Tsunayoushi is running.
He doesn't want to stop running because then he'll have to think. I am, that is. He doesn't want to think. He wants to keep on running until the end of the world.
People look at him strangely. And who wouldn't? To an outsider, the man could either be intoxicated or perhaps dosed up. But he is neither; he is just a youth that has found a truth. And the truth hurts. Always.
But the world does not know, and ignores the man or looks at him with interest. Where is that man running to in such a hurry? What is he late for? But these thoughts are only a split second. They only have a few seconds to spare to think about his life.
This world just keeps on turning.
The moment Chrome opens her apartment door, she panics. Her boss is pale, his face vacant and ghostly. He is breathing quite heavily as he bleeds from his stomach.
"Boss!" The dark haired woman immediately pulls him inside, closing the door behind her. She is wary of the way he breathes in heavily, she is wary of what he might know.
She sets him on the couch, the one near the tank of lotus flowers and begins to touch his wound. The wound was gone the moment she turned around.
"Boss?" Her voice was small and questioning.
"Chrome." Tsunayoushi says in between breaths. "I know."
Chrome froze.
"I know." The brown haired man repeats, his breathing becoming more and more normal."I was with Byakuran-san."
The aquarium tank's filter was lightly bubbling up on the surface, causing the lotus leaves to skid around the water gently.
"So now you know." She looked at her royal blue carpet. "That we are merely characters out of a storybook."
"We are here because of two births." Tsunayoushi takes a glass of water that was in front of him. Chrome nods in approval. "We were all born once. Our souls are just being used over and over again. I saw all of this when I …when I was in the space time continuum or whatever you'd like to call it with Byakuran-san."
"It's the time where all the memories we have now and all the memories of our roles in the other books collide."Chrome says. "Boss , what else have you remembered?"
"I…I loved him Chrome-chan." Chrome knew he was talking about Hibari Kyouya. "And he loved me. Did you know that Chrome-chan, did you?"
"Yes." She continued to stare at the man seated next to her, how his eyes were unfocused and frightened. "But, Boss, how did you know that I know?"
"You feel different. You feel like…Byakuran-san."
She did not take it as an insult because she knew the feeling as well.
"Why do we bleed Chrome-chan?" He is now steady, speaking as if they were in a coffee shop crowded with people.
She thought carefully on how to answer him, thinking that she should make some tea to calm their nerves. "Because our spirits are rejecting the body we live in now. We aren't supposed to be alive, so that's why. But it only happens in the static, when we are conscious of this. The 'dreaming' .Do you understand? You could say that when the static occurs we are dreaming and when we are in this world we are living."
"But it goes away," Nods the brown haired man. "Because we are only bleeding in the 'static'. But at the same time those two can tangle." Chrome stands up to go to the kitchen to brew some tea, perhaps some sweet Chamomile. The brown haired man follows, and quietly he says, "I accept my fate Chrome."
Chrome thought that that was the saddest thing she had ever heard.
"Who else knows?" He inquired as he began to help the woman prepare a tea tray. His hands were shaking.
"Gokudera and Yamamoto. I caught them talking in front of your bedroom balcony on Dino-san's birthday party. They were both speaking about 'Carousel'. And how they had to stop you from dying." This part was said really quickly, as if she thought by repeating those words it would come true.
Tsunayoushi smiled, it was a sad one. "I have the key to the Carousel." He took out the key from his pocket, it was about the size of his hand .It was golden and had a small flare of intricate designs on the handles.
Chrome's eyes widen. She is quiet for a while. "Boss…you have stopped time for us. You've given us more time to stop your fate. The Carousel, that's the course of our life. Without the key, Byakuran won't be able to write the book!" She was smiling at this point. "Everything that happens in this time, he won't be able to rewrite it! Without this key," Her hand is motioning to the key in the brown haired man's hands. "He won't be able to turn the Carousel!"
Tsunayoushi now understood that when the Carousel was turning, their lives were also in motion. When it stops, the fate that Byakuran had written for them is not there. And then he wondered if Byakuran was telling the truth, that he was god.
"Byakuran liked to leave it like this sometimes because he likes the unpredictability to his books, or so I think. Maybe he only turned the Carousel when he had written a chapter of our lives or so, and when it wasn't in motion he let us think for ourselves…When I went there, to his 'office,' I guess you could call it that. He said 'He thought he had seen it move.' Maybe…"
Tsunayoushi's eyes flickered.
"If the Carousel moved on its own, it could maybe be our souls trying to fight back. And when we meet people intertwined with our destiny, without it being written by Byakuran-san it disturbs the balance. "
An excited bubble seemed to erupt in the man's chest.
