I have temporarily... I mean, I have officially slain the writer's block. Excellent!

Thank you so much to Celen, who held my hand throughout the writing process and read this over for me.

Amano Akira owns Reborn. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Venice's weather usually took a turn for the colder side of the spectrum around the end of October, but Dino was happy to note that the chill breezes and cloudier weather seemed to have held off for the moment. That was the smallest of his fortunes right now; the company he was keeping was certainly the largest. Kyouya was curled up against him, bare skin warm against his own, awake but decidedly pliant and languid in his embrace. Every intake or expulsion of Kyouya's breath had Dino shivering as they left unseeable traces and tracks across his skin.

The last few days had been memorable, even when compared to all of the other times he'd spent time with Kyouya. This whole trip - Venice, the hotel, the amount of time they'd spent holed up in their suite that had nothing to do with Kyouya's antisocial behaviour - was a slightly belated anniversary gift from Dino to his lover. Eight years since they met, six years since their relationship had started after a confession at Reborn's birthday celebration caused by one glass of wine too many and still going admirably strong, all things considered. All things, in this case, being their contrasting personalities and the fact that their jobs had damn low survival odds in the long term. It was all the more reason to make sure they celebrated every landmark in their relationship, Dino thought. He could safely say that he didn't have a death wish, but he wasn't so naive to think that others wouldn't wish death upon them. And there had been near misses, no doubt; the previous year's anniversary trip had been delayed by Dino taking two bullets in the back, and had probably been pushed back ever further by Kyouya storming into the hospital, punching Dino in the jaw and very subtly implying in every word and action that he'd been scared for Dino's safety. Dino had appreciated the thought, even if his jaw had smarted badly every time he talked or ate over the following two days.

But when they were here like this - bare and sated and with Dino's men taking up nearly every other room on this level of the hotel thanks to the end of the tourist season drawing closer - it was easier to forget about the bad and focus solely, irrevocably on the good. The hotel may have been unseasonably full thanks to Dino's famiglia, but the suite they were staying in was entirely their own. The only intruders were Enzo and Hibird, who Romario had somehow had classified as service animals so they would be allowed in the room. It was private to the point of isolation, but it was good, and Dino had no problem with lying with Kyouya in his arms all night if he had to. Unfortunately, as if some mental connection had passed between them and got scrambled along the way, Kyouya started to remove himself from Dino's possessive embrace and edge towards the side of the bed.

"Stop being so clingy, Cavallone."

"No," Dino replied without a moment of hesitation. He concealed his overacted pout by burying his face between the downy softness of his two hotel pillows, but not even something that soft could stop the force of Kyouya's fist coming down on the top of his head and Kyouya's teeth digging into the hand Dino had snaked around his shoulders. It hurt a little, but the dual blessing and curse of being Kyouya's lover and being clumsy as hell meant that he'd developed quite the tolerance for pain. And compared to what Kyouya could do if he was truly mad, this was nothing. The shallow red marks left by Kyouya's teeth on his knuckles were almost comparable to a love bite.

Still, there was no point in spoiling the tranquility of the situation, so he let Kyouya go and rolled over to his side of the bed while stifling an exaggerated yawn. He had the strength of mind to pull on his underwear and a discarded shirt that may have been Kyouya's from the way it clung too tight to his frame. Kyouya didn't bother, opting to toss one of the bath robes from the room around his shoulders instead.

Dino stretched one final time to rid his muscles of tension and reached for his cellphone. To his surprise, there was one missed call from Tsuna's Italian phone number from earlier that morning. He hadn't heard anything about Tsuna being in Italy on business and none of his men had called to tell him about urgent contact from the Vongola, so he could only assume that the reason for the call wasn't important. He composed a short message to his little brother figure explaining that he was away until the next day and that he would be happy to contact him then if the issue didn't require immediate action. For now, he would be enjoying his private time with his lover, and what Tsuna didn't know about their relationship couldn't trouble him. He had too much weighing on his mind to give attention to anything that could wait another day.

As he put his phone back in its place by the bed, Dino heard the irritated chirping of his lover's pet and the reason for Kyouya's sudden change of mood became clear. It was about time for him to check up on Enzo too; the sponge turtle got just as hungry as Hibird, but was obviously a lot quieter about it until someone thought he was thirsty, or that he wanted to swim.

