Forgive me for the lateness, have a long worded chapter~

Chapter 5: Of bad news

Rokudou had himself staying at the office with Hibari because of his bad condition. Hibari was told not to let him run around until the next morning, so he was supposed to babysit him for a few hours. Hibari's personal home was not too far away from his office, but he didn't want to leave his work behind now that he was able to figure out some of the things he couldn't earlier.

Rokudou unsurprisingly was a well behaved child, but still got on Hibari's nerves for being a quietly studying child. Why did he have to take care of a difficult child in the first place? He's seventeen, he managed to move here, he should be able to manage himself well.

Unless he was forced to go, then that was a different story.

Occasionally from his desk, he made a few peeks away from the screen of his computer to Rokudou because he was being far too quiet for his own good. He noted that Rokudou was the kind to have himself swallowed in a book, rather than those kids who bother one another for wanting to do "something fun in a boring office"

Just now he even peeked from his screen to Rokudou, finding Rokudou to glance right back at him without turning his head over. When he noticed that both were in fact leering at each other now, he looked away, he doing the same.

Rokudou still looked pretty pale, and his eyes spoke days of tiredness, but he looked a bit happy, rather than indifferent. It was probably the façade he puts up whenever he was around the office man. Either way Hibari didn't bother asking him of it because they're not that familiar with each other.

It's only been three days after all.

Rokudou smiled at him when he looked away, but then resumed to reading quietly. Hibari felt like face palming, but instead he stood up and walked over to Rokudou, putting the white blanket on his shoulders. He looked up and met with steel coloured eyes "You're shaking" he replied to confused eyes. Rokudou nodded, pulling the light blanket. "So.. Are you going to just sit there and read or are you going to answer a few things?" he asked Rokudou, who resumed reading to put a bookmark in his book and smile at him

"Kufu.. What kind of answers do you want?" he asked back, watching as Hibari went to sit on the chair opposing him, removing his reading glasses. "These are not for my personal use" he clarified, making Rokudou frown "So are you even interested in me?" Hibari 'tch'ed at that, "Just answer these" the student sighed.

"Alright, fire away" once he put his book back, he placed his hands on his lap, giving Hibari his full attention. "Question 1: Who do you live with?" Rokudou tried not to sigh at that again "My..self?" he answered uncertainly, Hibari shook his head "before you moved here" then Rokudou gave him a peculiar look, before smiling "A few friends I picked on the way. I haven't adopted them, but we—they live in an abandoned residence" he answered, knowing that he can't say he adopted them because he was too young to adopt children without parent supervision.

"Question 2: Do you have some medical condition?" he asked, eyeing the eye that was hidden again. Being one of the people who thought it was unusual to have heterochromia with strange numbering in an eye, it was to fill his curiosity "Not me" Rokudou answered with a smile "Next question?" he asked, again aware of the fact that he doesn't have to mention Dokuro or the others' conditions because it specifically asked his only.

"Question 3.." he trailed before noticing that Rokudou didn't touch the tray of food which probably gotten cold by now. "Do you have an employment status? Where do you receive income?" he noticed that Rokudou looked a bit off. "That's confidential information." He quickly answered, making Hibari raise a brow "Why's that?" Rokudou looked away "Because they said so" then looked at Hibari again "Something else?" Hibari lowered his eyes "this is a personal one" he warned, Rokudou smiled uncertainly

"If you had the chance to live with someone, would you consider it?" Rokudou now looked confused, like if Hibari is randomly picking out questions off the top of his head "Is this for some project of yours?" he asked, Hibari lowered his eyes "No, it's just a thought" then Rokudou started to think, even though he looked like he needed actual time to think about it, he immediately answered "No, it's too much of a burden to have someone living with me" without a second thought. Hibari wondered if the question even went through his head.

"I can't live with people now that I live in a dorm" he smiled sympathetically at Hibari, who just clicked his tongue. "Are you busy tomorrow?" was Hibari's last question as he stood up, Rokudou watched him as he walked a few steps away from the chair he was sitting on, looking down at the student.

"Yes. I have something to do tomorrow." He said looking away from the man standing, only to smile again at him "Were you wanting to go out with me or something?" Hibari had a comical angry tick on his head when he asked about that. "Out? With a brat like you? Over my dead body" he snapped as Rokudou laughed.

Even though Rokudou was laughing, Hibari sensed a small feeling of sadness coming from the child. Was he actually hurt by what he had said to him? "What's the something you have to do?" he asked, trying to remove whatever thought he had. He received no answer from Rokudou, who looked at the tray he left on the chair.

"It's probably cold by now, don't bother" he said, although he made no action on removing the tray from the table. He checked the time before looking back at Rokudou, who was once again smiling at him.

Does he ever stop smiling? Who knew.

"It's just college work" he lied, but Hibari believed it anyway, once again knowing even if he asked for a different answer, he won't receive any.

"Well, it's around 8 pm. What's your curfew?" he asked, yawning. Rokudou looked at the window "Um.. I sleep at around 9:30 pm" he answered, wondering if it was too late or too early. Hibari raised a brow, but then remembered how early students usually wake up, it was understandable, yet..

"That's early" he absentmindedly said. "Are you planning on going back now?" he asked, closing the blinds on the window, but left the window itself open. Rokudou nodded in response, then Hibari came back to the chair, staring at Rokudou with blank eyes "Wait here for another half an hour, I'm getting something done" the student tilted his head "Eh. Why shouldn't I just go back?" he asked, receiving a death glare from Hibari, which made him shrink on the chair, pulling the blanket closer.

"Your college doctor said 'Don't leave him out of your sight until tomorrow.'" He excluded the 'but tomorrow, make sure to keep tabs on him because he might be careless and have more symptoms' because he had a gut feeling that Rokudou will be suspicious of him even more than he is of him possibly right now. "Ah I see" Rokudou quietly said, obviously being amused by it. "Oh well, you can finish what you have to, I won't bug you" he waved at Hibari to work, which he did by going back to his desk and typing something. Then Rokudou got up and walked over to him.

For once in his life, he didn't care about anything he was doing as he stood behind Hibari, looking at the screen and what Hibari was writing. Even though he didn't understand it, he observed Hibari's actions of removing a few text, to adding other, checking another tab, and then closing another. It was like either Hibari knew he was there and didn't care, or he didn't even notice.

