Kyandi: PFFT!
Roksana: She's currently still dying of laughter from reviews.
Kyandi:...I can't breathe!
Roksana: Then stop laughing! You've been laughing for close to seventeen hours!
Kyandi: But the reviews are hilarious! Calling Byakuran a marshmallow addict!
Roksana: If only your readers knew...
Kyandi: Shush! No spoilers. Instead...let's talk about Gokudera dressed as a girl!
Roksana: You're still on those reviews?
Kyandi: And I will be until something funnier gets posted! I love my readers!
Roksana: Can we just move on?
Kyandi: Oh, fine! Everyone, enjoy and review. Please more funny reviews, please more funny review!
Roksana: ...Kyandi-sama does not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
Kyandi: Oh, a bit of a warning...you guys are about to get a nice shocking reveal and Hibari might be a little OC, but I hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 29 Proof
Roksana was...dead.
Of all of the people Tsuna could have pictured being dead in the future, Roksana was not one of them. Before Tsuna could ask any questions, though, to try to find out what had happened, Hibari scooped up the unconscious Roksana, and turned his back on Tsuna. Kusakabe promised to explain later. For the time being, he handed over Gokudera and Yamamoto's rings to Lal so she could take them away, to lure away Byakuran's men who had, no doubt, zeroed in on the flames of the rings when the two boys used them.
Once that was done, Hibari and Kusakabe revealed that the entrance to their own hideout, was right there at the shrine. Hibari entered first, carrying Roksana while Tsuna and Kusakabe followed, Gokudera and Yamamoto draped on their backs. Hibari quickly vanished with Roksana. Kusakabe assured Tsuna that she would be alright with Hibari, though the look on his face, and past experience with Hibari and Roksana, told Tsuna that that just might not be the case.
Apparently, Hibari, in the last ten years, had started something called the Foundation, which still worked with Nami Jr. High's Disciplinary Committee. The organization worked mostly on research of the boxes, Hibari traveling the world to find out more about them. Their base, is seems, had been connected to the Vongola base the whole time, but due to Hibari's hatred of having others around, there had been a strict, no trespassing rule and the door between the two base had gone completely unused.
Kusakabe helped Tsuna take Yamamoto and Gokudera to the infirmary, both boys' injuries being seen to. Thankfully, neither were too badly injured. Tsuna though, felt like things couldn't get any worse. Yes, they had found Hibari, and Roksana had joined them, but both Yamamoto and Gokudera had been hurt in a fight, and they had found out that Roksana's future self was dead.
Reborn, seeing that Tsuna was depressed, had told him that he shouldn't worry, that after a crisis always came good news. That turned out to be more true than Tsuna would think. Giannini showed up then to tell Tsuna had Fuuta and Bianchi had returned. Hearing that Reborn was there, Bianchi quickly found her way to her brother's infirmary room, where Hibari, Tsuna, Reborn, and Giannini were gathered. The woman instantly tackled Reborn.
Tsuna was revealed to see the two alive and well, but the relief only lasted a short moment before Hibari, feeling way too crowded in the room, threatened to bite Tsuna to death if anymore people crowded into the room. By that point, Lal had returned with Kyoko and Hibari decided he had better things, or a better person, to see to, and left, leaving Kusakabe to exchange information in his place.
Only after Hibari hit Tsuna anyway.
Tsuna, Reborn, Bianchi, Fuuta, Lal, Giannini, and Kusakabe gathered in a living room of sorts after that.
"Let me start with Hibird. We set it to flight due to a request from Kurokawa Hana." Kusakabe told them.
"Kurokawa Hana?!" Tsuna asked, surprised that it had been at a request of Kyoko's best friend.
"That's right. A request from Kurokawa to rescue Sasagawa Kyoko. When we receive a SOS from a channel pre-arranged with the Vongola, we would release Hibird to fly to the scene." Kusakabe told him.
"Why use such an unusual method?" Tsuna asked.
"It's a back-up system for sending a distress signal." Lal told him.
"Yes. That's right. When normal communication methods have been cut off, we would use this. It's one of over ten back-up methods of sending a SOS. We got the idea from how, after Kyo-san first got Hibird, Roksana-sama would use the little guy to send messages to Kyo-san just to see his reaction." Kusakabe said, smiling fondly as he recalled the memory.
