181: Skylark's Resolve

Frustrated, Kyoya threw a right cross at the punching bag and with a loud thwack the poor object swung on its chains with a sickening screech. He has been pulverizing the poor punching bag for an hour now and the other guardians were worried about the expensive equipment they all pitched in to buy. Kyoya didn't even give a cent!

"Damn it, that battle nut is destroying our punching bag!" Gokudera hissed but made sure he was not too noisy about it. One wrong move and they could all be the punching bag.

Yamamoto laughed. He was the sanest amongst the guardians present and he'd rather spend some more bucks than have broken bones. "I'd rather have it that way, Gokudera-san," and then he swung the gym door open and acknowledged the fuming Cloud guardian.

"Hey, what's up, Hibari-san?" said the swordsman with his usual happy tone. He hopes that it rubs off, as according to the doctor 'Hibari-san is easy to talk to. Just don't come up with stupid remarks or don't speak too loudly.'

"This fucking punching bag is!"

The bag did swing high enough from a right straight filled with unadulterated rage.

"Hey, take it easy!"

Again, Gokudera screeched in his place, "What's he trying to do, get us all in trouble!?" whilst Ryohei simply whistled at the immaculate form that Hibari was showing them.

"Well, I'd say I want to fight the extreme him," said Ryohei as he further analyzed the Cloud's condition. "I don't mind six broken ribs today." Then the Sun guardian followed the Rain and asked Hibari for a sparring session.

"You really are an idiot!" Gokudera has had enough.

Then, the gym door swung open once again and the three males turned their heads to see who it was.

"Goku—" but Yamamoto was cut off when he saw the doctor come in in her usual training getup. "Oh, hi I-pin-chan! Wanna spar?"

I-pin's eyes lit up and excitement was clear in her voice, "With you? That's great! I haven't fought you in a while!" The bounce in her heels when she walked was telltale of her excitement. If there's anyone she liked training with, it would always be him, the Rain Guardian.

"Nah, not me," He replied and quickly the excitement died down. With a wide smile he pointed at the dumbstruck Cloud guardian. "Him." The man's expression changed in a blink of an eye and the smiling young man knew that he was fucked even without looking.

The already angry Hibari paced forward, his steps brisk and of muscle memory. His right fist raised, he reared his arm in a punch windup, ready to blow the Rain guardian to the moon, only to be deflected by the female martial artist. In a minute fraction of a second, Hibari was already on his knees, clutching his stomach with painful wonder; he had counted two broken ribs on the left and they have started to swell.

"How…?" Hibari hissed as he looked up at the young martial artist that he is so enamored with.

"Hibari-san, you know you shouldn't pull sucker punches on anyone!" I-pin said as she held out a hand to him.

'Sucker punches? You're the one who just pulled one!' But her pretty smile was so disarming that he forgot that he was really angry. Hibari could only stare at her in amazement; said amazement was stemming from the fact that she could make him weak.

"Well? Why don't we take care of you in the clinic?" I-pin offered. It was an offer he will not resist. But somebody just had to ruin it,

"Nah, he's fine! This is Hibari-san we're talkin' about!" said Ryohei exuberantly and then the unwitting boxer gave the injured guardian a slap on the shoulder. Reflexively, Hibari reacted to it with an uppercut square on the boxer's chin. The boxing legend, being caught offguard, had the daylights knocked out of him and is currently floored.

Hibari pouted, 'That's for ruining my chance!'

Yamamoto poked his unconscious senpai thrice, "Aaaand he's out! We have a winner," then eyed Hibari nervously. He could be next. He hoped that I-pin saves his ass from getting whipped. Literally.

"Ryohei-san!" I-pin then dropped to her knees and checked the unconscious man's pulse. That uppercut was dangerous; Hibari could have killed him. "Thank the gods you didn't kill him, Hibari-san! It's a good thing he's automatic flames protected him!" Relieved, but still indignant, I-pin glared at the quiet guardian. "Carry him to the clinic!" she demanded.