"Why can't we just go break the Carousel?" He imagined himself going back to the library, breaking the little trinket in two.
Chrome was now excited too, because now she had something called hope.
"You wouldn't want to do that. It will disrupt the natural balance of this world."
Tsunayoushi breathes a sigh of relief. Because when he had gotten the key, it was the right thing to do. He had saved them, he smiled.
"I told Gokudera and Yamamoto if they remembered that we met in this town once, then, and only then they have remembered everything. I only said so because I thought that they didn't know the whole truth. They don't know anything about Byakuran. They just think their reincarnated lives are intertwining. They know nothing of the novels and all that."
"I see, so both of them knew?"Tsunayoushi then realized that he didn't know his friends. Not Really. He did not know what other secrets they were hiding. And it was probably the same for them too. "And they didn't tell me…well, I'm sure if I was in their situation I wouldn't have told me either."
Chrome placed two sugar cups to her tea while Tsunayoushi added some marmalade to his.
"Yamamoto, he's on our side. He came during the week to visit me. He's so confused right now..."
The pair both sat on the couch, they placed the tea tray on the small table in front of them.
"And Gokudera?" Hopeful.
She nibbled on a biscuit, careful on how to break the news to him. "He's on Reborn's side, your godfather."
Silence.
Tsunayoushi placed the tea he had been drinking onto the tray in front of him. He carefully placed both of his hands at the side of his face.
"Why is this happening to me?" He asked in a quiet voice. Chrome could not answer him.
"Boss, do you want to make a miracle?"
Tsunayoushi is still, and looks directly at Chrome when she says this.
Both of them thought they could believe in a miracle.
"But don't you think—"The man placed his hand on top of the woman's hand. "It's too late for this life? "
She blushed and coughed. "It's worth a try."
The brown haired man looks at their hands.
" O-oh! I'm sorry, I just –uhm—" Tsunayoushi just begins to panic, nervous and embarrassed.
Chrome just raises a hand to her mouth to laugh, she laughs for a few seconds then walks up to her book case. It was near the window next to the staircase leading to her room.
"Look, Boss. These are all the books he has written of us." The book case had all the books in correct order, their spines showing the volume numbers. "I bought one of his books because a long time ago one of my friends had recommended it to me." Her voice seemed far away. "I had no idea that the moment I would read the first chapter, I'd remember everything. It felt like I was running at high speed, and that's when I first experienced the 'static'."
Tsunayoushi had his hands in his lap. He took a biscuit from the tea tray and added some cream.
"The first time I experienced it was with Reborn." He had a far-away look on his face as he looked down to his teacup, his reflection staring back at him." In the last story he killed me."
Chrome nods. "Would you like to read it?"
"I'd like to borrow it, thank you."
The petite woman smiles and places the book to the side of her, as not to forget that she had loaned it to someone.
"You should also read the one where we have super powers. The moment you do, you'll remember how to gain those powers back." The look the other man gave her urged Chrome to show Tsunayoushi her power. She took the mentioned book and placed it in the man's hands. "Like this."
She closed her eyes, her body was still. No one spoke, and before Tsunayoushi could ask or comment on what was happening, the light bulbs in the room began to pop, slowly, like a wind-up jack in the box. The room temperature dropped filling the man on the couch with goose bumps. The floor beneath them even began to shake, softly, like a cradle.
Chrome's eyes slowly opened, they glow a bottomless violet.
"Cortina Nebbia."
The room was engulfed in a thick foggy mist, and the furniture was no longer visible. To the man on the couch, he knew he was sitting on something, but now it looked like he was sitting on thin air. The brown haired man only saw white. He panicked.
"Chrome-chan!" He tried looking for her, but could not even move. It was like a bubble. And gradually, as soon as the brown haired man yells for the other, his voice perturbed, the mist seemed to disappear. And then, once again, they were left in the same living room of Chrome's apartment. Complete with the book case and aquarium.
Tsunayoushi began to breathe raggedly. Attempting to cool down.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you .I'll never do that again." Chrome looked down apologetically. Not to you, anyway. "You can do this too boss, although you have a different power than me .Just read the book and hone your skills on your own time."
Tsunayoushi nodded, his breathing normal. He looked at Chrome's royal blue carpet only to find the mist still scattered on the floor, hovering and disappearing.
"We can take this time when Byakuran has no key, to change our destiny."
When Mukuro had arrived, they sat down for dinner almost immediately. They set the silver wear on the table and exchanged greetings.
"Well aren't you early?" Mukuro's only visible eye shone. His other eye covered by a white medical eye patch, and in every occasion the elder male had it placed on his face, Tsunayoushi would remember when they were children.