"But, why did the SOS signal disappear at the Shrine?" Giannini asked.
"That's a little embarrassing. The contact point with the battery was faulty." Kusakabe admitted.
"So, what is your organization about?" Reborn asked.
"To put it simply, we're a secret underground foundation formed from the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori Jr. High." Kusakabe replied.
"You're still related to the Disciplinary Committee!?" Tsuna squeaked.
"I've heard about this from Tsuna-nii, too. Under the Foundation, Hibari-san had been traveling all over the world to research and investigate the boxes." Fuuta said.
"The boxes...?" Tsuna asked.
"Please ask Kyo-san directly for anything more on that. Kyo-san is intending to stay around for a while." Kusakabe told him.
"Really!? That's very reassuring! Though... I have a feeling that's only because Roksana's now here." Tsuna remarked.
Kusakabe didn't deny it.
"He probably won't be leaving his room for a while if he has her in there." Bianchi remarked.
Kusakabe definitely didn't deny that.
"That's all I have to report." he said instead, Bianchi and Fuuta laughing.
"Then, it's our turn." Bianchi said.
"We've been gathering information on the Millefiore stationed in Japan." Fuuta added. "The Millefiore have a total of seventeen squads, but among them, there are only six captains or Rank A and above. Furthermore, out of the six, two are currently in Japan."
"That must be Gamma and Irie Shouichi." Lal remarked.
"That's right. This is definitely unusual. Something very crucial here has gotten their attention. That's still a mystery." Fuuta confirmed.
"That's terrible!" Tsuna remarked.
"But, we also have good news. We've located the entrance to the enemy's hideout." Bianchi told them, much to their surprise.
"It was right under our noses and we missed it. Like us, they're underneath Namimori. It's the Namimori Station Underground Shopping Mall." Fuuta told them.
"Th-the station has an underground?" Tsuna asked.
"The construction began ten years ago, and was completed three years ago." Fuuta told him.
It was only then that Tsuna remembered Haru saying something about the underground shopping mall on the day he had been sent to the future.
"This information is of great significance. With this, we can carry out an attack." Lal said.
"A-attack!? But...but everyone's still injured." Tsuna exclaimed.
"Indeed. In our current condition, we have no chance of success. On the other hand, the enemy must also be trying their best to find this hideout and finish us off." Reborn said. "In other words, it's a competition to see which side can recover first to launch an attack. And, the key to victory lies in how strong all of you can get within a short period of time."
It was a lot to put on Tsuna's shoulders, but he had already known that things were going to be rough for them.
Over the next two weeks, while the others healed, Tsuna continue to train. Every day he would try to check on Roksana, but, according to Kusakabe, Hibari was keeping the girl pretty sedated, trying to give the girl time to sleep and recover, since she still had been healing from some injuries from the whole rings battle with the Varia when she had come to the future. Hibari, it seemed, was well aware that if he didn't keep her sedated until she healed, she would only hurt herself again trying to attack him for kissing her.
At least the man was aware that he was in for trouble when she finally woke up.
On the twelfth day, Kusakabe left the base, saying he had something he had to go pick up for Hibari that Hibari wanted to show to Roksana when she woke up.
On day thirteen, Hibari took Roksana off the sedatives he was using on her as Yamamoto and Gokudera rejoined Tsuna in training, Reborn telling them that he was taking over Yamamoto's training while Bianchi was taking over her brother's training. It was also revealed that Lal would no longer be training Tsuna, but Hibari would be taking her place.
Hibari wasted no time and getting down to business, claiming he had a time limit for the day and Tsuna wasn't going to mess it up. He made quick work of trapping Tsuna in an airtight orb made from his Cloud flame, telling Tsuna that if he didn't hurry and find a way out, he would suffocate to death. The whole thing was a trail to force Tsuna to the brink of death to see if he could inherit the "proof of the Vongola".
Though Yamamoto and Gokudera were concerned for Tsuna, they had their own training to get to and were forced to leave with their respective trainers.
Tsuna pushed the time limit to the very end, but like always, he managed to power through, passing the trail and breaking free of Hibari's sphere with a new version of the X-gloves in hand. Though he had just passed the trail, Hibari, itching for a fight truly worth fighting, wasted no time in challenging Tsuna.