'Ahahahahah, I-pin-chan, you are so lucky Hibari-san likes you a lot,' thought Yamamoto as he took a step back for safe measure. He can never know if the volatile guardian might take it out on him since the young woman was most probably the last human that Hibari could hurt.

I-pin took a seat on the chair in front of the bed that Hibari sat on. The young man took a huge gulp as he realized that there were only two conscious people inside the clinic, and those two were them. And she was positioned in between his legs. The cloud guardian swallowed nervously.

"What is wrong with you lately, being extremely peachy?" Then she motioned for him to remove his clothes, inducing a very beautiful bloom of deep crimson on Hibari's cheeks.

Flustered, the usually stoic guardian was glued motionless on his seat. 'What the!? Does she want to see me naked?' He couldn't help it. Although he wouldn't mind stripping for somebody as hot as I-pin, the fact that the stupid Sun guardian is present is rather embarrassing. Not to mention that he might wake up to destroy the mood again.

It didn't help that I-pin was hurrying him up either, "Come on, we have to see which are broken!"

'Damn it, woman. Don't try my patience with you!' But then a bright realization hit him, 'Wait, I've been waiting for this chance to happen…' Then without any second thoughts he unzipped his parka, shrugging it off hurriedly lest his chance flew away; his urgent lust blotting out the pain of his fractured ribs. Next was his sleeveless shirt which he actually had a hard time pulling up due to the injury.

I-pin then leaned forward, her nimble fingers pulling up on the fabric. She stood up and reached behind Hibari, who was on a thought overdrive, to pull off the shirt completely. Once the wretched apparel was off, she returned to her seat and her index finger gingerly poked at a spot on the man's inflamed left flank. With the slightest touch, Hibari flinched. "But you didn't cough up blood so I guess you're fine," said she as she fetched some ice for the cold compress.

'Honestly, she didn't need me to strip…' Hibari thought to himself, subsequently raising his self-confidence. 'Ha, she wanted me to strip!' Even without morphine, the Cloud was high.

"Hibari-san, let's have this over your in—"

She was about to place the bag over his chiseled torso when somebody suddenly barged into the clinic. It was Lambo.

'Damn it!'

"Hey, I-pin! Let's grab lunch together!" said the younger man as he approached the beautiful doctor.

Returning to Hibari, I-pin carefully placed the ice pack on him, eyeing the clock on the wall. It wouldn't be good for ice to overstay, it might damage some nerves. "Why? Can't we have lunch with everybody here?"

'That's right!' Hibari was overly happy knowing that her hands were somewhat all over him and that she was smiling at him as she asked the dimwitted Lambo. He then glared at the Casanova, 'The hell is wrong with this herbivore?'

"I-pin." Lambo looked intensely at I-pin and dropped an A-bomb line without batting an eye, "I don't feel like sharing you today." As smooth as silk, as expected from the resident lady killer.

"Ah, er, sure." Then I-pin reluctantly handed over the ice pack to the injured guardian. "Ah, Hibari-san, since your fracture isn't that bad, I'll just give you some pain killers, okay?"

Hibari hadn't failed to notice the blush on her cheeks and the fluttering of her lashes. So it was this weak herbivore for his rival. Although the stoic guardian simply nodded, his own thoughts clamored in his head in contrast. 'It's not okay! You still have to take care of me!' And he was killing Lambo in his mind space.

A few minutes after I-pin and Lambo had left, Yamamoto peeked into the room to see a sullen Hibari. He laughed, "So much for getting your chance!" he teased as he turned the chair and sat on it facing the backrest.

"Shut up herbivore," hissed Hibari. Not only was his injury hurting, his delicate heart too.

"Hibari-san, just tell her upfront. I'm sure I-pin still likes you," said the swordsman with such ease, as if it was the most proven theory of physics.

Hibari removed the wretched cold pack. It didn't help alleviate his current pain. "What the hell are you encouraging me for?" But Yamamoto replaces the cold thing over his injury; both the surprising cold and pain jerking the Cloud guardians body away. "What the hell!?"

