Disclaimer: KHR! does not in any way belong to me, it's the property of Amano, etc.
Author's Note: High school!AU. Takes place SOMETIME after the last chapter.
Written for prompt 5 (never give up) of the lj community 10_orders. :)
PLEASE NOTE: I'm going away to Europe for the next two weeks. I may or may not have the opportunity to write there. I'm thinking not. So, this story will PROBABLY not be updated for a while. Just a head's up ~
The Secret Admirer
[ never give up ]
Mukuro waits endlessly at Chrome's side, but it's really only a day or two before M. M. walks in and loudly takes the other seat.
"Mukuro, you have to come to work," she says without preamble.
"M. M., my sister's in a coma," he snaps back, exhausted and in a terrible mood.
"Well, I don't give sick leave, and do you really think you sitting here, not getting any sleep, is going to make your sister wake up any faster?" M. M. remarks bluntly.
The bluenet stiffens, glaring. "What, did Chikusa quit, or something?"
His boss pouts, so Mukuro assumes that this is the case. Not surprising, considering that Chikusa and M. M. did not get along at all. It's annoying though, because that means Mukuro and Lancia are the only servers.
Why M. M. doesn't just hire someone new, Mukuro doesn't know. Probably most people spend a minute in her company and know better than to get involved with a greedy, unscrupulous psycho like her.
Few people are that desperate for a job.
"Well maybe you should have treated him better," Mukuro says pointedly. "More benefits, and whatnot."
"I treat you the best of all of my employees!" M. M. screeches, immediately sensing the implications. She might act stupid sometimes, but she's far from it.
"You have a grand total of two, apart from the kitchen staff."
M. M. huffs. "I'll give you a raise. Come on, I'm so nice to you. I gave your sister clothes. I take you out on dates-"
"-I seem to remember that I was the one taking you out on a date, and you practically blackmailed-"
"-and I give you the good shifts, because I know you have to take care of cute Chrome-chan-"
"-couldn't take care of her now," Mukuro mutters without thinking, and M. M. immediately gives him this look of pity and compassion. Assuming someone like her can actually feel things like that.
Mukuro hates it. "Fine," he says shortly. "I'll come in tomorrow, the usual shift. Is that acceptable?"
"Mukuro, I'll just hire someone else in the meantime-" M. M. starts to backtrack. Obviously this was some stupid attempt to cheer him up and now she realizes that she pushed in entirely the wrong direction.
"I said I'd be there. Don't feel the need to stay away from the cafe on my account," he snaps.
M. M. sighs. "If you were anyone else, I'd have fired you a year ago."
"Heaven forbid," Mukuro mutters under his breath. "See you later, M. M.," he says pointedly, and with a huff she leaves.
Miura arrives after school's over, and leaving Chrome in her admittedly flaky and unreliable care, Mukuro returns to his apartment after telling her at least fifty times to call him if anything changes.
He finds a vase of lotus blossoms on the kitchen table. They're fresh.
"What," he says blankly, to the empty apartment. After making sure the flowers have enough water, he takes a quick shower and falls into a deep sleep as soon as he collapses onto his bed.
The flowers are still there in the morning. Mukuro stares at them in silence as he eats breakfast, then hurries to his shift at M. M.'s cafe.
As expected, he's run off his feet now that it's only him and Lancia (though M. M. assures him she hired someone new – small mercies) and when he goes to visit Chrome later, he falls asleep in his chair. Miura wakes him up the next morning, and he barely makes it to his shift at the pet shop.
The bluenet is almost grateful for the distraction of work, tedious and irritating as he finds it to be. Miura hovers anxiously when she comes to visit with Sasagawa, and sends him home when he starts to nod off, much to his annoyance.
The lotuses have been replaced, he notices. It's definitely odd, since only himself, Chrome and the landlord have keys to the apartment, but as far as he can tell nothing besides the flowers has been disturbed, so he shrugs it off and goes to bed.
His days settle into a rhythm: work, visit Chrome, return to the apartment to fresh flowers and go to bed.
A week and a half after Chrome's accident (but who's counting, not Mukuro, nope) he finds a box of chocolates alongside the fresh lotus blossoms. He's starting to get a little suspicious, to be honest. In his rare moments of spare time he distracts himself with thoughts about his mysterious benefactor – it's better than thinking about Chrome's lack of improvement on the coma front.