The first time they had met was when they were in elementary, but really they knew of each other much earlier than that.
Tsunayoushi hardly went outside to explore when he was younger. And if he did, he was always accompanied by someone else. Like the grocery store, the library, coffee shops or even corner convenience stores. He remembers Reborn holding his hand as they looked at giraffes at the zoo. By that time he was in elementary school and Reborn was in junior high. Even by that time Reborn had Tsunayoushi catering to his every whim, even then.
"Look," Reborn pulled Tsunayoushi up in his arms (the boy was so small that he could be confused for a 4 year old). "The tongues of the giraffes are black, did you know?"
"Wow!"
So to Tsunayoushi, the zoo have might as well been the edge of the world. And that's where he met Mukuro and his younger sister, Chrome. They were in front of the cages of owls. The owls were kept in a large building with all the other nocturnal animals. It was dark and Tsunayoushi remembered he had held Reborn's hand tighter.
The two children were accompanied by their elder brother, almost the same age as Reborn. His name was Daemon, and Reborn and he chatted for a while over a class they were both taking. All the while the three children were getting to know one another; Chrome was shy and hid behind her brother. She was always like that, wary of everyone around her. And Mukuro was the type to be distrusting, so he didn't really like the boy at first.
"I like owls." Tsunayoushi muttered, hoping it would start a conversation.
"Me too, I like them because they sweep down and capture their prey." The boy with the eye patch spoke, facing the shorter boy whilst still looking at the snow owl.
The brown haired boy looked puzzled. "What is 'capture', and 'prey'?"
"You don't know what that means?" Mukuro rolled his eyes. "Kufufu, well don't count on me to tell you. It's a secret."
Tsunayoushi nodded, for he did not know the other boy was being mean to him, but even so, he decided he liked the boy's sister better. Even though she didn't talk to him, she seemed nice. "Can I see what's behind that white thing on your eye?"
At this, Chrome looked a bit hurt; she touched her own small eye patch with her hand.
"It's called an eye patch." Mukuro spoke this with a raw look. "I could care less if you'd want to see it." He was prepared for the boy's shock and horror; he could already picture the disgust in the boy's eyes. Because that was the only way the boy should react, even his mother looked at them that way. Why shouldn't a stranger?
He lifts his own eye patch and shows the boy his mismatched eye. It was a dark red color, it made Tsunayoushi think of red riding hood, from the story he liked so much. It made him think of his favorite red backpack and strawberries.
"It's very pretty!"
The two Spade children exchanged looks, and the both of them would remember that day as the first time they had ever made a friend.
Mukuro and Chrome both went to a different school next to Namimori, it was called Kokuyo and sometimes Reborn took him there for play dates with the Spade children. Sometimes, Tsunayoushi couldn't because the children's family were always traveling, returning to Italy and back to Japan.
"Mother is a star," Chrome says in her whispery voice. "She is always filming in Italy because she's famous in our birth country."
Their friendship continued, much to the dismay of everyone else around them. ( Especially Gokudera, who fought Mukuro everyday in front of Namimori middle school.) Sometimes, Mukuro would help Tsunayoushi with his homework, and that was the time that the Mukuro in the future remembered the most. Their lazy days in which they spent locked up in the brown haired boy's room, just talking for hours and doing nothing in particular.
Once, while Tsunayoushi was making them snacks, Mukuro began to dig through the other's backpack. It was a habit he had with everyone he knew. He just had to see what they had inside their bag. He found notepads, books, pencils, the usual things you would find in a middle school kid's backpack. He found one sheet of paper separated from the rest, and began to read it. He chuckled, it was those personality questionnaires.
1. When you were a small child, what did you want to be?
A robot.
Mukuro laughed through his nose. Predictable, he thought. He continued to read the questions idly, until he was on the last question and, surprisingly, that one struck a heavy chord in him.
9. Where do you see yourself ten years from now? If you can't think of a situation think of a question you'd like to ask yourself.
And Tsunayoushi wrote in response—
Will I still be alive?
Mukuro remembered these small moments even in his adulthood.
When he ate his salad, Tsunayoushi looks at Mukuro's bandaged eye. The taller man smiled at him when he caught the other staring.
"Yes, Tsunayoushi?"
"I was just noticing, you have another infection…" The brown haired man's tone was filled with worry. "The day you came to have dinner at my place, you were touching your eye a lot. I hope it doesn't become serious like that time we were children."
Chrome smiled at the mention of their childhood, and Mukuro swatted Tsunayoushi's concern away.
"It's nothing like that. This happens frequently, but it's never going to go as bad as back then." Mukuro drank some tea. "I hope you have also been feeling better since our last conversation."