When he entered the lounge area of their room, Kyouya was sitting in the comfiest chair, staring out of the open balcony door and out to sea. Hibird was nestled comfortably in the pot plant on the coffee table next to Kyouya's chair, and Enzo was curled up on a cushion, sleeping soundly as obviously not hungry at all. Enzo was snoring so audibly for a creature of his small size that Dino thought Kyouya might be irritated by the noise, but he didn't seem particularly bothered by anything at that moment. Dino liked it when Kyouya was in this sort of peaceful state. Not only did it mean he was less likely to obtain new injuries, it was also, in Dino's personal opinion, one of the most beautiful sights one could behold.

Dino leaned over the back of the lounge and pressed a kiss to the crown of his lover's head. "Kyouya."

"Cavallone." A statement, not a question.

"I thought that it might be nice to go out for dinner later. I visited a restaurant here a few years back that made the most delicious..."

Kyouya watched as Hibird launched itself out of the potted plant and towards the open balcony door. "No."

Dino allowed himself a few seconds to look convincingly downtrodden before flopping down on the lounge. "Please, Kyouya? It might not be as bad as you'd think. We've spent nearly our entire holiday in this room."

"I don't see a problem with that."

"You don't?"

Kyouya cast a withering sideways glance at Dino. "If we go out, people will crowd."

"I'll have Romario call them and book out the entire restaurant. I'll request privacy."

"Are you really that enthusiastic about the idea, Cavallone?"

"Of course," Dino grinned. "I'd do anything to make you happy, Kyouya."

"... stupid horse."

"Should I take that as a yes?"

Kyouya remained stubbornly silent, and Dino's grin grew until his elation was practically sickening.

"Thank you, Kyouya. You make me so happy."

"Let's not make a habit of it," Kyouya replied, avoiding Dino's gaze in a way that the Cavallone Boss found positively adorable.

"I'm glad you're here with me."

"Hmph."

"I love you."

"Hmph."

Dino decided that the decision to ignore Kyouya's stubborn refusal in favour of pulling him close and stripping him of the white bath robe around his shoulders was probably one of the best decisions he'd ever made.

Perhaps indulging Cavallone hadn't been such a terrible idea after all, Hibari idly thought as he straightened his tie in the bathroom mirror. Indulging Cavallone had its advantages because Cavallone indulged him in return. He was hardly an expert on the matter of human relations, but he and Cavallone had a system of give and take that worked remarkably well with Cavallone's habit of being maddeningly affectionate and his own habit of avoiding affection on a whole. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate Cavallone's companionship - if he hated the man, he certainly wouldn't have put up with his ridiculous sentimentality this long - it was more the fact that he didn't feel as if the whole world needed to know, as Cavallone clearly did. Still, he could definitely say that he did feelsomethingfor Cavallone, something deep and real and unsettling. He would not be here year after year if there was nothing between them. Cavallone understood his need for solitude. Cavallone let him move freely, loved him unconditionally, demanded nothing. If Cavallone's love was a cage, it was a cage with an open door to which Hibari himself owned the key.

After fixing his tie and making a futile effort to tidy his hair (and thatwas Cavallone's fault too; if that idiot hadn't besmirched him right after his shower and satisfied him to the point of distraction...) Hibari stepped out of the bathroom and sat back down on the couch to wait for Cavallone, who had decided to use the smaller ensuite bathroom for his own preparations. Hibird flew from some unseen location and landed on his shoulder, and Hibari reached up to idly scratch the tiny bird's head. Enzo made a noise that sounded halfway between a high-pitched squeak and an indignant snarl, so Hibari reached over and picked him up and placed him in his lap.

"So cute, Kyouya."

Stupid Cavallone and his damnably impeccable timing.

"If you gave your pet enough attention he wouldn't be jealous when I pet Hibird."

"He's just mad that I had to restrain him the day before we came here. Someone left the gate around the pool open..."

While Cavallone went off on a tagent about irresponsible subordinates and near misses involving temperamental pets, Hibari took his chance to glance over at his lover. He was more casually dressed than Hibari was, though that was to be expected; the Vongola Cloud rarely felt comfortable in anything but his suit or a kimono. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, his jacket was unbuttoned, his hair was even messier than his lover's. Still formal enough to warrant Hibari's approval, at least.

"... and by the time he'd finally shrunk down to size, it was almost three in the morning. Anyway... ready to go, Kyouya?"

Hibari replied with a short nod and placed both Hibird and Enzo onto the couch cushion next to him. "I'm getting hungry."

"You can eat as much as you like once we're at the restaurant, Kyouya."

Hibari stood and retrieved the room's card key from its place by the bed. "Do they have Japanese-style meals?"

"I don't think so?" Dino said, looking confused. "I thought you'd want something with a little more substance after being in Japan for the past few months."