"We're pals! Besides, I want to win a bet!" The overly happy Mafioso winked. Needless to say, he made the apathetic man disgusted. The last thing Hibari needed was rumors circling the base, about him being gay.

He took back the ice pack and placed it gently on him, "You bastard…"

"Hey, take it easy! I bet on you to confess first! Everyone believes you're chickening out! Except for me, of course." With a toothy grin the Rain Guardian leaned back on his seat with a thumbs-up.

Hibari looked at him, disbelieving. "What?" He was practically giving him a chance to change what he just said but as things stand, there is a more urgent issue at hand, 'Everyone?'

"So I'll be rooting for you, pal!"

"We're not pals. Go away."

"Sure, sure. Do your best, okay?"

Hibari was back into punishing the punching bag the next day after having the stupid Sun guardian regenerate his fracture. I-pin, too, was meaning to train to catch up for the miss yesterday. Thus the two met up in the gym, unwary of the spying eyes on them.

Concerned for the wellbeing of her comrade, I-pin put herself between the male and the beaten bag, "Hibari-san! You shouldn't be working out yet!"

"I had Sasagawa use his flames," was his short reply. He was keeping it short for the sake of keeping it short. His tongue might slip and ruin everything.

"But still!" She kept on blocking the punching bag. "Just because you could heal yourself like that doesn't mean you can go ahead and rake in some injuries!"

'Actually, that's a pretty good idea!' thought Hibari. It was the easiest excuse to be near her after all. 'You don't know how much torture it is controlling myself.'

Still, the young woman stayed in her position, unwavering, wanting Hibari to swear not to be reckless. He found it endearing and cute, and it was one of his reasons to like her. And the fact that she will hurt you herself if you try to throw away your life is infinitely sweet.

Giving up on the punching bag, Hibari resorted to guilt-tripping, "Who was it who broke my ribs anyway?" Hibari crossed his arms. Although he really doesn't mind getting broken ribs over some attention from I-pin. "Wasn't it you?"

"I… I'm sorry! But you were gonna sucker-punch Yamamoto-san!"

"It's none of your concern whom I want to punch."

"Yes, it is!"

Hibari smirked. Rocking on his heel, he waited for the flustered young doctor to give a counter-argument and she was coming on slow,

"I mean… I mean, it's really hard taking care of everyone! Why don't you just be a good boy!?"

"What would be my reward if I behaved?"

"Um… free ramen?" Her voice was so tiny it was close to a squeak.

"I'm not that cheap." The man looked sideways; it was too hard not to squee at her cute antics, fiddling with her fingers. "Well?"

I-pin avoided looking at him, too. And for some reason, heat was beginning to flow into her cheeks, "H-How about a—"

"Hey there, you two!" Yamamoto chimed in. "Hey Hibari-san, you feeling better?" He had a wooden sword in hand. It seems he was really there for some training and not just spying on the two of them.

If Hibari wasn't happy to see him, at least I-pin was, "Yamamoto-san!" Her enthusiasm didn't register well with the Cloud though.

'Damn it, Yamamoto! Of all times, now!?' Hibari clicked his tongue. "I feel a lot worse after seeing your face."

"Haha, don't be so grumpy." The always smiling young man then looked at the other two, assessing them. "I know! Why don't the two of you fight me?"

Hibari eyed him like he was the most retarded person he ever met, "Are you serious? On my own I can destroy you. Though I admire your confidence." And yet the stronger man raised his fists. Fighting unarmed is the fundaments of fighting with tonfa, so he could brush up some basics. Not to mention he'd really like to try some bare-handed swordgrasp.

"What? This ain't confidence! Haha just thought it would be fun to see the two of you cooperate." Yamamoto winked again but aimed it at I-pin, who blushed furiously. Aside from Lambo, the baseball player happens to be a true ladies' man. He then raised his wooden sword in his right and procured another three shorter ones in his left; he was going all out.

"Now that I think about it…" I-pin raised her eyes to look at the stoic guardian. They never did fight together. That was because he was always pissed at her. "But Hibari-san doesn't like fighting together!" She countered after much thought.

Before she knew it, she has been pulled into a sparring match against Yamamoto.

