Disclaimers: Don't own KHR or its characters.
Warnings: a lot of swearing in this chapter, heh ;P
A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and support! As promised… some Varia! And of course, there is the undying XS pairing ;) The rest is all Hiba-chan in this chap~ Gomen ne, Goku-chan fans!
Again, lots of thank yous and LUUUURVE to my beta-reader, 'The Shifter Simply Weird'! ;D
At Varia's Base – AKA Xanxus's House
"Five thousand and five hundred… six thousand… six thousand and two hundred…"
"Mou~. Bel-chan~ don't just throw your knives at random things, Boss wouldn't be happy about his furniture being ruined."
"Ushishishi~ the prince needs his target practice~"
"Eight thousand and two hundred… eight thousand and seven hundred…"
"Look at that! The prince is a genius, ne?"
"Nine thousand and nine hundred… ten thousand. Ten thousand yen? Really, now…"
"Bel-chan, please, just-"
"Ushishishi… ah!"
"Stop it, Bel. You're distracting me."
"Mammon~."
Bel whined in protest when Mammon reached up from the sofa and locked the prince's neck with her arm, holding him in place.
"Finally~. Thanks, Mammon-chan," Lussuria exhaled in relief when Bel's mad knife rampage was finally put to stop. He wouldn't have minded if Bel wanted to throw knives anywhere else, but they were in Xanxus's house – and that made a huge difference to everything.
Chaos always seemed to occur whenever the leading members of Varia gathered – their personalities just too much of a clash for even the slightest chance of a peaceful meeting, even when two of their strongest and most volatile members were not present. Belphegor with his freaky, immature obsession with blood was already enough trouble to deal with before he had found his new weapon of expertise, but now that he had gotten his hands on some knives, the self renowned 'prince' seemed to be extremely unwilling to let go. Fortunately, there was Mammon; calm, solitary and smart… the only female member in the entire Varia, and the only one who could – to a certain extent – 'contain' the maniac prince. Though, Mammon herself wasn't very feminine in the very least – most of the time she was mistaken for a male with her short dark blue hair, her tomboyish attitude and her black leather cloak which covered up almost her entire body. But that wasn't the problem – the main issue with Mammon was that she had an unexplainable greed, money always coming first on her priority list – which wasn't very beneficial to a color gang, because they never knew when she would turn against them for money.
And, of course, who could forget Lussuria? With his extreme hairstyle and extravagantly gay character, Lussuria saw himself as more or less the 'mother' of the Varia group, taking the role of looking after everyone's wellbeing along with taking care of any inflicted injuries. Although, most of the time, the excess flamboyancy of him was both unnecessary and unwelcomed by the other Varia members – his personality only causing more noise and chaos.
It seemed as though the only person who was truly mature and non-chaotic in the group was Leviathan, or Levi – a man who stood in the shadows and performed his tasks correctly and precisely in order to impress the boss. The guy did everything for Xanxus, from fighting to the best of his abilities to cleaning up Varia's mess and looking after furniture – the true caretaker of Varia. The only thing was that his infatuation with the Varia boss was more like a creepy stalker than an admirer – the obsession leading to, though Levi would never admit it, jealousy and envy for anyone who stole Xanxus's attention.
"You're counting our income again, ne?" Bel asked Mammon, turning around to loop his arms around her shoulders and pressing his cheek next to hers. The two Varia members had always been close – being the same age and joining Varia around the same time allowed them to develop an understanding for each other.
"Hm," Mammon murmured her reply, putting the money back into the box, "We spent a lot in buying new weapons this month, so we cannot afford to buy anymore unnecessary objects." At the word 'unnecessary', Mammon intentionally glanced up at Bel and Lussuria from beneath her hood-like hat.
"Mou~. Makeup and sunglasses aren't unnecessary~." Lussuria pouted in a way that he, alone, believed looked cute.
Bel's face stretched in a wide smile, "And the prince needs his sweets~."
"Of course," Mammon muttered, not bothered to argue with the two of them, knowing that it would only be a waste of breath. Rolling her eyes, she noticed some dark red streaks on Bel's palm, and she pulled his hand closer to her face to get a better look.
They were cuts. Wire cuts.
Murmuring quietly so that neither Lussuria nor Levi could hear, Mammon asked Bel, "What happened to your hand?"
"Hm?" Bel saw what Mammon was looking at before his smile grew wider, "Ah~, that. The prince used wires to cut someone today because his knives are being sharpened. Pulling it so tightly cut the prince as well. Ushishi… it didn't hurt, though."
"Who? A Dynamite?" Mammon wanted to know.
