My third story: another 1827 one-shot! (I swear, one day I will manage to write a multi-chaptered story, dattebayo!)

I am so, so sorry for the utterly LAME title. I originally intended to call it "Carnivore's court", but then I found AYMK00's story, which has the exact same title, sooo...

I think this is actually the most I've ever written for this fandom (the word count is 12166 in total, 37 pages on Word!). I got the idea for this a long time ago, but I don't really like it now that it's written out. Oh well, hopefully you guys will!

(BTW, this is NOT a sequel/prequel to Ownership.)

Pairing: 1827 (only vague hints of All27 this time, I really wanted to focus on the Hiba x Tsuna interaction in this one).

Warning: possible OOC-ness on Hibari's part (...I tried), slight violence, shounen-ai, mentions of R-rated things, one minor OC (who holds no real role in this story, but I thought I'd mention it).

Disclaimer: 27K is canon, so I obviously don't own KHR.

Some IMPORTANT details I urge you to read: Reborn and all of the Arcobaleno have been freed of their curse: that is, they're no longer babies, and no longer immortal, though they still hold the pacifiers. Tsuna, Yamamoto and Gokudera are 15; Mukuro is 16; Hibari and Ryouhei are 17 (Ryouhei is in high school, while Tsuna, Yamamoto, Gokudera and Hibari are still in Nami-Chuu).

"…So I took first-year Ishida into custody and he was suitably punished by myself and lieutenant Kasamatsu."

His oral report done, Kusakabe looked up from his notes and dutifully waited for his chairman's answer…only to sigh in dismay when he realized that the whole time, Hibari's attention had been elsewhere, as it had very often been, lately.

"Kyou-san?"

No reaction. The head prefect continued to gaze dreamily out of the reception room's window.

"Kyou-san, are you staring at Sawada-san again?"

Hibari jumped as if struck by lightning, and whipped around to shoot Kusakabe a very uncharacteristic startled look, which quickly morphed into a familiar bone-chilling glare. "Hn," he grunted in somewhat grudging acquiescence.

Kusakabe sighed and shook his head with an almost motherly smile. It was almost cute to see the untouchable Kyou-san flounder with his affections for the oblivious young Decimo. Kyou-san had been even more ruthless with the poor boy recently, beating him up if Sawada-san so much as came to school with a slightly crooked necktie. Sawada-san was obviously completely befuddled as to what could have warranted such harsh treatment, but Kusakabe knew the truth: Kyou-san was just like a young boy trying to get a the attention of a girl he liked by calling her names and pulling her pigtails. He was terrorizing the short brunet because he wanted Sawada-san's attention and didn't know how to get it, so he settled for using his favorite way for dealing with most things: violence.

Unfortunately, judging from Sawada-san's decidedly jumpier demeanor when around Kyou-san lately, the DC's head prefect wasn't quite getting the message across. The poor Boss-in-training probably thought Kyou-san hated him with a passion.

And that absolutely wouldn't do. Kusakabe saw Kyou-san as something akin to a son, or maybe a little brother – family, and if Kyou-san wanted Sawada-san, then Kusakabe would damn well make sure he got Sawada-san (…and make sure that the Cloud Guardian didn't scare his Sky off- and into an early grave in the process). So he was going to make sure that Sawada-san would fall just as deep in love with Kyou-san as Kyou-san already had for the brunet. It was high time Kusakabe got started on the plan he had been carefully devising for several weeks now.

"Kyou-san." Slowly now, don't want to scare him off. Kyou-san could be surprisingly skittish when it came to expressing his feelings.

"Hn…?"

"Are you in love with Sawada-san?" There. A plain and simple, yes-or-no question.

Choke. Cough. Slight sputtering. Composure regained, death-glare activated, power max. "Such herbivorous emotions are no concern of mine."

"Then why do you spend every lunch period up on the roof spying on Sawada-san and his friends while pretending to sleep? Why do you stare at him when he's anywhere within your line of sight? And why do you 'bite him to death' so often?"

An elegant black eyebrow was now dangerously twitching. "Tetsu, shut your mouth or I'll bite you to death."

Kusakabe smiled indulgently, ignoring the threat while hiding a shiver. Kyou-san's killing intent really was potent. "You're in love with Sawada-san, Kyou-san. That's nothing to be ashamed of: Sawada-san is strong, patient and submissive. He would be a good mate for you." It was better to use terms from the animal realm to explain his feelings for Sawada-san: Kyou-san was always more receptive to such a manner of speaking.

"A…mate?" Yes, Kusakabe had definitely succeeded in capturing his superior's interest.

"Kyou-san, you want Sawada-san to be yours only, yes?" A slightly hesitant nod. "Then you want Sawada-san to be your mate, and you want to be Sawada-san's mate. That is to say, you are in love with Sawada-san, and want him to reciprocate those feelings. You want him to want you as much as you do, him. Yes?"

