Captured Hearts

Chapter Twenty-nine: The Cheerful

Dino headed up to the centaur enclosure, and behind him trailed both Hayato and Hibari, as well as the usual crowd of people. They walked up to the gate, and Hayato hopped in first, Hibari following closely. "Now be careful, you two!" Dino called. "Don't bully Lambo, even if the other centaurs encourage it! And Hibarin, just... watch yourself, all right?"

"Which one's Lambo?" one of the observers asked.

"Ah, the one with the horns..."

Meanwhile, Hayato made his way up Takeshi, sending Hibari a warning glance as he did so, and the vampire chuckled, going to try and befriend the new centaur. "Hey," the werewolf greeted as he approached the ebony-pelted centaur. Takeshi grinned at him, and came in, giving the silverette a brief hug as he did so.

"Missed you," he murmured into the werewolf's ear. Hayato blushed, and nervously wrung his hands as he gazed at the other.

"Dino said that we could brush off the centaurs today," he explained. "Since we've been helping out, y'know?"

"Haha~ all right," Takeshi said. "That's fine with me." Hayato took a good look at Takeshi's body before he finally placed the brush on his flank, and stroked back towards the tail. He repeated the motion several times, then, as he got closer to the hind legs, Takeshi started laughing quietly. "You don't need to be so shy," he told the werewolf. "It must be weird for you, I know, but it's really all right. For me, it doesn't feel much different than maybe a hand going down my thighs."

Hayato twitched.

Meanwhile, Hibari was doing the same with Lambo, gently working with the cow-print pelt as he made small talk with the halfbreed. "What's it like in Italy?" he asked.

"Well... I never really got to interact with the vampires or werewolves in Italy, but my close friend Fuuta, a merman, usually hung out with me. When we were feeding, we'd go out into a huge pasture... and in the center would be a grand lake where the merpeople resided. But... it wasn't like it is here. All of the centaurs back home were mean to me. No one ever commented on Zakuro's thick, red tail that looked kinda like a dinosaur tail, and no one ever made fun of Ginger's weird, black-with-white-stars patterned pelt. It was always me, because I'm weak."

Hibari sighed. "That sounds harsh. Back home, I was the weakest link, too. Since I was deprived of a family when I had just learned to hunt, I was often pushed around by the bigger, stronger vampires. But I don't mind that now, because it helped me learn to stand up for myself."

"Really?"

"Really," Hibari confirmed. "Now... what to do about your tail..."

"So, Takeshi," Hayato began as he tried to pick the dirt from the centaur's hooves. "You kind of have six limbs, you know... how does that work?"

"Well... uh... it's hard to explain," Takeshi said. "It's like my brain can differ when the human chest is being touched, versus the horse chest... and when I move my arms or forelegs, it feels the same. It's like having two of the same thing... but I can control them seperately."

"Huh," the werewolf grunted. "Well, I'm pretty sure that's all I need to do. I'll catch you later?"

"Hey, wait," Takeshi laughed. "You don't have to leave so soon! How about a ride?"

The silverette sighed. "But I just brushed all the dirt off you!"

"That's okay," the centaur insisted. "I can't be still for a second anyway." Hayato had to take a moment, but he soon gave in.

"All right, explain to me how I... you know..."

The centaur eased himself lower to the ground, then patted his horse back. "Just... get on." Hayato rolled his eyes, but with Takeshi in that lower position, it wasn't difficult to do as requested. He hesitantly got onto Takeshi's back, then inched himself forward, before wrapping his arms around the other's human body.

"All right, get it over with," he mumbled.

"N'aw, c'mon, Hayato, this'll be fun," Takeshi said, standing upright again. "Just hold on... you'll be fine."

The werewolf sighed, and Takeshi began to walk, then start to trot, before breaking into a gallop that made the werewolf have to cling to him even tighter. Hayato placed his head on the other's shoulder, and suddenly realized how familiar this feeling was. Not so much the unsteady rhythm of the hooves on the ground, but the wind that blew his ears and hair back as they went forward. It was similar to riding a motorcycle, but even more so, it reminded the werewolf of spending time with Tsuna, standing up in the car with his head and arms out of the sun roof, and his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he savored the breeze.