His bet was that Hibari didn't notice him there, because he looked like someone who didn't bother finding out if there was someone behind him or not. Rokudou pointed at something Hibari wrote on an excel document asking "What does that mean?" Hibari looked over at him with lowered glasses to which Rokudou didn't know when he put them on, but then heard him answer "It means we're taking that much time" Rokudou's mouth made an O face, before looking at something else and pointing there "Is that a typo?" he pointed at a certain name, Hibari then looked at it before correcting it wordlessly.

He picked on many other things before Hibari then turned his chair "Alright, are you just bored or just trying to bug me?" he asked, showing clear annoyance even though he was thankful that Rokudou pointed out some of the errors he made "A bit of both" he smiled, Hibari rolled his eyes.

"I'm almost done, so just sit.. there" he pointed at a spot to sit, so Rokudou did so without a second thought. "At least he's obedient" he thought to himself as he went back to finishing up. Rokudou moved his feet around in a sense of waiting, making Hibari glance at him and think "He's a college student. Right?" because to him, he couldn't see him anything but a high school student.

Once he was done, he turned off the computer and organized some of the paper on his desk, looking back at Rokudou, who was looking elsewhere. He removed his reading glasses again, putting it in its case and into his desk drawer. "Alright, we're going to my house, come on if you're ready" Rokudou looked at him, rather embarrassed "What's with that look?" he asked, wanting to punch on the head.

"I've.. never been to someone's home before" he fiddled with his hands on his lap, making Hibari stare at him "You've been in this office. Think of that as someone's home" instead of punching him like he wanted to, he ruffled Rokudou's head "It's not as unwelcoming as you believe it would be" Rokudou looked up at him, noticing Hibari wasn't looking at him, but rather at a shelf in the room. "If you're welcomed to the office.. you're welcome at home" when he said the last bit, he looked down at Rokudou who was still bewildered at him. Rokudou then smiled genuinely "Thanks, Mr. Hibari" Hibari noticed a little shade of red appeared on Rokudou's face as he smiled, and had a slight smile back.

"Children like you shouldn't believe in depressing thoughts like that" he advised, and Rokudou heard the foreign softness in his voice, something he didn't think he'd hear. "Ahn.." he responded, unsure of what to actually reply with. "Rokudou Mukuro. We've only met for three days, but know that I would have my doors open." His ruffling became gentler with every word he was saying, seeing as though Rokudou was looking at him like a lost child.

"Now, get yourself ready, we'll leave in five minutes" he moved his hand off him as he went to the door, seeing as Rokudou put a hand on his head where it was patted, before picking his bag and following Hibari out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they were leaving the office, Rokudou saw Hibari signing out and then bidding goodbye to those who were still present, they doing the same. Some of the full-timers there glanced at Rokudou, because some knew he was a student of Namimori Academy, but some weren't aware, and thought he was some nephew of Hibari's as he was following him wherever he was going, stopped whenever he told him, and then was led by him, but none bothered to ask Hibari because of his intimidating self.

When they got out, he saw the street lights were all on, brightening up the dark road outside, seeing as though a few cars were passing by. They went into the parking lot, where he saw a few people were driving their way out of the lot. He still felt odd about having to go to someone else's home because it wasn't his, and he felt like he didn't belong to places which weren't his.

Which would explain why he was fidgety about going.

He stopped walking when Hibari stopped, and saw him press something and then saw a car light flash. Because he never had a car, he wasn't sure why it did that, but he shrugged it off as Hibari motioned him to follow him again, as he walked behind him to the black car that flashed.

The car had three back seats, along with a front seat and a driver's seat, as far as Rokudou could see the car. It was black coloured, and the internal was a light brown colour. It seemed roomy for something he never seen before.

Yes yes, Rokudou has never been in a car before, so he was confused about it. Sure, he was in a moving van, or a pickup truck, but never someone's car as casually as he was going to right now. Hibari opened the driver's seat and got in. He stared at Rokudou who was still looking at the window, which had a purple colour which should've covered most of the view from the outside, but Rokudou saw through it because of the windshield infront.

"Are you coming in?" he asked superficially, then Rokudou looked at him, before hesitating. He opened the door slowly, making Hibari think again "Is he reallya college student?" before seeing him come inside, putting his bag on his lap. "Fasten your seatbelt" he advised, pointing at his own, then showing Rokudou where was his. Rokudou put on the seatbelt, then looked at Hibari, who nodded then started the car. Rokudou closed his door then sat there, waiting for Hibari to either do or say something. Hibari turned on the radio as the car turned on, and began to drive out of the parking lot.

Rokudou noted that cars are still pretty useful, but bad for environmental students as it releases a lot of carbon dioxide. He also noted that Hibari is a really careful person compared to what he heard cars do; crashing into one another because of recklessness, or someone just plain drunk.

Hibari continued driving at a normal pace, as he held the steering wheel with one hand, before pointing at something ahead, without looking at Rokudou as it was a rule to keep your eyes on the road "That's where I live. Just a few minutes away" he boredly said, Rokudou looked from him to the street which had a lot of small but clean looking townhouses. He followed where Hibari's finger pointed before that hand went on the steering wheel as well, seeing a dark maroon roofed house.

"The maroon roofed one, right?" Hibari nodded when he heard the question. "It seems like a nice place" Rokudou looked at him with a slight smile, Hibari shrugged "Everything in Namimori is 'nice', which is why I live here" Rokudou could tell that was Hibari's way of saying thank you. Though he wasn't sure about Hibari actually liking all of Namimori, or just his home and the school building, so he was about to ask until he actually received an answer without having to ask.
"I grew up with Namimori. Anywhere in Namimori is mine, as I belong to Namimori" Rokudou smiled gently on the outside, but on the inside thought "Whoa, that's weird" as he giggled on his seat, as Hibari turned the car to the left "And the funny part was..?" he glanced at Rokudou for a second, then looked back at the road "Sorry, just my first time hearing something like that" Hibari made no response after as he began to lower the car speed for parking.

When he finished parking, he stopped the car and unfastened his seat belt, Rokudou doing the same after seeing him do it, and then got out of the car, making sure they had everything before watching as Hibari went ahead to the door of his house, unlocking the door. Rokudou took a moment to view the front yard, seeing the green grass now darkened because of the night.

Then he looked over to Hibari who was already inside, waiting for him to come in with a blankly confused look, so Rokudou walked over inside, seeing as Hibari closed the door and then locked it when he got in.