"Smoking Bomb~," Bel replied in a sing-song voice.
Mammon nodded. 'Smoking Bomb' or Gokudera Hayato had been Bel's rival ever since the first time they met on the 'battlefield' of color gang warfare. "So you managed to get him again?"
"Of course~. He already looked fucked up, so the prince decided to toy with him a bit more," Bel replied cheerfully.
"Hm, I see," Mammon mumbled. She looked at the cuts on Bel's hands again before she muttered, "Don't use wires like that again. I hate paying for stupid medical shit."
"Ushishi~. Is Mammon worried about the prince, perhaps?" Bel smiled and poked Mammon's cheek teasingly.
Mammon pushed Bel off her, "As if, you crazy bastard."
Bel snickered, "Ushishishi~, there's no need to be shy~."
Before Mammon could throw Bel over the sofa, a noise from upstairs caught everyone's attention.
CRASH.
"VOIII! Fucking hell, Xanxus!" Squalo yelled, half of his body appearing from Xanxus's room, his short, spiky silver hair soaked with some sort of fizzy drink. The other half of him, which was still inside the room, seemed to be held back by something – or someone, to be exact.
"Ushishi… Squalo's as loud as always," Bel commented.
"As if he's ever been quiet," Mammon mumbled, fingers toying with the buttons on her leather cloak.
"Damn it! Let go!" Squalo continued to shout, "Voi, stop it already! Nnh-… fuck!"
Squalo's body had disappeared back into the room once again, the door slamming behind him as the other Varia members stared up at the scene, blinking, waiting for something else to happen. Moments later, Squalo reappeared, this time, walking out of the door and dragging the boss of Varia, who looked like he had just gotten out of bed, with him.
As Squalo and Xanxus walked down the stairs and got closer, it was clear to the other Varia members what had passed between the two. Squalo had red marks peppered all over his pale neck and collar bone, whilst his lips were kiss-swollen and his cheeks were flushed. As for Xanxus, though he looked very sleepy and moody, there was a very satisfied gleam in his amber red eyes.
"Voi, stop staring, trashes," Squalo muttered, his cheeks blushing a deeper shade of red.
Bel and Lussuria both giggled knowingly, the complicated relationship between the two founders of Varia nothing but obvious to them; Mammon took one glance at her leaders before she sighed, going back to her notebook of income and outcome, uninterested in their personal affair; and Levi looked torn between suicide and murder, his eyebrows twitching as he glared at Squalo furiously.
The Varia members then eventually sat down around a table, Xanxus sitting at the centre, yawning, with Squalo right beside him. The 'shark' of Varia then started speaking, "Right. Listen up shitheads. After their loss last time, I found out that Dynamite's been getting new weapons as well. So don't get too fucking cocky just yet, because-"
"Ushishi~." Bel interrupted with a snicker, "Well, the prince still thinks that they are weak. Just today, Smoking Bomb lost to the prince, and the prince wasn't even using knives~."
Squalo frowned, "Just because that brat's lost to you once-"
"Twice," Bel corrected with a wide smile, "This month at least."
"Tch. Whatever, trash. Twice," Squalo continued, "Doesn't mean you can get fucking lazy."
"But the prince is so tired~," Bel complained, "Why do we even have to try? Dynamite's losing all the time nowadays. No fun~."
"Mm~ I agree with Bel-chan," Lussuria nodded, "I think it's about time that we knock them down once and for all, ne?"
Mammon was pressing something on her calculator, mumbling, "Hm… yes. If we get rid of them while they're still weak, we would save more money… then after the group collapses, we could focus on increasing our income…"
Levi sat silently, nodding in agreement.
"Seeeeee~?" Bel smiled, leaning himself against Squalo.
"Voi, okay, okay, I get it," Squalo spat, "I was about to get to that, but you fucktards already have it all figured out." Squalo then pushed Bel's head off him, turning to Xanxus, "What do you say, boss?"
Xanxus glanced across the table, his red eyes piercing, before he mumbled, "You assholes prepare for breaking those fucking shitheads down in a month. During this time, we weaken them to their most vulnerable point, and we make sure the rest of us are stronger… Levi, inform the weaker trashes." Then, the boss of Varia was off, back to his bedroom, one hand grabbing Squalo's collar and dragging the yelling silvernette with him.
The meeting was over, and the rest of the Varia members separated to do different things: Bel jumped on Mammon, snickering happily; Lussuria left to go shopping – earning a glare from Mammon; and Levi went off to inform the rest of the Varia members. But one distinct thought was now common in all of their minds.
We are finally going to take down Dynamite.