Their last conversation took place after everyone had finished eating, that day when he had made Okonomiyaki; it was the day that Tsunayoushi had come back soaking wet. After the two of them finished their dinner, they excused themselves from Giotto, Dino ,Xanxus and Reborn. They proceeded to chat in the balcony of Tsunayoushi's room for a while, talking about nothing.
"A little owl told me that you sounded upset today, care to tell me why?" Mukuro's voice was comfortable, but in his voice was a hint of jealousy. His busy schedule didn't let him be with the other man as frequently any more, and more than once he had caught him and Hibari Kyouya eating lunch together.
"Well…" Tsunayoushi began to water the plants he had on his balcony. He couldn't possibly tell him all the crazy things that had happened to him in the library with Hibari, not until he tells Chrome at least. If she didn't react in a negative manner, he'll have more confidence to tell Mukuro. "What..well, this is a theoretical question."
"Then I'll give you a theoretical answer."
"I…watched a movie recently, and it's about a man fighting his destiny. It gave me food for thought. And since you're an artist, I wanted your perspective on things. How could you avoid your destiny? Is there any other way? For example if you're already incarnated and want to change your path…" Tsunayoushi laughs. "W-what am I saying? This is all dumb, I'm so—"
And when he looked at Mukuro, his eyes seemed to be foggy, like a mist in the morning.
"I think that the only way someone could change their destiny is if you could be reborn again and again with the knowledge of alternative."
When Tsunayoushi remembered that snippet of their conversation he smiled.
He already had that down. Well some of it.
"I'm feeling much better, thank you."
And Chrome and Tsunayoushi smiled at each other, as if they were accomplices, while Mukuro looked at the both of them strangely.
When Tsunayoushi returns home he looks at the pizza boxes on his kitchen table.
Dino sat alone, eating a gigantic pizza slice. He had on some snazzy suit, white and wine coloured, and Tsunayoushi knew that he only dressed liked that to impress. It was a heavy contrast in comparison to his plain work clothes, but then again, his elder brother's always stood out from the crowd. Just like his father.
"Sup, lil bro." The blond began to chew. "I'm about to go out to the club in a little bit. Want to come? It's going to be me and a couple of friends."
The brown haired man sighed as he drank some water.
"No, thank you. I'm tired." And besides, he didn't like clubs anyway. The music was never to his tastes, especially to the ones Dino went to. "But have fun ok? Don't come home too drunk."
"Right, right. Want some Pizza?" Dino began to open the box half way, only to be stopped by the younger one's hand.
"I just ate with Mukuro-san and Chrome-chan."Tsunayoushi smiled politely. "It was pasta with a nice salad."
Dino smiled and said, "Now , Tsu-chan, you wouldn't be dating Chrome behind all of our backs, right? Cause whenever you two talk, you make goo-goo gaga eyes at each other."
The small man grew red, all the way to his face to his toes.
"Not even!" He puffed his cheeks. "Me and Chrome-chan are just close friends. We just understand each other is all."
And Dino had no idea just how much they understood each other. Just how much of a secret they kept.
When Tsunayoushi excused himself from Dino and Giotto( he was working late in the guest's room) and Reborn ( who was in the living room), he put himself to read the two novels Chrome had lent him.
He didn't know what to expect, and to be honest, he didn't really want to know. He just wanted to go back when he was in ignorance, he wanted to go back to the time he was unaware how cruel his reality was.
Tsunayoushi had learned that now that there were many realities in the world.
He took a deep breath and opened the book.
The first made him out to be a mafia boss. It seemed to be the second or third installment of that series, for it began right smack into one of the battles. It was strange, Tsunayoushi thought. The character in the book was named Tsunayoushi and it thought like him, talked like him, looked like him, it was him. For someone else to read this and have a huge following, he felt like it was one big invasion of his privacy.
There was nothing left of him.
He had gotten to one of the pages (around the third chapter) when he had read how 'he' called on his flame attack. So at that moment he stood, and put his hands parallel in front of him, and slowly brings it in front of him, making an 'x'. He laughs.
What was he thinking?
He tried it again, lazily, and puts his index fingers together. Still nothing. He laughed again. Who was he kidding? Could he really have special powers? It all seemed like a joke to him.
He stood up to prepare himself some tea, but as soon as his hands were apart, and in each facing the opposite direction— flames shot out.
It was all in rapid motion, but it was enough to frighten the man, and he squeaked.
"Keep it down in there." Reborn shouted from the living room. "And put on the air conditioning, it's burning up in here."
The flame slowly disappeared, leaving behind scorch marks on his dresser. The man blinked for a few times until he smiled and looked at his hands.