I-pin panted. Although she works as a reconnaissance unit for the Vongola once in a while, trying to keep up with the two guardians was very difficult. Hibari was being all over the place like he was some kind of ninja while Yamamoto was using the surrounding exercise equipment as barriers for all his blind spots.

Teaming up with Hibari was easy. All she had to do was time her attacks and execute it before or after his. Or just plain distract Yamamoto. So far the two of them had been having a good time beating the crap out of the swordsman, who gave up after Hibari had toppled down the heaviest equipment that there is in the room.

"Hibari-san," the swordsman started, "Did you really have to kick it down?"

"Yeah. You were being annoying running around and shielding yourself," said Hibari as he flapped the lower bottom of his shirt to somehow relieve him from the heat. "I wanted to bury you underneath it. Too bad you're too quick," then pouted.

Yamamoto furrowed his brows but still with a smile on his face, he commented on the morbid attitude of their comrade, "You do realize you just tried to kill me."

Hibari nodded nonchalantly.

"Well, I'd better get going before Hibari-san kills me for realz," and he was gone in thirty seconds, leaving them in their own reverie inside the gym.

The young woman looked up at Hibari's broad back. It's been a while since she had been that close to a battle-crazed President. Without warning, she grabbed the tail of his shirt, "Hibari-san…" and the man looked over his shoulder and saw a very shy I-pin peeking through her lashes.

"Y-yeah?" He slowly turned with her hand still grasping tightly, ending up with both of them extremely close to each other.

And her other hand grabbed on to the other side of his shirt, "Hibari-san…"

"Yes?"

"I-pin!" called someone from behind the door. "Are you there?" The interloper was the Thunder Guardian. Again.

'What the hell is it with him!?' He grumbled beneath his breath, inaudible to his companion, "Damn."

The young woman looked frustrated as she stared at the closed door; her hands still holding on to Hibari's clothes, making the man more than satisfied with himself. She donned a very sour pout on her lips, too. 'Was she sharing my sentiments? Yes!'

"Why is this door locked!?" shouted Lambo as he struggled with the said locked door. "I-pin! I-pin!"

Hibari wondered about it, "It's… locked?" It was Yamamoto's doing no doubt, saying that he's cheering for him to confess. 'No way! Not here! Not when that stupid cow is hammering at the door.' Still, I-pin held on to him as if Lambo was an enemy who has been chasing them all this way.

"I-pin?"

It was the wrongest move he could have done. Upon his prompt the young woman woke from her daze and let go of him to reach the door and unlock it. Before she left, she had a wistful smile on her lips.

"Damn it!"

"I gave you that chance, man! Why didn't you take it?" Yamamoto huffed as he sat beside a frustrated Cloud guardian.

"Why don't you confess to her if you're that excited about it?" Hibari bit back. What he does not know is that his words did really bite the Rain guardian, the latter smiling the same smile that I-pin had when she left the gym. 'What's with that? I-pin smiled the same before…' was his thought as he stared curiously at the Rain guardian.

"What?" Yamamoto was clueless.

"Nothing. Go away. You're crowding me."

"Come on, Hibari-san! Just tell her!"

"What the hell!? Why don't you tell her you love her?!"

"I already did! She said you're the one she loves!" Too late. One moment too late as Yamamoto bit his tongue. Both of them were dumbstruck. "Er…"

"What the actual fuck?" The Cloud guardian loomed maliciously, his words slow and menacing. "Cheering me on, my ass…" But in a blink of an eye, his left arm flew and plunked to the tiled floor of the headquarters. Hibari was surprised when he looked at his left arm and saw it like a stump, bleeding like hell.

He had been in the influence of the Rain flames all that time.

Yamamoto's smile was grim. "Don't worry, Hibari-san. This way you could take I-pin's attention all for yourself…" He raised the point of his blade again, "Don't worry. It'll be painless."

Now Hibari has more reasons to worry. With what was left of his arms, the Cloud guardian fought off the axe-crazy Yamamoto. He grabbed his cut off arm from the floor and dashed off. As much as he hated it, he ended up running around holding on to his dismembered arm, trying to find the elusive clinic.

