I don't own KHR.
Kyoya woke up to the sound of mumbling. Letting out a soft groan, Kyoya twitched his eyes open and turned his head to the side.
Hayato was sleeping on his side, his injured body curled as much as it could around Tsuna's smaller body, his arm wrapped around him protectively. Tsuna himself was also sleeping on his side, though unlike last night, he was facing Kyoya and not Hayato.
And he was also the one who was mumbling. They were really incoherent despite Kyoya lying right next to him, but they were mumbles all the same. The older boy's attention was more focused on how Tsuna's face was creased with lines of discomfort however.
Kyoya sighed as he reached over and patted his little brother's fluffy head of hair. Almost all at once, Tsuna ceased to mumble as the discomfort on his face faded into a more peaceful expression.
Tsuna then smiled as he emitted a tranquil sigh, making Kyoya smile a bit himself. Kyoya continued to gently pat his little brother's hair for about another minute before he stopped and brought his hand to his chest. When Tsuna's peaceful expression didn't morph back to one of discomfort, Kyoya looked up at the ceiling.
If only appeasing Mukuro would be that easy.
Kyoya couldn't help but let out a harsh sigh as he moved his arm over his eyes, as if simply blocking out the light would send him back to his nap. It didn't. Not that Kyoya expected it to, but it would have been nice if it had. He was still tired.
And maybe if his mind wasn't tired, then he could figure out what he needed to do.
"Hmm...no...noo..." Kyoya instantly took his arm off his eyes and looked back over, and saw that this time it was Hayato mumbling and murmuring in his sleep, not Tsuna.
Though unlike Tsuna, Hayato actually looked scared as well as in slight pain.
"Hayato," Kyoya quietly called out as he reached over Tsuna and wiggled his arm, while being careful that he wouldn't wake Tsuna up by mistake. "Hayato, wake up. It's just a dream, beat it and wake up."
His little brother woke up with a jolt, his green eyes wide open as he looked around a bit erratically as if he didn't recognize his surroundings before his eyes landed on Tsuna in his arms as well as Kyoya hovering above them.
"Oh...thank goodness," Hayato softly sighed with relief as he plopped his head back onto the pillow. "For a moment there...I thought I actually had never been rescued and that it had all been a dream."
Kyoya narrowed his eyebrows as Hayato hugged Tsuna a bit tighter and closer to him, making Tsuna smile and murmur in delight.
After Giotta had headbutted Martina into submission, they all had a big group hug with Hayato in the center (in the alleyway and later in the car) but...
"I'm so glad that this is the reality instead," Hayato muttered, sounding almost like he was trying to convince himself rather than to console Kyoya.
...Screw it.
"Hang on," Kyoya said softly as he picked himself up and after carefully thinking it over, jumped over both of his brothers.
"What the?!" Hayato exclaimed in a harsh whisper as he looked over at Kyoya before switching his attention to Tsuna. When their younger sibling showed no sign of waking up, Hayato turned to his other side so that he was facing Kyoya.
"What are you-"
The rest of Hayato's reprimand was lost to the air when Kyoya, now lying on his side, reached forward and pulled Hayato into a tight hug.
He had almost lost Hayato not once, but twice in a very short amount of time. If anyone decided to come into their bedroom right now and make a snide comment about it, then he would just bite them to death. It was as simple as that.
"Oh," Hayato said simply before he reciprocated the hug just as tightly.
"You're alive," Kyoya whispered as he rubbed his hand up and down Hayato's back. "You got rescued, Martina got bitten to death."
"I know," Hayato replied with a small chuckle. "I guess...it still hasn't sunk in yet. That I don't have to worry about Ricci famiglia finding me or us anymore. That I finally know who exactly killed Bianchi and why and how. That...I finally have closure."
"It will," Kyoya assured him firmly. "Though...you're really not at all worried that Martina would somehow break out of prison?"
