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Chapter 9

Gin fled through the hideout like the devil himself was after him.

Somehow, he'd managed to escape the attention of that murderous Hollow as it was distracted by Hirako, but he wasn't sure how long that was going to last. He needed to get out and find some place to lay low for a couple of decades. There was no way he could go back Soul Society now, his reasons for doing what he did wouldn't matter, so all he could do was run and hide. If he was found by anyone at all, it didn't matter what side they were on, he was dead.

He'd come far too far to die now.

Rounding a corner at breakneck speed, he almost collided with another body. When he looked up after he'd stopped abruptly, only just managing to avoid impact, it was to the sight of the same Shinigami that had invaded Soul Society and interrupted Aizen's grand monologue of superiority. The red-haired Shinigami glanced at him and asked, "Is Hibari with you?"

"No." Gin answered flatly.

"Hmm." the man muttered and mumbled out, "Wonder where he went?"

Gin very much did not like the glint in the other Shinigami's eyes and started backing away slowly, praying he wasn't of enough importance to be noticed. This so wasn't what he had signed up for when he had created his plot of vengeance against Aizen.

— —

Kyouya lifted a pale hand to pick up a cup of steaming tea. It was his favorite and he sipped it with pleasure. The sun drifted in through the window, as did the warm wind and the curtains fluttered around it. Where he sat on the floor on a pillow below a low wooden table, Kyouya basked in the sensation of living air. He'd missed this.

The peaceful silence was disturbed when the door was abruptly pulled open and a figure stalked into the room.

"What do you think you're doing?!" the scream came from an utterly disheveled Tsunayoshi.

Kyouya tilted his head. "Hn. None of your business."

Tsunayoshi looked about ready to pull his hair out. Kyouya found that he got a sadistic kind of pleasure from the look. "THERE ARE WEDDING PLANNERS HERE!" after his outburst, he just kind of deflated and dropped to the floor on the other side of the table. His head met the table with a loud thud and Tsunayoshi just kind of laid there.

Kyouya chose to take pity on him. "Of course there are wedding planners here. They are planning my wedding."

A pair of brown eyes that wouldn't look out of place on a puppy peeked out from under the mess of Tsunayoshi's hair. "But they aren't just planning one wedding. They're planning a hundred different ones!"

"Obviously." Kyouya scoffed. "I don't know what my mate will prefer so they're accounting for every possibility. You're paying them generously."

"What?" Tsunayoshi sat up straight and tried to narrow his eyes to glare. It just made him look more harmless. Kyouya couldn't wait for him to die so he could play with him. It was always fun to mess with the Omnivore's mind, he made so many hilarious expressions. "What do you mean I'm paying them?!"

"I'm dead." Kyouya deadpanned. "As my friend, you should pay for my wedding."

"But they are planning a hundred different ones! They're even sending invitations to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. It's going to cost millions!" Tsunayoshi loudly protested in vain.

Kyouya put down the cup of tea on the table and blinked his eyes, widening them like he'd seen so many others do. "Don't you feel sorry for me?"

"NO!"

— —

Grimmjow lazed around on the throne the minions had brought to the fortress that probably had a name. He sighed and scratched at his fur just for something to do. It had been several weeks since they'd gone off to deal with the brazen Shinigami that had invaded Hueco Mundo and just as much time since Kyouya (that bastard) had abandoned them all for the living world to court his new mate.

In short, Grimmjow was bored.

Really, really bored.

Bored.

Booooreed.

He tried to growl to the ceiling but it lacked its usual bite. He'd already tired of killing minions.

Soooo booooreeeed.

He turned over, stretched his body and yawned. It was starting to seem like he was back in the endless sands before he had met Kyouya. He'd thought that it would be a relief but—disgustingly enough—he found himself actually missing the fucker. There was something seriously wrong with him. Maybe he should go visit a doctor? But there were no doctors in Hueco Mundo and he was not going to Soul Society. He'd had enough of Shinigami's thank you very much, he could barely even stand Ashido.

Where could he find a doctor that would actually be able to see him in the living world, though?

Grimmjow sneezed, loudly disturbing the peace of the large empty room. He felt the snot get stuck on his fur and frowned. Somehow, he was absolutely sure that this was all Kyouya's fault. He was going to find the stupid fucker and make him fix him! But first, "MINION!"

He needed a bath.

— —

Tsuna was about ready to tear his hair out.