Namimori High School, 7.37am
"Eh…? Mukuro… is something wrong?" Tsuna asked the moment he saw the dark haired ex-Kokuyo walk into the classroom – and indeed, something did look very wrong with Rokudo Mukuro.
Usually, Mukuro would stride in with a striking presence, dark and alluring, putting a pause to most conversations going on in the room, an amused smirk playing on his lips. But today, Mukuro weakly walked – slouched – in, before he silently flopped himself down in his seat. There was no smile present on that face or in those mismatched orbs, no deep chuckles to be heard, and no dramatic gestures or striking body language. Moreover, Mukuro's eyes were puffy and maybe even slightly watery, the sclera tinged red, and his lips were dry, his cheeks pale and unhealthy. It looked like the guy was exhausted by insomnia – and it was a look that was very strange on Mukuro.
Mukuro shook his head slowly, not making eye contact with anyone, mumbling, "No. I'm fine."
Tsuna frowned, giving Yamamoto a questioning look. Yamamoto took another glance at Mukuro before he helplessly shrugged, not understanding what was going on either. Mukuro had always been weird – but now that he was acting all down and depressed it was even weirder.
"Ah, where did the other two go?" Yamamoto asked him, wanting to start some conversation. That was another thing. Ken and Chikusa almost never left Mukuro's side.
"Somewhere," Mukuro muttered, still looking down at his desk, before he continued, "Chrome's in school today. I don't want her walking alone."
"Ah, she's better now? Kyoko and Haru said they missed her." Tsuna smiled. Chrome Dokuro was Mukuro's twin, but after their parents divorced, they used different surnames. However, the two of them were very close, Mukuro very protective of his sister, especially since Chrome had always been weak since birth, the hospital being a second home to her. The girl was hardly ever well enough to attend a full month of school.
Mukuro nodded slowly in response, though he seemed to not be registering anything that was said at all – those eyes of his still not looking up at anyone.
Yamamoto reached out and squeezed Mukuro's shoulders comfortingly, "Hey, don't look so down, Mukuro. Is it something about Chrome?"
Mukuro shook his head before he sighed deeply, looking even more depressed than before. Yamamoto and Tsuna glanced at each other desperately, not knowing how to approach the situation. A weak Mukuro was as strange and unreadable to them as an alien from a different planet – as if his usual self wasn't already hard enough to understand.
But no matter how much they wanted to help Mukuro, Yamamoto and Tsuna was forced to go back to their seat when their tutor, Reborn, stepped into the room in his usual black outfit and sleek orange tie. Their sensei calmly called the register before he stopped on a name.
"Joshima Ken… Joshima Ken?"
His dark eyes looked glanced up from the register. "Absent…and so is Kakimoto Chikusa. Again." The sensei lightly tapped the register with his pen, scanning the classroom with his eyes, "Ah, Rokudo Mukuro is here. Now that's surprising. Would you, by any chance, know where they are?"
"No," Mukuro mumbled, looking away.
Reborn raised an eyebrow, "Really? It seems like their absences are usually directly connected to you."
"Obviously not this time, since I'm fucking sitting here," Mukuro muttered.
A metal pin immediately flew towards Mukuro before it landed sharply on his wooden desk, sticking up at Mukuro like a javelin on a field. The entire class stilled in silence.
"Mind the language," Reborn spoke coolly, resting the pin box back down on his table, before he continued to speak. "Speaking of absences… all of you should not be skipping school for unnecessary reasons. You are in your second year of high school, and classes are too important to be missed. All students who are absent without leave will be punished accordingly."
Ah… haha, not good. Yamamoto smiled dryly – he knew one of those people would be him. But his absence wasn't unreasonable… wasn't it? He only missed school yesterday because he had to take care of Gokudera.
Well, maybe he could've asked Gokudera for Skull's number in the morning and let him take care of the silvernette whilst he was at school. But Yamamoto didn't want that. He wanted to be the one to take care of Gokudera – because after all, it was another way of building a friendship between them, even though Yamamoto knew he was kind of taking advantage of the situation. But hey, it worked.
Gokudera won't be here today I guess. Yamamoto thought, remembering how Gokudera sped off with another Dynamite member last night. Then, Gokudera's blush came to his mind, and Yamamoto couldn't help the smile that subconsciously appeared on his face.
Haha, oh well… I don't think Gokudera would care about petty school detentions anyways.
And I don't mind detentions. If it means I could spend more time in the prefect's council. Yamamoto's smile widened happily with that thought.
"Yesterday we had four absences from this class," Reborn continued to speak, "Rokudo Mukuro, you have already been absent on too many occasions, and the prefects suspect that you are also bringing down Joshima and Kakimoto with you. The Headmaster will speak to you in his office at lunchtime."