For a seemingly alone person like Hibari, his house was large. From the exterior it just looked like a regular townhouse, but on the inside, it was like he was some heir to some prestigious family. Who knows he might just be.

With gold laces around the walls hung hardwood framed portraits of people Rokudou didn't know of, standing proudly as their power even stood out from the picture like if they were real people standing infront of him. There was one thing that he was certain of:

They were Hibari's relatives. With eyes as steel as his, and gaze as piercing as heavy darts, Rokudou never thought he would see more people with terrifying gazes. Now he felt like a sheep which was caught by a pack of hungry wolves. He wondered when the people in the pictures would just come out and attack him, with full murderous intent for no apparent reason, or maybe for trespassing.

With this freight, he felt dizzy again, seeing as all the photos were bringing back thoughts into him. Thoughts of about poachers, scary violent, ruthless people possibly charging at him. Hibari being quite the perceptive one, saw Rokudou's eyes losing a bit of the gleam it had and immediately was able to tell he was losing him again, so he took him by the hand and darted out of the large hallways, seeing as Rokudou stopped gazing at the photos to their feet, making sure he doesn't step on anything.

For Hibari it was an unusual reaction which Rokudou did. Usually people would point at the photos and say "He's your father right?" or comments such as these, not a person feeling the sudden hostility and tiring himself at the sight of them. That used to be an old reaction of his when he was much younger. He didn't think others would be seeing the same.

He led Rokudou to a room which the student had assumed was his, and was thrown to the bed, as he seated himself on the edge of it. He saw the student bounce back because of the hard push contacting a soft surface, which rather than letting him sink in, pushed him back because of his light weight.
Rokudou felt fear of what was going to happen, except nothing came at him. Rather, Hibari just sat there at the edge, looking softly at him, with lowered eyes and his fronts almost having it covered if it could've been longer.

What he once again didn't expect was a laugh escaping the older man's lips. He looked at him with an unchanging gaze of fear, until he heard him talk. "You really are young" Rokudou looked at him as if he finally came back to earth "When I was younger than you, I thought they would come out of the picture and murder me. For being.. me" Hibari saw Rokudou's eyes softened and overall his skin came back to his unhealthily pale face. As if finally registering everything, Rokudou then laughed.

Hibari had a slight smile when he saw Rokudou relax and begin to laugh, seeing as he sat up. "Ironically, you inherited that look of theirs" he replied, putting a hand near his mouth as he laughed, Hibari raised his lowered head "Do you think I'll murder you someday?" he asked with a brow raised, to which Rokudou smiled at "Like right now? That's what I thought" and didn't seem as surprised when he saw Hibari smile at that answer.

Hibari wanted to continue on with the topic, but he wasn't sure what else to say, and he wasn't all that sure if Rokudou was interested. Unlike his usual mistrust towards people, he trusted Rokudou, and that was why he let him in his house.
He was once told a metaphor by Giotto that 'once you lead someone into your house, you are leading them to your heart as a house is the window of the heart and what a person can be on the inside.'

Mostly why homes can be warm even if heat isn't on.

Hibari wondered why he took that student's advice, knowing that he was several years younger than him, but how mature he was for someone so youthful as him, it secretly inspired Hibari, seeing as Giotto's uncle Sawada Tsunayoshi is like.. the opposite.

Just how are they uncle and nephew? No one can really tell.

Rokudou simply sat there like an obedient dog, looking around the room, and Hibari couldn't tell whether Rokudou was those really restraint but 'good' guests, or just those who are waiting to cause trouble after putting an innocent front.

He went with the latter, but when he remembered seeing fear in his eyes when he saw the family portraits.. He might not be able to misbehave when 'frightening' people lurk in this house.

"I'll think about killing you.. If you're a troublesome one" he suddenly said, looking at nowhere in particular, and making Rokudou look at him, with a smile wiped straight off his face. Hibari couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he didn't bother asking. It wasn't like him to be so curious about lifestyles of others anyway, it was only for work purposes earlier.

That's right, just work purposes.

But yet.. Sometimes he'd get this feeling of wanting to protect the student from something. He didn't know what this something was, but he knew it was something pretty bad, and it was damaging the student in ways he can't think of.

"In that case, you're free at any time" Rokudou had an uneasy smile on his face, but his eyes spoke volumes of determination. Full permission to do what he possibly needed. Hibari was confused about that, but once again, he didn't ask of it. "When you come, I won't run from you" he then noticed Rokudou's eyes lower, no longer looking at him as he almost whispered when he had spoken. Hibari himself barely heard it, but he trusted his ears that he heard exactly what he heard

When you come, I won't run from you

Suspicion already was high in Hibari when it came to Rokudou and what he used to do for habits, but now it just increased because of the seemingly remorseful look and tone of his voice. But more than anything, Hibari felt bad for him, without knowing the true reason to feeling that, he just had another gut feeling.

Almost all of his thoughts about Rokudou were just gut feelings after all.

Unless that explains something else that never came in his wording choice.

Either way he wasn't all too sure of it as he let Rokudou sit silently on the bed. There was a pause between them, neither wanted to say something of anything, and that was when Hibari looked at the bed

"Sleep here for today" he avoided looking at the one sapphire eye looking up at him as he mentioned sleep. "Where would you..?" he heard him ask, to which he looked at the student with a bored-like expression "Somewhere else" he saw a look in Rokudou's eyes, then returned it with a blanker looking one "In the house, of course" then Rokudou's slightly smiled.

"Its fine, I'll sleep on the floor" he let himself off the bed slowly, seeing as Hibari clicked his tongue. "Don't even think about arguing and sleep on the bed" he ordered, glance turning into a glare, he made Rokudou sit back on the bed without any actual movement. Rokudou simply looked at him for a bit, in search for a reason "Sawada said you would need a comfortable spot to rest on. Good enough?" he explained, ending it with a question, Rokudou nodded, muttering a quick apology to again Hibari clicking his tongue "Quit apologizing, or I'll bite you"

Once he had said the last bit, Rokudou had the most flabbergasted expression Hibari had ever seen him do, and then heard him laugh as loudly as he can. "Oh God! Bite me" he joked, clutching his stomach as he stopped himself from laughing due to his body not being able to take the pressure he applied when laughing as hard as he was then.