"I want sushi." There was something entertaining about disagreeing with Cavallone just for the sake of disagreeing.

"They don't have it."

"Then find somewhere else."

"They have Kobe beef."

"... I suppose that would be acceptable."

"It's about one hundred euros per kilogram, so I hope so. I know you well enough to know that you won't accept anything but the best," Cavallone said with a grin. Hibari felt tension work its way into his jaw, but his brain calmly told his body to ignore it, even if it was infuriatingly clear that Cavallone was enjoying his victory.

They quit the room and locked it behind them, but left the balcony door partially open for Enzo and Hibird. The guard rail around the balcony was reinforced with glass and steel from the floor up to about waist-height, so there was no chance of Enzo falling over. Besides, Hibird enjoyed flying down to the beach and chasing the seagulls, and Hibari wasn't about to confine his own pet over something so silly, even if it did seem to worry Cavallone.

To Hibari's surprise, not one of Cavallone's men greeted them in the hallway outside of their room. On the one occasion that he'd been convinced to leave the room before now (and that had only happened after being promised a spar on the beach that he was yet to receive), Cavallone's men had followed them like a particularly suffocating shadow. They seemed otherwise occupied tonight, if the muffled sounds of singing and merriment from behind the other doors were anything to judge by.

"As much as I prefer not having your herbivores following our every move, I'd vastly prefer it to having to carry you home because you can't put one foot in front of the other, Cavallone."

"Romario is already down in the lobby waiting for us. He's been told he's going to be waiting outside while we eat."

Cavallone's expression suddenly changed, and Hibari frowned. Cavallone seemed to realise his serious change of face just a moment later, and quickly shoved both hands into the side pockets of his jacket with a grin.

"And don't worry, the others will stay here. They're having fun thinking about how generous I am for booking every other room on this floor for their use. It will just be us, Kyouya."

Hibari nodded. He was satisfied with that promise, and Cavallone knew better than to lie to him over matters such as these. He reached over to press the elevator button, and they waited for it to arrive in comfortable silence. Hibari could feel Cavallone's eyes on him the whole time, but he found that he didn't really care. The chime next to the elevator door rang out, and the doors slid open. Hibari stepped into the elevator with Cavallone on his heel, and the door slid shut behind them.

"Kyouya."

Hibari barely had time to turn and see what his lover's problem was before he was enveloped in a bone-crushing embrace and pressed against the back wall of the elevator. If that idiot horse had been planning to act like this, he honestly couldn't see why he'd been so insistent on the matter of going out to eat.

"Cavallone, what do you think..."

"I love you, Kyouya."

"What are you-"

Cavallone cut him off, pulled him close, kissed him deep. Hibari stood for a moment, becoming accustomed to the sudden closeness before slowly responding. Dino inhaled sharply, held him even closer...

The elevator came to a stop, and the door slid open. It was too soon for them to be on the ground floor. Hibari made a valiant effort to escape, but Cavallone seemed intent on finishing the embrace in a way that, Hibari had to admit, he probably would have appreciated slightly more if they'd been alone in their room between clean hotel sheets. It was inconsequential anyway. Hibari didn't have time to care who Cavallone was disgusting with his enthusiastic displays of affection. Probably one of Cavallone's herbivores coming back from the ice machine or something equally as stupid.

Hibari opened his eyes as the kiss ended, and was the first to see the two people standing at the opposite end of the elevator out of the corner of his eye.

"Dino-san? Hibari-san?"

Cavallone put a good foot and a half of space between them in the space of a second, but it was too little too late. Both of them could recognise the dulcet tones associated with a mortified Sawada Tsunayoshi anywhere. Sasagawa Kyoko was standing behind him, looking surprised but markably less mentally scarred. The elevator door slid shut behind them, and the elevator started to move. Sawada continued to look as if he'd just suffered some sort of deep emotional anguish, but Sasagawa, much to Hibari irritation, had started smiling.

Cavallone cleared his throat about three times and stayed frozen to the spot like a guilty child. "Yo, Tsuna."

Sawada's mouth opened and shut like some sort of moronic fish. "Dino-san... you... you and Hibari-san?"

The words on Cavallone's tongue seemed to choke and die in the back of his throat. Sawada looked between his big brother figure and his Cloud Guardian, as if expecting there to be some completely non-romantic, sensical reason that he'd just found the two of them in a passionate embrace. Hibari grit his teeth and focused all of his menace on Sasagawa, who simply beamed back at him like some sort of love-struck schoolgirl. He felt himself tense in irritation; it was as if all of the fear he'd worked on instilling in the former students of Namimori over the years had suddenly been negated by the fact that he was able to show passion for another human being. He didn't like it.