No one besides Chrome knows that his favourite flowers are lotuses – and he doubts she would tell anyone a trivial detail like that. His sweet tooth for chocolate is more widely known, which doesn't narrow down the list of suspects (currently: none) at all.
Sighing, Mukuro dismisses the question from his mind – the chocolates are delicious, and anyone who gives him such a nice gift probably has good intentions – and eats the whole box before he goes to bed.
Chocolates – different flavours, types and sizes – begin to appear with the fresh lotus blossoms. Two weeks after Chrome's accident, Mukuro realizes he's come to look forward to seeing what his anonymous benefactor has left for him.
Which is just wrong. And creepy. And he needs to remember that someone is breaking into his house with gifts of things that most people don't know he likes.
"I need the day off tomorrow, M. M.," he tells her at the end of his shift, and she agrees.
"Why does that Pineapple-head get to take a day off whenever he wants," complains the new green-haired employee, an apathetic boy named Fran.
M. M. smacks him on the back of the head. "Because he's got more seniority," she snaps.
"So he gets better stuff because he's old?" Fran inquires disinterestedly, acting like he didn't even feel the hit.
"Old! You think he's old!" M. M. screeches. "He's only eighteen! I'm older than he is! Are you saying I'm old!"
Mukuro leaves at that point, not particularly interested in how that train wreck of a conversation is going to end (in flames, obviously).
Miura and Sasagawa are discussing the strange antics of one of their classmates – Tsuna Sawada – that day when Mukuro arrives. They usually talk about their day in school, what Chrome is missing, mundane details like that. Today the Sawada boy (who has been skipping the last period of class – math, for anyone who was wondering – with alarming regularity lately) is the topic of conversation, and Mukuro learns far more about the boy than he ever wanted to know. By the time he leaves for home, he is reasonably sure that Tsuna is; a: an idiot; b: the object of Miura's affection; and c: crushing on Sasagawa.
Mukuro scoffs under his breath as the elevator smoothly ascends to his floor. If he wanted to relive his high school days... Well, he'd reminisce with Ken and Chikusa. He doesn't care for 'girl problems' unless they affect Chrome-chan, in which case-
The bluenet stops himself from following that train of thought. Chrome will wake up when she's ready. She will. He knows she will.
There are fresh lotus blossoms awaiting him in the apartment, a smaller box of chocolates than usual, and a small jewellery box.
If it's a ring, Mukuro decides, feeling thoroughly weirded out, I call the police. Because flowers and chocolates are ok, but a ring would just be creepy. The flowers and chocolates are already threatening his masculinity (even if he appreciates them) but a ring would suggest something like obsession and, just, no.
It's a pair of earrings, simple silver hoops that Mukuro is disturbed to note he would have chosen himself.
Then he tries them on.
Then he gets too creeped out and throws them away.
He takes a shower, and eats a small supper, and takes the box out of the trash can when he's done.
Mukuro places them on his bedside table, purposely not thinking about how pathetic and sad he is. He falls asleep staring at the innocent little box. (Pathetic, and sad.)
The next day, the bluenet visits Chrome early then returns home around lunchtime. He makes himself some soup, watches some tv, and dozes off on the couch.
The sound of a key in the lock rouses him, and Mukuro panics for a few seconds as he listens to someone fumbling around outside the door.
What if his creepy/endearing stalker/benefactor is a girl? What if it's a disgusting old man, like Birds? OH GOD, WHAT IF IT'S BIRDS?
The bluenet isn't at his sharpest just after waking.
He clutches the closest weapon at hand – the remote, damn it – and crouches behind the door like a lurker in his own home. Finally, after at least five minutes, the person manages to properly insert the key and opens the door.
It's the boy who briefly shared Chrome's room. The brunet looks stressed and is plainly sweating. He's clutching a fresh vase of lotus blossoms and a plastic shopping bag. Mukuro assumes it has the chocolate inside.
"... Who are you?" he asks, when the boy kicks the door shut.