"No, I know the prison they're talking about," Hayato answered with a shake of his head. "It's a mafia prison called the Vendicare, and it's been around for a long time. And in that time, no one has ever managed to break in or escape. And apparently from what I've heard, the guards are really freaky-looking and are supernaturally strong which makes me believe that they might be actually UMA's."
"So in other words, someone of Martina's intelligence and strength definitely has no chance of getting out?" Kyoya asked.
"Yep, and if what I have heard is correct, she most likely won't even get out for good behavior."
"As if she's the type to have good behavior," Kyoya scoffed, feeling content with Hayato's answer. He might ask some of the more tolerable Vongola for more details but as long as Hayato felt secured, then he was fine.
And besides, even if Martina somehow managed to escape, then he would just bite her to death before she gets anywhere near his brother and the rest of his family. He didn't get to before so that should be cathartic.
They spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, with Kyoya continuing to gently rub his hand up and down Hayato's back. Just when Kyoya was beginning to believe that Hayato had fallen asleep in his arms, his little brother spoke up.
"Wait, where are the others?"
"You just realized that they weren't here?" Kyoya asked in disbelief as he fought against a smile.
He didn't really succeed. Not that he really cared.
"Hey, excuse me, I was distracted by you jumping over us instead of crawling around us like a normal person," Hayato defended himself as his cheeks turned red from clear embarrassment.
"Since when did I ever claim to be normal?"
"Ugh, just tell me already," Hayato replied with a soft groan. "I remember Takeshi going off with Asari, but what about the others?"
"They went off with Elena to get haircuts."
"Wait, all of them?" Kyoya raised his eyebrow at that as he looked down at his younger brother.
"Yes, all of them," Kyoya confirmed slowly. "Why-"
"Because I thought for sure Mukuro would have gone after Takeshi, and not go get a haircut."
Oh. For such a sly and sneaky character, Mukuro really was quite predictable and easy to read.
"Though I guess he wouldn't want to leave the others alone either..."
"I didn't let him," Kyoya admitted softly yet firmly. Hayato's green eyes widened in surprise and shock as he propped himself up a bit on his elbow.
"What? Really?" Hayato questioned as he looked down on Kyoya. "Why? I thought you would have supported that, or at least tolerated it. Or did you want him to look after Chrome, Ryohei, and Lambo?"
Good question. A really good question.
"Ryohei's well enough now for him to be able to protect himself and the others sufficiently if he needed to," Kyoya answered as he turned onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, officially ending their hug. "And Chrome has plenty of stamina to support him too, if it really came down to it, she can just call Mukuro for help."
"So no, you didn't want Mukuro to watch over them," Hayato surmised. "Why then? Why stop him from watching over Takeshi? Unless...you really do believe that Asari wouldn't hurt him."
Kyoya didn't answer, as he instead threw his arm over his eyes and sighed.
If Asari hadn't revealed that he was Takeshi's cousin...he probably wouldn't have stopped Mukuro. He would've let him go as soon as it was safe to do so, Mukuro didn't even have to help him guide the rest of their siblings to the room if it came down to it.
But...Takeshi and Asari were family. It was obvious from the way Asari looked at him after the reveal, even before then if Kyoya was honest with himself. And while Kyoya still didn't trust him exactly, he remembered the first time he saw Takeshi having a nightmare about his father's death firsthand.
Takeshi needed this. He needed a good and genuine connection to his father that could help him really overcome his trauma. And if that connection happened to be a mafioso that was able to cut up a thug while also catching Tsuna long before he could hit the ground...then so be it. Kyoya wasn't going to interfere.
Especially since Kyoya knew that if he himself had found a family member who said that they had a decent relationship with his parents...he wouldn't want the others to interfere either.
"Takeshi decided to forgive Asari, as well as to see him as family," Kyoya finally admitted as he took his arm off of his eyes to look at Hayato. "I...we should respect that."
Hayato looked at him silently and opened his mouth to say something before he closed it, apparently changing his mind. Then he sighed.