Mukuro's head perked up at the word 'Headmaster', a bitter smile on his face, "Oh, so now he wants to talk?"
"Do you have a problem with that?" Reborn eyed Mukuro, fingers toying with his box of metal pins.
"Huh…" Mukuro laughed humorlessly, "Of course. No problem. No fucking problem at all."
Reborn decided to look over the fact that Mukuro just swore, and nodded stoically, "Make sure you'll be there at lunchtime then. If not, you'll spend a whole day in isolation with him."
"Great," Mukuro muttered, "Just great. Fucking brilliant."
The entire class was pretty much confused, not understanding why Mukuro seemed so upset about the subject – usually he would just brush it off like no punishment could bother him. Apart from that, they were also amazed once again by how fearlessly Mukuro spoke to Reborn – one of the strictest teachers in Nami High to date. To swear in front of Reborn was like asking for a hard smack in the face. But once again, Reborn just ignored Mukuro's comment, not bothered enough to throw another pin, and looked back down at his sheet of paper before he looked up at Yamamoto and raised an eyebrow.
Ah, here it comes. Yamamoto smiled dryly, waiting for his sentence of punishment.
"Yamamoto Takeshi. Third time absent this term," Reborn nodded to himself, "The Head Prefect requests to speak to you personally about this. I'm assuming he would arrange the time and place with you himself."
Eh…?
…Head Prefect?
So that means… Hibari?
Hibari requested to speak to me…
Yamamoto's heart lurched with joy at the thought.
"Ehhhh, good luck, Yamamoto," Tsuna squeaked from his desk which was right behind Yamamoto's, "Hope Hibari-san doesn't bite you to death."
"Ahahaha…" Yamamoto laughed lightly, a warm smile on his face, "…hope so."
Namimori High School, 1.28pm, Physical Education
"Okay! Start stretching, kora!" The PE teacher, Colonello, shouted energetically with a smile from beside the field, his blonde hair shining in bright sunlight.
The entire year group of sophomores, after jogging a full lap around the field for warm up, slowly jogged to a stop before starting to stretch in different groups – the fitter students, like Yamamoto, was just breathing slightly harder whilst the less athletic ones, like Tsuna, were panting as if they had just sprinted through a marathon.
"Ahaha, you okay there, Tsuna?" Yamamoto chuckled, patting Tsuna on the back. Tsunayoshi looked like he was about to cry with all the scrapes he received from falling over during the jog – the boy would rather die than spend another minute in PE class.
"HAHA! You're panting like you're getting an asthma attack! That's so lame!" Ken laughed loudly, immaturely pointing at the brown haired boy. Unsurprisingly, Ken was one of the fitter students. The animalistic blonde then turned towards his best friend, "Look, even Kakipii isn't panting as much!"
Chikusa was only panting slightly, his usually colourless face flushing slightly. The megane elbowed Ken in the stomach, "You're being mean, Ken."
"Ow~. You're the one being mean, Kakipii! No-good Tsuna is no-good Tsuna! He knows it too!" Ken complained.
Chikusa sighed, "…if you don't stop I'll tell Mukuro-sama."
"Tch," Ken bit his lips, not wanting to give in, "Fine, go tell him then! He's not gonna be that mad at me anyways, he teases Tsuna too! Blehhh~," Ken stuck his tongue out.
Chikusa gave Ken a stern look, "…then I'll tell him how you left Chrome alone in the hallway this morning."
"Wha-" Ken glared at him, "That… that's cheating! You said you wouldn't tell! You promised, Kakipii!"
"I will if you don't shut up," Chikusa mumbled in monotone.
Ken growled, "Tch. Fine! Stupid kappa head!"
Yamamoto laughed at the two ex-Kokuyo students whilst Tsuna silently sweat-dropped at them, wishing that they could have been absent for the entire day.
They really aren't in control when Mukuro's not around, ne?
At that point, Colonello's voice could be heard across the field, "Bel! Rokudo! You're late, kora!"
"Ushishishi~, the prince can do whatever he wants~." Bel snickered, hands intertwined behind his blonde head, his bright freakish smile visible even hundreds of meters away.
Mukuro just remained silent, still unrecovered from his foul morning mood. In fact, he looked even worse now after his meeting with the Headmaster at lunch, the dark aura emanated from him more depressed and angry rather than his usual mysterious and almost evil vibe.
Colonello sighed, "Look, I don't want to waste time so I'll just have a talk with your tutors. For now, you two go join Yamamoto's group over there, kora!"