"E-ehhhh!" the boy squeaks, dropping the vase in his surprise. Mukuro manages to grab it before it dumps out all over the floor, barely. "D-d-don't hurt me!" the boy cries, flinching away. "It wasn't my idea, I swear! I just-" He starts babbling, shaking like a leaf as Mukuro replaces the old flowers with the new.
"Shut up," Mukuro sighs finally, annoyed. The kid's cute, he has to admit, but he's probably Chrome's age. And how did he get a key to the Rokudo apartment? "Who are you?" he repeats, when the brunet finally subsides, staring fearfully at him.
"Ts-Tsuna Sawada," the boy says quietly.
The blunet stops. Then stares. Well, that explains why this boy has missed so much of math lately. He's been at Mukuro's, refreshing the flowers and bringing other gifts. "Is that a joke?" he asks blankly.
"Um, no," Tsuna mumbles, shuffling his feet. "A-anyway, I need to give you this." He shoves the bag into Mukuro's hand and tries to leave. "Well, bye-"
"Not so fast," the bluenet hisses, grabbing Tsuna's arm in an unbreakable grip. The brunet flinches away. "You said... this... wasn't your idea. Whose was it?" he demands.
Tsuna pales. "D-did I say that?" he asks, gulping.
Mukuro leans in, his eyes narrowed. "Whose. Idea?"
"H-H-Hibari-san," Tsuna stammers.
The bluenet stiffens. "You're lying," he snaps, shoving Tsuna away.
"I-I'm not, I swear," the boy protests, wincing. "Hibari-san was mad that I'd joined the Discipline Committee just because my tutor made me... So as a punishment he kicked me out of the Committee and made me take the flowers and stuff to your house."
"Why?" Mukuro asks sharply.
"I said my tutor made me join," Tsuna mumbles, looking at his feet.
The bluenet scowls. "You know what I mean. Why did Hibari put you up to this?"
"I-I don't know," Tsuna stammers. "You don't question someone like Hibari-san- you know how he is..."
Mukuro scoffs. "So you just let him bully you into doing this."
"Um. Yes?" Tsuna answers meekly.
The bluenet resists the urge to smack the brunet around, barely. Really, beating up someone as weak as the Sawada probably wouldn't do anything to improve his temper. "Well you must have some ideas about why he would make you do this- And don't say it's just a punishment for your joining the Discipline Committee for such a stupid reason," Mukuro adds when Tsuna opens his mouth to answer.
The younger boy shifts uncomfortably. "Well, everyone in my class knows Chrome-chan got in an accident... I mean, I spent a day in the same room as her-"
"I remember," Mukuro agrees, when Tsuna looks to him for confirmation.
"... Yeah. So, I thought at first that Hibari-san was worried about her. He's kind of weird about Namimori, but that doesn't usually extend to students... I still thought that that was maybe the reason. But why would he get me to bring flowers to her apartment? I could have just as easily brought them to her hospital room with Haru and Kyoko-chan," Tsuna continues.
"One thing- where did you get that key?" Mukuro interrupts.
The brunet blinks. "Hibari-san gave it to me. I don't know where he got it from, though."
Mukuro frowns. Tsuna's answer just raises more questions.
"Anyway... Another I thought was odd about me delivering the flowers and stuff is that Hibari-san always gave me the items personally, instead of having one of the other prefects do it," Tsuna adds. "And he asked me if, uh, 'the scavenger'-" here the brunet winces, as if he expects Mukuro to be angry about the title. Mukuro gestures impatiently for him to continue. "-if you, uh, liked the things he made me bring."
"So what did you say?"
"I told him you did. I mean, you added more water to the lotuses and I kept seeing the chocolate wrappers in the garbage... What was in the box yesterday, by the way?" Tsuna dares to ask with obvious curiosity.
Mukuro shrugs. "Earrings." He glances into the plastic bag that Tsuna gave him before – more chocolates. He isn't sure if he should be disappointed or not that his benefactor – no, that prefect, Hibari – has returned to just giving him flowers and chocolates.
Silence greets his answer, and the bluenet glances up to see Tsuna blushing.
"... What?" he asks, nonchalantly opening one of the chocolate bars and taking a bite.
"N-nothing..." Tsuna mumbles, quickly looking away.
"Don't make me threaten you," Mukuro says, smirking. Tsuna doesn't seem to realize that it's mostly a joke, though.