(Had already started, in fact, but Reborn had oh-so-kindly healed it.)

The wedding planners were everywhere. They had infiltrated every corner of Vongola headquarters. No matter which way you turned, they were there, measuring things, taking photos and talking amongst each other to find the best flowers that matched the interior design. But due to the many many weddings that were under planning, they were talking about just redecorating between each one to fit each theme. Redecorating. The whole castle. All of it.

And there were a lot of themes.

There was the gothic wedding, the traditional Japanese wedding, the traditional western wedding, the pink wedding, the wedding by the sea on a cliff overlooking sunset, the wedding at the beach, the outdoor wedding in Vongola headquarters backyard, the Victorian wedding, the medieval wedding, the halloween wedding, the masquerade wedding, the princess wedding, the horror wedding, the vampire wedding, the fairy-tale wedding etc...

Dear god, what had he done in his past life to deserve this?! Killed a bunch of orphans, kicked a million puppies, murdered a billion innocents and burnt down schools?! Well?!

Tsuna managed to hold in his groan of despair, but it was a near thing.

"Oi, dame-Tsuna, what are you doing? There are plans you need to approve." Reborn cruelly interrupted Tsuna's alone time of rest.

Tsuna hung his head and muttered out a, "Nothing."

Seriously, if this went on much longer, he was going to go insane. They needed to get a hold of this mate of Kyouya's and get them here so they could get married and Tsuna could get rid of this entire nightmare.

— —

The garden behind the Vongola headquarters was an impressive sight much suited for a lovely wedding. In the middle of the labyrinth was a gorgeous gazebo where Kyouya was to get married. He had already found his mate, Kyouya's senses stretched far and wide and together with an image for Fon to go off of, Fon had been able to find him in Japan impressively quickly. Kyouya was, despite it all, just a little bit grateful to Fon. Just enough not to murder him on his wedding day.

(And it would have made a wonderful wedding gift too.)

Regardless, Fon had reported that he had sent the invitations to his mate and companions. Now all that was left to do was wait and see if his mate wanted this wedding. There had been no response but some loudly yelled no's over the phone for both the traditional western and Japanese wedding. Kyouya had thought he'd go with the classics first. Honestly, he was kind of looking forwards to the gothic and vampire ones, he hoped his mate would agree to multiple weddings when he showed up.

Made they could have them one after another. Kyouya was sure his mate would look amazing in anything.

He adjusted the suit he was wearing and entered the labyrinth. The planners had really outdone themselves with this one. The wedding was to take place at sunset so there was still an hour or so to go and Kyouya was, for the first time in his life (or death, so to speak), starting to get a little nervous. Of course not of the wedding itself or if his mate was going to come, he was confident he would, but rather if his mate would like it. He could blow this entire place off the map in seconds if he didn't like it. He was well prepared to do so.

Once he reached the gazebo in the center of the labyrinth, he took his place and waited. And waited. And waited.

Eventually, night fell.

Kyouya frowned and glared at the priest every time the idiot tried to say something or leave. He was fully prepared to wait the entire night. He was dead, it wasn't like he had anything else to do. Stars dotted the sky and the moonlight lit up the night. The gazebo was truly a relaxing sight. Perfect for taking a nap. His mate had assumedly not liked this idea so he would just have to go on to the next one. Taking a few naps while waiting sounded like a wonderful idea.

A grunt disturbed the silence. Kyouya looked up and found the form of Fon, now back in his adult form, limping towards him. Kyouya tilted his head in curiosity.

Fon stopped when he was just in front of the steps to the gazebo. "Your mate," he started, "is not going to come."

"Oh," said Kyouya. "and why not?"

"He is... very powerful. You picked a good mate, Kyouya. I'm sure your mother is very proud of you." Fon stated and turned around to leave.

Kyouya smirked. It was always a delight to see his uncle in pain. His mate really was perfect for him.

What a wonderful gift!

— —

Ashido stepped through the garganta Grimmjow had so helpfully created next to the panther himself. He was starting to feel like he was a freaking babysitter, what with how many times he had to go and find Hibari when he disappeared. It wasn't like the Hollow was ever in any actual danger, but Ashido preferred for him to be where he could see and supervise him. Otherwise, he'd go and take over Soul Society out of boredom or something equally ridiculous. Seriously, he could imagine him doing that.

So, for the safety of everyone, it was really in the worlds' best interest for Ashido to follow Hibari Kyouya. And it helped that he had legitimately started to like the Hollow, even if he still wanted to murder him from time to time. Now was one of those times.