Tsuna found out quickly that the future Hibari was even more frightening than the one from the past. Even with speed fast enough to make Tsuna look like he had vanished, Hibari still managed to keep up and land blow after blow. Trying to save himself from another blow, Tsuna was quickly confronted with the fact that the new version of his gloves responded to his flames and will differently than the old version. If he wanted to control it, he was going to have to learn how to use the gloves all over again.
Until then, he would have to fight with his wits.
Using his flames to close in on Hibari, Tsuna took a counter attack directly to the face.
"I'm disappointed in you. I have no interest in weakly herbivores. I don't feel like engaging you directly. I'll use the box..."
Hibari cut off as he reached for his box, only to find it missing. Turning to face Tsuna, who was laying on the ground, he found that, in the middle of his counter attack against Tsuna, the boy had snagged his box off him.
A box Tsuna then used against him.
The hedgehog came flying out of the box like it had just been launched out of a rocket launcher. A grin curled Hibari's lips as he revealed that he had more than just one hedgehog box on him. Two hedgehogs, one fueled by an orange flame and the other by a purple flame, collided, cancelling each other out.
"I've change my mind. I want to fight you when you're stronger. Until then, I'll stick around a little longer." Hibari declared, deciding to share with them how the boxes came to be.
Apparently, the original designer of the boxes, had no support for the project and died without ever seeing it come to fruition. It wasn't until a long time after his death, that three inventors took over, using flames to over come many of the technological issues they faced with the boxes. Eventually, two of the three inventors died and the third sold off their invention to the mafia, thus how they came to be in the hands of many mafia members.
Apparently though, the reason behind their creation...had been a pure coincidence.
Which wasn't the shocking part. No, it was the amount and frequency of those "coincidences" that was unusual. And that was what had lead Hibari to research them. With that mystery now stuck in Tsuna's head, Hibari turned to leave, leaving the training until the next day, just as Yamamoto arrived.
He didn't get far, though.
"Jackass!"
Hibari turned, Tsuna squealing out a mix of fear and surprise, when a pair of handcuffs hit Hibari right in the face. Tsuna knew that displeased tone and well placed aim. Turning towards the door, they found Roksana standing there. Sometime since she had arrived at the base, she had been changed into a simple, clean, pale violet, sleeveless night gown. Her hair was loose about her, she was barefoot, and she didn't look at all pleased.
"How dare you do that to me!" Roksana hissed as Hibari caught the handcuffs, looking just as displeased as her about having them thrown at him.
Hibari looked down at the broken handcuffs before looking back up at Roksana.
"I was sure that lock and these handcuffs would hold until I was ready to explain." Hibari remarked more to himself.
"You handcuffed her and locked her up!?" Tsuna squeaked.
"You bastard!" Roksana snapped. None of them could help but notice that, in her anger, her accent was thicker. "Why the hell did you lock me up! Why the hell did you kiss me?! And don't think I can't tell that you drugged me as well!"
"I take that to mean we aren't yet in that kind of relationship in your era." Hibari remarked idly.
"And we never will!" Roksana snapped.
Hibari's eyes shifted past Roksana, to the door as Kusakabe came through the door, carrying the very thing that Hibari had sent him out to get. As Kusakabe bent to set his cargo on the ground, Hibari turned his eyes back to Roksana.
"Yet, she's still here." Hibari said.
"'She'? Who? What are you talking about?" Roksana demanded.
Before Hibari could answer and explain to her what he had been putting off explaining to her, a loud, cheerful cry rang out.
"Daddy!"
"Daddy?!"
Roksana turned as a little girl darted past her, making a run for Hibari. Roksana and her friends froze on the spot as Hibari bent, easily scooping up the child, who instantly threw her arms around his neck with a cry of, "I missed you, Daddy!".
Roksana, still in shock, stared at the child.
The girl looked to be anywhere from six to eight with thick, black hair pulled into short pigtails much like the ones Roksana usually wore, Roksana's nose, and big eyes of pale blue-purple. The rest of her facial features were purely Hibari's.
"D-daddy?!" Roksana blurted out, her brain still trying to process what this meant.
The little girl turned to look at Roksana, blinking her doe-eyed orbs at her. Turning, she raised one little hand and whispered behind it. Though, in the room, her voice still echoed back to the others.
