Chapter 18
"Kufufu" Hibird chanted, still sitting in Kyouya's palm, trying to get free. Finally the yellow bird was able to squeeze himself through the boy's fingers. It spread its wings and flew up to the ceiling where it flew around it circles.
"Kufufu" it repeated over and over again.
Mukuro started to chuckle. "Hibird is really intelligent. It just took him one morning to learn this." He explained to the boy who was still sitting on the floor, giving the illusionist a look in disbelief.
"Look I'm sorry it took me so long." Mukuro apologized and offered the boy a hand to get him up. But Kyouya didn't make a move at all.
"Idiot." He said silently, trying to fight his tears back. Mukuro finally hunkered down in front of the boy, wiping away some of the tears.
"That doesn't suit you, you know?" He smiled softly at the raven that suddenly started to move, flinging his arms around the illusionist's neck.
"Idiot! I thought you were dead!" Mukuro embraced the smaller boy and pulled him closer to his chest. "I'm sorry."
The blue haired pulled Kyouya on his feet, giving him another gentle smile. "Come on. Let's go home." He said, laid an arm around his smaller boyfriend and led him outside of the house to the huge yard. Kyouya immediately noticed that Mukuro must have blown up the door or something since the wood was shattered into pieces. Sure he had made use of some sort of illusion, but still it showed him how mad and serious Mukuro actually was.
However, just when Kyouya was thankful for the fact that they hadn't met his father a man appeared behind them in the doorway. He was tall, about Mukuro's size and had black hair like Kyouya.
"You!" He gave Mukuro a glare like he wished for a really painful death for the boy. Mukuro stopped and slowly turned around to face the man who, at the same time, noticed his son in the abhorred boy's arms.
"Hibari Kyouya! You immediately get back from this guy or I'll just make you!" Mukuro could feel Kyouya's body start shaking and just pulled him even closer.
"I don't think he actually wants to come back to you, neither way." The illusionist said, taking off his arm of Kyouya's shoulder who gave his boyfriend a scared look.
"You've got no right to speak! You're supposed to be dead, you dreadful and unworthy bastard!" It was clear the man was furious. His eyes were piercing the blue haired boy and he was trembling in anger. It was just then when Mukuro noticed the fine but deadly Katana in the man's hand.
"I doubt that. Actually I think I really am in the position to complain. After all it was your fault I almost died, am I right, жаворонок? At least the Russian told me that he was working for the Skylark and I doubt it was Kyouya who set a killer on me." The man hesitated for a second, while Kyouya finally turned around, giving his father a horrified look.
"Father? Is this true?"
"Shut up!" The man grunted, hardening the grip on his Katana. "But this bastard sure is right, though I don't regret what I've done. I rather regret I haven't done the work by myself. It seems like this killer was worth nothing after all, but I promise I'll make a better job just right now by cutting off this bastard's head."
Kyouya just couldn't believe what his father was telling him. He knew that he disliked Mukuro and the fact that he was his son's boyfriend, but he never would have thought his father would just try to literally get rid of the illusionist. He understood his father wanted to take him back to his house and under his rules, but he just couldn't get over the fact that it had been his father's fault he had almost lost Mukuro forever.
"I…truly…hate you!" Although Kyouya was stuttering in fear he made clear he meant what he just had said by moving closer to the blue haired's side.
The man in front of them literally exploded in anger. "What have you just said?" He asked approaching closer to his son. But Mukuro aimed his trident at the man, keeping him at distance.
"You shouldn't come any closer or I'll just pierce you." He said with a slim smirk on his face. "I think you heard Kyouya quite well and I'm sure you know the meaning of it. He probably doesn't want to see you ever again so you'll better just let us go and never interfere in our business again." The illusionist's eyes burned passionately. But the man bluntly ignored the tall boy's talk, directing his Katana at him instead.
"First I'll get rid of you and then I'll make sure my son will never disobey me ever again!"
Kyouya gulped and slowly withdrew from his father until he found himself behind the illusionist. He was overwhelmed by fear. Of course he would normally have fought until the end, but when it was about his father he often found himself paralyzed. Though at the same time he hated himself for it. His father had just threatened his boyfriend and everything he did was hiding.
He tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath but then he started to think about all the punishments his father had already given to him in the past and the fear came back. Additionally he feared for Mukuro's well-being. His father was a strong and dangerous person and Mukuro didn't know anything about him.
Yet it seemed like the illusionist didn't want to avoid a fight. He even approached closer to Kyouya's father leaving the raven behind.
"Well, in that case I'll make sure to defeat you and to take Kyouya home with me." He responded to the angry man, still smiling.
"You want to defeat me? Stop mocking me, you bastard! You'll never be able to defeat me! Not even Kyouya is able to do that!" Mukuro paused for a second.
"What about a deal then?" He asked lightly touching the Katana with the end of his trident.
"I'm not making deals with a bastard like you!" The man grunted, pushing the trident aside.