After Tsunayoushi practiced one of his powers (which he came to find out was called the 'X-Burner') he decided to flip over to the other volume, which was different in setting , plot and theme. He hadn't finished the other one , but the curiosity was just aching inside of him to open the other alternative.
At a certain point he had to put the book down and rest. It was too much to bare, for he found out that in this particular volume he and his godfather were not related at all. Reborn wasn't even his godfather, Reborn was in love with him.
The story was set in the World War two, the setting Italy. Reborn was just a man with high political power, his slave boy was Tsunayoushi and it was about their misadventures and survival over the time period. At one point, Tsunayoushi meets a Japanese youth in the navy and both of them are caught in the power struggle of their county.
"But Reborn," Tsunayoushi said as he added clothes to his suitcase." I've always been kind to you."
Reborn looked at the other will a hint of bitterness; he threw the other's suitcase on the floor, grabbing him roughly by the wrist.
"I don't want your kindness."
The brown haired man shut his eyes, and stood still. He thought of Hibari, how Hibari was waiting for him at the docks to escape the country.
"You're in no position to ask me that."
"I don't, is that right? I'm trying to save you from your fate. If you go there and help that Japanese man escape, they'll kill you. All of Europe is against us. They'll kill you two in America."
"I want to be with , please . I've…I've never wanted anything in my whole life…just please, let me go. Something is compelling me to go with him."
He turned his back on the other, and runs out the room aiming for the stairs.
The Italian man stood stunned, to think—that that orphan child he picked up years ago would bite the hand that fed him. All for another man.
The dark haired man soon began in his pursuit and walked down the staircase, and there he saw the brown haired boy attempting to reach the door.
Reborn cocked the gun he had hidden in his holster and shoots. In one swift motion the bullet hits right through the other's heart. The petite boy stops moving, and he stands silently touching his wound as the blood dyes his shirt a light pink. Suddenly, after a minute or two Tsunayoushi resumes walking again. He began to stumble in his steps, still attempting to walk, still attempting to reach the door.
"I can make it…I can make it…" The brown haired boy breathes heavily, his vision going cloudy. His finger tips touch the doorknob, but as soon as he does, collapses to his death on the floor.
"Arriverderci."
Tsunayoushi could only run with tears in his eyes to the arms of the one who had shot him.
Reborn was sitting on the couch; he had the newspaper in front of him with a small notepad to his side. He looks beneath him to find his godson's arms around his chest. The brown haired man's head leaning beneath the other's chin.
The elder man envelopes his arms around the other, as if to ask the younger man wordlessly, 'what's wrong'? And Tsunayoushi could not tell the older man 'because you killed me'.
Kyouya knew that Tsunayoushi did not belong in a cage, yet, he lived in one. And in that cage there was a flow of blood. He noticed how the herbivore's family treated him, how they had little to no respect for him. And he just stood there and took it.
That was one of the reasons Kyouya had left early from that blond idiot's birthday party. He was disappointed in the herbivore.
But all of that would change, Kyouya said to himself. He had made up his mind. The moment he had realized that what he had been looking for was in Tsunayoushi's eyes, was the moment he had decided he would be officially courting the herbivore.
He had made preparations on how he would tell the herbivore he had chosen him as his mate. He had set reservations at a nice restaurant in town. He had the best seats in the house and in the following week that he had invited (forced) the herbivore to dine with him, the brown haired man couldn't help but be puzzled.
It was a Tuesday night, and right after the work day was over at seven in the afternoon , Kyouya arrives at Tsunayoushi's office. Both of them had not seen each other in days. Tsunayoushi hadn't even had the time to tell Kyouya what he had found out, how he had the key. He tried to tell him many times and even woke up early to tell the other man, but things just didn't go his way. Either Hibari had already left for work or he wasn't there. And Tsunayoushi thought, that just because he was confused did not mean he should let go of reality. The company was a reality, so Tsunayoushi hung tightly to it.
"We're going out to eat." Is all Kyouya says, and with that the two men leave in his black car.
The ride to the restaurant was quiet, neither of them spoke, and Hibari did not drive with music.
That's just like him, and Tsunayoushi could not help but smile at this.
When they arrived at the restaurant, the waiter greets them almost immediately. He smiles nervously and looks between the dark haired man and the friendlier looking man. For the rest of his greeting he only looks at the latter, frightened of the other man's stature and position.
As soon as they were seated, Kyouya looks at the menu idly, Tsunayoushi instead admiring the traditional Japanese decorations and plants. It looked and felt just like Namimori. He smiled, but soon it turns into something more serious.
"Hibari-san, thank you for inviting me out to dinner today, but, before the dinner, I have to tell you something."
Kyouya raises an eyebrow.