"Ah. Well. That," Cavallone started awkwardly, pausing to bite down on his lower lip before apparently giving up on trying to make up some ridiculous excuse for how they'd been behaving. "It's exactly what it looks like."

"... so this is what these yearly trips have been for?" Sawada asked weakly. He seemed to be recovering some of his higher brain function, at least. Hibari resisted the urge to roll his eyes; if Sawada had some sort of mental breakdown on his account, Gokudera Hayato would probably ring him every hour, on the hour just to tell him how much he resented him for ruining Sawada's optimistic view of the world.

"Errr... yeah, that's the main reason," Dino admitted. Sasagawa was still smiling with utter politeness, and Hibari was still wishing he could knock Cavallone out, drag him out of the elevator when they reached the lobby and dump him in his right-hand man's waiting car.

"... I see." Sawada's response was admirably neutral. There was no accusation, disgust or disappoinment, but there was nothing to indicate that he was happy about the situation. It was possible, after all these years and all of the baby's constant reminders, that Sawada had started to think like a Boss in every situation. To him, this equated to the confidentiality and security of one of his men being compromised. Hibari might have understood, had he not made it abundantly clear that he wasn't part of Sawada's group in the first place. He was different to Sawada and Cavallone. Irritation came easier than mutual understanding.

Cavallone was at a rare loss for words for a few moments, but he'd apparently developed a strategy to combat the awkward situation by the time he spoke again.

"So... what are you doing here, Tsuna?"

Combating the awkward situation by making it even more awkward, apparently.

Sawada's face went from a dull pink to a bright, violent red in the blink of an eye, but Sasagawa had apparently decided it was time to interfere. She stepped forward and linked her arm through Sawada's, apparently deciding that Sawada needed emotional support to make it through the elevator ride.

"Tsu-kun invited me here for his birthday."

"Ah, that makes sense. Your birthday is close to Reborn's, right?" Cavallone said with a smile, and Sasagawa gave him a curious look.

"That's true... but I'm not sure why it matters?"

"... no reason," Cavallone replied. Sasagawa blinked, obviously confused. Sawada made a soft groaning noise and looked like he wanted to drop through the floor. Hibari tried to decide whether he wanted to be amused by the suffering of both Cavallone and Sawada, or whether he wanted to beat them both senseless for being so herbivorous.

The soft chime of the elevator sounded, followed by the announcement that they had reached the ground floor. Sasagawa turned on her heel, proper and business-like and all but guided Sawada through the elevator door. Sawada looked a great deal calmer than he had when they'd first encountered each other, and he squeezed Sasagawa's hand with a relieved smile. Cavallone hesitated out of habit, but when he saw that Hibari was waiting he left the elevator first. Hibari stepped through the doors just as they were closing, making them come to a shuddering stop and re-open to let him through.

"I hope you enjoy your night," Sasagawa beamed, hand still entangled tightly with Sawada's. Hibari wondered if the smile on her face was genuine. Well, it was practically nauseating either way. He wasn't accustomed to people treating Cavallone and himself as a couple, and he didn't really want to be. It was a good thing that Cavallone was good at picking up on his moods, because he was still keeping a fair amount of space between them.

"You too," Cavallone replied. Sawada smiled weakly and held his hand out for Cavallone to shake. Cavallone stepped forward with a smile that was equally as weak as Sawada's, tripped over his own feet and landed gracelessly on the polished marble floor of the lobby, taking Sawada with him when the smaller man tried to stop him from hitting the ground.

"Tsu-kun!"

"Stupid horse."

Sasagawa hurried forward and set to work on the delicate task of disentangling Sawada's limbs from Cavallone's. Sawada was trying to assure Sasagawa that he was fine through what sounded like a mouthful of blood, and Cavallone was writhing around on the floor in a disoriented manner, with a level of grace similar to someone trying to escape from a straightjacket. Hibari sighed and began to walk over when it became clear that no one else was going to stop Cavallone from making a fool of himself, but he stopped short when Sawada gasped and froze in Sasagawa's embrace.

A small black box was lying on the ground, about two feet in front of Cavallone.