"Then make a deal with your son. If we'll be able to defeat you, you will let us go and never bother us again." Kyouya turned towards his boyfriend, looking as pale as a corpse, when he heard about Mukuro's plan. He was sure his boyfriend had just gone crazy, because there was no possibility to defeat his father. Of course he had tried it long ago in the past, but he had soon learned that there was no way to win a fight.
"Mukuro, please stop it! I will just go with my father and you'll get back home." He begged, trying to prevent a fight. Mukuro turned his head towards the raven. He seemed to be confused.
"Kyouya, I just came back from hell to be with you. Why are you saying something like that? You want to be imprisoned for the rest of your life?" Kyouya shook his head and lowered his eyes.
"I just don't want you to die again." The blue haired chuckled in amusement.
"I see. Well, you don't have to be afraid of that. I won't do the same mistake again and besides if we're fighting together there's no way we'll lose." The prefect still watched the floor in silence. Why couldn't Mukuro accept the fact they wouldn't be able to deal with his father? Of course they'd be separated again if Mukuro left without fighting, but on the other hand he'd still be alive at least.
While they had been talking the man had watched his son's reaction carefully, noticing he still carried fear for him.
"I'll accept." He said, disturbing the talk of the two boys. Whereas Mukuro seemed to be satisfied with this sentence, Kyouya started to tremble again.
"Mukuro, please, don't fight him." The black haired boy begged, lightly pulling on the taller one's sleeve. Mukuro just gave him a calm look.
"I won't give you up." He said, facing the older man again. "Fair enough, then let's get started. This is tiresome and I actually wanted to enjoy the rest of the day together with my boyfriend who I indeed will take home." With these words the illusionist pushed Kyouya aside and jumped back to avoid an attack of the boy's father who immediately went after him to start another attack.
Kyouya just watched the fierce battle in total anxiety. He already had noticed that Mukuro was moving slower and more unwieldy than he normally did and he was sure that was due to the fact that his body still was a total mess.
After all he had been stabbed by the Russian guy and although the doctor had done a fine job the wound was still there. Yet, he was too scared to join the fight and so he stayed next to the doorway, watching the two tall men fight each other in the yard.
Mukuro blocked another attack, staying in a rather defensive position, while Kyouya's father kept attacking him furiously. With every clash he could feel the wound hurting him and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. I need Kyouya's fighting strength, he thought yet knowing that this wouldn't be easy to achieve.
He pulled back and switched to the first realm. "I think it's time to see how powerful I've finally got." He mumbled to himself, stabbing the earth with his trident.
A crack appeared underneath it which spread out to both sides and then suddenly took its way up to the sky, giving the feeling of earth and heaven breaking apart. A loud creaking noise could be heard when everything around Mukuro, Kyouya and his father shattered into pieces, revealing nothing but a black surrounding.
Then it got silent again, too silent. Not even birds could be heard anymore. It was a frightening silence. Then whispers could be heard and some small indigo colored flames appeared, giving the surrounding a scary look.
Kyouya's father had stopped his attack, taking a look at the new surroundings.
"What devilry is this?" He asked, giving the blue haired boy an angered look. "You think this scares me? I will still cut your head off!"
Nevertheless Mukuro gave him a grin. Since this illusion was his and they were all caught in his mind right now, it was easy for him to read the feelings of the others. He could feel the irritation and confusion of the old man. Of course he wasn't scared, but yet he had never seen an illusion in his whole life and this was a rather fearsome one.
But besides the feelings of the man he could also read Kyouya's and since he additionally knew his boyfriend detested illusions, he was just certain that the troubled and frightened mind belonged to Kyouya. He felt rather sorry for the boy, but it was either dealing with the illusion or fighting and since the boy hadn't joined the fight so far, he would have to deal with this.
"This is one of my finest illusions." Mukuro said with a low chuckle. "So I doubt you will cut my head off. It's rather me who will play with your mind, so better prepare yourself."
The blue haired boy lifted his hand and opened the palm. A sweet but dangerous smile appeared on his lips. He blew into his palm and an indigo colored flame appeared that rushed forward towards Hibari Senior. The flame got wider and bigger until it looked like a huge stream. Just in the very last second the tall man jumped aside trying to avoid the attack.
"You think you can defeat me with some sick tricks? I'll teach you how to fight properly you coward!"
The man approached forward, preparing for an attack, but Mukuro avoided it but hiding himself behind flames again. He was able to gain more distance in between him and Kyouya's father again, setting some flame decoys to keep him busy. But Mukuro knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.
He wasn't in the physical state to defeat this man by strength, but illusions on the other hand would just keep him busy or make both of them tired, yet they wouldn't defeat him. He needed more physical strength; he needed Kyouya to succeed in this fight.
But the boy still was a mess and the illusionist wasn't sure how he should make him to fight his nemesis.
Just then, while he created a rock waste avalanche out of nowhere, he knew what he had to do and small smirk appeared on his face when he started to concentrate on that new illusion.