Due to knowing that Rokudou disbelieved him, Hibari went up to him even though he was almost at the door just a while ago, and lowered himself. Rokudou opened his eyes and the visible eye widened as he saw Hibari right infront of him, and was even more surprised when he felt a harsh sinking of teeth on the side of his neck. Fear suddenly took over him as he thought "Have I secretly come across a vampire!?" his mind screamed as he bit his lower lip. He felt a smirk coming on Hibari's face as he sank lower, encircling his arms around the student's thin waist. Rokudou felt like it was an eternity what was happening and tried to push Hibari's face away from him, but in truth it was barely even a minute that passed by.

To his relief, Hibari stopped, looking at the spot he had bitten, seeing as a small amount of blood trickled down. Rokudou's face was contorted in pain with his eyes tightly shut and clenched teeth. Rokudou opened one of his eyes, which happened to be the only visible one, the left eye, and looked at Hibari "What was that..?" Hibari wiped his mouth with his sleeve "I did say I'd bite you, and you said to bite you" he straightforwardly said, making Rokudou force his mouth open, eyes darting at his teeth structure.

Hibari looked at him with an indifferent face as Rokudou was filling his own suspicion, then sighed, moving his hands away from his mouth "Jesus.. I could've sworn you could've bit my neck off. You're not even a vampire for crying out loud" he said as he put a hand on the wounded area of his neck. Hibari smirked at him, to which Rokudou smirked back, with uncertainty and a sweat drop rolling down his face "Aren't you kinky" he laughed shakily, seeing as Hibari's arms were still around him, which rose the heat up to his face, but he was thankful that it was barely visible seeing as Hibari didn't notice it "I'll bite you to death if you keep thinking that" he still had a smirk up his face, seeing that Rokudou's were wiped off him again, knowing that Rokudou was getting nervous by the way he was hanging onto Hibari's jacket shoulders rather tightly.

"How cute, still a baby?" he teased, inching closer to him, slightly rising but yet already towering him. He separated Rokudou's inseparable legs to give him more access onto coming closer, absolutely petrifying him. Hibari then laughed, seeing as Rokudou actually looked scared and embarrassed as he was now only an inch apart from him.

Rokudou wanted to scream and run away immediately, or at least smash something into his face and then run, but he did none of it, when his hands finally decided to obey him as he twisted his head to lower it, avoiding Hibari, and tried moving his arms away from him. He looked back up to see Hibari's face was several inches away from him again, as he sighed in relief. "Kufufufu.. I'm not a baby, but it seems like I fell into a carnivore's hands" he shook his head, avoiding any further eye contact, but he still laughed when he had said his last line.

Then he felt a soft contact on the wounded area of his neck, in a few seconds finding out it was Hibari kissing it. For reasons he wasn't aware of, it felt warm, unlike what he had thought it would feel. He felt the dry blood being wiped off of him, chilling him a bit, as he closed his eyes again.
To Hibari, even though it was dry blood he was licking off, it tasted strangely sweet to him. He assumed that Rokudou was the kind of people who ate a lot of sugary foods, which was typical of people his age group. He heard no reaction from Rokudou, but he saw a slight movement of his head, allowing him, giving him permission.

Or he just fell asleep on spot.

No, that would be creepy in Hibari's dictionary, just like Rokudou registered Hibari's current behaviour to be creepy in his dictionary. He moved himself away from Rokudou, seeing him looking below at him with lowered eye lids, void of any actual expression. "Being a creep?" he asked, seeing as though Rokudou shook his head, he knew he was lying just to be polite.

It was then Hibari actually separated from him, going to another room, to which Rokudou thought he was leaving for the night, but then came back with a bag. Rokudou glanced at him as he opened the bag and took out something white from it. He realized later it was a bandage he took out as he placed it on the wound, of course, after wiping it with a disinfectant which made Rokudou click his tongue at the stinging feeling of it.

It's too ironic to tell Rokudou "Forget about what happened earlier" because he wanted Rokudou to remember it, to scar him for life about it, so that he won't be a bother to him in the near future. Rokudou said nothing, and had a small smile as Hibari threw the bag at a random spot of the room, uncaring where it went, and then told him about where he would be for the night, which was in the sitting room, as he usually read something during the night before he had actually slept.

Hibari turned the light off and left the room, letting Rokudou sink into the room which only had him now.

Even though he left Rokudou alone, he was trying to make sure and keep tabs on him as Sawada told him to, monitoring most of what he did, trying to make it as hidden as he can, as knowing someone like Rokudou, he might break surveillance cameras if he seen them too obviously in sight.

Unbeknownst to Rokudou, there was a tracking device Hibari had carefully placed on the bandage he had wrapped around the wound, and that was solely why he had it patched, otherwise he would've let it stick out like a stick in the mud. Hibari was able to track his movements as the device was connected to his phone, and even though he was horrible with most aspects on phones, the only thing he was good at, was using tracking apps on it.

Hibari looked at his phone, seeing Rokudou hasn't moved an inch other than laying down. Well, he thought laying down because the movement that was showing was so small, it wasn't possible that he had already jumped out of the room. It was showing the entirety of his room at the moment, after all. It shouldn't show more until he would change the setting.

But yet, he didn't think it was all too necessary to keep such a close eye on him, but he complied because orders are orders. He didn't want to get demoted nor fired.

~On Rokudou's side~

Once Hibari had shut the light off and left, he muttered a small "Goodnight" to him, which he received a small laugh which only consisted of a "Hah" before falling into the absolute darkness of the room.

He felt odd again, sleeping in a bed which wasn't his as he pulled the blanket on top of him. He was used to having comforters being the thickest 'blanket', but this outclassed it. It was probably wool, but it was of such high quality, it was more than just walking on a cloud, it was like walking on a warm cloud which had you secured from any harm of the world.

Extravagancies were heaven. He let a soft sigh, scared of feeling too comfortable as he had to leave on short notice some time later. He let the soft covers take over him for a few minutes, but yet, as much as it was heavenly, he couldn't sleep at all.

He looked at his phone, reading the mission log as he depressed himself again, wanting to be distracted by Hibari again as he checked the time. "8:30 pm. Too early for leaving" he told himself, as he scheduled to leave at around 1:00 am, as he thought, would be the time Hibari would be sleeping so he could sneak out without giving any notice.

As there was nothing else he could view, he looked up at the ceiling, to setting an alarm on his phone for 12:45 am, so that he wouldn't be late for what he had to do. He closed his eyes, thinking about things that can scare him to sleep, but nothing did, so instead he laid there, making himself 'enjoy' the overly softness of the bed, and made himself sink into it again.

