Notes: Hello, guys! :D Wow, this took too long to update, especially for small chapters like this. Sorry, I'm a failure. I love you, though! Especially my pretty reviewers. But even if you're just a reader, you have a spot in my heart. So, without further ado, I hope I don't disappoint!
Psst, P.S, if you like this story, you should read Jikage's story, The Boogie Man. It was pretty much a huge inspiration and I cry large elephant tears when it's updated.
Break The Sky.
Had any other group come to Nanimori to teach the residents how to fly planes, there would've been no trouble. But no other group had The Colonel among their ranks.
Colonello, as he liked to be called, was from Italy and was most likely the most die-hard, irritating, thick- headed man at the Atsugi Base. And he worked with Hibari. Hibari and Colonello had settled into a not-quite friendship sort of thing. Even though the Italian man technically worked under Hibari, the both of them silently agreed they were equals. They were fighting for the same side, were in the same line of work, and saw each other every day.
This did not mean Hibari agreed with Colonello's methods.
"Alright," Roared the Colonel (who, really, was a Lieutenant Commander, but everyone called him The Colonel), as he pushed one of the recruits out of the plane almost cheerfully. "Did pretty good, kora! Who's next?"
Hibari twitched slightly, hearing the Colonel's speech habit again. He'd thought that after working with the man for so long, he wouldn't hate it so much, but it seemed as though a deeper sort of hatred would fester inside Hibari's stomach whenever he heard it. How anyone else managed to overlook it, or even come to like it as some of the recruits did, was completely beyond him.
The boy at the front of the line was tall and almost unrealistically happy-looking, and had a spring in his step that was so free and cheerful, Hibari wondered why this boy was signing up for the air force. He smiled at the Colonel with a smile that said he couldn't hurt a fly if he tried and saluted the officer. "I'm next," he chirped. "Yamamoto Takeshi!"
Furrowing his blonde eyebrows, Colonello seemed to be on the same train of thought as Hibari was with this kid, but he simply shrugged it off. "Whatever," He murmured to himself, walking back over to the small plane. "Lemme show you how this works…"
The next boy in line was obviously not 18, but neither was Hibari when he joined, so he wasn't really one to judge. He seemed nervous, fidgety as he was, and was biting his lip.
Hibari was immediately disgusted. Although even through disgust, he found it was difficult to keep his comments to himself. He was not particularly known for being merciful or friendly to the newcomers (or anyone else, for that matter), but for some reason he felt the need to bite down the spiteful things on his tongue, things that he normally would've let flow.
Perhaps it was pity, though Hibari doubted he had much, if any, of that.
Eventually, the boy below him noticed Hibari's staring, and he slowly looked up, as if one wrong move would result in a kick in the face. After shivering and staring for a good three minutes, it was the Captain who broke their silence.
"Hibari."
The boy visibly flinched – Hibari would go so far as to say he jumped out of his dirty little shoes – and made an odd sort of squeaking sound, and Hibari asked himself why these unfit residents were joining the goddamn air-force for the umpteenth time that afternoon, as he stopped himself from groaning or rolling his eyes. "My name," He hissed at the boy, keeping his eyes focused on the planes in the air. "Captain Hibari Kyoya."
The brunette stared at him with eyes large and doe-eyed, before following his line of vision and watching his friend clumsily fly the fighter about. He smiled faintly, a twitch of a thing on his face for a moment, but Hibari caught it, and there was an odd, almost comfortable silence.
"…So you don't have a name," Mumbled the Captain, a bit unnerved to have been the only one talking (and maybe a little irritated that the brat had pretty much ignored him). He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the smaller boy, gauging for a reaction.
Said reaction was the recruit jumping (again) and making that same squeaking noise (again). He looked up at Hibari and fidgeted for a moment before finally stuttering though a sentence. "Tsuna," He said, his lips fumbling to form words. "O-Or, No—Sawada Tsunayoshi."
And, looking back, Hibari gathered that was where his life took a sharp turn for the interesting, or as it could also be classified as, the exasperatingly stressful.