Bel skipped towards the group, snickering and smiling like a maniac as he did so, whilst Mukuro just walked silently towards them, slow and depressed, his presence almost resembling the ghost from 'The Ring'.
"Ushishi~. Ah, aren't you all proud of being in the prince's presence?" Bel's face was stretched in an unnaturally wide smile.
Ken was about to say something insulting back but Chikusa quickly clasped the blonde's mouth with his hand, the megane's face emotionless as he nodded in acknowledgement at Bel, his arms trying to lock the crazy animal, AKA his best friend, down.
Yamamoto laughed lightly, "Ahaha, of course we are, ne, Tsuna?"
The baseball player nudged Tsuna, and the brown haired boy just smiled uncertainly, sheepishly waving his hand at Bel. The prince snickered happily, satisfied with the response, before he started to stretch as well.
"Mukuro-sama, are you okay?" Chikusa asked, walking towards Mukuro as soon as he released Ken – who also immediately rushed to Mukuro's side.
Mukuro wasn't looking great. In fact, he looked rather bad. His PE kit was messy, his hair was messy, his eyes looked sore – definitely watery now, and all in all he just looked like he needed some rest really badly. Or maybe even a hug. Or something that would take away whatever he was going through.
Mukuro nodded silently in response, looking almost dead as he started on his stretching. Once again, Tsuna and Yamamoto shared a 'look'. It was overwhelmingly awkward to see Mukuro so out of character – and even more confusing when nobody really understood what was going on with him. Not even Ken or Chikusa.
Colonello approached them, "Okay, you guys go do the high jump first then the 100m sprint, kora."
"Hai, sensei," Yamamoto smiled brightly, heading over with everyone else to the high jump station.
After jumping for a while, most of the group had already found their best height. As expected, Tsuna never really made it over 110cm; Ken and Chikusa had the same best height of 145cm; and Mukuro didn't even attempt to jump, and instead just scribbled down 150cm on his sheet. The two left were Yamamoto and Bel, who were still jumping to find their best height. They started from opposite sides, and whilst Yamamoto did a proper jump, Bel settled with whatever jump he could come up with on the spot – and somehow it always worked for him.
The two were now preparing to jump the 155cm. Yamamoto started on the right as he always did, and started sprinting in a curved trail towards the bar – but just as he was about to reach the bar and jump, something unexpected happened.
"Ah! Yamamoto, look out!" Tsuna's voice called from somewhere along the side – Yamamoto didn't know.
From the left, Bel had randomly started sprinting along his own trail as well, half-screaming half-snickering as he ran, both of his arms flailing madly in the air. Yamamoto was so focused he hadn't seen the prince coming, and before he knew it, Bel was already jumping right in front of him, inevitably crashing into him, sending both of them falling onto the floor, Bel on top of Yamamoto.
"Aaaah~. Ushishishi~, that was awesome~." Bel spoke in a sing-song voice as he lifted himself up from the ground.
Yamamoto, who had been beneath Bel just a second ago, sat up as well, laughing lightly as he always did, "Ahahaha, ahh, okay, Bel. But we're not doing that again."
Ken was almost dying with laughter on the side bench, Chikusa expressionlessly trying to calm him down, though he seemed rather amused by the scene himself. Mukuro just looked up at what happened, muttered something unintelligible, before he went back to his own world of staring at grass. Tsuna, the only person who actually appeared to be concerned, quickly ran up to them.
"A-are you two okay?" Tsuna asked, observing them both.
"Ushishi~, the prince had fun~," Bel smiled freakishly.
"Ah…! Yamamoto you're bleeding!" Tsuna exclaimed, his caramel-colored eyes widening in alarm.
Yamamoto looked at where Tsuna was staring and saw that his right palm along with the front of his right arm was badly scraped by the rough surface of the jumping platform, his skin almost seemed to have been ripped altogether, the wound bleeding continuously. But still, Yamamoto's smile wasn't wiped off his face, "Oh. Haha, I was just wondering why my arm hurts."
"You should go to the nurse. I think Shamal's in today," Tsuna said, his face full of concern.
Yamamoto nodded, agreeing. Then, he saw something on Bel's palms. "Ah, Bel, you're scraped as well? Do you want to the nurse with me then?"
Bel, who had been staring intently at Yamamoto's dripping blood, snapped into reality, before he snickered, "Ushishi~. Ah, no worries, these are from yesterday, see?" Bel smiled, facing his palms up for Yamamoto to see.
Indeed, the cuts on Bel's hands had already dried, and they didn't look like scrape marks anyways. Instead, they look like…
Wait. Yamamoto thought. I've seen those marks before…
Lines like that…
Like… wire cuts…
Then, it hit him.