"I-it's just, that seems like a pretty i-intimate gift, that's all," the brunet blurts out.
"Yeah, but Hibari's strange like that. He's probably just trying to make me join the Discipline Committee," Mukuro replies dismissively.
"... Really?" Tsuna asks disbelievingly. "I mean, flowers, chocolate, jewellery, that's stuff a guy buys his g-" The brunet stutters to a halt, his eyes widening as he realizes what he was about to say.
Mukuro narrows his eyes at the younger boy. "His what, Tsuna-kun?"
"G-good friend. Possibly great friend... Um, so it was nice meeting you Mukuro-san, I'll see you later!" Tsuna says, his nervous smile clearly strained. The brunet turns to make his escape, and the bluenet decides to let him go.
From what Chrome has said in the past – not that Mukuro has questioned her on the subject, she's always the one to bring it up – Hibari was always at Namimori. There were even rumours that the prefect lived there, but the bluenet dismisses those as stupid gossip.
What it does tell him was that Hibari preferred the school to his own home. Perhaps he has a bad home life?
That can also explain his strange behaviour concerning other people. Maybe, after hearing Mukuro and Chrome's story, the feeling of kinship over having horrible parents is what drives Hibari to give Mukuro all those inappropriate (but thoughtful) gifts.
Mukuro dismisses those thoughts. Hibari's motivations don't matter; it's not... endearing. It's not. Really. The bluenet tells himself he's not going to Namimori High to ask Hibari why he would go to such lengths. Because he doesn't care. He's just going to go demand how Hibari got a key to his apartment, and he's going to tell the prefect to stay the hell out of his life.
... Depending on Hibari's answers to the first question.
Classes let out about an hour ago; the students that remain on the Namimori grounds are either attending club meetings or sports practices. As a result, the hallways are empty and silent when Mukuro arrives at the school.
They haven't changed much at all since the bluenet attended, except for the fact that more lockers have been added. Chrome-chan said that there have been more students than ever attending the school. He stops at his old locker – 69, and didn't he, Ken and Chikusa laugh about that?
Idly, Mukuro wonders whether any of his old teachers are around – not that he has any interest in meeting them. Chrome doesn't talk about school, beyond her friends. She probably sensed that Mukuro doesn't want to know; she's sensitive like that.
The Discipline Committee's office is where he remembers, though it isn't the mess it was when Dino Cavallone was at its head. The few times the bluenet had cause to stop by, there were always papers piled high on every desk, dust bunnies gathering in the corners, and the few potted plants were all dead.
Now, there's only one desk, the room is spotless, and a small birdcage sits to the right and a bit behind the desk. Hibird starts trilling as soon as he spots Mukuro standing in the open doorway.
"Herbivore, I'll-" the head prefect starts to threaten, blinking sleepily at the intruder. He had been napping on the couch in the corner of the room before Mukuro came in. Hibari's dark eyes widen, then narrow as his gaze goes to the chocolate bar the bluenet is casually eating. "... Rokudo," he greets, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he was threatening Mukuro mere seconds ago.
"Hibari," Mukuro returns, taking another bite of the chocolate. He drapes himself over the comfy leather chair behind the desk – he assumes it's the head prefect's. "I hear that you're the one I have to thank for the... gifts." He was going to say 'flowers and chocolate' but that sounded all wrong to him.
Hibari frowns slightly when Mukuro sits in his chair, but otherwise doesn't react. "Who told you that?" the prefect demands, rising. At first the bluenet thinks he's going to reclaim his chair, but the black-haired male simply goes to Hibird's cage and takes the small bird out.
"A little bird~" Mukuro replies, smirking. "Want some?" He holds the half-eaten bar out to the prefect.
"No. I don't like sweet things," Hibari responds coolly. He seats himself comfortably on the couch again.
"Ah. That's a shame. So tell me... How did you get a key to my apartment?" Mukuro asks, deciding to cut to the chase since the prefect is being so unresponsive to his taunts.
"... From the hospital. I took it from your sister's belongings," Hibari answers, his tone seemingly careless. His gaze never leaves Mukuro, though.
The bluenet stiffens, outrage racing through him. Hibari essentially stole from his comatose sister- Yet he didn't seem to have malicious intentions, and if Mukuro was honest with himself, Chrome really didn't need her key at this point...