In the few seconds it took for Sawada to break free from Sasagawa's comforting vice-like grip, Cavallone disentangled himself from himself, rolled onto his back with an exhausted sigh and opened his eyes to observe the same black box. His face seemed to go pale in slow-motion, all of the colour caused by the fall and the resulting exertion slowly fading to leave pasty white and an expression that spoke of muted horror. Sawada had the advantage in every way, and unsurprisingly he reached the box first. However, Hibari had to admit in some muted part of his mind that Cavallone's effort was not poor, considering that Sawada had the headstart and the advantage of being on his feet. Cavallone dragged himself to his feet, groped around in his jacket pockets and cursed so loudly that the woman at the hotel's reception desk turned to glare at him.

"Tsuna!"

Sawada snapped the box open, trying his best to shield its contents from Sasagawa's confused and curious gaze. His expression changed when he actually looked inside, a rapid transition from nervousness to relief to confusion.

"This isn't the ring I..."

At that moment, Hibari was faced with more mental conflict that he'd ever have the patience to deal with, and - not for the first time - began to wish that emotions were corporeal so he could destroy them at will.

"Tsuna!" Cavallone repeated, his voice taking on a tone of desperation that Hibari had rarely heard outside of combat. Hibari's reflex reaction was to retrieve his tonfas and beat both Cavallone and Sawada into one bloody pulp, but the conviction in his mind was not enough to coerce his body to move.

Sawada looked between Cavallone and the small box in his hand, and a sudden look of realisation appeared on his face. He rushed over to Cavallone, shoved the box into his hand and bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry, Dino-san!"

Sawada then turned on his heel and began to rapidly walk towards the front door of the hotel, an overwhelmed and blushing Sasagawa calling his name and chasing him at full speed.

Hibari was left to stare at Cavallone, white-knuckled and angry at his own reaction. Cavallone stared helplessly into the box, the silver ring he'd bought and engraved with his lover's name shining in the overwhelming light of the hotel lobby.

What was supposed to be one of the most romantic nights of Dino's life ended up being one of the most awkward. Kyouya was not in a good mood after the scene in the lobby with Tsuna, and after spending ten minutes convincing him not to return to their room, Dino realised they were running late for dinner. Romario had been sympathetic to his plight, but had ultimately refused to drive at double the speed limit to reach their destination in time. Dino had kept trying to convince his right-hand man right up to the point where the car turned to enter the restaurant's car park, though he had a sneaking suspicion that it was nothing to do with wanting to be on time and more to do with the fact that if he'd stopped talking, the awkward silence in the back of the car would have been overwhelming. Kyouya had spent the whole trip in the passenger side back seat, staring out the window and remaining as silent as the grave. Dino bit back a sigh and watched his lover exit the car as soon as it had come to a stop. The tiny black box in his pocket felt like a lead weight.

Dinner wasn't much better. Kyouya drank only water while Dino treated himself to a little more wine than a sensible person would drink in one go. He then proceeded to refuse all of Dino's offers and suggestions of entrées and ordered the most expensive cut of red meat on the menu for his main course. As promised, the restaurant was empty; the only people in the vicinity were the restaurant staff and Romario, who'd apparently decided to leave the car to smoke. Dino realised it must have looked ridiculous to anyone driving by; two people, one awkward and one obviously in a terrible mood, sitting alone in a romantic restaurant. Dino was frustrated by the mere thought of it. He'd planned everything so carefully, had wanted everything to be perfect so he had the best chance of success. He loved Kyouya, but Dino knew better than anyone that he could be temperamental and difficult to read. He'd wanted the ring to be a surprise, but not such a sudden one. He'd wanted the chance to explain his reasoning to Kyouya, why he wanted a lasting, evident bond and proof of their relationship despite Kyouya's dislike of being chained to any other person. Every time he thought it would be a good chance to explain, the words felt stale on his tongue before he'd even made a sound, belated and awkward and a waste of breath. And so they ate dinner in silence, skipped dessert and left the restaurant.

The returning car ride was no more pleasant than its predecessor. Dino grit his teeth and rubbed his hand over his eyes. He felt exhausted, frustrated and disappointed to the point of distraction, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling, considering that he'd thought he'd be spending the night feeling the exact opposite. Kyouya sat in the same place as before, but this time he didn't bother pretending that anything he could see through the window was worth his constant attention. He stared at the back of the chair in front, eyes heavy-lidded and shoulders tense for the entire trip, and Dino was almost relieved when they reached the hotel. At least it would be fairly easy for them to avoid each other in their room until he was in the mood to talk it out, and until Kyouya had calmed down.

The first thing Dino did upon returning to the hotel was trip over his own feet whilst getting out of the car and land flat on his face. After momentarily raising his face off the pavement to make sure he hadn't broke his nose, he cursed under his breath, lay face-down again and considered the merits of lying on the pavement until he died of embarrassment. Or until his men noticed he was missing, found him and dragged him into a more dignified position so he didn't shame the famiglia. He heard the other two doors open and shut simultaneously, and a second later the toe of Kyouya's shoe was roughly nudging the side of his head, just shy of his temple.