Wire cuts.
Yamamoto looked back at Bel's hands and his eyes widened.
Because those cuts looked too much like the wire cuts on Gokudera's body.
It wasn't as if Yamamoto didn't know that Varia and Dynamite were rivals. He did, and he knew Bel was in Varia and Gokudera was in Dynamite, which technically made them rivals in color gang warfare as well. But it never really have occurred to Yamamoto that Bel and Gokudera could actually be hurting each other – as in really cutting and inflicting injuries on each other. There were a lot of members in one color gang… Yamamoto just didn't think that two people from the same school, same year and even in the same class – for Gokudera and Bel's case – would be harming each other so violently once they were representing their gang. To think of Gokudera and Bel physically fighting… it was not an image that rested well in Yamamoto's mind.
I guess I always should have known. Yamamoto thought as he continued to walk towards the infirmary, holding his bleeding arm and hand, both wrapped in his school shirt. They're the same age after all – and apparently they're both leading members…
But… those were wire cuts. If wrapped around the neck properly wires could… Yamamoto rolled in his lips, not wanting to think about how violent color gang warfare actually was and how far it went. He sort of knew that Gokudera was injured by it, and didn't want to ask since Gokudera didn't seem like he wanted to share – but Yamamoto just couldn't imagine Bel doing something like that to Gokudera, and vice versus.
Sighing as he reached the infirmary, Yamamoto knocked politely on the door with his good hand. As usual, no reply came, so Yamamoto just decided to push in.
The infirmary was empty, just like he thought. Shamal, who was supposedly the 'nurse' of the school, was never really around for most of the time. But even if Shamal was in the room, it was unlikely that he would help anyone that was the same gender as him. Thus, male students here learned how to manage themselves with first aid in time.
Entering the infirmary immediately brought back memories of what had happened in here just one day ago – an image that Yamamoto thought of every night before he fell asleep. Hibari's face so close to his own, those dark eyes looking back at him, the soft touch of Hibari's cheeks and that blush that tinted them in that perfect way… Just thinking about it made Yamamoto want to kiss Hibari, capture those lips and steal in on that faintly sweet scent.
Part of him knew he could have – and God, he knew he wanted to. So badly. Yamamoto knew those eyes of Hibari weren't rejecting him – but that wasn't enough of a confirmation. He didn't want to take an early risk – he needed to be sure that everything he ever built up with the prefect didn't break down with just one stupid action. But then, Yamamoto wasn't sure whether he would be able to let a chance like that slip again. The temptation was beyond torturing.
Which bed was it again…? Yamamoto looked at the beds in the room, all blocked away and separated by opaque curtains. Forgetting his bleeding arm altogether, he walked towards the one he remembered Hibari and him sat on, before he slowly pulled the curtains open, wanting to relive the moment once again.
But as soon as the curtains were opened enough to look inside, blood rushed through Yamamoto's heart.
Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was just pure coincidence. But no matter what it was, the person lying on that bed was Hibari Kyouya.
Hibari…
For a moment, Yamamoto didn't know what to do, so he just stood there and looked at the petite form that was lying on the bed. Hibari didn't even bother to snuggle beneath the blanket. It was just him lying on top of the neatly made up mattress.
Hibari was lying on his side, his jacket used as a substitute for a blanket, and both his hands were tucked close to his head, his legs bent up close to his torso, making his body shape look like an 'O'. Yamamoto found it incredibly cute – especially because of how harmless and innocent Hibari looked whilst he slept in this position, those limbs seemingly fragile, that small body rising and falling according to his soft, steady breaths.
Yamamoto felt like hugging the prefect, but he knew better than that. Hibari had unnaturally good senses, especially his auditory sense. It was already surprising that Hibari hadn't woken up from the sound of knocking on the door or the click of the door as it opened.
But just as Yamamoto wondered whether he could try his luck by moving closer, those sharp eyes of Hibari's opened in one flutter, before he immediately sat up when he noticed Yamamoto's presence.
"Hey," Yamamoto smiled warmly at him. Hibari frowned and turned away, unwilling to meet those dark chocolate eyes, reminding himself not to get lost in them again.
"…shouldn't you be in class?" the prefect mumbled sleepily, one hand rubbing his eyes.
Yamamoto chuckled lightly, thinking of how the action reminded him of a little child. "Haha, I think I can ask you the same question, senpai."
"Hn," Hibari mumbled, before he continued, "You haven't answered my question."
"Ahaha, okay," Yamamoto held his hands up as a giving up sign, the blood dripping down his right arm finally reminding him of the true reason why he was here, "I fell over in PE, hehe."
