of hallways illuminated by dozens of candles, heading to the King's loge. The brunette gulped and rubbed his eyes. Actually he wasn't feeling that well as he told Haru and Kusakabe before. His head was spinning, eyes were kinda heavy and his whole body was a bit hot.
"Sawada, are you alright?" Kusakabe turned to him all of sudden.
"Huh? Y-yeah..." Tsuna muttered and forced a quick smile on his face. He saw Kusakabe shaking his head. "You don't have to pretend."
"...actually my head is spinning and my body feels a bit hot..." he confessed, feeling ashamed he tried to hide it from the Knight who must have been pretty nervous the whole time.
"Hmmm... It must be because you've lost so much blood, though it's a little weird that you feel hot." Kusakabe wondered and touched his forehead. "Your temperature is a bit higher, so I think your body is just exhausted. After this you'll have to lie down and rest a lot." he stated and Tsuna nodded.
'I doubt I'll be capable of doing anything after this...' he thought with a little laugh and followed Kusakabe. "By the way, Kusakabe-san, have you heard anything from the King?" the brunette asked quietly.
"I was with you the whole time so I don't know much. The King is waiting for us in his loge apparently together with the White queen, Alice, White knight and Hatter, but that's all I know."
'Hibari-san is together with Byakuran and Mukuro?!' Tsuna gulped, suddenly more nervous than before. 'This will be really nerve wrecking...'
After climbing four floors they finally reached the highest floor and at the end of the hall was door leading to the King's loge. Tsuna was surprised Hibari wanted to deal with this in the theater room but maybe it was because he didn't want anyone to see them going somewhere else than to the ball room again.
"Wait a minute, Sawada." Kusakabe mumbled and took out of his pocket small red key with dark red crystal. Tsuna's eyes widened. "That's an Universal key!" he gasped, shocked.
Universal key was the key that allowed its holder take him anywhere he wanted as long as there were doors on both sides. The catch was that using that key consumed a lot of mana but for the King or his Knight it was nothing.
Tsuna watched Kusakabe opening the door and leading him to the room he was never before. The walls were light brown with huge windows which offered a beautiful view on the sea. The ceiling was decorated with peaceful painting of the sky and in the middle was ordinary chandelier. The floor was covered by a big dark red carpet. Right when the brunette entered the room with wooden table with six chairs, he also managed to notice a wardrobe and bunch of paintings hanging on the walls before his eyes were captured by cold steel ones.
His mouth in that moment became instantly dry as he tried to gulp. The heartbeat quickened up and the air in the room got heavy. The rabbit stared at the skylark with eyes that told him how much he wanted to see him. It was strange... He knew he will see him but still when he actually saw him that very moment made his eyes teary.
The King watched Tsuna as a predator watches his prey. He tried to maintain his usual stoic glare but it was impossible when that adorable rabbit stood there in front of him.
"Leave us!" he growled at Kusakabe, who flinched and in an instant left them alone. Just after that Tsuna finally noticed one thing - they were alone.
'Huh? Why?' he wondered and glanced at Hibari who in the meantime slowly approached him. "Ano, my Ki-..I mean, Hibari-san!" he squeaked and was happy he corrected himself in time.
"What?" Hibari asked him but it looked like he wasn't actually listening to him as he was coming towards him. His eyes watching him, seemed as if they were looking somewhere deep inside of Tsuna. The brunette shuddered nervously. It made him nervous, this Hibari's complete attention.
"Ehm, why isn't anyone here?"
"They're not important."
"HEE?! But-" In that moment Hibari stopped right in front of him, covering his mouth with his hand. "Shut up!" he ordered him calmly and brunette's eyes widened by his sudden touch and order.
They stared into each other's eyes silently and slowly Hibari moved his fingers and brushed over Tsuna's lips, remembering their shape and pressing his thumb on them. Though they were so small and dry he still felt like kissing them. The same went for his round cute cheeks which were so pale right now and even his chocolate eyes which looked so tensed and tired. His short eyelashes, small nose, ruffled hair, droopy white ears, dry skin, unkept eyebrows - all of it was beautiful.
