Maybe we've been livin' with our eyes half open
Maybe we're bent and broken
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
-Meant to Live, Switchfoot
"TSUNAYOSHI~~KUN!~!!!" Mukuro fazed into the Boss' office. Of course, he couldn't really teleport, but illusions had their own magic. He still entered the locked room and found Tsuna's face slumped on a pile of paperwork. Tsuna's breathing was fairly even. He was asleep.
Grinning wickedly, Mukuro conjured Reborn's profile in front of Tsuna, and it clicked a handgun against Tsuna's temple. Almost immediately, Tsuna shrieked and sat up straight into his chair, hands frantically sorting out the papers that made the mess even worse.
"AHHH I'M NOT SLEEPING I'M NOT SLEEPING I'M NOT SLEEPING DON'T KILL ME REBO-" Tsuna paused and finally looked up at the illusion. "You're not Reborn."
"Kufufufu..." Mukuro dissipated his illusion and walked out from a hidden angle. "What was the difference?"
"Reborn actually shoots," Tsuna's eyes crinkled into a smile, but sighed heavily back into his cushy chair. "Don't do it again Mukuro... I pulled an all nighter but all these," he gestured to the paperwork, "is still not done."
Dark circles were evident on Tsuna's matured face, a far cry from his 5 years ago juvenile self. After the Byakuran incident, he was a stronger, and more capable leader of the Vongola. Of course, Reborn had to threaten him sometimes.
Sometimes.
"Kyoko-chan's going to kill me when she wakes up.." he continued to mutter to himself. The two were engaged, and sleeping in the same room.
Tsuna stopped momentarily and scrutinized Mukuro. "How.. was the mission?"
Mukuro slid into a slow smile. "...Dead. All 36 of them. I brought it back." He dug into his pocket and tossed a metal object into Tsuna's desk. A box weapon shone innocently.
Tsuna took the box weapon and kept it in his drawer, keeping silent. Ever since they acquired the box weapons from ten years ago, word had gotten around and other families tried to steal the technology that far surpassed the era.
"You know it was necessary." Mukuro stated when he saw Tsuna's face.
"...I just don't like killing, even if it's necessary," he said quietly. "You? Are you hurt?"
Mukuro nearly snorted. "You think?" His red eye seemed to laugh. Sauntering around the room, he finally pulled out the chair and sat in front of Tsuna's desk, smiling his creepy smile while Tsuna tried to finish his paperwork, which was failing miserably.
"Sawada, are you sending Kyouya on a mission soon?"
"Hibari-san? Actually... he requested not to do anymore since a year ago..." Tsuna paused. "Why?"
"I was just thinking how fun it would be if you could send both of us on a trip together," Mukuro chuckled. "Do you know why? That skylark loves to 'bite people to death', doesn't he?"
"He didn't give me a reason.. but if that's his choice, I'll respect it.." Tsuna bit out slowly. "And it's not like he'd listen to me anyway..."
Looks like Tsuna had no clue on the Cloud's guardian's condition.
Mukuro took out a pill from his pocket, one that he swiped from Hibari earlier on without him knowing. "Tell me what's this." He offered it to Tsuna.
Tsuna took it unsurely. "I don't see how.."
"Just tell me."
He sniffed the pill delicately and eyed it. "Paracetamol. Together with painkiller and perhaps.. other stuff. I'm not so sure. What has this got to do with Hiba-"
Tsuna stared at Mukuro while his brain tried to form the puzzle. "Y-you mean.." He spluttered. "Hibari-san's... not... fit enough to fight? That's why he's refusing missions?"
Mukuro nodded gently. "I went to disturb him just now but he was having a seizure. He threw me into a wall, anyway," he added to Tsuna's horror.
"I possessed him," Mukuro continued flippantly, ignoring the OAO look Tsuna was having. "He was coughing out blood, Tsunayoshi."
There was silence in the office for a while.
"I just can't imagine Hibari-san... sick," Tsuna whispered softly, face drained of colour. "All these years he's been living in the same house and I've never seen him with his guard down. Only... only that day..."
"Ah yes.. that day... we were all so surprised that Kyouya actually lived..."
"... Do you think Reborn knows? About Hibari-san..."