Hibari frowned, "You fell?" Somehow, the image of Yamamoto tripping over something and falling over by himself did not seem fitting.
"Haha, well, to be exact, Bel kinda jumped on me," Yamamoto explained, "…so I fell over and scraped my arm."
Hibari was confused, though he tried not to show it, "So he just randomly jumped on you?"
"Pretty much," Yamamoto laughed.
"By Bel… you mean Belphegor de Tempesta?" Hibari asked.
"Yup. Him. With the tiara and this big smile." Yamamoto replied, creating a fake tiara on his head with his uninjured hand, whilst he tried to imitate Bel's freaky grin.
"Hn," Hibari nodded, rather amused by Yamamoto's impersonation of the prince, "I see. It does seem like something he would do."
Yamamoto smiled, noticing how much more talkative Hibari was today without the prefect even realizing it. Then, the blood from his arm started dripping onto the floor, and Yamamoto bent down to wipe it, chuckling, "Haha, I better sort this out first." The baseball player stepped backwards and started searching for first aid equipment from the cupboards.
During this time, Hibari watched him, noticing how tall his kouhai actually was. The guy could reach the top drawer without even needing to stretch… with a frown, Hibari realized that Yamamoto was actually quite taller than him. He always knew the baseball player was taller, but he never expected the height difference to be as big as he now realized it was.
Shuffling himself towards the end of the bed and pulling the curtains out of his way, Hibari decided to talk about what he had previously planned to, "You were absent yesterday."
Yamamoto, reaching for the final item, turned around and replied, "Ah, yeah. I needed to stay home."
"Why?" the question came out even before Hibari thought about it, and the prefect mentally hit himself. This was an interrogation for the prefect's council, not for his personal curiosity.
"My friend was really sick. He was staying over, so I took care of him," Yamamoto smiled.
Hibari's mind went through all the names of the absent sophomore students before he picked out one, "It's Gokudera Hayato isn't it?"
"Eh?" Yamamoto looked up at Hibari as he opened the salt solution bottle, "How did you know that?"
"He's the only sophomore absent yesterday and today," Hibari replied simply.
"Wow. Sugoi. You remember that?" Yamamoto looked impressed, those dark brown eyes sparkling.
Hibari found himself embarrassed, "…it's not that big of a deal."
"Haha, you're being modest, senpai," Yamamoto smiled – that warm smile once again, and this time, Hibari wasn't fast enough.
I hate those damn smiles… Hibari mentally muttered as he felt his cheeks heat up unwillingly.
"Ah-," Yamamoto frowned when he dropped the cotton wool he was using to clean his cuts.
Hibari watched Yamamoto struggle time after time due to how he was only able to use one hand to fix up his wound, especially since it was the hand he wasn't comfortable with – and after the seventh time Yamamoto dropped something, Hibari decided that it was becoming frustrating rather than amusing. Thus, the prefect stood up before he sat himself on a chair in front of Yamamoto.
"Give me your hand," he ordered.
"Eh?" Yamamoto looked at Hibari, confused.
"Hand," Hibari faced his palm up, waiting for the kouhai to give him his injured arm. Yamamoto rather felt like a dog of some sort as he obediently put his bleeding hand into Hibari's – he almost expected an encouraging pat. Almost.
As Hibari started to work on his arm and hand, Yamamoto murmured, "Ah, you don't really have to-"
Yamamoto's sentence was cut short when Hibari raised a finger and lightly tapped it on his lips without even looking up at him, as he murmured back, "It's annoying watching you."
The tiny action made Yamamoto's heart beat faster than Hibari would ever realize.
Hibari then continued to work on the scrapes on Yamamoto's arm and palm, cleaning the cuts and applying medicine before starting on bandaging. Throughout everything, Yamamoto observed Hibari, secretly making the most of the moment; taking in Hibari's scent, feeling the soft smooth skin of Hibari's hand, enjoying the proximity between them, and glowering beneath the surprisingly soft touch of those slim fingers.
Everything Hibari did was always so neat and precise, and he always seemed to know what to do and how to do it correctly. He was strict and fierce, with sharp lines defining who he was and what he wanted. Though at the same time, he had that extremely vulnerable and fragile side not many will ever get the chance to witness; the side of him that was like the fallen feather of a young bird… and those two combined made Hibari beautiful. So beautiful Yamamoto wanted to make him his own… and he didn't know how much longer he could hold back. Hibari was so close to him now. So close.