The skylark lifted his other hand, caressing the brunette gently as if he was about to break in front of him. He removed his hand from his lips and touched his ear. Tsuna couldn't shift his eyes from him so he just closed his eyes and enjoyed Hibari's touch. He felt his fingers on his eyelids and then on his forehead when suddenly something warm and smooth was pressed there.
Tsuna blinked when he realized Hibari was kissing him on his forehead but even though he felt a bit embarrassed he also felt at ease. He felt like he was being protected as one of Hibari's arm hugged him and closed the space between them while the other one held his face and his thumb was caressing him constantly.
It was so romantic and warm when they were like this. Tsuna closed his eyes again and hugged Hibari back. He couldn't think at all in that moment so he just absorbed skylark's warmth and touch. The King was the same - he wanted to remember this small little animal, his figure, the smallest details about him, everything. When he saw him being hurt he knew it wasn't mortal. He knew the rabbit will survive but that sight still made him anxious to the point where when he saw him entering the room he couldn't think straight anymore and just wanted to assure he was really there with him. That he really stood there, alive and healthy.
He sighed and inhaled Tsuna's scent. He smelled blood, some weird plants and fortunately rabbit's own scent though it was weak now. Finally after a while he distanced himself a bit, glaring at the brunette. "Are you alright?"
Tsuna looked up at him, still a little out of it. He looked down and wondered if he should lie. 'I bothered him so much already. Should I really tell him I'm not feeling well?'
"Tsunayoshi, don't even dare to lie to me." Hibari warned him with eyes cold as two crystals, making the brunette shiver. Tsuna gulped and decided it would be the best to tell him. "...I'm alright but I'm still feeling a bit sick..."
"You're right that your temperature is higher than usual." the King muttered more like to himself. "I'm going to take you to my bedroom later but now there's something we must discuss."
'Hibari-san's bedroom!' Tsuna shouted internally and blushed when he imagined the whole situation.
The skylark carefully seated him on one chair and sat next him. "What do you want to discuss, Hibari-san?" the brunette asked when he came back from his dreamland.
Hibari sighed again and suddenly the atmosphere changed from warm one to cold and tensed. Tsuna flinched and glanced at him, surprised when he saw his whole expression regressed to stoic and quite angered one. What happened? Did he do something wrong? The King watched him quietly for a few seconds before finally speaking up. "When did you intend to tell me about your meeting with Time?"
Tsuna froze, overcame by shock. 'He knows... Hibari-san knows! How?!' he panicked and quickly thought about ways the skylark could find out but it was pointless. 'WAAA! What should I do?!'
"...w-what are you talking about?" the brunette muttered, avoiding Hibari's eyes.
"Didn't I tell you not to lie to me?" Hibari asked him with dangerous cold expression. "Don't play dumb and spit it out!"
"..." the rabbit remained silent for a moment, still thinking chaotically about a way how to get out of this situation but deep down he knew he had no other choice than to tell him. "...I...it happened during the night we slept over at the mansion of Others..."
"Continue." Hibari growled.
"How do you know about it?" Tsuna asked him instead but still didn't dare to look at him.
"That's none of your concern!" the King emitted aura so cold it felt like the temperature in room dropped. 'He's really angry!' Tsuna flinched and trembled. 'How much does he know? Everything or only the fact that I met Time?'
"Why are you so angry, Hibari-san?" He gulped when he heard the skylark clicked his tongue. None of them said anything for a while but in the end it was the brunette who spoke first. "I don't understand..." he frowned and clenched his fists. "You never tell me anything! You just expect me to understand but if you don't tell me I won't since I'm so stupid..."
His quiet complain stayed unanswered. His frustration and fear of not knowing anything made him say those things. Tsuna thought of everything that happened between them - his one-sided affection, Hibari's strange nice behavior towards him, their kiss, Hibari's concern about him, the night spent with him and now this. The brunette seriously hoped that he was getting closer to him but he was still confused. What all of that meant? Was it possible that Hibari liked him the same way he likes him? Or is he just being nice? Is it even possible for the King falling in love with a lowly useless rabbit?
Hibari watched the brunette and couldn't help but being irritated. What's his problem? How come he's angry now? He's in no place to be angry! Not after he hid from him something so important. He clicked his tongue again and felt like biting the rabbit to death but didn't do so because he knew the little animal wasn't feeling well...