"I'm sure this could wait." He taps the menu as if to say 'I'm busy'.
Tsunayoushi shakes his head. "No, I'm certain it can't. Hibari-san it's about—"The dark haired man raises his hand, signaling the other man to 'stop'.
"If anyone should begin this conversation it should be me. I'm the one that invited you, rude herbivore."
The brown haired man wanted to hit himself with the table, why was Hibari-san so difficult!
These thoughts are put aside when he sees Hibari taking out a small black folder, opening it and laying it in front of the other man.
Tsunayoushi blinks.
"H-h-h-h-hibari-san." The timorous man stutters. "What is the meaning of this?"
It said in bold characters, kanji bold and menacing 'Domestic Partnership'.
"It is not an official state document, but it official to me." Hibari speaks with the same tone, neither embarrassed nor regretful. "If I am to court you I will do it according to protocol."
Tsunayoushi begins to pinch the ridge of his nose. "What made you think I would…agree?"
It seemed as if Hibari had never even thought the other would deny his proposal.
"Why wouldn't you?"
He's serious. And then it donned on him, that before he took the key from Byakuran he had said 'I choose to love him.'
He blushes and the dark haired man begins to speak.
"Although we don't know much of our current situation with the Carousel, I know for certain that me and you have unfinished business." He pierces his grey eyes to brown ones. Steel with earth. "Me and you have a Karmic bond. Since you've entered my life you have been unavoidable - I always tend to run into you." Tsunayoushi felt like all of this was a dream, so he grabs hold of the key in his pocket. "There always seems to be an 'understanding' of sorts between us, without even saying a word."
When Hibari spoke like this Tsunayoushi was enchanted by the other man's voice. He really was falling for the other man, but he shouldn't agree to this. He had to do everything the opposite of his destiny. He had to go back on Byakuran's novel.
"Since I've met you Tsunayoushi, I've felt like I've already headed towards the end of the world."
And that line made the feelings in his heart blossom, like the hydrangea on Hibari's desk he had gifted him.
"Why would you want me as your…uhm…" Before Tsunayoushi could say 'lover' the man finishes the sentence for him with a smirk.
"Mate."
"Yes, that."
"I enjoy your company." And that is the closest thing Kyouya would ever say to an 'I like you'.
The Japanese garden outside their window had a small stream flowing, the water made a sound that made Kyouya remember of his home and the times he would sit with green tea looking at his family's garden. That time when they were children, and he gave the herbivore his ball back.
Kyouya could still remember the child's words to him, how high pitched the other's voice was, and how kind it sounded.
'Thank you.'
And that was the first time that Kyouya had learned how to hold his head up in pride, for that was the first time anyone had ever thanked him.
"When someone thanks you, it means you have done something grand." His grandfather told him this on his deathbed. His voice sounded weak but strong, which Kyouya would find strange. "That's why when you say those words, it should always be scarcely. Save it for rare occasions, for speaking too much will cheapen your words."
That was the only man he had ever fully respected.
He was not a cheap man.
Tsunayoushi silently reaches for the pen lying on the table and signs the document in front of him.
When the waiter arrived with their orders, is when Tsunayoushi decides to be brave. It was time.
"Hibari-san," He called the other man to attention. "Now it's my turn to speak."
When Tsunayoushi had finished telling Kyouya everything, the dark haired man stays quiet for a long time, musing over his thoughts.
"When will we get together in a meeting with this Chrome woman?"
Tsunayoushi is stunned. Hibari did not panic, he did not even blink. There was no reaction, just an acceptance of the situation.
"This…it doesn't faze you at all?"
"Of course not. I will bite any obstacle to death."
Did the man not get it? Their fates were written out by a 'god', they were characters doomed to repeat the same story.
"You and I are like the Milky Way Hibari-san." The mousy man looks up at the others eyes. "We really don't have a set past only the present and we don't really have a future either."
But then Tsunayoushi frowns and thinks for a short while.
"Wait-" His eyes flicker with humor but it is just too sad. "That's just me. You'll live. You always have."
Kyouya glares at the other. "You are an idiotic herbivore. Then stop putting yourself in front of me. I don't need you to protect me. That's your problem, herbivores do the most unnecessary things. We have the key don't we? The Carousel can't move without it."
But Tsunayoushi doesn't look so certain.
"I may not know what fear is, nor do I know what sorrow is," Kyouya's voice was stern. "—but I know what stillness is."
And he did not tell Tsunayoushi of the helplessness he felt whenever he saw the other man die in his dreams. Hibari kyouya should not know what helplessness is, he couldn't. He wanted everyone to know that, he just wanted everyone to know that.