"Daddy, who's that? She looks like that picture of Mama from middle school." the child said.
"This is your mother. Remember that 10-Year Bazooka?" Hibari told the child.
"Oh! That's Mama from before I was born!" the girl exclaimed, smiling brightly.
"Wait a minute!" All eyes turned to Roksana, who was trying to process everything, her eyes as big around as saucers. "You and I...that girl is...I..."
Roksana couldn't finish a single sentence. It was probably the first time any of her friends had seen her come anywhere close to a melt down mode. Just seeing her like that, put a grin on Hibari's face.
"You once said that you would be content enough to stay at home and raise children. I merely took your words at face value. You were a little angry, at first, when you discovered you were pregnant, but you got over it." Hibari replied. "This is our daughter, Ryoka."
Ryoka grinned brightly, wiggling until her father sat her back on her feet. She ran across the room, running smack bad into Roksana to throw her little arms around one of Roksana's legs. Looking up at Roksana, Ryoka smiled brightly.
"Hi, Mama!"
Roksana about keeled over then and there. Out of all the fights she had been in with Hibari, out of all of the tricks he had pulled and trump cards he had played, this was, by far, the best one. It was an instantly KO, she was done. Her friends could sse the fight start to drain from her shoulders, but then Roksana's mind picked up on something else and she recovered quickly.
"Hello, little one." Roksana pulled the girl back and knelt in front of her, putting them on eye level. "Tell me, sweetie...how old are you?"
Roksana had a good idea why her future self had been angry upon finding out about her pregnancy and it had nothing to do with the baby.
"I'm eight! I'll be nine in two months!" Ryoka said brightly.
Roksana quickly did the math. They were currently exactly nine years and ten months in the future. On her way to find Hibari, she had come across Haru and Kyoko, who had told her that. In two months it would be exactly ten years and Ryoka would be exactly nine. That meant...
One year.
One year from her present day, she would be a mother, which meant he got her pregnant two to three months from her present day.
Now she knew why her future self had been pissed.
"Someone tak Ryoka from the room, please." Roksana said then, an icy touch to her tone.
Ryoka gave Roksana a concerned look, but Roksana gave her a smile and assured her that all would be fine, making the child smile when she pat her on the head. Kusakabe took the child by the hand and lead her out of the room. Roksana stood to her feet as the door closed behind the two. When she was sure they were gone, Roksana turned on Hibari.
"Care to explain how you managed to get me pregnant when I wasn't even out of middle school yet!? Because I know it wasn't willing on my behalf." Roksana hissed darkly.
Hibari said nothing in reply. He merely stood there, staring at her. His silence, though, was only fueling her anger. After all she had been through since being shot with the 10-Year Bazooka, she had having a very hard time keeping her usual cool.
Only Hibari knew how to rattle her so badly.
"Say something!" she snapped.
"Anything I say will only anger you more." he replied.
"So you did force me!"
"Regardless of what I did and didn't do, you fully embraced the idea of being a mother." Hibari told her. "You loved that little girl even before she was born. They only thing you disagreed with was the ownership."
"Ownership?" Roksana repeated.
At this, with a smirk on his face, Hibari pointed to collar bones. A bad feeling building in her gut, Roksana looked down, pulling open the neck line of her night gown. There, on her collar bones, was a dark, vivid mark, too dark to be missed, even at a glance. Yamamoto and the others instantly backed away from Roksana as her jaw dropped. Her head snapped up, the girl glaring at Hibari, whose smirk only grew to devilish levels when he saw the anger in her two-toned eyes.
"When did you manage to leave a hickey on me?!" she demanded.
"You've always been a sound sleeper with me around." Hibari replied.
Though he probably didn't mean it the way they took it, Roksana could already see the almost scandalized look on her friends' faces. She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest in a protective way.
"Quit giving them the wrong idea! I might have shared my bed with you often, but sleep was the only thing that happened." Roksana said tartly.
"It was after you passed out from my kiss." Hibari replied idly.
"I said stop it! I preferred the you that just wanted to beat the crap out of me." Roksana remarked.
"No one said I still didn't do that." Hibari replied.
Roksana opened her mouth to retort, only to stop, her brain catching on to his wording.
"Past tense. You're using the past tense." Roksana said, the reason behind why, sinking in.