But that, even just lasted for another hour.

He shot awake thinking of it being overtime, but then saw the time and sighed again. He turned to his side, laying in a fetal position as he tried sleeping, but his mind just didn't accept it.

Sure, his eyes were tired and closed happily, but his mind was awake as day, and refused to go through the sleep cycle. He could just up and leave, but he knew Hibari was awake and would notice something odd in him, which he wanted to avoid, because he assumed that Hibari was doing some study on him which didn't sound wrong to him as the possibility stood.

The room being absolutely silent, and his mind shouting depths of things Rokudou didn't know of, and didn't know how to respond. He wished that someone can just knock his senses out, but he knew no one would do that as he for the umpteenth time, forced himself to sleep. His mind wandering to one focus: Hibari.

Recalling what happened earlier between Hibari and he brought the overflowing feelings he had about the scene. He was in a mix of being surprised, embarrassed, but happy at the same time. Happy due to finding out that there is someone in the lonely world which would creep up that close to him, even if he was a demonic person as others would usually say. Seeing that Hibari came that close to him, looking more like the demon than he was considered made him feel strangely happy.

He knew he can't make a too intimate bond with him, but yet, his heart began to sense longing.

He longed for his presence again, to have him so uncomfortably close to him, for him to invade his personal space.

Most importantly, to be needed by someone of his caliber. Not needed by some weakling, or someone too dominating, but a monster of his kind.

Just like himself, and Hibari Kyouya seemed to fit the criteria.

A frown came on him as he was finally able to shut his mind off, thanks to Hibari once again. Geez, how much times is he going to owe him?

But at least now he knew how to repay those debts.

As he was finally asleep, he was able to script how he would be able to repay those debts without having something unwanted in it, and that was when time began to tease him.

What felt like a few minutes was hours as his alarm began to sound, jolting him awake only to fall back because the bed betraying him with its puffy comfort. He forced himself out of bed, making sure he didn't make a lot of noise with the shuffling, and then made the bed, before picking his stuff and slowly opening the room door, seeing the hallway lights were completely shut, it was telling him that no one could possibly be awake at this hour.

Smiling to himself, he wiped his eyes before closing the door again, and then proceeding to the window, thanking nothing in particular that it was present and big enough for him to sneak out.

Just like the dorm room windows.

Because the window was already open, it wasn't odd that he left it open as he removed the screen off it, and threw himself out, gripping the sill on the outside with one hand, the other pulling himself up to put the screen back on. It wasn't back in perfect condition as one would have to screw it back on, but it was in a condition that looked normal enough, as he let go of the sill and jumped from wall to the wall of another's house and proceeded in such manner. Surprisingly no one awoke from it, but since he was considered a professional at what he was doing, it shouldn't be making a lot of noise as he checked his radar, looking at where his first destination would be located at. Already at an hour's distance, he began to speed out, but then resorted to walking later, but then he remembered.

He had to go back to his dorm room for his weapon and other items. So he turned back, knowing that he wouldn't be taking too much time doing that as he was already ready for doing that, which was why he got out early.

Taking a few minutes there, he got to his dorm room and got whatever he could possibly take with him and darted out again, setting out.

In about an hour's time just as the radar said, he made it, where he was greeted by some members of the family, he assumed due to their uniforms. He showed his identity card which he had made in case he had to have it shown to someone during missions, which they approved of, knowing of the circumstances when they saw his ID, and let him inside to meet the client.

As he walked in, he noticed the awkward amount of white adorning the building, and a lot of hanged bouquets of flowers of many different kinds. He then thought about the possibility of the client's group being flourists, but then he remembered the name of the group: Millefiore.

A thousand flowers.

It was self-explanatory why there were so much flowers, it was in its name itself. Rokudou mentally facepalmed, finally reaching the end of the hall and meeting with a few people of unfamiliar faces.

They were pretty tall, and each having odd hair colours. One having a light blue colour, which was a small little girl, and green for a slightly taller boy, to cerulean for a relatively taller one, still taller than Rokudou was, and the other being red haired, who was one of the tallest, if not for one with a mask, whom Rokudou couldn't see the hair of.

The little girl waved at him politely and was the first to speak "Hey~ Who are you?" she asked as the short green haired boy stared at him with his big eyes which seemed to look like a snake's eyes. The cerulean haired man, or was he even a man, looked at him with a graceful look "Bluebell, he's the one who we hired" by the tone of his voice, Rokudou confirmed that was indeed a boy, and what was surprising was how that 'boy' was around his age, but he looked years older. The red haired man had a lazy look to his face as he said a word that Rokudou couldn't even tell what he was saying. "Idjit, another flimsy little girl in here?" the 'idjit' being the word Rokudou was puzzled on, which he lost focus on whatever else he said to think about that weird way of saying 'idiot'?

"Zakuro, he's a boy as well. Don't be rude" the cerulean scolded lightly again, and Rokudou easily assumed he was that mother figure in the group, seeing as all of them behaved as he said so. "My apologies for their rudeness, my name is Kikyo" he bowed, and as he was lowered, he gestured to the blue haired girl he called 'Bluebell' "Her name is Bluebell" then to the green haired boy "He's Daisy", then he straightened himself "His name is Zakuro, and that is Torikabuto" at the last name, he pointed with his palm rather than the usual behaviour of pointing with a finger.

Rokudou simply looked a bit confused, but didn't say anything as he nodded slowly. "Oi Kikyo, I think the idjit didn't get it" 'Zakuro' scratched his head as Kikyo giggled "Oho. He understands it entirely, he's just waiting eagerly" he smiled at Rokudou "We're Byakuran-sama's friends, also here to protect him as he travels back home from the base here." Kikyo concluded, and Rokudou simply replied with an "Oh", still feeling a bit outcasted, seeing as he was one of the only ones who wore a heavy amount of black and had the punkish look, such as the stereotypical three piercings on one ear, two on the other, hidden eye, pale skin and long eyelashes. The 'Millefiore' group wore a lot of white, save for the black boots and the black coat, which still, had a white design on them, so the white was contrasting with Rokudou's choice of black colours.

He still stood out, out of the five standing, him included, which gave everyone the sign he was the one that they had hired, and it was rather obvious because he didn't have a resemblance to them either.

