He was mistaken.

Though Mukuro did have his moments of being NOT annoying and useful and actually good company, he was vexing more often than not and he had to regrettably put up with whatever shenanigans Mukuro might pull. At least it was easy to keep him quiet when discipline called itself to be used and sometimes hitting the illusionist upside the head felt good and it was almost like a stress reliever for Hibari.

"You don't have to be so harsh, Kyouya," Mukuro whines from his side, one hand shoved deep into his pocket whilst the other rubbed a sore spot on his head gingerly. Hibari had one of the most painful punches that he's ever had the misfortune of experiencing. "A simple verbal creation would have sufficed, you know."

It was nearing winter now, only the beginning of early November. Hibari's been stuck in this universe for eighteen days now and his irritation levels were at a hazardous point so he was easier than usual to push him past his boiling point. "One must punish an unruly puppy while it's still young so it can learn its place once it gets older," he replied, scuffing some snow on the sidewalk for no particular reason. "Wouldn't want the neighbors complaining about a noisy dog."

"You're comparing me to a puppy?" Mukuro asked with a quirked eyebrow and sincere bewilderment on his face. "Isn't that an odd analogy? I quite though myself more a snake rather a puppy," he said with a shrug of his shoulders as they continued on their walk. "Or are you implying that I look as innocent as a puppy? If then, wouldn't that be an advantage? Opposing families wont expect a puppy to kill them, right?"

Hibari gave Mukuro a look that said 'I am questioning your sanity at the moment' and scoffed. "Morbid," he said briefly, to which Mukuro replied with a laugh. "I don't refer to you as a snake because there is only one snake that I can think of," he replied with a slight snarl. The only person he would refer to as a snake was none other than the Mukuro Rokudo that beat him to humiliation; the same Mukuro Rokudo that would one day die by his hand.

"Kyouya, are you alright?"

Hibari shrugged. He doesn't know why the real Mukuro was such a pain in the ass. He assumed it was because he was raised by the mafia or something; mafia families are violent and surely the parents pass it on to their children. Well, he couldn't care less about Mukuro's past; he needn't know why he was who he was.

The lack of a verbal reply dampened Mukuro's usually bubbly mood so he decided to change the topic altogether. "Anyway, Kyouya, where are we headed?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow. "If I do recall correctly, this is where Dino-kun lives, right?" he asked with a finger on his chin as he thought.

It was Hibari's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "Cavallone lives here?"

"Oh, right! The fact that you're not the Kyouya I know keeps slipping my mind," he laughed. "Anyway," he said while pointing at one house that looked normal enough. "Dino Cavallone: a friend of ours. He's a college exchange student from Italy, course: Asian studies," he explained, pushing the small wooden fence door out of the way to let himself and Hibari in. "He is currently living with Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun and his family."

If Hibari recalled correctly, Dino once told him that Sawada was like a little brother to him.

Mukuro knocked on the door before inviting himself in. "Dino-kun, Tsunayoshi-kun!" he called, pulling his shoes off at the door. He turned around to look at Hibari whom was still standing at the door. "Well, don't just stand there!" he said, grabbing Hibari by the arm to drag him inside. "You're going to talk to one of them, right?"

Hibari jerked his arm away from the other's grasp and growled. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop touching me?" he asked, eyes narrowing to slits at Mukuro's happy chuckle. Nonetheless, he took his shoes off as well and followed Mukuro up the stairs.

Just when Mukuro placed his hand over the doorknob to Tsuna's room, a loud explosion was heard from behind the door. A bit worried at what had caused the boom and the wellbeing of the people inside the room, Mukuro thrust the door open and used the sleeve of his long shirt to cover his mouth and nose. The room was filled with black smoke and a few unfortunate items were set ablaze. "Tsunayoshi-kun?" he asked a little worriedly, putting out the small flames with a stray pillow lying on the ground. "Dino-kun? Are you two in here?"

From under the debris, a brunet head popped up, coughing out the smoke that had entered his lungs. Rubbing at his eyes and fanning the smoke away from his face with his hand, the boy grinned sheepishly at Mukuro. "Mukuro-san!" he greeted, standing up to brush the dirt off of his now ruined clothes. "What brings you here?" he asked as if there was nothing wrong.