Ashido stared out at the garden they had stepped out into.

At his side, Grimmjow growled in anger due to the fact that they couldn't see Hibari anywhere. But as the garganta was supposed to bring them as close as possible, he had to be around somewhere. It was time to continue their search.

It was soon apparent that they were in a labyrinth of some kind, as they repeatedly hit dead ends. With every time they had to go back and take another path, Grimmjow's patience was tested further and the panther only got angrier. Ashido was in no mood to deal with a prissy panther and couldn't wait until they found Hibari. Then the Hollow could deal with the irate and irrational blue panther. Honestly, if Ashido had to deal with the menace much longer, someone was going to die. And it wasn't going to be him.

They found their way into the center of the labyrinth after much cursing and eventually they had resorted to just blowing the hedges away with laborious use of Grimmjow's ceros'. In the center was a beautiful gazebo painted white, with vines and flowers growing over it, as if nature itself was trying to reclaim it. And there, in the middle of the floor in a spot of sun, laid a sleeping Hollow.

Ashido was too late reacting to stop Grimmjow from blowing up.

(Not that he was really going to stop him. He was mad enough himself that in his opinion, Hibari deserved getting yelled at. Furiously and repeatedly.)

"BASTARD!" screamed Grimmjow at the top of his lungs. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! YOU LEFT US BEHIND! AGAIN! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

Kyouya was visibly startled awake. He blinked groggy eyes as them, obviously wondering why they were there. Ashido felt a vein bust in his temple. "Yes, Hibari, explain yourself." he demanded.

"I'm courting my mate. You're just in time for the fifth wedding." Hibari stated flatly.

Ashido bit his tongue to keep from swearing. He liked to think he was better then a lowly Hollow like Grimmjow. "What do you mean fifth wedding? And your mate isn't even here, how can you court him?"

"Oh? But he has been doing a wonderful job of courting me. Did you know that he beat my uncle? It was glorious." it was a very disturbing thing, to see the look of adoration in a crazy person's eyes. Ashido gave into his urge and covered his face in his hands.

"Are you seriously telling me that you are in love with this person?" Ashido demanded.

Hibari looked startled. Ashido was pretty sure it was a record, startling him this many times in a row. "What has love got to do with it?"

Ashido closed his eyes in despair. "Are you serious? Hibari, most people don't want to marry someone they don't love."

"Hn..." Hibari hummed, "a good point, I guess. Fine, I'll try it your way."

With that, the Hollow sat up from the floor of the gorgeous gazebo and Ashido could only watch as he left. Hurrying after him, he called out, "My way? What do you mean by that? Hibari?!"

Meanwhile, Grimmjow was utterly lost in the labyrinth.

— —

Something strange was going on at Vongola Headquarters.

By now, the people were used to the wedding decorations that never seemed to be taken down, only replaced, and the many planners that roamed the halls. But something else was different. It was the way recruits seemed to be fighting with invisible enemies in the training rooms, the way some windows were opened as soon as they turned their backs to them, doors that opened and closed without anyone using them, that newbie that fell down the stairs but was caught by someone that couldn't be seen.

Was there an enemy Mist in the mansion?

Or was it all a prank? That was the question.

Regardless, Xanxus was so done with it.

He prowled through the hallways of the Vongola mansion on the hunt for the tiny Decimo that he, despite everything, owed allegiance too. Something had to be done. Or blood would be spilt. Messing around on this level was usually the work of one of the Decimo's Mists, so he'd start there and work his way down.

If it weren't them… well then that was an entirely different thing. In that case, someone was going to die.

Xanxus blew through the doors the Decimo was hiding behind. In other words, the Decimo's office. In it, the Decimo, Tsunayoshi Sawada, was hiding behind a large exaggerated wooden desk, piled over with papers and two laptops and a stationary computer. The scrap of a thing that hadn't grown much since his days as a teenager seemed even smaller behind it. He had large dark circles under his eyes and when the Decimo looked up, he didn't seem to be able to see Xanxus. He looked utterly exhausted.

Xanxus crossed his arms over his chest and stated. "Some Mist is creating chaos in the mansion and you're going to fix it."

The Decimo face planted onto his pile of papers.

Despite it all, Xanxus couldn't keep from laughing at the amusing picture. The Decimo of Vongola, the most powerful mafia family in the world, and he was moaning in denial in his office, trying to run from reality.