"Idiot. Stop being so pathetic."

Dino wondered if it would be overdramatic to think that it'd felt like he'd never hear Kyouya's voice again before that very moment, but he didn't have time to consider it because Kyouya's hand was on the back of his jacket and hoisting him to his feet.

"Kyouya..."

"I want to go to the beach."

"At this time of night?" Dino questioned, laughing weakly. "And dressed like this?"

"I won't take no for an answer, Bucking Horse."

"Fine, fine," Dino said with a sigh. Perhaps he wasgetting worse at reading Kyouya's moods. "Romario, can you park the car and meet us back here?"

"Of course..." Romario started, but Kyouya interrupted before he could finish what he was saying.

"I don't want your herbivores crowding and following us like lost animals, Cavallone."

"... okay," Dino said after a moment of hesitation. "If that's what you want, Kyouya."

Kyouya didn't bother acknowledging Dino's answer, and began to walk in the direction of the hotel's private beach instead. Romario gave his boss a concerned look, but Dino shrugged and managed to laugh it off without sounding too hopeless about it. He could only hope that he'd be on the sand by the time his body decided it was time for him to lose control of his gross motor skills.

His hopes almost went fulfilled; he managed to make it to the edge of the beach before tripping down the steps leading to the beach and landing gracelessly in the sand. After spitting out a mouthful of sand and grit, Dino got to his feet and squinted into the darkness after his lover. The street lights along the edge of the sand did little to illuminate the beach, and Kyouya was not easy to see in the dark when he was clad in his usual black suit.

Kyouya, as it turned out, was standing a few paces shy of the water's edge, shoes sinking into the wet sand. Tiny white grains of sand clung to the seams of his pants, and his fingers lingered inside of his coat. Dino stumbled down the dunes and to the seashore, mentally impressed with himself for being able to keep his footing for that long on the unsteady surface.

"Kyouya?"

The response was immediate; Kyouya turned around, withdrew one tonfa from beneath his coat and took a quick but calculated swing at Dino's head. Dino shut his eyes reflexively and lurched out of the way, landing on his behind in the wet sand with a nauseating squelch.

"Kyouya!" Dino snapped, frustration growing rapidly.

"What?" Kyouya questioned flatly, letting his hands drop to his sides.

"In case you didn't notice, I'm not in the mood to spar," Dino said with a snarl, picking himself up off the sand for the second time that night.

"My attack would have stopped short of your thick head, Cavallone. And you being this useless would make sparring pointless. It would be no fun to beat you in this paltry state."

"So you brought me down here to tell me that?" Dino said with a humorless laugh. Kyouya's fingers twitched on his tonfa's handle.

"I came down here to discuss the topic you seem to be avoiding, Cavallone."

"What topic is that?"

"The box in your pocket."

"Ah," Dino said shortly. "You don't have to worry about it."

Kyouya's eyes narrowed, and Dino could see the dangerous, predatory glint even in the dark. "And why shouldn't I?"

"You don't like being tied down, Kyouya. I know that as much as anyone does," Dino said with a sigh, flicking a clump of sand off the toe of his shoe with his finger. "I put a lot of planning into tonight. Months. Organising the trip around both of our schedules, finding the right ring, trying to figure out what would make you happy..."

"And why would you bother to waste time on such a thing?" Kyouya questioned after a few seconds of silence. Dino sighed again and continued to avoid his gaze.

"Because I was so sure you would say no, but I still wanted you to remember. I started the day fully expecting to be pleading my case by the end of the night, Kyouya. We live in a world where people can die in an instant, and I hated the thought that we could die without you knowing how much I care. I hated the thought of dying alone, by any other hand but yours. And now it doesn't matter anyway."

"Oh?" Kyouya questioned lightly, and Dino managed a weak smile.

"Tsuna knows. Sasagawa Kyoko knows. Makes me wonder how many other people will find out."

"It's irrelevant."

"It's not, Kyouya. We're lucky that it was Tsuna and Kyoko that found out, because Tsuna's too good a person to ever use it against us. But Tsuna's a rare breed in the Mafia. Kindness is a limited commodity. The Mafia wouldn't view how I feel kindly. There are probably people in my own Family that don't agree with it. There are plenty of people who'd be more than willing to use our relationship as ammunition against both of us, use it to extort information out of us or kidnap one to blackmail the other. So that means we'd have to hide it." Dino paused and slowly raised his head until he was looking Kyouya in the eye. "And even though I'd do it a million times over for you, it's been hard to hide how I feel for the past six years, Kyouya."