Judging by how nonchalant the boy was being, Hibari assumed that occurrences similar to this happened on a regular basis and made no move to help. Being careful not to step on anything dangerous on the ground, the prefect made his way beside Mukuro to give the boy an icy glare. "What is the meaning of this, Sawada?" he asked, giving the room a once over in disgust. "This room is a mess."

"A-ah! Hibari-san!" he chuckled nervously. He looked at his two visitors and smiled before making his way to the window to let the smoke out. "Didn't expect you two to drop by! It's rare that anyone does, actually!"

Mukuro chuckled and took a seat on the soot-covered bed and let out a little cough to clear his throat. "Well, look at this room, Tsunayoshi! Simply filthy!" He dusted the seat beside him and attempted to coax Hibari to sit next to him in vain.

"Where is the bronco?" Hibari asked, arms folded over his chest in slight impatience. Unlike the Sawada Tsunayoshi that he knew (not that he knew him very well, mind you), it seemed that this one was not afraid of his presence or his cold glares or his threatening tone. It unnerved him a little bit but he still kept his cool and continued to glare at the boy.

"O-oh! You mean Dino-nii?" he asked in reply. He picked up a small fire extinguisher from his desk (and it only confirmed Hibari's suspicion of explosions being a regular thing) and put out the fire that was slowly spreading on his curtains. "Well, he was helping me out with this science project of mine. . . " he trailed off, pensive for a moment before adding "he must be somewhere under all the debris!" he exclaimed. He moved about his room, trying his best to clean the place up.

"Yes, under the debris," a muffled voice agreed. Under a small pile of books and clothes and several huge pieces of the wall, a blond head popped out with a grin on his dirty face. He pulled himself out, removing the goggles that he was wearing, and wiped the dirt from his face. He gave the brunet a small pout when most of the dirt was finally smeared off his face "I told you not to use too much ammonium nitrate!" he exclaimed.

Tsuna raised his hands in defense, eyes closed and an apologetic look on his face. "S-sorry, Dino-nii! I-I just thought that maybe we needed a little bit more for better results!" he explained, scratching the back of his head a little awkwardly.

"Better results?" Mukuro asked before Dino could reply. "Don't tell my you're attempting to make dynamites for Hayato-kun again!" he said slightly exasperated and Hibari couldn't help but gag a little at the sight of genuine distress on Mukuro's face. It unnerved him. "You know he already has a large supply of gunpowder and dynamite with him, yes? So the need to make more seems very unnecessary!"

Tsuna shook his head. "Well what if he runs out while in battle!" he exclaimed. "At least I'll be able to teach him how to make makeshift bombs if ever that happens!"

So in this universe, Hibari pondered, Hayato Gokudera still has a thing for bombs and destruction, Sawada Tsunayoshi has backbone and Mukuro was his best friend. It was odd and his curiosity betrays him as he wonders what the Ryohei and the Yamamoto of this universe is like. He turned his attention to his self-proclaimed tutor (at least he is in his universe) and gave him a scrutinizing glare. "Cavallone" he said simply as a greeting.

Dino, finally realizing Hibari's presence in the room, smiled at the teen before walking over to give him a hug. "I didn't notice you there, Kyoya-" he was cut short by a fist colliding with his jaw. He reeled back and fell on his butt, hand finding itself on his now aching face. He gave Hibari a very confused look. If anything, he was more in shock than in pain from the blow and it was a look that was not unfamiliar on his face. He did, however, feel a small pang of guilt at the betrayed look that was sent his way.

"Don't come near me, herbivore," Hibari snarled. "You're filthy."

Mukuro, slightly panicked at Hibari's show of 'affection' towards the other Italian, quickly got up and helped Dino back on his feet. "Uh, Kyouya isn't quite feeling. . . well today," he explained with a sheepish grin and a small pat on the back to help get the dust off of his person. "A little bit on the cranky side, you'll have to forgive him for that."

"Uhm, lets move to the living room! I'll get us all some tea!" Tsuna intervened before anyone else could speak in an attempt to be a good host and stop a fight before it happened. He ushered everyone out, being a little bit more careful around Hibari now, and closed the door behind him.

Mukuro put his arm around Hibari's shoulders and whispered into his ear "Kyouya, I know that you aren't very fond of people but in this universe you tolerate them!" He gave Dino a side-glance, noting that he was still a bit bummed at the fact that Hibari hit him, and added "In this universe, you and Dino-kun are actually very close so you better not do that again!"