'Why the damn hell am I running around? And what the hell is going on? What the hell's wrong with the Rain?'

Everything seemed to slow down and the halls seemed to stretch. The clinic was the door to the right but he could never reach it. "Damn it, Yamamoto! Stop doing a horror movie on me!" and he felt something hit his head and he blacked out.

He awoke with a jolt.

Hibari's eyes scanned the apparent ceiling. The walls were off-white and familiar; the scent of disinfectant was unmistakable. He was in the clinic for some reason. That was when it struck him, 'Don't tell me that wasn't a dream!?' he said as he got up quickly, ruffling the sheets off of him. He felt his left arm; it was intact. "A dream!?"

But it felt really real.

A hand was over his shoulder and he couldn't help but flinch, "Hibari-san, what's wrong?" Worried, young I-pin took a seat on his bedside, her features genuinely concerned. "Is everything alright? Does your head still hurt?"

'Head?' His head and nape does feel stiff.

"Hibari-san?" Getting more worried, the young woman placed her hands on his cheeks, focusing his sight on her face. "Can you hear me?"

"Head?"

"Yes, Hibari-san. You slipped on your way out of the gym and hit your head!"

"I hit my head? No one hit me on my head?"

"No one. Why would anyone want to hit you anyway? They'd be asking for a death wish!"

Hibari soon calmed down; I-pin wiped away the cold sweat off his forehead with a soft towel.

"I'm glad you're alright… I was really worried," she said as she patted his face dry.

The Cloud guardian then closed his eyes, trying his best to remember what happened when he got out of the gym. For some reason, all he can remember is his damned, freaky dream. "Who found me?" he exhaled tiredly.

"Tsuna-san did."

Completely calm, the normally apathetic man raised his eyes to meet her worried ones. Hibari's eyes trailed down, from her nose to her lips, eliciting a sigh, "I thought you ought to know… How much I…" How much he wanted to taste them.

"Hibari-san…" She whispered as their lips came to a close. After a few seconds, they part, both red faced, both wanting to do it again and again and again. "Hiba—" The man then silenced her with another kiss.

"It's Kyoya." And then another kiss, "Say my name… I-pin…" Their foreheads touched softly and he had his eyes closed. The subtraction of a sense strengthened his other senses.

"K-Kyoya…" Her voice reached his ears and his hair stood on its ends. Something very hot boiled inside him and if they kept at it, he won't be able to hold it in.

"I'll reward you since you did so well…" and he did as he said, kissing and entangling tongues with her, the young woman completely melting under his touch, overwhelmed by her senses.

But she pushed him away. Hurt, she stood up and moved away quick, "No…"

"What?"

"No, no, no, no! We can't!" I-pin was suddenly frantic. "I can't! Not with a man who doesn't…"

"Who doesn't…?" Hibari asked innocently. But the young woman never answered him.

Getting tired of her silence and annoyed at her distance, he finally brings up his earlier freaky dream, "I had a dream just now… where Yamamoto killed me."

Finally she turned, "What?"

"Do you want to know why?" She did not answer again but Hibari continued nonetheless. "It's because we, you," he pointed at her, eyes ablaze with intense passion. Then he pointed to himself, not losing the eye contact, "and me, are in love."

The rosiness she had in her cheeks returned. But her response was nothing but an "It's absurd."

Yet the man was not going to accept that, nor would he let it all just all apart because they haven't spoken their real feelings. "Yeah, it is. The dream, I mean."

"Eh?"

"I-pin, do you think me being in love with you is absurd?"

She turned her back again. "Well… Because it's Hibari-san… that's why I think it's impossible…"

'So she really thinks I'm that heartless… I guess I never really told her anything…' Hibari sighed. The bets have been set high and he did not plan on losing. "Really? Then what should I do to prove to you how much I love you?"

Hibari is thirty if you guys are wondering.

There you have it. Thank you for reading up to this point. See ya later!

I do not own KHR or any of its characters.

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