"I was about to ask if you had told him that but then I realized that it wouldn't matter since I don't think Mukuro would have understood anyway," Hayato replied as he stopped leaning on his elbow and laid his head back on the pillow.
"Hn," Kyoya groaned in agreement as he put his arm back over his gray eyes. Because while he knew that Mukuro loved them, his family, with all of his heart, Kyoya also knew that in his brother's eyes, a mafioso was a mafioso. A disgusting, heartless evil that needed to be erased in order to make the world a cleaner place.
And definitely not as potential family members.
"Hayato," Kyoya called out to him quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you..." Kyoya then took a deep breath before he let it out harshly. Then he lifted his arm off of his face and turned his head to face Hayato. "Do you want to stay? Be honest."
Hayato didn't answer right away as a look of contemplation took over his young face.
"Yeah, I think I do," Hayato admitted softly, obviously not just because Tsuna was still asleep beside him, but because he was afraid of how Kyoya would react.
But Kyoya just nodded, having suspected this answer for a while now. He had just wanted to confirm it.
"I...I mean," Hayato continued, apparently encouraged a bit by Kyoya's quiet but otherwise accepting response. "I know they're...technically mafia and all, but they did save me, and not just me, but Chrome and Tsuna too. They took us all in and...and I really don't think they plan to separate us either."
"...Do you know if any of the others feel this way?" Kyoya asked.
"I'm...I'm not entirely sure but I think Chrome does. It's clear that she loves Elena," Hayato answered, causing Kyoya to nod in agreement. "I think Ryohei and Tsuna are still neutral about leaving or staying and I think Takeshi used to be neutral until this morning."
"Definitely not neutral anymore," Kyoya agreed, remembering how Takeshi perked up when Asari asked if he would like to spend time with him.
"But...I also don't want to force Mukuro to stay here either," Hayato admitted with a sad frown.
And there was the root of the problem. Because of his past, because of what he has seen and been through, it would take a miracle to get Mukuro to even sort of trust the Vongola, let alone to get him to want to stay here. And like Hayato, Kyoya definitely wasn't going to force Mukuro to stay with people that he absolutely abhorred.
Mukuro was a part of their family, his opinion mattered too, even if everyone else had different thoughts and desires on the matter. They were all in this together, no matter what.
The problem was making sure Mukuro knew that. Because Kyoya was deadly certain that he had made his brother angry after forcing him to go get a haircut and not go after Takeshi. If not confused or betrayed. So he wouldn't be surprised if Mukuro had started to think that he didn't have a say on the matter.
"What about you?"
"Hn? What about me?" Kyoya repeated, quickly snapping out of his thoughts as he turned his full attention to his younger brother.
"Do you want to stay or to leave?"
Oh. Kyoya looked up at the ceiling as he tried to figure out how best to describe how he felt on the whole matter.
"Yes and no," Kyoya admitted as memories of the last few days raced by his mind. "I don't really trust or particularly like them, and I don't know if I ever will. But...they are strong."
And strong they were. Kyoya got a taste of their strength on his first night here, but after seeing how swiftly they took care of not only Martina, but the entire Ricci famiglia...Kyoya was honestly impressed.
Or at the very least respected them enough (well, except for Lampo) that he wanted to bite them all to death just to see how strong they really were (he still wants to bite Lampo to death though).
So if by some miracle Mukuro decided to stay here, he wouldn't protest. He would go along with his family's wishes, completely and honestly okay with the idea of staying with annoying yet strong adults.
And it helped that he could actually see them being more like vigilantes than mafioso now.
"...So in other words, you want the chance to get stronger so you can bite them to death."
Kyoya smirked. His brother knew him well.
"Yes." Alaude did offer to spar with him and while they never got around to it because of yesterday's events, he was sure that he could-wait.
Kyoya instantly shot straight into a sitting position, his eyes wide as his mind bounced around the idea that had suddenly struck him.