Kyouya was silent for a long while, but Dino didn't mind. He was still mulling over his own thoughts, wondering whether it was even wise to admit all of that to his lover when Kyouya seemed to view most of his stronger shows of emotion as weakness. The wind was picking up, and the waterline was subsequently getting closer to them with every new wave. Dino silently resigned himself to his fate and picked himself up off the sand.

"Let's go back to the hotel room, Kyouya."

The response was immediate once again. Kyouya dropped his tonfa in the sand and went at Dino with his bare fist; Dino didn't bother avoiding the blow this time, but had to admit that he was mildly surprise that the punch didn't knock his back on his ass. Kyouya must have been feeling generous.

"Kyouya..."

"You're a fool," Kyouya snarled, teeth bared and fist firmly clenched at his side.

"I'm sorry," Dino muttered, choosing to avoid Kyouya's eyes for the second time. A second later, Kyouya's hand was on his face and he was forced to look his lover dead in the eye, no hesitation or barriers between them.

"You've forgotten the most important thing, idiot horse."

"Have I?" Dino questioned. "And what is that?"

"If you're too stupid to figure it out for yourself, I'm not going to waste my breath by forcing it through your thick skull."

Dino frowned and bit at his bottom lip. He was thinking hard, but his mind felt sluggish and stupid and entirely too distracted by Kyouya's touch.

Kyouya...

Dino wasn't really one for clichés, but if he had to describe his sudden revelation, the closest thing he could have possibly thought of was a bolt of lightning to the brain. Kyouya's hand was still lingering on the side of his face, and he turned into the touch and pressed his lips against his lover's open palm.

"I'm sorry, Kyouya."

Kyouya's only answer was a small shrug. Dino laughed softly and reached out to slide his arms around the other man's waist.

"I'm lucky to have such a wonderful person to love."

Kyouya lunged without warning; Dino didn't have too many chances to brag about his reflexes, but he had to admit that the way he'd dodged the headbutt that Kyouya had aimed at his chin was impressive. Dino laughed again and placed a firm kiss on the crown of his lover's head before breaking away.

"So, aah, this is where I..." Dino started, taking the box from his pocket with suddenly-shaking fingers. Kyouya watched silently as Dino got down on one knee in the sand and snapped open the small black box to reveal the ring resting inside.

"Kyouya... I love you, and I was hoping you'd do me the honor of..." Dino started, but he was quickly silenced by Kyouya simply reaching out, taking the ring from the box and sliding it onto his left ring finger. He held the back of his hand in front of his face and looked at Dino through the gaps between his fingers.

"This is correct?"

"It is," Dino said blankly.

"Good."

"... is that a yes?"

Kyouya looked at Dino as if he was looking at a particularly clueless child. "Of course."

"... oh," Dino responded, feeling more ridiculous with every passing second.

Kyouya smirked. "Did you expect me to become herbivorous over it, Cavallone?"

"I guess not," Dino said weakly, mind scarcely able to believe it. "As long as it's what you want."

"I wouldn't have bothered to indulge you if I did not."

Dino broke into a wide grin and all but launched himself at Kyouya, face practically glowing with joy. "I love you, Kyouya!"

"Let go, stupid horse," Kyouya said with a scowl. "I'm going back to the hotel room and leaving you writhing in the sand is sounding much more appealing than dragging you the entire way."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Dino said, the grin on his face indicating that he was not sorry at all. "Let's go back."

Much to Kyouya's irritation, Dino wore the same grin on his face all the way back to their hotel room.

"I live freely."

Touch. "I know."

"I won't tolerate it if a herbivore like you slows me down."

Lingering touch. "I know that too."

"I will not promise you anything."

Hug. "Don't worry. I didn't expect you to suddenly change because of this or anything like that. I wouldn't like it if you did."

"And nothing more will come of this."

A kiss across his left palm. "No. I'm happy with the way things are now."

Hibari scowled as he felt the other man's nose insistently nuzzling into the back of his hair. Cavallone's agreeable nature was even more irritating than usual. If he had foreseen the idiot horse becoming so sentimental over the exchange of a circle of metal, he would have remembered to discard his tonfas much closer to the bed.

Cavallone sighed against the back of his neck. "We have to check out in an hour."

Hibari didn't reply, and Cavallone decided the best plan of action was to sigh again. "When will you be in Italy next, Kyouya?"