Mukuro blinked. The hitman was always so sharp in picking up things... he was sure Reborn would at least be suspicious.
"Dr Shamal knows, at least. He's the one providing Kyouya with the pills," he gestured to the pill that Tsuna was absentmindedly rolling in his hand.
"Should w-"
A knock sounded on the door. "JYUDAIME~~! I'VE BROUGHT COFFEE!!!"
The storm guardian, of course. Tsuna unlocked his door with a button on his desk and Gokudera stepped in, carrying a steaming mug of caffeine.
"Thanks," he shot Gokudera a grateful look, who was eyeing Mukuro with distrust and suspicion.
"I won't kill our beloved Boss, if that's what you're thinking," Mukuro playfully winked at Tsuna. "Torture is still my forte..."
"Shut up Mukuro," Gokudera hissed, clenching his fists. He knew Mukuro was just playing, but that didn't stop him from getting pissed off. "Why are you in Judaime's room so early in the morning?"
"Saa.." the Mist guardian's eyes drifted to Tsuna who was happily sipping his coffee and smirked. "I wonder...are you jealous?"
"Why y-"
"Gokudera?"
"Yes, Jyudaime?"
Mukuro rolled his eyes inwardly as the Storm guardian's attention was immediately focused on Tsuna, brimming with shiny eyes that shouted devotion.
"Can you call Dr Shamal? I need to speak to him about something..."
"Sure Jyudaime.." Gokudera trailed off, noticing the stiff expression in Tsuna's face.
"Later Boss... and Mist," he added grudgingly, setting off for his new task. Those two were hiding something grim and dark, and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know.
15 mins later, Dr Shamal found himself seated in front of Tsuna.
"What the? The kid told me he was bringing me to see some hot chick." He scanned Tsuna's office. "Not you."
"Dr Shamal, I need information," Tsuna started off patiently. "It has come to my attention that Hibari-san's...unwell.
"Well I don't know where you heard that from, but that's bullshit." He lit and cigarette and smoked. "The boy's fine."
"I felt the pain first hand," Mukuro cut in, his voice hard with ice. "Doctor."
Dr Shamal stared coolly back at Mukuro, but the Mist guardian countered it with one of his famous creepy smiles.
"The boy didn't want anyone to know," Dr Shamal said simply after a few minutes of silence.
Tsuna bit his lip, already resigned to the fact that his strongest guardian was battling some kind of illness and he never knew about it. "Can you explain his condition?"
Dr Shamal whipped out his phone and pressed the speedial. "Kid, get the scans labelled 18 on the envelope from my drawer. No. No. N- Yes. The brown one. Good. Bring it over the the Vongola mansion. Make it quick, or I'll deduct your pay." Click.
"I told my assistant to bring his scans over. It'll be easier to explain."
An awkward silence engulf the trio, with Tsuna fidgeting, Mukuro smiling and Shamal smoking. Minutes passed, before a knock was heard and Gokudera let himself in, carrying a brown envelope.
"Your assistant told me to pass this to you, Dr Shamal..He looked like he just ran a marathon.." Gokudera caught Tsuna's eye. Tsuna shook his head slightly, and Gokudera took it as a cue to leave the room. Whatever was going on, he was sure Jyudaime would fill him in later.
Dr Shamal pulled three scans from the envelope, setting them on top of Tsuna's messy desk.
"The first scan," he gestured, "was taken five years ago. After the fight with Byakuran." The x-ray scan showed various black patches in the lungs, stomach, intestines... and heart.
No one could ever forget that day.
Flashback sequence
"Kukuku...Hibari Kyouya..." Byakuran drawled as he dodged one of Hibari's incoming blows. "Such a pretty face..."
Hibari did not reply, but his eyes was smoldering with annoyance, lunging forwards to parry with Byakuran. On the sidelines, Tsuna was breathing harshly while blood flowed from his wound in the stomach, with the rest of the guardians trying to tend to him while bearing their own wounds as well. Mukuro was leaning on a surface, blood streaming down his head. He was nursing a leg with a gunshot, as well as a crushed arm, courtesy of one of the Byakuran's underlings. Chrome was passed out beside him, his tachi somehwhere the chaos, but alive.