He got his humor under control and demanded harshly, "So? What are you going to do?"

The Decimo emerged from his hiding place with his hair a complete mess. "I'm not going to do anything. If you're that bothered about it, you can do something about it yourself."

Xanxus scowled. "As Decimo, it is your duty to keep up the morale and mood of your family and right now, they believe that they're either being haunted or being punished by a deity. Do something."

For a second, it looked like he would fold, but then he caught sight of a paper and immediately, Tsuna's face fell into despair. The boy exploded. "DO SOMETHING?! HOW ABOUT YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT KYOUYA! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH EACH ONE OF HIS WEDDINGS COST?! WE'RE GOING BROKE XANXUS! WE'LL BE FILING BANKRUPTCY PAPERS SOON! AND HIS MATE NEVER COMES TO THE MONEY WASTING PIECE OF SHIT THAT ARE HIS WEDDINGS! I'M STARTING TO DOUBT THEY EVEN EXIST! SURELY, AT THIS POINT, KYOUYA IS JUST MESSING WITH US!"

The boy continued in a lower tone but just as furious and filled with a hopeless kind of despair. "And you know the worst part Xanxus? He's not even a little bit sorry! He'll be driving us out of house and home soon and he's never felt even a little bit apologetic! If this goes on, Vongola will be destroyed! By a dead Cloud Guardian! AND REBORN IS JUST AMUSED BY IT!"

Xanxus watched as the boy heaved for breaths, stunned that he had managed to yell at him. It was the first time Tsunayoshi had ever lost his temper with him. The Decimo must be really stressed. He narrowed his eyes. "I'll deal with Kyouya and you deal with the apparent hauntings, deal?"

The brat stared at him with big hopeful eyes and nodded gratefully. Xanxus grimaced. "The next time you dare to yell at me, I'll gut you."

With that, he left. He'd gotten what he came for. Now, to find the walking disaster that was called Kyouya.

— —

In another part of the mansion, Kyouya, the monster in question, was blissfully sleeping in his room. He'd been delighted when he discovered they hadn't changed a thing while he was gone and was now again napping happily in it. He was unknowing of the chaos reigning outside his oasis of peace.

That was, until something came flying through his wall and abruptly woke him up. Which was never a good thing.

Never.

Furious, Kyouya's purple eyes glowed brightly and he was up and over the thing that had crashed through his wall and awoken him in moments. The dazed form of the Lightning Guardian lay crumpled on the floor, barely holding on to consciousness. Kyouya ruthlessly kicked him in his stomach and watched, satisfied, as the boy retched and lost consciousness. It was a suitable punishment. Really, you'd think people would learn.

Kyouya stalked out of the room fully intent on killing and eating somebody. He was starting to crave meat anyway, so it was a lucky coincidence. Outside, the hallway was in chaos. Minions were running around all over the place, guns were shooting wildly and Kyouya was abruptly reminded of how he died and felt a sudden inexplicable rage fill him. Oh, someone was so dead.

So very, very dead.

He tore his way through the chaos until he reached open space and found someone to fill him in on what was going on. And there stood Ashido, avoiding bullets filled with Dying Will Flames and surrounded by chanting priests. Kyouya frowned and approached.

He towered over the small portly bald priest that stood closest. Kyouya opened his mouth and spoke. "What do you think you are doing, herbivore?"

The priest stopped chanting and glanced behind with fear clearly expressed in his eyes. The bald man gulped and squeaked out a, "Exorcising the demon, of course."

Kyouya smiled, a beautifully terrifying thing. "That is not a demon, it is a Shinigami."

The man's eyes went wide and he looked frightened out of his mind. Kyouya swallowed his soul with but a thought. It was kind of tasteless actually, he noted, annoyed. As the man fell to the ground, dead within moments as a body couldn't live without a soul, manufactured or otherwise, the others lost focus and stared, horrified. Kyouya felt satisfaction fill him as they turned scared gazes to him.

Ah, to be feared. It was a wonderful thing.

Kyouya grinned and grabbed a hold of the heart of the closest live priest and with a cruel twist, pulled it out. His hand was bloody, and he grimaced at the blood. It was going to be pain to wash out if it dried. When the heart fell to the ground and the priest that just died followed, the others were finally pulled out of their stupor. They banished holy crosses and started chanting anew, this time directed at Kyouya.

Of course, it did precisely nothing.