"We're waiting for Byakuran-sama to get ready" then Rokudou noted, why would friends call their other friend with such honourific? Was he that rich or high classed? But it seemed as though they were saying he wasn't ready yet, the door beside them all opened, revealing the white haired man who was in the photograph they sent Rokudou.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting" he started, and Rokudou noticed that all of them had a hand on their chin, for some reason only showing the thumb, index and middle finger, the ring finger and pinky were clenched. They looked like some people who were checking out something, but Rokudou assumed again, that was probably their greeting to him.

"Oh you came!" Rokudou looked from them to Byakuran, who smiled innocently at him with his closed eyes "When they said they'll provide us with a powerful assassin, I thought it'd be a scary looking man like Phanny, but it figures they hired a cute little child!" he laughed, Rokudou did feel a bit insulted, but he didn't know who this 'Phanny' was, so he assumed him to be a ruthless looking person.

"Kufufufu.. Remind me how old you are" he asked, knowing that Byakuran really was no older than him, but he was in a pestering mood for being called young "So you're the infamous Rokudou Mukuro-kun? Not bad" he took a step closer before moving away "I can trust you for watching my back, can I?" he turned his head to look at his team and Rokudou "Yes Byakuran-sama" Kikyo bowed when asked, seeing as the others did, Rokudou simply watched them, then looked at Byakuran who turned around fully, tilting his head at him "May I trust you, Mukuro-kun?" Rokudou looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded "Alright then, I'll trust all of your words for this" he smiled again as they followed him out to the carriage.

"So why is Byakuran going home?" Rokudou asked Kikyo, who made a thinking gesture "Something of a homecoming, came on short notice" he then smiled troubled at Rokudou "And since we are an infamous team, Byakuran-sama has the risk of being pursued by assassins who have previously worked with him until Yuni-sama disbanded the team, due to knowing we didn't get along in truth" he explained as they all went in the carriage which Byakuran was in. Rokudou decided to lean outside of it, keeping a look-out as well as being the main external force due to his prowess.

Kikyo apparently sat near him so he could explain the scenario, while Bluebell sat beside Byakuran, Zakuro, and Torikabuto on the back, Daisy beside Kikyo. There was a seat for Rokudou, but he refused to sit inside, knowing he was different from them and he found it odd to be around them although he didn't know how long would he be with them.

He looked to the sky, seeing how grey it once was again, and clicked his tongue. It'll never get clearer, can't it?

The greyness reminded him already of his client, and how white he is. Maybe the world wants him to see white, rather than the black he wears.

Seeing that the rain came in a bunch rather than trickles, Rokudou made no action on covering himself any further than he already had so Kikyo did the honour of grabbing the back of his black coat and pulled Rokudou into the carriage beside him. Rokudou looked surprised for a second, then saw Kikyo's troubled smile
"It'd be bad for movement if you get wet" he said, as Rokudou sighed. To him it didn't matter, so why should it matter to someone else? He remained silent as he nodded nonetheless, as Kikyo grew a bit uneasy; noting to himself that Rokudou simply was here for the job and perhaps doesn't look forward to socializing at all with the others.

It was going to be a long journey this time around..

Rokudou kept a look on the back as Byakuran was humming a tone to himself, giving an aura of carelessness. He assumed it was because of his utmost faith in his comrades, or probably he was some superpowered person who didn't actually need any of these hitmen to protect him.
He believed the latter.

They were decorations so that those who were waiting for him wouldn't have to worry. Rokudou casted a glance at the chilled white head that still, didn't seem to care or didn't notice. He clenched his teeth and looked away, trying to make every bit of his already developed anger towards him. He didn't care if it was his day off and he has to work, he minded however, that this man is using them like how sleazy old bags use children for experiments or whatever, as if they are their lapdogs.

He shook off thoughts that were forming in his mind and continued to watch out, before jumping on the hard roof of the carriage, and quickly deflected something incoming at them with his trident. Kikyo had himself situated to the front to protect the ones in the front, and Rokudou tapped the roof with his trident end to signal they are being attacked.

The 'something' that Rokudou deflected seemed to uncurl itself, revealing a small little fox, not as small as a cub, but a rather small rolled up fox, followed up by another which was aiming for the front, which he once again slapped away from. He narrowly dodged what was coming at him, which was a tall man who sprang up from someone with an aerial attack with his billiard stick, aiming straight at Rokudou. Because he didn't exactly see him due to the other fox, he managed to bring his trident infront of him to rather clash with the billiard stick than to take full damage on it.

Zakuro and Torikabuto also came out of their posts and got ready for fighting the other two who came with levitation boots.
So technology has gone so far that they have levitation boots now? Might be so

The other two had red coated scythes, one of the two being far smaller than his companion who was those typical big, bodyguard types. Torikabuto shielded himself with his weapon, while Zakuro went to the offense by jumping and striking one of them down. Because one of the two were much younger, he was easily dropped to the ground as Zakuro yawned in boredom

"Idjit, not worth the go" he said, after yawning, walking away from the child. Rokudou managed to tug off the leader, throwing a small knife to distract him, which he easily sidestepped, landing another blow on Rokudou's trident that he carried in defense. "My, oh my, sending a small child against me? Byakuran really sunk low" the man laughed a bit, jumping a few steps back and running a hand through his hair. Thanks to his speed, Kikyo managed to make a scratch on the blond man's face, diverting his attention away from Rokudou.

"Rokudou-kun, sorry for the lateness" he slightly bowed, "Now that I know he's the one leading them, I should handle this" then he glared at the one whom touched his bloodied cheek, whistling at the damage caused "Byakuran's dogs.." he muttered before turning his smirk into a face of pure anger, attacking Kikyo without any hint of hesitation, who with his elegance, danced away from each strike.

"Gamma-kun, Byakuran-sama spared that one time.. Why are you opposing him again?" Kikyo asked while dodging. Gamma called his cubs back and aimed at Kikyo again, "There's no higher sin than to betray the Princess" he snapped at him in response. Rokudou observed that in such short time, Kikyo and Gamma were able to actually damage each other with rather quick attacks, that if he didn't have his red eye, he wouldn't have been able to follow through.

Perhaps this is the power of real hitmen, he deduced, although it was rather noticeable that he himself was just overestimating them, seeing as how he was able to dash quicker than many, that Gamma didn't notice that he was in the air ready to strike, Kikyo moved back to let him attack, seeing as the aerial attack was just a diversion to the actual land attack.