"Three weeks," Hibari replied, watching Cavallone's fingertips trail over the back of his hand. "Five if herbivores decide to get in my way."

"Will you come and visit me?"

"No."

"Kyouya!"

"No."

"We'll spar for ninety minutes for each day you spend with me."

"... If my mood is good."

Hibari could feel the Cavallone Boss's smile against the back of his neck. "I'll see you soon, then."

Hibari was contemplating turning around and beating the stupid grin off Cavallone's face when his cell phone rang, the Namimori school anthem echoing through the hotel room. Hibird immediately launched himself out of the nest he'd made in the potted plant and began to sing along.

Cavallone released Hibari from his embrace and propped himself up on his forearms. "Kyouya?"

"Ignore it."

The song had finished its second verse by the time the phone stopped ringing. Fifteen seconds later, Cavallone's phone was ringing instead and, due to its close proximity to their current position, was much harder to ignore. Cavallone reached out, grabbed the cell phone and answered the call in Italian.

"Pronto."

"Dino-san."

Cavallone made a rapid transition back into Japanese. "Yo, Tsuna."

There was a pause that was just long enough to be uncomfortable, and Cavallone's smile was a little too strained to be natural. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Ah, I actually phoned you to talk about a personal matter."

Just a tinge of colour faded from Cavallone's face. "Oh?"

"Yes. I've already phoned everyone in Japan... my parents, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto, big brother, Lambo and I-Pin, Chrome, Haru, Reborn, Bianchi, Enma..."

"Oh," Cavallone replied again, blinking stupidly as he waited for Sawada to continue.

"And I was just calling to... invite you to our wedding..."

Sawada still sounded overwhelmed and disbelieving even as he said it.

"Congratulations!" Cavallone said with a grin. "You've got a date set already?"

"Yeah... after I asked, Kyoko was so happy that she started planning everything right away. And when we phoned Haru... so we'll be getting married during spring in Japan, on the 5th of April."

Sawada sounded exhausted, but there was a hint of lingering happiness in his voice. Hibari's fingers twitched against the bed sheets; that tone of voice was all too familiar. He'd been hearing it in Cavallone's voice since the previous night.

"Well, I'll be there," Cavallone replied; yes, that hint of happiness was in every way identical. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Sawada made a soft sound of relief. "Thank you, Dino-san. Oh, and..."

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

"... Hibari-san is also invited."

Hibari dug his fingers into his pillow, and Cavallone's entire frame stiffened behind him.

"I-I mean, he can come if he wants to. He doesn't have to if it will annoy him. There will be a lot of people there, so..."

"It's okay, Tsuna," Cavallone said. There was a nervous edge to his voice that made Hibari feel annoyed and amused simultaneously.

"And I wanted to apologise for how I acted last night. I... I was just shocked, and I was nervous about Kyoko-chan... b-but I'm glad you and Hibari-san are happy."

Hibari's grip tightened until little tears started forming in the hotel sheets from the pressure of his grip. Cavallone gave him a nervous glance.

"Thank you."

"And you can bring Hibari-san to the wedding, if you like. I mean, if he likes. If you both like. Both of you are my friends. I want my friends to be happy. I'll make sure no one objects and if anyone does..."

Perhaps it was the subtle implication that Sawada thought they needed protection, or perhaps it was merely the fact that the limits of his patience concerning emotional matters had been reached; he just knew that he was too annoyed to let this continue.

"Sawada."

"Hibari-san?" Hibari had to admit he was mildly surprised by how steady Sawada's voice was.

"What is your room number?"

"Two hundred and twenty on- wait, why?"

Hibari's expression was nothing short of predatory. "Perfect."

"Hibari-san?"

Hibari snatched Cavallone's phone from his grasp and threw it across the room, where it hit the opposite wall and fell silent. Hibird shrieked and flew around in circles, and Enzo tucked himself into his shell and stayed a still as a stone.

"Kyouya!" Cavallone whined, and Hibari sat up and looked him dead in the eye.

"I'll bite Sawada to death."

It was only after Hibari had dressed, picked up his tonfas and headed to the elevator outside their room that Cavallone figured it might be a good idea to try and stop him. Getting caught was not something he'd anticipated; he would have had seconds to spare if Sawada hadn't been so slow to answer the door. It was, however, surprisingly worthwhile.

Hibari didn't know which was the greater reward: Sawada's rection to seeing Cavallone near-naked in the hall with his arms around one of his Guardians, or the blow he managed to deliver to the top of Sawada's head before he closed the door.

END.

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