"Ugh," Came a somewhat rough voice, and Enma looked up tiredly to meet the eyes of the Lieutenant Commander staring back at him. "How're things goin' on this end of the line, kora?"
"Colonel," replied the redheaded boy, quietly, and he shrugged. "Fine. Why? Are yours being difficult?"
Colonello smirked to himself, ruffling Enma's hair fondly before walking into the makeshift tent that had been hoisted up and grabbing for a canteen of water. "Nah, they're all scaredy cats. But they're good kids, kora."
A small hint of a smile graced Enma's bruised face, and he watched the Colonel take a drink from the canteen, a bit enamored. Matching his oddly colored eyes and hair, his cheeks slowly dusted over with a dull shade of magenta, and once he realized he was staring, he zipped his head back down to the clipboard he held.
"H-How many?" He all but squeaked, and then coughed embarrassedly. "Are left, I mean. To fly."
"Hm?" Colonello wiped his mouth with his wrist, and walked on over to the intelligence officer (in training), sitting down next to him casually. "Eh, there's one last one. And Kyoya seemed pretty intent on being the one to prep him, kora. All but threatened me, but I don't know why."
Twisting his expression into a thoughtful frown, Enma flipped a couple papers over the clipboard in his hands, pursing his lips together. "If this is the last one, he's…"
There, sitting at the bottom of Enma's list, the word Sawada shone out like a bright flame, punching both of the officers in the face. Comically, they looked at each other, eyes-wide (or, as wide as ever-bored and apathetic Enma could get, before he realized that Colonello was staring at him before they actually widened), before both of them shot up to watch the show.
"Ah, Colonello-San, Enma—" Chrome raised her hand, about to stop them, but instead let them scurry off, and she sighed.
…Men.
"…Miss Dokuro?" Piped one of the recruits. "You were showing us how to nurse a wound?"
"Hm? Oh! Yes!"
Alright, Kyoya, he told himself. Deep breaths.
Aside from the time Iemetsu had taught him how to fly a plane for the first time, Hibari concluded that this was the most nerve-wracking moment of his life, and he had no idea why, which was the most irritating thing he had ever experienced.
Hibari was bracing himself on the back of the small seat Tsuna was sitting in, trying to keep himself from hyperventilating into the boy's ear – the same boy who, might he add, but was inspecting the controls casually, as if he couldn't care less. Innocently, his tipped his head back, meeting the eyes of his instructor.
And they stared for a while.
"…So, are you…?"
Tsuna let the sentence hang, instead opting to stare at Hibari's tense expression, before the older man scowled at him. "Am I…? Finish your sentences, herbivore."
Squeaking again, the brunette took to fidgeting in his seat for a moment before finding his voice. "A-Are you going to show me how to work this… Sir?"
Hibari almost smirked at that, but instead took a moment to compose himself before leaning forward and pointing to several buttons and switches, flicking them on and pushing them down while staring intently on the small recruit. "Alright, listen."
Tsuna gulped.
"You have to flip these two on if you want to start the engine, but if the engine still doesn't work, you can use this one too." With a quick movement of his fingers, Tsuna heard the small fighter come to life with a tame roar of the engine, and his heart fluttered in his chest as the seat vibrated lightly. Hibari took no notice and kept speaking, but Tsuna was vaguely listening. Subtly, slowly, his hands moved to the controls, inspecting them, and only coming out of his stupor when Hibari briefly explained what the thing his hand was currently poised over did.
Something odd slipped into Tsuna, some odd feeling unknown to him. Control?
Exercising a large amount of self-control (as not to strangle the boy), Hibari leaned away and watched him. "Now get it off the ground and don't crash it."
If there was one person that made your self-confidence die, Tsuna concluded, it was Captain Hibari Kyoya. That feeling of control died on his fingertips, and he was left fumbling against the controls, conjuring up ways he could die.
"Hurry up, Herbivore," Hissed the captain, glaring daggers at the boys head. "We haven't got all day. If you don't want to do it, get out and go home."
The words had to claw themselves out of Hibari's throat. He wanted them to feel natural, and he was a little disgusted with himself because he didn't want to say them, but he wanted to want to say them—And yes, he thought, this is going to be stressful.