Now if everything was in slow motion, this all was able to be seen, but if people weren't quick enough, they wouldn't have been able to follow anything that was going on. Byakuran himself was watching from behind as they stopped the carriage. He didn't look amused or anything, it was as if he already knew what was happening and how it was going to happen.

Rokudou's land attack could've been a lethal blow to Gamma, if someone didn't interrupt them, saving Gamma's life as he was aiming at the wrong spot; the sky. He was caught by surprise when Rokudou just threw another knife, and then was about to land a real attack when he landed.

But it went on Gamma's favour, seeing as his companion, the Phantom Knight, otherwise known as Genkishi, came in the right moment to intercept the blow with his twin swords. He had the eyes of someone who had fought a war and won through it, like an emperor of fighting.

Far superior to Rokudou, who handicapped himself by shielding his right eye, not allowing it to do anything for the time being. Looking into the silent knight's eyes brought a slight fear inside Rokudou, but it didn't stop him from decisively throwing more rapid blows at him, without allowing a second for Genkishi to breathe.

His movements were impeccably quick, but Genkishi had more than just two swords, he had a strong mind, and more swords to duel with.

Using the sword on his leg brought dust in Rokudou's unguarded eye, who refused to let it distract him as he continued to dodge squinting his hurt eye. Gamma didn't get a minute to thank him because as soon as he arrived, he got occupied fighting a child who was several years younger than him, but showed the prowess of someone similar to their caliber. He himself got occupied fighting Kikyo again, who seemed to have the advantage of the situation, throwing Gamma off guard.

Genkishi and Rokudou both jumped back at the same time, Rokudou began to rub his eye, while Genkishi began to speak. "A mere child being able to match up to our level.. Very impressive" he commented, as Rokudou looked back at him, adjusting his eyes again. His vision seemed a bit impaired, but the look in it spoke lengths of determination, which was something opposed to Genkishi's, which were like voids, opposed to his eye colour of sterling gold.

"Your name, assassin" he continued, in a tone less than an order, but of curiosity. "I am the Phantom Knight of Yuni-sama, commonly called Genkishi" he introduced himself, Gamma shouting from afar along the lines of "there's no time for introductions!", both of them ignored him and continued their stare off.
He blinked a few times, and once he found it fine to see again, he tightened his grip on the trident, moving it behind him and laughed "Kufufufufu.. Who said I was an Assassin?" with a free hand, he made a questioning gesture, before moving it over to the tresses of blue on his right side of his face. "But you probably heard my name somewhere" he flicked the bang to the side, revealing an eye brimmed of blood crimson with a strange sense of having a kanji written. Right now it was the number 六. Six in English. Genkishi looked surprised for a moment, and then composed himself "An experimented child. They say no one survived them, but one secretly has this whole time" he closed his eyes, then reopened them, repeating a question "Your name" or statement. For like one of the first time today, Rokudou had a smirk on his face "Rokudou.. Mukuro" he replied, changing the kanji in his eye to 一, or one in English. Genkishi knew what was coming at him so he twirled both his swords and charged at Rokudou. Rokudou initially was doing the same. What was strange of the Rokudou charging at him was how blackened it was, that when Genkishi slashed it, it became a moss of rocks at him. They didn't hurt him as much, but it did serve a distraction to him as the real Rokudou then came and slashed him similarly to how he was trying to do with Gamma. Genkishi almost got hurt, but because of his sword positioning, it wasn't fully impacted, seeing as he managed to land a scratch on Rokudou's side. Coincidently both received similar damage. Rokudou had a tight lipped smile on, seeing as the red of his blood was beginning to cover the white of his shirt, but he didn't mind however, seeing as his opponent at least, received some damage similar. Even though this is the first time he actually got real wounds fighting, other than the small cuts and scratches, this was deeper than the usual. "Wow." He muttered "This is a first" looking up at Genkishi's slightly troubled face "I have to say this is the same for you?" by the look on his face, it gave Rokudou answers he asked for. Byakuran, who spent his time simply watching them, began to laugh to himself again, seeing as Torikabuto is a horrible fighter that Zakuro has to deal with the two of his opponents, Kikyo had minor wounds, but he looked better than what Gamma looked. It was now that he walked forward. Ever so slowly… Rokudou and Genkishi resumed their rapid attacks, each of them getting wounds here and there, but not in terrible conditions. It was when Byakuran made a sly step forward, that Rokudou's vision once again began to blur, seeing as he hit a tree from impact of a strong kick, blood spurted out of his smiling face. He showed not a hint of fear and immediately ducked when Genkishi tried stabbing him while he was on the tree bark. Rokudou's eye once again changed kanji, and he seemed to have a stronger aura around him, kicking Genkishi in the gut, and pulling the sword out of the tree, tossing it at him with great force that hit him in the left shoulder, disabling it.
"Well done" Genkishi muttered, wiping his face of excessive blood "For a small child to wound me this much" he eyed Rokudou's bout of coughs that he choked out. "But it seems even you are reaching your limit" he effortlessly pulled the sword off of himself "This could end with our deaths" uncaring of the blood flowing carelessly out of the wound and sword which is now drenched in it, looking to the side "Seeing as we are on the losing side. And your considerate leader is approaching you" Rokudou followed his gaze and scowled. It was only he who was losing their lives here, seeing as how Zakuro managed to land great wounds on the two, and seems done with them, throwing Torikabuto back in the carriage, and Kikyo stopped fighting even though Gamma is trying to continue it to the death kinds, and last but not least, Byakuran is coming their way with a smile on his unchanging face. "Phanny, you should go back to Yuni-chan" although he had the voice of someone teasing, it sounded like a firm order "She wouldn't like seeing someone hurt, especially those close to her" he paused "When she didn't order them to" with the last saying, his eyes opened, showing a smile, but a stare that pierced one's soul with fear. Genkishi sheathed his swords at that, and kept a level gaze at Byakuran "Byakuran-sama, Yuni-sama would still want you back."

Byakuran just had a small smile to his opened eyed face "Its nothing wrong with Yuni-chan, I just hate the people she's with" he pointed upward when he said that "And I have my own reasons for leaving, even if I didn't want to leave Yuni-chan's side" he turned away from all of them "now, may you please go back to her?" he asked without a change in tone. Rokudou glanced at Genkishi, who seemed to give a signal to Gamma, and bowed to Byakuran "Return soon, Byakuran-sama. For now, have a safe endeavour" Gamma seemed to be saying something against what Genkishi was doing, but was ignored once again as Genkishi jumped into the forest thickets. Gamma cursed silently, calling the two followers; Nosaru and Tazaru to follow him which they silently complied.