"What is it?" Hayato harshly whispered in both concern and surprise as he sat up, wincing and struggling a bit as he did so. Kyoya didn't reply, choosing instead to smirk as an emotion that almost felt like triumph coursed within him.
Biting Mukuro to death was the answer. Since Mukuro definitely had to be frustrated with him, Kyoya was sure if he made the offer that they should spar, he would gladly accept. Then, once Kyoya was done with biting him to death (because he was definitely going to win), he would then make some kind of comment about how Mukuro's vote still counted.
That he still had a say in whether they should stay in this mansion or not.
And since Mukuro would probably be calmer after he got his frustrations out, he should be able to receive and accept that without any problems.
Kyoya had even figured out where and when they should do this. Alaude had mentioned that there was a training room and while Kyoya didn't know where it was (due to yesterday's events, Alaude's offer to train him had actually slipped his mind. Not that he would have gone if he had remembered anyway), but he was sure Alaude or some other Vongola mafioso would tell him. That should be the perfect place for them to spar, a place where he and Mukuro could let it all out without having to worry about the Vongola complaining because they broke some stupid vase or something like that.
They were going to have to do it at night, preferably after their siblings are asleep so they wouldn't try to stop them or anything like that. Though now that he thought about it, Kyoya should probably at least tell Ryohei what they were going to do so that he could watch over the rest of their siblings just in case.
Of course since the sparring session was going to be at night, they were going to have to sneak their way to the training room since Kyoya sincerely doubted that the Vongola was going to accept biting his sibling to death as a good excuse to be out of bed. But that was okay since sneaking to the training room could be considered as a test run when (or if) they finally escape.
The only problem with the whole plan that Kyoya could think of is when to tell Mukuro that they were going to spar. Right after Mukuro and the others get back from receiving their haircuts, or right after their siblings had fallen asleep?
Kyoya pondered on the matter briefly before deciding that he should just wait to see how Mukuro was after he and the others had come back. He would take things from there.
"Kyoya...why do you look like that?" Hayato asked tentatively. Kyoya just chuckled.
He and Mukuro haven't had a good fight since who knows how long. This was going to be fun.
"Don't worry Hayato, everything is going to be just fine," Kyoya assured Hayato as he turned to face him.
"You say that but that smirk and that chuckle say otherwise," Hayato said bluntly. Kyoya chuckled again as he laid back down on the bed.
"Whatever, just go back to sleep, you still haven't fully recovered from yesterday," Kyoya replied as he turned on his side and wrapped an arm around his brother, pulling him closer.
"But what are you planning?! And don't try to deny it, I know you too well!" Hayato accused him with a pointing finger.
"Yes, yes you do," Kyoya confirmed with a nod as he pushed Hayato's accusing finger down on the bed with a firm hand. "But I also know you well enough that you hate lying to Tsuna."
Hayato didn't reply right away.
"Crap."
"Good boy," Kyoya complimented him as he rubbed circles on his little brother's back, pleased in knowing that he had won this minor battle. "Now quiet down, I'm tired to-"
A loud gasp of breath interrupted him as Tsuna sat up so fast that it was almost like he got shocked by lightning.
"Tsuna!?" Hayato cried as he turned around as fast as he could, his voice full of alarm. "What happened?! What's the matter?"
"I...Mu..."
"Take a deep breath," Kyoya instructed him as he quickly got to his knees, his heart concerned but prepared for whatever was going to come out of his little brother's mouth.
Tsuna instantly followed Kyoya's advice before inhaling deeply before letting it all out slowly. When he was done, he turned to face them.
Kyoya felt his eyes go wide when he saw the amber glint in his brother's brown eyes.
"We need to find Mukuro. Now."
So Kyoya is now neutral and Mukuro is in some kind trouble. Okay then.
Please leave a review on your way out and I will update by the end of the month (more than likely).
Till then, have a good day or night!