Ah, yes, what a great feeling that was. The werewolf sighed, gently licking Takeshi's neck to show the other how nice he felt. Takeshi grinned, speeding up until he was cantering around the pasture faster than even Ryohei could, and he leaned back into Hayato's chest, savoring the sweet warmth that the other's bare chest granted him.

"Takeshi," Hayato murmured. "Slow down for a moment. I want to watch the muscles move beneath your pelt... I want to hear each indivitual hoof falling against the ground." The centaur obeyed, and Hayato smiled, loosening his grip around the other's waist. Every moment he spent with the centaur could only get better.

As Hayato enjoyed his ride, Hibari approached Byakuran, and bowed when he came close. "I don't need to be brushed, foolish vampire, I have the purity trait, remember?" Byakuran snickered. Hibari came back up.

"I didn't plan to... I was going to get your help with Kikyo."

Dino smiled as he watched the other creatures, but soon decided that he needed to groom Ryohei himself. The silver-pelted centaur was trotting in place, clearly frustrated that Takeshi was taking up the galloping room in the pasture, and, while the observers were focusing on Hibari and Byakuran's interaction, he moved through the gate and up to Ryohei.

Later...

"Hey, Hayato! Back from seeing your horseman, eh?" Colonello greeted, patting Hayato on the back as the silverette walked in. Hayato nodded, and laughed quietly, telling the army werewolf about his little adventure with the centaur. Colonello was highly amused by the little story, and he sighed, "That sounds fun, dammit. And here I am trying to hold Bel off'a me."

"Ha! I know how that goes," Hayato snorted. "Is Mammon not around or somethin'?"

"Well, not quite. That guy's gone off to see one of the vampires..."

"That's odd," Hayato commented, glancing past Colonello at the pair of princes who were wrestling about in the grass a few yards away. "At least that Rasiel guy came in. He lowered the hormones, and made Bel a lot nicer. Seeing them tumbling around like a couple of pups is a pretty heartwarming sight."

"Heh. You say that now, but you should've seen them earlier. They got into a bit of an arguement over Fran... Bel apparently doesn't want his brother to crossbreed."

"Too late for that," Hayato snickered. "Yesterday night... did you smell it? That wasn't any normal fishy smell; that was a reeeaaally fishy smell. I think Rasiel and the merman have already mated."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

As the two growing friends conversed, Bel and Jill, too, were having a serious discussion. "Why'd you do it?" Rasiel asked, his hands locked on Bel's shoulders. "You're going to really hurt your mate's feelings if you do something so treacherous."

"You took a new mate rather soon after telling me of yours," Bel challenged. "I did what I did to wake you up."

"I'm a grown wolf, Bel. I don't need you to give me a wake-up call," the older twin said. "I chose him because of his personality, not his looks, and not because he resembled Lal." As Rasiel spoke the name 'Lal', he teared up slightly beneath his bangs, and wondered if his old mate would have approved of his choice in helping Fran win Bel's heart. As things were going, after all, their plan was clearly working. "Whereas you mated with him just to prove a stupid point."

"Fran's a merman, Jill. A merman. Imagine if he didn't have that charm to make human legs. You'd have to find whatever opening possible in his tail, and I can guarantee it wouldn't be pretty to enter him."

The older blushed. "Now, Bel, you've got to respect the merperson anatomy. What if Hayato refused to mate with Takeshi because of the horse body being awkward for him? C'mon Bel- you don't always have to be right."

Bel snarled, cuffing his brother's ears and growling, "Centaurs and merpeople belong with centaurs and merpeople. Vampires are too snobby for us, and fairies are too small. Don't even get me started on minotaurs. A werewolf belongs with a werewolf, and that's final."

"So you decided to prove that to me by using Fran to relieve a little stress?" Rasiel snorted. "He's mine, Bel. I won't let you take him again."

Snorting in contempt, Bel released his brother, and the two solemnly stalked away from one another to cool down.

Vampire enclosure...

"No problem, Mammon," Hibari said, softly rubbing the werewolf's ear with two fingers. "I think you look better in the cloak than that tattered old shirt anyway. I'm glad you got it back."

"The hunter said he couldn't turn down a request from you... You must be very special to him," the indigo-haired werewolf said. Hibari smiled.

"I sure am."

-End Chapter

Please Review! Next chapter to focus on the characters in Italy. :D