While the priests panicked and tried one chant after another, Kyouya slowly killed them, one by one, until there were only two left. Finally, they did the sensible thing to do and ran screaming from the room.

Pouting from having his toys running away, Kyouya turned to stare at Ashido. "What exactly happened?"

"Ah, well..." curiously, Ashido seemed almost embarrassed. "that's a long story."

Kyouya rose an eyebrow and Ashido continued with, "Suffice to say, there may have been a prank war involved. Somehow, they seemed to think we were haunting them. Ridiculous, right?"

Kyouya just hummed and the Shinigami broke eye contact with a grimace. "Grimmjow may have... pushed some people down stairs and I may have caught them. And we might have been using the training rooms to stay in shape and occasionally, we might have trained with the humans that may or may not be able to see us. The usual things, you know. I don't see how that make them think we were demons."

"Really?" Kyouya drawled out in an unimpressed tone. "You can't see the connection there? I'd think it was staring you rather blatantly in the face."

Ashido just stared at the wall, silent as the grave.

— —

The Vongola elite were once again having a meeting with a rival mafia family. The room was filled with a somber atmosphere and Vongola sat on one side of the large table while their enemies were on the other, both showing a united front.

It was quiet, it was serious and it was strictly business.

Obviously, something was going to go wrong.

The door was kicked down without any warning and smoke filled the room. When it dissipated, a blond man stood there in the doorway, one that no-one recognized. The man glared at them all and demanded, "Where is Kyouya?"

The people from Vongola exchanged unsettled eyes and eventually, Gokudera bit the bullet and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because," the man started in a harsh tone. "that bastard keeps sending me invitations to our wedding. Now, where is he?"

"Wait, you're Kyouya's mate?!" Tsuna yelled out in shock. He had expected someone more... well not what the man was. Someone more like Kyouya.

The man grinned and suddenly Tsuna could see why Kyouya might be attracted to him. It was a terrifying thing. "You got a problem with that?" the man demanded.

Xanxus rose from his seat and gripped his guns. "Your name."

The blond stranger rose an eyebrow in response. "Hirako Shinji. Now, answer my question."

"Kyouya is somewhere here. That's all you'll get." Xanxus stated.

The man smiled and said, "Thank you. You've been very helpful."

And with that, the man left as fast as he arrived.

A strangled cough on the other side of the table got their attention again and Tsuna watched as the man squeaked out, "That was Hibari Kyouya's mate? The mate of the Demon?"

Tsuna understood their feelings. Truly, he did.

— —

Shinji was pissed off. No, he was more than that. He was furious. So far, he had received six invitations to weddings where he was apparently supposed to be the bride. Which was just not going to happen. Moreover, they were all from the same insane Hollow that had defeated Aizen. And sure, he was grateful for it, but he wasn't going to marry him just for that. Needless to say, he had declined all the invitations. Loudly and repeatedly.

Hell, the demented Hollow had even sent someone to kidnap him! Shinji had kicked his ass, but it was the principle of the thing. Seriously, who would kidnap someone they supposedly wanted to marry?!

Not for the first time, he wondered if the Hollow was insane.

Shinji stalked through the halls of the mansion that had been given as the address of most of the weddings. He was on a mission to make the stupid Hollow see sense, even if it killed him. He could not keep having to call and complain to the first person who answered, it was annoying and useless and it didn't make a difference. It was time for the last resort.

Wandering through the halls, peeking in through every door or ledge he found, Shinji eventually made his way to a far off room where he finally hit the jackpot. That is, he found Kyouya, the crazy bastard, sleeping on a futon. A vein burst in his temple.

"OI! WAKE UP!"

Kyouya blinked awake, already looking annoyed and with murder shining in his purple inhuman eyes. Shinji refused to back down. He pulled out the latest invitation and held it up in front of the idiot's face. "What the hell is this supposed to be?!"

Kyouya stared at it for a second and answered, "The invitation to our wedding."

Shinji clenched his jaw. "This, Kyouya, states that we are in love!"

"It worked, didn't it? You're here." Kyouya deadpanned.

"To kill you." Shinji drawled. "I'm here to kill you. And maybe this time you'll actually do the decent thing and stay dead."

Kyouya tilted his head in thought. "So you don't want the princess themed wedding?"

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT A PRINCESS THEMED WEDDING?!"

A/N: I'm contemplating the idea of writing a KHR Zombie AU with Kyouya as the main character. What do you think?