When the smirk on Hibari's face vanished, Roksana turned her eyes to Tsuna, who wouldn't look at her. When Hibari spoke, it was words she really didn't want to hear.
"That's right. In this era, you're dead."
Silence fell over the room, Yamamoto just as surprised as Roksana, since he had been unconscious when Kusakabe had told Tsuna.
"How?" Roksana asked, her tone surprisingly calm considering how worked up she had been just moments before.
"Ryoka." Everyone fixed their eyes on Kusakabe as he came back to the room, having left Ryoka with Haru and Kyoko for the moment. Hibari gave Kusakabe a hard look, the other male holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Your future self was given a choice between her life and Ryoka's. I think you can guess what choice was made."
All eyes shifted to Roksana, who was looking down at the floor, the top part of her face hidden by her bangs. What she was thinking, they couldn't tell.
"You sacrificed your life for the life of our daughter." Hibari said, his tone not giving away how he felt, either.
Silence fell over the room. Tsuna could definitely see that being the cause of Roksana's death. She was always a protective one, defending her loved ones even at her own expense.
"Sounds about right." Tsuna and the others looked at Roksana as she finally raised her head, the girl calm once more, as if she had never been angry in the first place. "If anything is going to do me in, it would be something like that."
"Roksana?" Tsuna asked, as the girl turned to head for the door. "A-are you alright?"
"I'm fine. There's no reason for me to be upset." Roksana replied over her shoulder. "I want my clothes back, Hibari!"
With that, she vanished out the door. Tsuna looked back at Hibari, the man no longer grinning, before he rushed after Roksana, Yamamoto right behind him. They caught up with Roksana as she found Haru and Kyoko, Ryoka throwing herself at Roksana once more. Reborn, Lal, Fuuta, and Kusakabe joined them, Reborn suggesting they sit down and talk. Wanting to be caught up on everything, Roksana agreed, the group moving to a sitting room, where Ryoka claimed a seat in Roksana's lap.
Through the whole explanation of what was going on, Roksana remained quiet, only her eyes shifting from one person to the next as they took turns talking. The whole time, she idly rubbed Ryoka's back, the little girl leaning into Roksana's chest with a content sigh, as if she had been deprived of that simple touch for too long.
"So the only way to get back is to beat this Byakuran and take out this Irie Souichi, and our key to victory is the Vongola rings?" Roksana repeated when they were done.
"Right." Reborn told her.
It was then that Tsuna's eyes moved down to Roksana's hands, but the Moon ring, which she usually wore on her left middle finger, was missing.
"Where's your ring!?" Tsuna asked.
"Calm down, it's right here." Roksana told him, reaching under her neck line to pull out a chain.
Dangling on the chain was the Vongola ring and another ring. Roksana removed it from around her neck, removing her Vongola ring from the chain, to slid it back onto her left middle finger. She left the other ring on the chain, sliding it back around her neck and dropping it back under her neck line.
"Wait, that's...that's a Mammon chain." Lal said, peering at the chain they hung from. "Where did you get that?"
"About a week before being brought here, I found a package on my doorstep with this chain and a small note that said I should use it for my ring. My instincts were telling me it wasn't harmful, so I used it." Roksana replied.
"That explains why her ring didn't show up on the radar and none of us knew she was here. It was the only thing keeping the Millefiore from finding her." Lal said.
"Are you talking about those men in the black uniforms? Yeah, no, I ran in several of them over the few days I was out there. They just had to be weak, bottom of the barrel types, because they went down quickly or were easy to avoid. Though...this explains why my house was in shambles." Roksana said before she jolted and turned her eyes to Kusakabe. "What about my family? Dimitri and Maeve, too?"
Kusakabe stood then.
"Just give me a moment, Roksana-sama, and I'll answer that. I'll be right back." Kusakabe told her.
Roksana watched him walk out of the room. Curious, Roksana shifted Ryoka off her lap. Kusakabe returned quickly, with three people behind him. Two of them were obviously older versions of Dimitri and Maeve, both of which froze in the doorway, wide eyed at the sight of Roksana. While Roksana was glad to see them safe and sound, her eyes fixed in on the child with them.