"You certainly are stupid if you don't get why am I angry now."
Tsuna flinched and finally looked at him. He saw that the skylark was annoyed, furious and there was something else he couldn't name. "...well I've just told you, no?" he mumbled quietly.
"That's true..." Hibari couldn't help but smirk when he saw how cute was his little animal again. Seriously how did he do it that he always lifted his mood just by being with him? He sighed but he didn't sound annoyed. "You angered me by not telling me what happened that night."
"I-..I didn't want to bother you..."
"You're not bothering me."
"I'm not? But-..." Tsuna looked down again and felt tears in his eyes. "Why? Why are being so nice to me? Why did you kiss me back then in the garden? Why did you let me sleep in your room?"
Hibari wasn't saying anything so Tsuna took a deep breath and asked him the last question that bothered him the most. "...why didn't you answer me?" he said with awfully quiet voice, letting tears wetting his cheeks. He wanted to know how Hibari felt about him but since he didn't tell him anything since he confessed during the night in the White palace, he started to fear that there was nothing between them to begin with.
His body was shaking because of his sobbing but then the skylark finally spoke up. "I didn't take that confession seriously."
...
"HIEEE?! What do you mean?" Tsuna yelled.
"Oi, don't shout. It's annoying." Hibari frowned and sighed. "I didn't take it seriously because you haven't confessed to me properly."
"Wha-what do you mean by that?!"
"If you want my serious answer then don't confess to me while half-sleeping already." the skylark growled and narrowed his eyes. "Such a halfassed confession isn't even confession."
'Wow... Is Hibari-san actually a bit pissed off about it? Well it's true that even I wasn't sure if it really happened...' the brunette thought and rubbed his head nervously. 'I took everything so seriously and focused on being good enough for Hibari-san that after everything was over I totally did a sloppy job on actual confession...'
Tsuna took a deep breath and stood up. His body was still shaking because of previous sobs, his heart beat crazily and he was extremely nervous. He was still afraid of rejection but it was better than knowing nothing or false hope.
"Hibari-san... I-... love you..." he whispered and gulped. "I can't say since when... It seems to me like an eternity. Like I've loved you since you picked me up, showed me the garden for the first time and offered me work. I never intended to tell you. I thought I'll keep it to myself forever but then after Dino-san came here I realized I loved you too much to just sit and do nothing anymore. I wanted to be worth you since you told me you didn't want someone weak by your side so I fought in Dei Mei Regis."
The rabbit breathed in and his eyes were flooded with tears again. "I know I'm no good, ordinary, useless and not much stronger after that fight. But even so I wanted to tell you!"
Tears overflowed and he sniffed and sobbed weakly. He really wasn't feeling well, actually he felt like puking and curling to a ball but he didn't want to. 'I have to finish it!'
"I love your cold eyes that can be warmer than fire, your rare smile, your strong arms and gentle hands, your long fingers, your way of walking and moving, your habit of looking down on others, your yawning and napping and even your cruelty... I ..love you, ..Hibari-san!"
Tsuna couldn't look at him any longer. He watched his blurry toes through his tears when suddenly he felt a hand holding his jaw and lifting his head gently. Hibari stared at his red face, swollen eyes and running nose. He smirked and shook his head. "Wao, I certainly didn't expect such a long monologue."
"...w-well ...I'm ..sorry..." the brunette sobbed. In that moment Hibari bent down to him and remembered how confused he was when he discovered these strange feelings. Who would ever expect back then he would find this kind of answer to it. He smiled and whispered his answer to Tsuna's ear, which triggered a storm of loud sobbing and laughing.
〜 〜 〜
Hiya! ^^ wao, you surprised me so much with that many comments xD I'm not surprised some of you want to see Mukuro and Byakuran bitten to death. And I literally burst into laughter after reading Kuroyne's mental image of Tsuna :DD
I'm so glad you like this fanfic :)) thank you for your support!
Anyway I hope you liked this chapter packed with 1827 :3 you were waiting for it so I tried my best to make it sweet ^^
Well hope to see you later~