Hibari hissed in reply "do not tell me what to do." He shrugged Mukuro's arm off his shoulders before talking a seat on the couch in Tsuna's living room, crossing one leg over the other. He looked at Dino again, his glare never faltering, and thought for a while. Maybe he should really start considering taking anger management classes or something; maybe he is being a little bit too. . . mean.

Hibari shrugged to himself; he didn't care about what people thought about him (since most people think he's a jackass/bastard/jerk/asshole/monster anyway) but maybe drawing out too much attention to himself was a bad idea. It could mean that the very fabric of time and space could implode or something if too many people find out that he isn't really the Hibari Kyouya of this universe. He hoped that his other self was smart enough to think about this too.

Tsuna came out of the kitchen (when did he go in there?) with four mismatched cups of steaming tea on a tray. He laid each of them in front of his guests and finally himself before sitting down across Hibari. "So Hibari-san, Mukuro-san," he called, finally breaking the awkward silence that had filled the room "What are you two doing here again? My question earlier was never answered!" He smiled and took a sip of his tea.

Mukuro nudged Hibari with his elbow.

The prefect glared at his so-called best friend and cleared his throat. "There is something I wish to discuss with you, Sawada" he started, his frown still on his face. "The whereabouts of the Millefiore leader, Byakuran; tell me" he urged.

"Byakuran?" Dino asked, nearly spilling his tea all over himself in shock. "Kyouya, what business do you have with Byakuran?"

Hibari continued to glare at Dino, unfazed by the Italia's outburst. "It does not concern you, Cavallone" he stated flatly. So even here, the Millefiore famiglia was the enemy of the Vongola Famiglia. Not that he cared, really. He just wanted to get back to his universe where everything was less bizarre.

Tsuna, also shocked, tried his best to keep his calm facade. "Uh, Hibari-san," he started with a concerned look on his face "Byakuran is from the Gesso Famiglia. . . I don't think that there is a Millefiore Famiglia, well, at least not that I've heard of."

Hibari had to admit that he slightly admired this universe's Sawada Tsunayoshi simply because he was less of a herbivore than the one he knew. His thoughts straying away from it's original track, Hibari turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. "I don't care what Family he's from," he said monotonously. "Just tell me where he is."

The brunet squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Uhm, well, I guess there really is no harm in telling you, seeing as we aren't really sure if the Gesso Famiglia is our ally or not but. . . " he scratched the back of his head nervously and stood up. "I'll. . . Just let me make a phone call to talk things through with Reborn." With that, he left the three in the living room to talk privately to his tutor.

"Pray tell, kyouya but what business do you have with Byakuran?" Mukuro asked, looking at his best friend from over his teacup. Mukuro, behind his calm façade, was not at all happy with the slight turn of events. He was hoping that maybe whatever the answer was to Hibari's query would be given to them without trouble but there was something about the Gesso Famiglia, particularly Byakuran, which he didn't like.

Hibari huffed indignantly and glared at his teacup. "You moronic herbivore," he mumbled. "Did we not talk about this previously?"

Dino raised an eyebrow at Hibari's hostility towards Mukuro. "Uhm, if you don't mind me asking," he began, awkwardly scratching the itch on his nose "did you two, perhaps, get into . . . a fight or something?" It was rare that he witnessed the two fighting because they usually kept most of their problems to themselves until said problems were resolved. No, he thought to himself, this was the first time he bore witness to Hibari being mean to anyone at all. Sure his comments were rather blunt sometimes but then his words weren't usually laced with venom.

A glare sent at his direction shut him and his thoughts up. "J-just a assumption," he laughed, looking at everything but Hibari's eyes.

Mukuro chortled. "Kufufufu~ Dino-kun, don't you know that when you assume without proper information, it only makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me?'"

Taking a few long seconds to comprehend the wittiness of Mukuro's remark, Dino grinned and playfully punched the boy's arm with a laugh. "Good one, Mukuro-kun," he grinned, the atmosphere lightening up a bit. Maybe, he thought to himself, maybe they just need some time to cool off. The fact that they came together could mean that the fight wasn't as serious as he thought it was.

"The look on your face makes me think you're still assuming things," Mukuro berated playfully, punching Dino's arm in return. "Nothing is wrong," he assured. "Kyouya's just a little bit grumpy because his favorite jacket was ruined."