"Why would you do that?" Mukuro asks evenly, stifling his anger for the moment.
The prefect's gaze flicks away for a moment, darting to the still-open door. Hibird stares at Mukuro unblinkingly from his perch on his owner's shoulder.
"I don't have to tell you, herbivore," Hibari says coolly.
The bluenet tilts his head to the side, sensing the change in mood. For one thing, Hibari has returned to calling him 'herbivore'. "Or I could just beat the answer out of you, if you'd prefer," he replies politely. Actually, that doesn't sound like such a terrible idea. The anger that Mukuro has been feeling over his helplessness could use an outlet.
Hibari lifts his chin slightly, what looks like excitement flaring in his eyes. "Not here," the prefect answers, his tone as cool and calm as ever. He's not fooling Mukuro, though.
"Oh, no?" the bluenet drawls. "Then I guess you'll have to tell me why you gave me all those nice gifts."
"Are you threatening me, herbivore?" Hibari questions, leaning forward slightly.
"I'm just stating the truth," Mukuro replies, smirking. "If you're too much of a... herbivore to fight me, then-"
Apparently that's too much of an insult for the prefect's pride to take. "I'll make you take those words back, herbivore," he snaps, rising fluidly to his feet. Mukuro does the same.
"Kufufu~ We'll see, won't we?" he purrs.
"I'll win," Hibari states, stalking forward. His collapsible tonfa have already appeared in his hands.
Mukuro shrugs. "Well, I know what's in it for me if I win~ But why do you want to beat me so badly? It can't be that I hurt your pride in our last fight?" he asks tauntingly. To be honest, he doesn't think he'll be able to beat Hibari again; the prefect isn't the most honourable of fighters, but Mukuro is downright dirty. He won by trickery – still a win, of course – but now Hibari knows what sort of things the bluenet is willing to resort to.
The prefect pauses, idly spinning one tonfa. "The satisfaction of seeing another weakling bleeding at my feet," he answers immediately.
"So the reason you gave me the... flowers and the chocolate was so you could get a rematch?" Mukuro asks, arching an eyebrow.
"Enough questions, herbivore," Hibari bites out, lunging at the bluenet.
Belatedly, Mukuro realizes that he should have allowed Hibari to change the venue of their battle from the Discipline Committee's office to the school grounds outside – for one thing, there would have been more room to manoeuvre, which would have largely negated Hibari's advantage of reach. And there might have been a spare bat from baseball practice lying around to arm himself with, or something.
It's a bit late to change things, though. In a pathetically short time, Mukuro finds himself flat on his back, the metallic tang of blood on his tongue and a radiating pain from his (now broken) arm.
Not his finest moment, to be sure.
"Pathetic," Hibari tells him, sounding annoyed (and a little disappointed? – no, it must be the ringing in his ears that makes Mukuro delude himself into thinking that what he hears) as he stands over the prone bluenet. Hibari's lip is split and bleeding, and he'll have one hell of a black eye tomorrow, but Mukuro is undisputedly the loser of this brawl.
"I am pathetic," Mukuro agrees dazedly, his traitorous, blood-slick tongue uttering the truth before the bluenet's mind can filter his thoughts.
The prefect scowls at him. "I would have expected more from the man who dared to attack a student on Namimori grounds," he remarks coldly.
"Kufufu, have I disappointed you?" Mukuro snickers, ignoring the way his soft laughter makes his bruised (cracked?) ribs ache.
Hibari kicks him, none-too-gently, in the side to shut him up. "Be quiet," he orders. "I can't abide watching weaklings fall apart."
Mukuro subsides, a smirk still curving his lips. "So why did you send me those thoughtful gifts, Hibari?" he questions doggedly.
"Are you deaf?" Hibari retorts, turning away. He begins pacing the blood-splattered floor, but Mukuro is too dizzy to track his movements for longer than a few moments. "I hate seeing weaklings fall apart."
"Really," the bluenet replies sceptically. "Because I've seen the 'weaklings' you've beaten up before. They're pretty close to falling apart."
Hibari stiffens and stops his pacing. "You were the first person who ever beat me," he says, his voice emotionless once more. "It was annoying to see you sitting like a... dead doll, staring at your sister." He turns to look at Mukuro fully. "I didn't want you to give up."