It was only when they left that Rokudou felt all the strain on his body and tried not to fall over, wiping his face with his sleeve that wasn't dirtied. Byakuran then looked joyful again and called the team back, including Rokudou, which did put ease to all of them, but only slightly.
Everyone seemed to be back in position, Bluebell and Daisy remained unmoving because for some reason they weren't required for the fight, so they were stationed with Byakuran, except he kept wandering around, telling them to stay put.

It was as if the weather was ignored for the whole time, that now Rokudou felt the stinging of the rapid droplets of rain from the sky.
He actually forgot it was raining the whole time because he also mistakened his own blood as coloured rain, so it didn't matter to him as much. But right now, it was mocking him. Kikyo helped him walk until they were inside the carriage, immediately regretting on not taking anything with them other than themselves and things Byakuran needed.

They remained quiet during the re-travel, no one making any move of actual conversation until Byakuran piped in with a few congrats to his teammates, Rokudou blatantly ignored him as he talked, Kikyo making occasional replies to him just to keep a conversation up, but thanks to Bluebell, Byakuran was able to chat as if nothing happened.

Rokudou stared in his direction, which was behind the carriage, observing how violently the rain falling on the already wet or soaked ground, and how the trees shook and shouted with the wind blowing at them, shaking it down. He wondered if those 'former teammates' of Byakuran made it out of the rain in one piece, because they didn't seem to have something to take them, unlike his lucky self who had a carriage.
He clicked his tongue thinking about it.

As if on cue, the carriage wheels hit a few rocks, causing everyone to rock inside, as lucky as Rokudou was, some of the rain water splat him on the face, laughing at him. He gritted his teeth, but instead laughed painfully.

He laughed.

Laughed as loud as his cracky lungs gave out. He clutched his face with a gloved hand and laughed. It sounded like a person who had a really bad case of the sore throat that his larynx vibrated with such hoarse-ness.

Kikyo glanced at him worriedly, more shaken by fear than actual worry, Zakuro grumbled as he was trying to sleep, Daisy had a similar look to Kikyo, except he naturally looked like that, and avoided looking behind, Bluebell commented "What a strange laugh" while Byakuran laughed a bit with him "That's a neat laugh, Mukuro-kun" he was the only one who didn't seem to have a negative reaction, looking behind. "We're almost there, so rest easy~" he assured, pointing at somewhere ahead "See? There it is~" pointing at a white building of impressive design. Rokudou managed to stop, catching his breath, covering his mouth and turned his head in Byakuran's direction.

'Finally. Just a few more minutes till I can just leave this..' he thought to himself, knowing that either in an hour or a few more minutes he was going to pass out.

But it seemed like time was by his side that they came to a halt because they reached their destination. The rain was cruel as ever, trying its best to damage the walls of the Gesso household, but it proved superior, just letting the rain bounce off or trail down.

The others got out and made their way inside, showing the guards of the household who they have brought in, and let them in seeing Byakuran in a good condition other than soaked by the rain.
Rokudou chose to stay outside, even if they insisted him coming inside, but his focus was going so bad that he couldn't make words out of what they were saying then.

Byakuran had texted Rokudou of the notification of the mission being done and was going to have the money sent to wherever it even went. Texted because he had previously called Rokudou three times of it, but he didn't seem like he was in a state to even hear it, even though he just looked a little confused, but even if Rokudou was a great actor, Byakuran was very perceptive.

Far perceptive that he knew Rokudou was planning on laying dead when he tries going back, which is exactly what happened.
Byakuran couldn't watch him leave because he was being bombarded with questions from the butlers, maids, and everyone else who reside with him.
Basically he was a bit busy to see him off, and was only able to text him once and that was the only time he was able to do so.

Rokudou on the other end, at first walked without showing trouble, biting his lip as the rain fell on him. Even though he was a bit vexed by it, he knew there wouldn't be someone to come for him and aid him back to his home, or dormroom, in other words.

Seeing as his condition wasn't worth bragging about, it was rather saddening that people would just let an injured and tired person fend for themselves after they helped him out.
Then again, that sounds like a pity thing, which he hates seeing or having to be a part of. More than anything, he hates receiving pity from people.

Not because its for the weak, its because they look down on him, and his reputation as a great assassin diminishes because they then believe he's some weak child trying to be some strong being.

When he reached a considerable distance, in easy words, the household was no longer in hindsight, he harshly fell on the wet floor, mixing some blood with the brown of the ground. At first he didn't want to make any move on getting up, and simply resting there.

'I have classes tomorrow..'

Even though that wasn't a priority, it just was. He only got to the class he wanted to by chance, so he didn't want to lose it.

Even if death stands infront of him, at least reporting as a dead student is better than reported as a truant.

Striking his trident with one hand, he slowly got up using it for support.

No.. Dying right now is not a choice right now. Not until he gets Dokuro her eye surgery, M.M receive her lost family heritage, Chikusa and Ken their old lives back, being normal people, and Fran his grandmother who he misses.

There is still too much for him to do.

Yet..

His body refuses to take these steps. His mind accepts being taken out of the surfaces of earth, and his heart, all alone, stubbornly wishing to stay.

It took him all his strength to move even with support. A distance someone should just be getting in a minute took him eight minutes.

His trident fell with a loud clang, and fell down once again. His eyes lost sight of everything around him, seeing as he couldn't figure what he was on his left, which was his trident that dropped with him. Other than his own wounds, the rain had him sluggish, preventing movements as he began to feel heavy as lead.

'Maybe a few minutes wouldn't be bad' he tried saying outloud, but his voice failed him once again. Laying down on the cold ground with the rain coming down at him seemed pretty relaxing. There's no one to stop him, no one he has to return to..

No one really needed him in the end.

Taking a little rest wouldn't be a bad idea..

Its not like there's someone waiting for him. There's alternatives available for anyone.

His eyes slowly closed themselves, and for once in a long time this day, his smile looked genuine, like someone who is truly void of negative feelings.

Perhaps rest is an option.

And that's all I got for now.
As always, reviews are always appreciated, it helps me organize things~