But what Yamamoto didn't know was that as Hibari was working on his injury, the prefect was also feeling different emotions throughout the moment, even though he concealed it well. He was nervous, like he had never been in a long time, not wanting to embarrass himself by doing something wrong. He also felt how warm Yamamoto was – the guy was warm all over, both physically and personality-wise, and Hibari was afraid of himself for enjoying that warmth.
But how could he not enjoy it? Someone like him, as cold and frozen as ice… warmth was something he lacked and deeply longed for. And Yamamoto was the perfect source of warmth, so comforting and calming as he slowly melted him, that frozen ice berg, into water.
Hibari didn't even know anymore whether it was complete futility to try and stop himself from falling for this guy. Yamamoto was one of those rare people who could get to him… and in the past, Hibari had only come across one person who had that ability. That person permanently broke a part of him – a part that could never be fixed. Was he willing to risk more of him being broken?
"…it's done," Hibari murmured, applying the final clip to hold the bandage together.
Only now that he spoke did the two of them realize how silent the room had fallen, the only sounds audible being their breathing and the air conditioning – the atmosphere in the room changing into something… different. More… intimate.
Hibari was about to remove his hand from Yamamoto's arm before he was stopped when Yamamoto gently held it with his own. Hibari froze, those dark eyes glancing up at the kouhai. His deep black orbs were met with dark chocolate eyes that looked back at him in a way that he now realized… melted him.
Yamamoto carefully held Hibari's small hand with his injured one, tracing tiny, caressing circles on the back of it with his thumb, not once losing eye contact. Slowly, Yamamoto moved closer and even closer still, seeing the hesitation in Hibari's eyes, though the Skylark didn't move away.
Yamamoto's heart was beating fast and hard in his chest, and he knew that this time, he wouldn't – couldn't – let Hibari escape.
They were close now. So close they could feel each other's breath. Silently, Yamamoto raised his other hand and ever so softly brushed Hibari's hair from his face, the thumb lingering to trace on his smooth cheek. It was a similar action to what he had done before, but this time, it was so much slower, more sensual, and so much more intimate.
"Hibari…" Yamamoto whispered faintly on the Skylark's lips, and Hibari felt goose bumps run all over his skin, his breathing slightly stuttered for a second.
Unable to stand looking in those dark chocolate orbs any longer, Hibari slowly turned his head sideways, closing his eyes. Yamamoto smiled lightly, finding the action as cute as ever, before he moved in and carefully pressed his lips to the cheek which was now fully exposed to him, and he lingered, wanting to smell that faintly sweet scent forever. Hibari tensed with the touch, his hand gently gripping Yamamoto's.
Yamamoto noticed, and he softly squeezed his hand back, before he moved back from Hibari's cheek and murmured into Hibari's ears, his lips close enough to softly graze that skin as he spoke, "Turn around…"
Hibari shivered, rolling in his lips and opening his eyes, unsure what to do. But Yamamoto didn't give him much time to decide when he gently turned Hibari's face around himself with the hand that still held on to his head. The thumb that was caressing Hibari's cheek now moved down to trace his lips, and Hibari knew he had already given in to what was coming.
Softly, slowly, and so impossibly gently, Yamamoto moved in. Closer, and closer still, and Hibari closed his eyes before finally…
They kissed.
Lips touching, meeting in the sweetest of ways.
Soft.
Slow.
Gentle.
Airy.
Affectionate.
Almost… heavenly.
…and Hibari realized then, that it had been useless from the beginning to try and hold back feelings for Yamamoto.
For it is impossible to prevent the inevitable.
A/N: Personally, I am a HUGE fan of the first kisses of each pairing. They mean a lot to me in every fic and pairing. So even if you're not a particular 8018 fan, I still do hope you enjoyed that moment! :) This is a double pairing fic after all…
And… "NO FRAN? NO BEL26?" I hear you scream. Hahaha, of course there WILL be Fran… not yet. He's nearly here… ;) As for the XS relationship status… yes, they did already have sex here, but probably only just 2-3 times so far. And yesh, Squalo still has short hair (though I LOVE his long sexy hair ;P). And yes, I believe Mammon is physically a girl, but has the personality of a tomboy. Personally, I think Mammon in KHR goes with whatever gender he/she feels like, so she could be both, really.
And I'm sorry for the lack of Goku-chan... T^T 8059 fans please wait for their moments to come… I know there are more 8059 fans than 8018 fans out there, but just go along with the plot for now, ne? –twinkly eyes-
OH. OH. And you guys SHOULD probably know by now who the Headmaster of Nami High is. Do youuuu? It's preeeetty obvious ;)
…and if you want Fran and 8059 and more 8018 fast, then review~! :D