And then, because of course that's what would happen after this emotionlessly heartfelt confession, Mukuro's cell phone starts ringing.
Well this could be potentially cliché, Mukuro thinks nonsensically. When he makes no move to answer it (truth is, he can't) Hibari stalks over and pulls the phone out of his front pocket.
"What," the prefect says blandly, after answering.
Mukuro can faintly hear someone talking excitedly (probably Miura) from the tiny speaker.
"Slow down. Are you saying Chrome Dokuro just woke up?" Hibari demands with a scowl, holding the phone further from his ear.
Mukuro attempts to sit up upon hearing that, and he almost makes it too, forgetting about the recently-inflicted wounds. He collapses back to the floor though, as the pain catches up with him. "Is that a joke? It better not be a fucking joke," the bluenet snarls at Hibari, who seems to be ignoring him in favour of the person speaking on the phone.
"... Understood. Shut up, herbivore," he adds, his lips curling into a sneer. "Keep your mind out of the gutter. I'll bring him soon- No, that is not why he can't walk. If you keep talking, you'll be in detention for the rest of the year, assuming you survive being bitten to death."
The bluenet finds that he's curious in spite of himself. It's almost certainly Miura who is on the phone, given her propensity to annoy people with little to no effort on her part.
After listening to the other person for a few seconds, Hibari snaps the phone shut and slips it into his own pocket. "No," he says, answering Mukuro's previous question. "Haru Miura just confirmed that Chrome Dokuro emerged from her coma."
Mukuro grins.
And promptly passes out.
xx
When the bluenet comes to, he finds himself in the hospital bed adjacent to Chrome's. The first thing he sees is Chrome's anxious face, which immediately breaks into the familiar smile he hasn't seen in- more than two weeks.
"Chrome-"
"Mukuro-nii-"
The two siblings smile at each other, finding that words aren't necessary to communicate their feelings: relief, love and a bit of exasperation.
"I can't believe you challenged Hibari-san to another match," his sister scolds.
"I can't believe you jumped in front of a car for a cat," Mukuro retorts, but their grins spoil the effect anyway. "And technically, he challenged me." He glances around, noticing that it seems to be daytime again. "... How long was I out?"
Chrome shrugs. "Most of the night. It's about ten now."
"Hn." Mukuro frowns and begins to catalogue his injuries. His arm (not his dominant one, thankfully; it won't be too much of a pain) is in a cast, he can feels bandages around his upper body, and most of his face is throbbing. Idly, he wonders what he looks like. Probably a mass of cuts and bruises.
He's about to say more, but an argument erupts outside of their closed door at that moment. From the sounds of it, Miura is loudly scolding someone, with Tsunayoshi-kun timidly attempting to interject. He listens with half an ear, wondering who this mystery person could be as he looks around the room more closely.
"-beating up an obviously grief-stricken older brother is so wrong, you should be ashamed of yourself-"
"Silence," comes the annoyed response... of Hibari.
Mukuro arches an eyebrow as his gaze falls upon a fresh vase of lotus blossoms and a box of chocolates. The earrings are placed in full view on top of the box.
Chrome smirks at him. "From your secret admirer," she explains slyly, reminding her brother that she isn't as innocent as she seems.
The bluenet rolls his eyes and snatches up the small card without deigning to reply. Inside is a simple note: never give up.
"Tch." Mukuro tosses the card in the trash can, but the stupid grin doesn't leave his face when Hibari finally shoves past Miura into the hospital room.
He'll blame it on the pain medication.
A/N: Yeah, I wanted to give Mukuro a collapsible trident for a weapon (to match Hibari's, ahahaha~ /is tonfa'd), BUT I COULDN'T THINK OF ANY PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR HIM HAVING IT. Sigh.
Also, I will now attempt to explain Hibari's OOC-ness away... I figure he would have mellowed out as he got older, and also without being a part of the mafia like in the series, he wouldn't have as much reason to be so violent? (Not that he needs a reason, of course~)
ALSO THIS GOT SO CORNY BUT I LIKE IT OK. :IIII
So I guess Hibari and Mukuro are friends now. I don't even know anymore, guys. XD