Right after their dinner they walked in the city that they wanted to forget the name of. They did not hold hands like young lovers do, they did not hold each other, but they did walk shoulder to shoulder, their feet moving in the same pace. And that was enough for people to know there was a hint of intimacy between them.
The duo stopped at a takoyaki stand in front of a book store. Kyouya thought it would be a fitting end to their first rendezvous, the first date. Since a child he was taught in the matters of courting, and in courting it was frowned upon if they did not partake in random treats. Besides, he wanted a little snack.
"Takoyaki." Kyouya spoke, his breath appearing in the cold night. "How many do you want in our plate?"
Tsunayoushi blushed, for it was no longer 'his' plate it was 'our' plate.
"I don't know…five?"
Kyouya gave the other man a look." I'll order 13."
And the brown haired man knew the other would do most of the eating. He looked at the bookstore in front of the stand as the black haired man stood in line. Perhaps he could find out more about 'White Orchid', he had planned to buy more of the books in his own time, so how about now?
"Hibari-san, I'll be heading into the book store, I'd like to buy something."
Kyouya turned and nodded, signaling his approval.
When the brown haired man entered the shop, it was a bit crowded, a whole group of people huddled into one side of the store. Curiosity got the best of him, so he proceeded to walk where the crowd was, grabbing the first book that caught his eye (a fairytale book). He did so because then he could overhear the people's conversations and outbursts.
"I can't wait to get my hands on the newest White orchid book!"
Tsunayoushi grew stiff.
"Yes, it's supposed to be a two part release! The first act ended so quickly! I can't believe that Tsunayoushi got the key."
Loud murmurs could be heard all around. The brown haired man looked up from the corners of his eyes and sees a big red banner 'White Orchid Gathering! Be the first to have the newest book of his at midnight!' He extended his white jacket to look at his watch, but forgot that he did not have one. He then looks for his cell phone, but realized he did not have it on him. How strange, he thought, he was sure he had it in the restaurant.
"It's only thirty more minutes to midnight, I can't wait! I saw that the White Orchid gave us a spoiler on his bbs!"
Byakuran-san had a website? Tsunayoushi remembered to go look at it when he was at home.
"Yeah, that the next installment will be all the characters trying to fight their fate. I can't wait for Hibari and Tsunayoushi to get together. I can just feel the sexual tension!"
A chuckle.
"Oh, you! Well I'm more interested in his godfather. He's borderline creepy, y'know? And I'm very suspicious of him! I mean remember how he killed Tsunayoushi in the last book? What a shocker! I bet he's going to do something in this one too."
The brown haired man felt like he was going to be sick.
"I think all the characters have it rough, I mean, they're controlled by a 'god'. Gosh, if this was real I would be so sad to live."
"Yes, I agree. It's not really living. But you know, maybe if Tsunayoushi tries hard enough he'll be able to change his fate. He annoys me really, he has no will to do anything!"
As if I could, As if I could make a choice. Tsunayoushi wanted to tell them but couldn't.
"I was wondering, what sort of type do we categorize it? I mean the mafia one was real happy, you could say. But this one? I feel it's more darker, I think this one is the most darkest one since his first installments! I was waiting for this to happen."
"Well this one is finding out your whole life is a lie, I like that sort of revelations in books. Also, all the characters seem so lost; I mean Hibari's loneliness is so big… I don't think Tsunayoushi would be enough to fill that hole. Not to mention, I think—"
Tsunayoushi did not want to listen to them anymore; he didn't want to hear these people. What did they know? They didn't know him! But then again, they did.
"—I think that the only way to change his fate is by leaving behind Hibari, I mean, the moment that they met is when things began."
"Sounds like a sad story to me."
Tsunayoushi leaves the bookstore without purchasing anything.
Outside, Kyouya waits with the takoyaki he had bought from the stand next to him. He hands some to the brown haired man along with some hot lemon tea.
Kyouya looks down at the man's empty hands and asks him, "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Tsunayoushi took a bite off the takoyaki him and his 'partner' shared.
"I never do."
Kyouya writes this off as 'I can never find the book I want', so he just shrugs and pulls something out of his pocket. The herbivore's cell phone.
"Ah, Hibari-san. What are you doing with my cell phone?"
"Why shouldn't I have it?" The taller man places Tsunayoushi's cell phone in his hands. "And Reborn called, three times."
"Hieeeeeeee!"
Tsunayoushi forgets about this invasion of privacy.
"Reborn, where are we going?"
It was the following day, around two at noon. The Italian man steered into the parking building. The Varia headquarters was a silver color, it's stature made it seem like it could go on forever.
"I told you," A hint of light irritation filled his voice. "I am going to show you the Varia headquarters."