It was a young boy, about ten to twelve years old. Raven black hair was left in a bit of a wild mess around his head and big blue-purple eyes were just as big around as Dimitri's and Maeve's. His facial features reminded Tsuna and the others a little of Roksana's father, Alexei, giving them a good idea on who the boy was. Roksana obviously had the same guess, instantly flying to her feet.
"Marc?!" she asked, shocked.
"It really is you! Roksana!" Marcellus Volkov, Roksana's little half-brother, hurried forward, taking his sister's hands in his, Maeve pressing hands to her mouth as a sob left her, Dimitri even looking like he was holding back tears. "You're alive!"
"In a sense. How much did Kusakabe tell you?" Roksana asked, looking from her brother to Dimitri and Maeve.
"Everything. They know everything you know, Roksana-sama." Kusakabe told her.
"I see. And Father and Natalia? Where are they?" Roksana asked, looking back at Marc, Dimitri and Maeve.
All three instantly looked anywhere but at Roksana. It only took seeing that to figure out what the answer was.
"I'm sorry, Roksana-sama. When Millefiore attacked all of those even associated with members of the Vongola, your father and step-mother were on the list. We were able to save Marc-san, but..." Kusakabe trailed off.
Any joy Roksana had gained from the sight of her brother and the other two, was crushed under the realization that, in the future, not only was she dead, but she, and her kid brother, were orphans. Anyone would have broken down under the weight of that news, but Roksana, trying to keep it together, turned her eyes to her brother, who was staring at the ground.
In the next instant, Roksana wrapped her arms around brother, hugging him close.
"Roksana?" Marc asked.
"I'm so sorry, Marc. Having to go through all of this...because of me. I should have been there to protect you, as I promised when you were born. I'm so, so sorry. I won't fail you again, I swear." Roksana told him.
Marc, trying to hide his tears, buried his face in his sister's chest, gripping her back. Ryoka, trying to do something, anything to cheer up her upset mother and crying uncle, hopped down from the couch, joining the hug. Roksana knew this was a her fault. If she hadn't decided to join Tsuna's family, her family wouldn't have been dragged into this mess. They wouldn't be standing there, their parents dead in a world where she, herself, was dead. Roksana couldn't believe how badly she had failed her family, her brother, when she had promised to always protect him.
It had been why she had gone to Japan in the first place.
Roksana grit her teeth, holding back a curse. Someone was attacking her family, both of her families. They had already killed so many and hurt so many more. Holding both of the children protectively in her arms, Roksana raised her head, to peer at Tsuna over her brother's head.
Her look said it all. She didn't care what kind of training it took, what she had to do to help, they could count her in in this fight against Byakuran and Millefiore. Roksana passed the two children over to Dimitri, promising they would all sit down and have a long chat later before Dimitri and Maeve ushered the children out of the room.
"Roksana..."
"They will pay for this."
Tsuna flinched as he got a look at Roksana's face. He had seen the girl angry, plenty of times, but never this livid. She had the iciest look on her face he had ever seen, her eyes narrowed in a look that scared the living daylights out of him. Even the others shifted in discomfort, seeing the look on her face. She was angry, and she was determined to find whoever had done this and protect her family. That determination showed in the intense, condensed, silver flame that erupted from her ring, casting an eerie glow upon her face.
"They attacked my family, all of my family. It might be partly my fault, but they will pay for the part they played." Roksana said.
"Roksana...it's not your fau-"
"Stop, Tsuna. Just stop. This is my fault. I'm the one that chose to be one of your guardians. I promise, the day that child was born, that I would protect him from-" Roksana cut herself off, catching herself just before she revealed something she didn't want to reveal. Her friends didn't miss the slip-up either. Clenching her fist, she carried on. "From everything, and I failed."
"Roksana...what-"
"One problem at a time, Tsuna." Roksana said, cutting off Tsuna. "Right now, we have to focus on the problem here before us."
"She's right, Tsuna." Reborn told Tsuna, even though he, too, was curious as to what Roksana was hiding.
Tsuna looked from Reborn, back to Roksana when Roksana laid a hand on his shoulder. The expression on her face was still stern.
"I will make them regret the day they came after our family." Roksana promised him before turning to head out of the room. "Someone needs to come and show me how to use these boxes."
With that, Roksana was out the door, not slowing down for a second. Tsuna knew, when she said she would make their enemies regret it, she would do just that.
No one hurt her family and got away with it.
