Early morning, it was snowing again. Hibari Kyoya hardly had any strength to get himself out of bed and start his normal morning routine even though he ended up doing so, albeit not wanting to. Someone must always be there to set an example, after all. It was the billionth time he repeated the same line to himself. That he did every time he got the mood to stray from his path to do whatever he felt like doing. It was a small sacrifice on the altar of ensuring his own state of things that he just had to make. But it was going to be okay. After all things are as they are for a very specific reason -Kyoya believed that.
So he showered, got himself dressed, prepared his lunch, made his coffee and sat on his kitchen's table to drink it. The bitter taste the coffee left in his mouth was as welcome as was the sweet warmth that lingered in his apartment, dragging and coiling itself on the floors, curling and rubbing against his legs like a cat seeking attention. In contrast to the week that passed, this day he had nothing to trouble his mind with. No ghosts in the music room, no odd feelings -or sudden lack of them- nor a scheduled meeting with anyone.
He laid his head against the table's smooth, lean surface and looked away under some hair that fell over his eyes. He suddenly felt odd. A quiet, yet somehow painful sensation gave birth to itself deep within his bowels and slowly rose towards his chest, clenching his heart in a way he hadn't thought possible. Feelings like that was only for the weak herbivores, certainly not suited for the proud predator he was. But what was it, exactly?
He turned around in frustration. His other cheek against the table's wood now, eyes lingering on the clock on the wall. Anything to occupy his mind to keep it from considering the more than just obvious answer. He would never admit to something as insane as this on his own. He wasn't about to consider becoming weak. Because to merely feel things like that made you weak. It made you need things that -from Kyoya's point of view- were entirely unneeded. He hadn't lost his mind yet, no. He wouldn't ever say it. Never.
But life has plan. It advances in accordance to it. And Kyoya could tell that. He could feel it in his bones, so to speak, or he would be if he was an old man experienced in this kind of thing. But for now he settled by feeling this odd thing that he wouldn't name.
And he did end up showing up at school just according to his own everyday plan. And he did all he had to do before heading to settle on the rooftop after classes were through. It was his own secret place, the school's rooftop. He would always stand there and think or observe life going on by. And as long as that life didn't bother him he wouldn't bother it... if it did he'd simply have to bite it to death so next time maybe it would learn its lesson and stay away. But he wasn't feeling like it, this day, his mind kept getting lost instead of concentrating and he needed it to.
He watched the students leaving one after the other, alone or in groups. As long as they didn't cause any trouble he didn't mind. He was fine with just watching. ...but was he? The answer was simple. Of course he was. He was the Cloud guardian after all... The Cloud guardian didn't need companions. He acted for the family, outside the family, a hidden, secret ace who was never in exactly friendly terms with anyone. At first he didn't bother with this kind of business much, he still chose to view it like some sort of a violent game more than actual serious business. But after a while he decided it wasn't all that bad to spare that silly game a little of his time. After all he got to fight strong enemies that way.
He thought of what the others would say if they ever heard his thoughts. Dino would laugh... he rarely got his serious face on even when he was training him. Sawada Tsunayoshi's opinion didn't really matter to him, but he thought that the baby that was with him would probably seem a little pleased with this development. Hayato Gokudera would disapprove, of course, but little did he care about his opinion as well. Yamamoto Takeshi wouldn't really have an opinion of his own, same for the other baby that ran around the others. Sasagawa Ryohei would say something along the lines of his extremely limited vocabulary -Kyoya stopped there for a moment to smirk at his own pun-. As for Rokudou Mukuro... he couldn't tell. He could assume that he would either laugh or arch a brow to show he was paying attention. Or he might not pay these thoughts any attention at all. Or...
His train of thoughts was abruptly stopped, the abnormality that had been there for a while, tugging at the back of his mind, revealing itself in all its grandeur. Turning around he rushed back into the school as fast as he could. A person he didn't know of was with that idiot, Sawada, and his friends. He saw them leaving from where he was positioned. He had to check every paper in the faculty office and the headmaster's office to find his data. He had been so busy with all the sweet little nothings of last week that he never noticed that there would be a new student coming. Of course he vaguely remembered Kusakabe mentioning something along the lines a couple weeks ago. It was his own fault for not paying attention. His own fault for allowing himself to be distracted. His own fault that he didn't strictly enforce discipline in his own school. He was despicable, right now. Downright despicable.
He slammed the door to the headmaster's office open and making sure no one was inside he started carefully making his way through the paperwork. He was looking for a new name, it would surely strike him, and the child would probably be in Sawada's class. Skipping through names he finally found what he was looking for. "Fortugno Martino..." he spoke the name in a voice barely above a whisper as if speaking a kami's name in its resting place. It was a foreign name -but of course, he underlined in his mind. Of course. Ever since when... it was all about foreigners around Namimori. Sometimes he would just wish it all away. Wish things were back the way the were before any of this ever happened.
Of course that didn't come without a price, a heavy one, even though Kyoya himself wouldn't admit it. it would mean that he'd never meet Dino, his tutor -who like it or not had grown into him- and he would have never fought Rokudou Mukuro or anyone else for that matter...
He leaned backwards into the large chair the principal used and studied the small room through half-closed eyes. The light of the afternoon ran like liquid gold through the half-open window, snaking its way from between the heavy, velvet curtains. The room was rather plain in design and lightly decorated with but a pair of posters encased in glass frames and a mirror as well as a small potted plant positioned on the headmaster's desk. You could hear barely anything inside that room. A quiet which was most welcome.