If only Tsuna hadn't been so forgiving, and just killed Byakuran off. His compassion was his downfall. Byakuran never played fair, starting with the game of choice. All of them should have known Byakuran was going to take advantage of Tsuna's pure heart. Luckily, Hibari had pushed Tsuna at last minute, causing Byakuran to miss the vital points of Tsuna's body as Byakuran's hand stabbed right through him.
"Bite me, bastard," Hibari spat, blood in his mouth from all the fights.
"With pleasure," Byakuran smiled and took out a vial from his shirt pocket. He opened it and poured a purple liquid on his hands. Hibari bared his teeth and stood guard with his tonfas in hand, his box weapons already pushed to the limit.
"Ready, m-" Before Byakuran could finish, Hibari was already slamming his tonfas into his throat, but he was parried at the last minute, locking both into a standstill. Byakuran had more physical strength than Hibari, and he used it to throw him off, lunging this time with bloodlust.
He was faster than before, and Hibari dodged, barely, his side grazed by Byakuran. Hibari wielded his bloodied tonfas once more, determined to end this fight. In front of him, Byakuran was wiping a blood trail from his mouth, but he was still smiling.
"One last move, to checkmate?"
Hibari smirked, aiming towards him just as Byakuran lunged at the same time. The two collided in the middle, and the rest of the Vongola family watched in fearful anticipation as the two figures paused in action, damage already done.
Hibari had one tonfa deep implanted into Byakuran's throat, and blood was dripping. He smirked, but Byakuran beat him to it. "Checkmate, Hibari Kyouya..." before slumping forwards. Hibari looked down, and saw that Byakuran had penetrated his body with his hand several times, leaving huge gashes in his body, of which blood was now flowing freely. He was dizzy, and slowly dropped a tonfa... and all he could hear was someone vaguely screaming his name...
End of Flashback sequence
"This was the damage done to the boy by Byakuran, five years ago," Dr Shamal continued, and gestured towards the second photo.
"But you see here, all of that healed within two weeks. Can you believe it?" The scan was perfectly normal, no black patches.
"It was a miracle, all of us thought. The boy couldn't have lived, no, shouldn't have, with the amount of blood he lost and the damage to his organs."
"But you see here," he pointed to the third scan. "The wounds appeared at the same locations. This was taken two years ago, after the boy came to me."
"What does this mean?" Tsuna stared at the scans. Those wounds.. were fatal, but Hibari survived. And now they're back again...
"The boy and I discussed this a few times. I'm quite certain that the liquid in the vial Byakuran had, contained some sort of poison that would allow the affected to have abnormal healing powers for a short time, but after that, it will slowly deteriorate the body, causing a slow painful death. That's the basis of it.. what substance it is.. I don't know. We've been trying to find for two years," Dr Shamal answered the questions on both their minds.
"We?" Mukuro prodded.
"Me, the boy, and Reborn."
Ah, Reborn knows.
"Is there any cure?" Tsuna silently begged.
"None." Dr Shamal sighed. "Even organ transplants wouldn't work. You see, this poison has affected his lungs, intestines, stomach... and heart. And what's more, it spreads to his blood. His entire body is affected. There is simply no way to replace everything."
"How long more does he have?" Mukuro asked, keeping his face as neutral as possible.
"Two weeks, the most."
"Tw-two TWO WEEKS?" Tsuna stumbled as he stood up suddenly in shock. "But that's..."
"Initially I predicted his death last month. I don't know why he's still up and walking at his point, considering his body barely has any strength to function. No matter how strong his will is, it can't surpass his physical limitations. Two weeks, tops. The boy knows this, Tsuna."
Mukuro stared silently at the scans. He glanced at Tsuna, who looked as if he was on the brink of tears.
Dr Shamal took out one more scan from the envelope.
"This, was taken a month ago, when my prediction didn't come through."
The entire photo was blackened, only with a vague outline of Hibari's organs were made out. There was no other way about it.
Hibari Kyouya was dying.
A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! I really feel that more 6918 should be on fanfiction, so here I am back again. I have no idea how to continue this story without Hibari dying, but I'll...err... try to end it reasonably. Perhaps one more chapter to end this. Until next time.