And that was the scary part about it.
-0-0-0-0-
That night, as Hibari got ready to go to bed, he passed at the doorway to his daughter's room. Peering into the room, arms folded in the sleeves of his kimono, Hibari found, not just his daughter tucked into her futon, but Roksana too. The girl's back was to the door, Ryoka curled into Roksana's arm, sleeping soundly with a smile on her face.
As one of the few people Hibari would let into the Foundation base, Roksana had been offered a room, but Hibari wasn't surprised to find Roksana in Ryoka's room, rather than her own. He knew she would be angry, as her future self had been when she had found out she was pregnant, but, eventually, where children were concerned, Roksana always calmed down.
Roksana, herself, knew Hibari was there. She had heard his footsteps on the floor as he paused in the doorway, but she didn't bother moving. Even when she heard his footsteps enter the room and approach the futon, she didn't move. Then she felt the covers being pulled back and opened her mouth to say something to him until she felt him press up against her back, his arms wrapping around her to pull her back against his chest.
Hibari buried his nose in her hair, his grip tightening around her. It had been so long since he had held her like this, since he had smelled her scent, heard her voice, had seen her two-toned eyes light up in annoyance because he had done something, yet again, to poke at her patience. To have her back, even if she wasn't exactly his Roksana...Hibari could only pull her even tighter to his chest.
Roksana, feeling his tight grip, closed her mouth on what she had been about to say. She had never felt anyone, least of all, Hibari, hold her so tightly. It was like he was trying to hold on for dear life. She knew he would never say anything like, "I missed you", not where she could hear, but his grip was close enough for her to know. Even someone like Hibari would feel sorrow and loss when losing someone close to them. It just reminded Roksana that for all his..."quirks", Hibari was still human.
Even he could miss someone.
And she had died on him, leaving him to raise their daughter alone.
So Roksana just let him hold her. It actually kind of amused her, having the father pressed against her back and the daughter against her front.
She felt like a Hibari sandwich.
Roksana's eyes fixed in on the little girl snuggled up to her chest. Being as gentle as she could, so not to wake Ryoka, Roksana ran her fingers through the child's hair. Having only spent a few hours with Ryoka, Roksana already loved her. Ryoka had her and Hibari's love of small animal, Hibird always with her if it wasn't with Hibari. She loved traditional Japanese food and hamburger steak, like Hibari and was in love with different flavor lollipops, like Roksana, though her favorite was blue raspberry. She liked to dance like Roksana, actually liked learning to fight, and loved naps.
Roksana was amazed at all the things Ryoka had from both of them, though, she didn't have her father's aversion to crowds. Roksana could already imagine how big of an irritation Hibari had faced, trying to be a good father, while hating the crowds his daughter forced him to be around.
There were so many questions that ran through Roksana's head, about just about everything she had found out since waking up handcuffed to another bed. Out of all of the questions she wanted to ask, though, only one really seemed to matter in that current moment.
"Her life?" Roksana asked.
She felt Hibari's lips press against the back of her neck, the lips curling into a small smile.
"She's wanted for nothing. She's usually happier than those ridiculous herbivores you associate with." he told her.
"You do realize, you're basically calling your own daughter a herbivore." Roksana replied.
"No...she's an omnivore, just like her mother." Twist as she might, Roksana couldn't turn to see Hibari's expression as he said this. If anything, he pulled her even closer to keep her in place. "Go to sleep. You start training just like the rest, tomorrow."
Now he was starting to sound more like the Hibari she knew. Heaving a huff of feigned annoyance, Roksana settled in to sleep, pulling her future daughter closer. Hibari remained quiet and still, letting her drift off to sleep. When he was sure she was sound asleep, he pressed his lips against her hair and uttered three words he would deny should anyone else had heard.
"I missed you."
END
Kyandi: Writing that last part made my heart hurt.
Roksana: Well, despite how he acts and how strong he is, Hibari is still human.
Kyandi: Wait until everyone finds out the whole truth behind how you died.
Roksana: I already have a feeling that a few people are going to flip tables.
Kyandi: Oh, yeah. But that's for then. For right now, the plot is on a different track.
Roksana: Right. So shall we finish up and get on to our next chapter?
Kyandi: Yep! Everyone, enjoy and review.
Roksana: We'll be back tomorrow.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!