He sighed and closed his eyes all the way. It sure was peaceful. He felt relaxed and all strain previously gathered on him slowly seeped out of his pores, rejected, like some sort of venom hat was previously poisoning him. A small smile traced his lips, curving them ever so slightly. He was content... and how beautiful this melody was... it seemed like something taken out of one of his dreams that he always failed to recall. Such a rueful, sad melody... and yet it felt so familiar, so welcoming... so absolutely calming...
Then again... no one should be in the music room, should they? But he didn't feel like chasing after them. That would mean the music would have to stop, wouldn't it? And Kyoya didn't want for that music to stop even if that meant that he would miss his chance to catch the Ghost of the Music Room in the act. He felt like he could sit there and listen to this music forever... and such a beautiful melody it was... he never thought he could like the piano so much...
Suddenly coming to the realization that his own thoughts weren't adding up he tried to break out of the daze he was in -but the music was so beautiful-. His facial features distorted in a mask of frustration and pain -almost as if his tries to break free from that... spell -there was no other word to describe the situation better on that moment- was causing him to hurt. This self-inflicted pain was a punishment so that he'd sit quietly, but there was no way he would. He had to catch that student that escaped him the last time. The one who so profoundly mocked him by staying late to -seemingly- just play the piano. He would find them, get them and bite them to death so they would know better than play practical jokes on him next time.
Forcing his eyelids open by sheer determination he shot on his feet and made a run for the room's exit. Doing so he flinched, coming to a screeching halt, startled. He took a couple of steps backwards tracing his previous motion in reverse to look into the mirror that was hanging on the wall a meter or so away from the door. His dark blue eyes met their reflection on the smooth surface with a questioning haze lingering somewhere behind his usually unreadable expression. Angry at his own nonsense thoughts he marched towards the door again, opened it and exited in the hallway. What could he have possibly seen in a mirror but his own reflection anyway.
For a moment, back there, he would swear that he caught the glimpse of something else, however. Something that was definitely white and was smiling with an odd, self-satisfied smile that extended from one side of its face to the other. But of course that couldn't be. His hair wasn't white... he wasn't even wearing white -aside his shirt underneath his coat... so it was definitely a trick of the lighting and the odd dream-like daze he was plunged into up until but a moment ago. The other possibility was that he was hallucinating... or it was a ghost... but Kyoya didn't believe in ghosts.
In the brief amount of time that it took Kyoya to step backwards in order to peer into the mirror the music he had been listening up to this moment had stopped. And it was no use to rush upstairs now -he knew from experience that this person was as slippery as an eel and could get away before he'd ever have the time to make it upstairs to the music room. His best bet was to hurry outside. Maybe this way he'd catch that person as they would be making their escape. Or so he hoped. Because when he was finally out in the grounds he saw nothing and he couldn't see anything moving in the music room either. The lights weren't even on and the window was perfectly shut. He didn't feel any presence either. He bit his bottom lip in irritation and left the school feeling an uncertain bitterness. That ...thing... ghost, student or whatever it was, was proving one thing just fine. He was unable to protect his own territory from some random invader. What good was his position as a prefect anyway, then?
A small weight landed on his left shoulder and pressed close against his skin, as if to comfort him. Kyoya didn't need to look to tell it was his bird, the feeling of the soft, warm feathers unmistakable after the while they spent together. It made him smile, if only just a little. "Hibari! Hibari!" the bird chirped calling out his name, fondly. Kyoya lifted his right hand and lightly petted the small bird's head using his index and middle fingers. He walked back home, making haste so that he wouldn't catch a cold. It was what he needed less right now.
Somewhere along the way he decided that he wouldn't probably need to call Mukuro out again. He wasn't feeling that he could solve this alone. And all the while he detested having to ask him for help he couldn't really do anything else. Who could he turn to, after all? Dino was a klutz and could do nothing without the rest of his family, not to mention he would laugh and say he was superstitious. Tsuna and his friends were nothing but a bunch of weak, pathetic herbivores he didn't feel like consulting. This left him with Rokudou Mukuro as his last choice and since he had no other option he would choose this one. He wasn't sure why, but he felt as if Mukuro was the one that should become involved in this. He wasn't sure who put this idea in his head or why... but it was there... and all he could do was trust into it.
With that in mind he wrote a small note and giving it to Hibird he instructed him to deliver it to Mukuro. The small yellow bird had a remarkable ability to find his way and do as he was told, Hibari acknowledged that. With not much but a single second of delay the avian creature took off flapping its small wings in order to keep itself airborne. Hibari noticed it looked only so small... then wondered why it was the first time he noticed that, before walking into his apartment.
Once he closed the door behind him, he felt tired in an unexplainable manner, as if he was doing hard labour all day and all the tiredness piled up to come at him at once. He was too tired to think why he felt so tired, however, and so he just walked to his room and without even bothering enough to undress, he simply collapsed on his bed and slept.
And slept...
Chapter six is just as bizarre as it can get if you ask me. I seriously wish it didn't confuse everyone greately...
By the way... I seriously need to apologize for that dreadful Chapter Five I submitted. Re-reading it I want to re-write it but I won't since it has already been read after submitting and I might end up losing its essence completely.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and its supernatural twist and stick with the story to the end.
Critiques and reviews always welcome, comments as well.
~Snow