The brown haired man mentally began to cry, he didn't really want to go and meet them. But as head of the Vongola he had a responsibility to uphold. And just by telling himself that, a stream of confidence flowed within him.
After they both exited the car, they walk towards the elevator at the edge of the parking lot.
When Tsunayoushi was about to press the first floor, Reborn swatted the other's hand away and pressed the button that said 'basement'.
The brown haired man looked at the Italian puzzled, but did not say much.
When the elevator's door opens it leads them into a gym. Xanxus was standing next to a man with long silver hair, and Tsunayoushi knew him to be 'Squalo'. He was the secretary of the vice president, and handled the rest as his right hand man.
"Hello, pleasure to meet you." Tsunayoushi bows down at the tall Italian, and all he receives is a nod. He looks around at the arena they were in. How could a whole arena be cramped in such a building? What was it doing here? So he voices his thoughts.
"Is this the company gym?"
Reborn scoffs and Squalo looks at him with wild eyes.
"This is the training ground, you dumbass!" The man's voice was rough and loud, his voice echoing through the walls. "Voiii, Xanxus, did you tell the twerp what's going on yet?"
Xanxus smacks the long haired man with the back of his pistol. No wonder he and Reborn got along, Tsunayoushi mused.
"Shut it scum."
Reborn walked toward Tsunayoushi, he took off his suit jacket and laid it on one of the chairs. In front of the shortest man ( Tsunayoushi) there was a punching bag, and weights. All in all, it looked like any normal gym, and he just stood there confused.
" Weren't we supposed to be in a meeting?" There was something off about this, Tsunayoushi knew this. He knew this by the atmosphere and intuition.
Xanxus's eyes flashed darkly. "You're beginning to annoy me, scum. There's nothing to make a conference about. All you need to know is that this corporation isn't what you think it is."
Tsunayoushi's face showed confusion. But then looks at Reborn's gun holster , how Xanxus had one as well.
"What's going on?" Is all he could say.
Reborn stood in front of Tsunayoushi. "I came here to train you, so we can include you in how we run things ." No emotion shown on the brown haired man's face. "Did you really think this company made a reputation by itself just by its business? That we haven't stained our hands? We are a monopoly; we make sure the other competition will always stay second. We're an assassination squad."
Squalo began to polish out a sword he had, cleaning it with a white rag he had in his pocket.
"But that's wrong." Tsunayoushi's voice began to raise. " As the president of the Vongola ,I won't allow it!"
At this, Xanxus begins to laugh. It echoed throughout Tsunayoushi's brain, unprepared of what was to come.
"You are just the 'face' of the Vongola corporation. Did you really they would actually follow that foolish old man's will?"
"The real people that run the company are the Varia, including myself." Reborn then looks at the other with cold eyes and unleashes something cruel at the man in front of him. "Did you really think you were capable of managing the Vongola company all by yourself?"
Tsunayoushi then realized, that just like Byakuran had control over his life, everyone had control over his as well. He had never chosen anything for himself. He had never accomplished anything by himself, and even if he did , it was because someone else wanted him to do it.
'I hereby give free reign over my company to my youngest grandson, Sawada Tsunayoushi .'
'Then make yourself good enough. If you don't do as I say I'll kill you. I'll never forgive you for as long as I live.'
'I have to believe in free will, I have no choice.'
He then pictures his father, Giotto, his mother, his whole family. Everyone that had ever pushed him around and he remembers that one time he had cried in front of everyone. How he felt so useless his body couldn't take it anymore.
'I am such a nothing.'
Xanxus begins to reload his guns, checking for safety.
"Well we better get started on teaching this trash the ropes."
Reborn nodded and turned his back on Tsunayoushi.
"I am sure you know nothing of combat, but I will be your teacher, and we'll begin—"
Before Reborn could finish that sentence he was tripped off his feet, Tsunayoushi speed down into the ground, extended his leg in a circular motion. He knocked the Italian off his feet, but Reborn was too fast and reached for a blow to Tsunayoushi's face.
But Tsunayoushi is shorter, smaller, and quicker, so he manages to punch his godfather square in the jaw.
Reborn stumbles back, and touches the corner of his mouth. There was blood there.
Xanxus and Squalo looked back and forth between the two. Squalo looking a bit shaken while Xanxus stared with high interest.
Tsunayoushi develops his posture into something aggressive. His two arms in front of him in a martial arts pose, like the stance he imagine he looked like in the novels. He undoes his tie and with that says—
"Let's do this."
Thank you. Next update will be at the end of this month. Next story to updated? Eat Me Drink Me.
Also, It'll be my birthday this month. Hopefully I can just sleep all day. See you next time!