He hoped that Sawada Tsunayoshi quickly learned to read and interpret him. Iemetsu's son was sitting right in front of him - and Hibari wasn't letting him get away without a fight.
Tsuna looked up, checking to see if the switches Hibari had flicked on were still in their right position. Nervously, he wrapped his thing finger around the joystick protruding from the control panel, and eased it forward.
While Hibari remained as still as a statue, Tsuna was shivering in his seat, edging the small fighter forward. He narrowed his eyes, staring out the front window, glancing around nervously—and oh god, was he doing this right? If he messed up, would Hibari mark him off? Was he doing this right? What other way was there to do it? Was this the right thing to be doing? Should he have stayed home—
A hand was placed over his own, and the plane took off with a jerk of the stick that Hibari had caused, through Tsuna's hand.
His first instinct was to jump back and squeal, and he did lean back into the seat out of pure terror, but Hibari was beside him, edging him on, and Tsuna didn't know if that was making the situation worse or better.
"Nothing too fancy today," said the Captain, calmly, letting go of Tsuna's hands. "Just something simple. Show me you're not completely useless."
But I am, Tsuna wanted to say. And he almost did.
Then he realized he was up in the air.
His fingers went lax on the joystick, his eyes widened for a split second, and he stared at the clouds. He was flying. He was in the sky.
The Sky.
Fingers tightened around the control again, and Tsuna pushed it forward, down, and the engine purred in response. A small hint of a smile – a smirk, even – graced his face, and he let out a choked, dry laugh. His other hand, which had been clutching the seat, ducked under the control panel and pulled a lever, causing the plane to drop lightly, then take off harder and faster.
Delusional, maybe, Tsuna laughed, looked up, and stared at the sun. It was bright and made him flinch, but he blinked it off like it was nothing and swerved downward. The roar of the fighter was loud in his ears, and he had almost forgotten that the Captain was behind him. Tsuna cocked his head and glanced at Hibari, who, as he expected, was impossible to read.
On the surface, Hibari stilled himself. Inside, a storm was raging. A storm of glory, of power, of respect, of—of home. He hoped to God that same storm was whirling around inside Tsuna's chest like it was his.
"D-Down," he finally choked out, glancing around nervously for a split-second. "Take us down, Sawada."
And oh God, Tsuna was Sawada now.
"Holy shit!" screamed Colonello, gripping Enma tight and damn near tearing him apart. "Did you fuckin' see that? Kora, that's—Fuck me, that's Sawada's kid!"
Enma let out a choked, happy, scared laugh, clinging to the Colonel as not to be dropped. "M-Mm. As expected, right?"
With a smirk, Colonello set the trainee down and ruffled his hair fondly. "Was' that, kora? Little undertone of something? Jealous?"
Enma gave a dry look that could put Hibari's glares to shame. Yes, it said, of-fucking-course I'm jealous, you asshole. Colonello blanked, patted the boys head a final time, sniffed, and looked away awkwardly.
By that time, the crowd had been drawn. Gokudera was currently tearing through the horde of officers and recruits, and only stopped when he saw Tsuna gingerly climb out of the small fighter. His voice caught in his throat; he wanted to yell at the Captain, standing so close to him, and to scream at the crowd to disperse so he could get by, but Yamamoto beat him to the punch.
"Hey, Tsuna!" He called, cheerfully waving. "That was so cool! Haha, you did much better than me! Come here, I wanna—Gokudera, where's he going?"
The silver-haired boy bristled, glaring daggers at the Captain as he led Tsuna into the tent. "That's exactly what I want to know…"
Bypassing the crowd, Hibari casually plucked the clipboard Enma was holding (not noticing the small boys slight squeak that Tsuna completely identified with), and flipped through it, stopping at one of the last few pages and placing a clean check-mark next to Tsuna's name. He placed it on Chrome's makeshift desk where she was packing the first-aid's kit up, and gave her a dry look.
"Are we about ready to leave, yet," He asked, voice low, and Chrome glanced between her Captain and the small recruit, before smiling shyly.
"Yes."