And Mukuro was still a master at lying; Hibari added that to the growing list of why all Mukuro Rokudo's were jackasses. "Shut up," he retorted with a small frown.

Mukuro shrugged and went back to conversing with Dino, fully distracting the Italian from his thoughts prior to now. Too many questions asked would only add to the growing migraine Hibari felt coming on and he rubbed at his temples to slightly ease the pain before it came.

If there was anything that Hibari wanted most right now, it was the peace and serenity that he had created in the real Namimori; the Namimori in which he ruled. He didn't like the fact that he seemed like an ordinary teenager living an ordinary and boring life. As he played with the thoughts in his head, he realized that even if his life here seemed painfully ordinary, he was still part of the mafia.

That definitely wasn't very ordinary nowadays, was it?

He laid back a bit and shook his head. He'll interrogate Mukuro later for the answers and details he needed to hear. As of now, he turned his attention back to Tsuna who had just entered the room with a skeptical look on his face.

He sat back down across Hibari and nodded to him. "Reborn said that it would be a good idea if we had a family member to talk with the Gesso Famiglia to create an alliance" he explained. "And, well, since you have business with Byakuran, I suggested that you go in my place. Reborn says he's okay with this, Hibari-san" Tsuna said with a smile.

"Good."

Tsuna nodded in agreement. "Alright, then you're off to Italy in two days!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands in delight at Hibari's agreement. He was actually expecting a little disagreement and was glad that he needn't deal with an angry Hibari Kyouya, the strongest guardian of the tenth generation Vongola Famiglia. He turned his attention to Dino and nodded. "Reborn said that you would handle the passports and papers."

"Wait! Don't I get a say in this?" Mukuro exclaimed, stopping Dino before he could leave the room to get the papers ready. "I mean, no offence, Kyouya," he added with a small apologetic smile on his face "but you don't know a single word of Italian!" He looked at Tsuna "Tsunayoshi-kun, I demand that I be allowed to accompany Kyouya to Italy."

Tsuna laughed, bemused. "I was already expecting you to say that, Mukuro-san, which is why I already told Reborn that you would be tagging along as his translator," he informed Mukuro with a grin. "No need to worry about it!"

Mukuro let out a sigh of relief and looked at Hibari with a smile on his face. "Well then, Kyouya! We're off to Italy!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Hibari couldn't deny the fact that he needed a translator but he would much rather choose anyone over Mukuro, even Dino. He stayed quiet despite his distaste for Mukuro's company, simply because he didn't want to sound like a whining herbivore; he wouldn't dare tarnish his pride just because he was uncomfortable.

Hibari couldn't tell if the smile on Mukuro's face was sincere or not.

It was with much reluctance that the prefect finally nodded, begrudgingly accepting the Vongola Decimo's offer. "Whatever," he replied, standing up to make his way to the door. He gave Tsuna a quick nod before staring sternly at Dino. "Get yourself cleaned up," he said bluntly before putting on his shoes and finally leaving.

Dino, for some reason or another, seemed to accept the statement as Hibari's roundabout way of an apology. With a big grin on his face, he and Tsuna accompanied Mukuro out the door. "Well, whatever is up with the two of you, I hope you guys sort things out!" Dino said, patting Mukuro's back supportively.

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed with a mild look of concern on his face. Shaking his head, he tried to look on the bright side of things. "Well, anyway, we'll drop by tomorrow to drop off the papers and whatever instructions Reborn might give us," he told his mist guardian.

Mukuro nodded and put his shoes on. "By the way, Tsunayoshi-kun," he piped up before he caught up with Hibari, "You don't mind if Chrome stays over while I'm away, will you?" He asked. "If not with you, I can ask Sasagawa-kun instead."

Tsuna scratched his head awkwardly. "It's no problem at all if Chrome stays over but as you can see," his eyes strayed to the smoke still coming out of his room's window, "it can get pretty noisy here. I think it'd be better if she stayed with the Sasagawas." He smiled "besides, I'm pretty sure that Kyoko-chan would be happy to have her over! They're almost like sisters!"

Mukuro waved as he walked away. "Alright then, Tsunayoshi-kun. Thank you for the help."

Hibari, though he was already a few meters ahead of Mukuro, heard the exchange clearly. It was definitely weird to hear Mukuro thank someone like that, and the lack of malice or sarcasm was unnerving.