Another nod, more determined this time, and a steely glint in slanted ice-blue eyes. Hibari was an honest man - he had never felt the need to lie in order to justify his actions in other herbivores' eyes - and he did not like to lie to himself any more than he enjoyed lying to others. If this strange attraction toward Sawada Tsunayoshi he had been feeling lately, like a gravitational pull of some sorts, and this strange sense of possessiveness he had acquired in regards to the younger teen, demanding that every shred of the brunet's attention be focused on him and only him, were love, then yes, Hibari was in love, loath as he was to admit it.

Kusakabe smiled, and the normally gentle upward curve of his lips now had a decidedly feral tilt to it. "I can help you with that, Kyou-san."

Hibari's answering smirk was just as reminiscent of a shark smelling blood as his second-in-command's.

Tsuna's head swiveled around wildly as he nervously checked his surroundings for any trace of the passing shadow of a black gakuran, or the glint of steel tonfas. For some reason, Hibari-san had been particularly aggressive lately, towards him especially. Tsuna had no idea what he had done to offend the bad-tempered upperclassman, but after his fifth beat-down - for a minor offence - in two days, he had learned his lesson. So there he was, standing before the school gates a full fifteen minutes early, his uniform pristine and his wild bedhead even tamed to some semblance of a style.

Tsuna gave a sigh of relief when he saw neither hide nor hair of the terrifying prefect in his immediate surroundings, and cautiously stepped into the courtyard. His two best friends followed along distractedly, deeply engrossed in their usual one-sided argument ("Don't be so friendly with Jyuudaime, yakyuu-baka!" ; "Maa, maa, calm down, Gokudera! You're making Tsuna nervous!" ; "Ahhh! You did it again! How dare you address Jyuudaime so casually!" etc., etc.)

"Jyuudaime!" Gokudera suddenly exclaimed, making Tsuna jump a foot in the air - and his Storm Guardian was suddenly in his face, jade-green eyes as full of respect and devotion as those of an eager-to-please puppy. "Did you watch the show about South-American UMA last night? They found a young chupacabra's tracks on a beach near Salvador de Bahia–"

Tsuna gave a wan smile as he listened to his self-proclaimed right-hand man babble on about jersey devils, mothmen and loveland frogs, whatever those were. Really, even Yamamoto's never-ending chatter about baseball was more interesting to Tsuna: at least the Decimo-in-training somewhat understood what the hell the teen was going on about. Still, Tsuna couldn't help but relax in his noisy (even more so when Ryohei jogged up to them and joined in the discussion with clueless comments and requests for Tsuna to join the boxing club, which set Gokudera off much like the bombs the ¾ Italian was so fond of) Guardians' familiar presence.

…Only to tense up completely not a moment later when a low, deadly voice spoke up from behind their little group. "Herbivores, for the crimes of crowding together and obstructing one of Nami-Chuu's hallways, you will all be bitten to death."

Giving his trademark shriek, Tsuna whirled around to face the incoming threat, only for his eyes to meet thin air, since Hibari had already charged forward and was in the process of issuing punishment on his fellow Guardians. Not a minute later, three bodies fell to the ground in an unconscious heap, while a terrified Tsuna huddled against a nearby wall, curling into a shivering ball like a small, frightened animal.

Sure, Tsuna had his pills on him, so he could've very well gone into HDW mode in order to defend himself, but he was too afraid of unintentionally challenging his aloof Cloud Guardian to a fight by trying to block the older teen's attacks…plus, he didn't really want to hurt Hibari anymore than he wanted to get hurt himself, no matter how much the prefect mistreated him.

However, it seemed that his fear was baseless since Hibari only turned on his heel and left with a few parting words, "Control your minions better next time, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

It took several minutes for Tsuna to uncurl from his defensive position and realize, as his three KO'd Guardians slowly came to and lifted themselves off the floor with pained grimaces and rude grumbles from some, that not only had Hibari already left, without biting Tsuna to death, but he had addressed him by his name instead of the usual "herbivore".

A slow smile lit up Tsuna's youthful features. Maybe Hibari was finally starting to acknowledge him, if not as a friend, as an acquaintance rather than a simple punching bag…?

Over the next few weeks, Hibari was surprisingly mellow and forgiving when it came to Tsuna. The younger teen's "herbivorous minions", in Hibari's words, still got bitten to death on a regular basis for "disturbing the peace of Namimori", but Tsuna himself was left relatively unharmed, much to his astonishment and tentative delight – the worst admonishment he had gotten from his unpredictable Cloud Guardian in the past month was a flick to the forehead when he arrived ten minutes late to school one morning.

Of course, unwilling to take advantage of Hibari-san's sudden bout of kindness, Tsuna tried very hard not to break any rules and did his best to keep his Guardians from becoming too rowdy when in Hibari's presence or general vicinity, saving the noisy group of teens (and one five-year-old) from numerous beatings in the process.

Hibari and Tsuna hadn't really spoken, of course - the older teen was, as usual, a man of few words (most of which were threats of some kind or other) - or even interacted much, so they could hardly have been called friends: still, Tsuna liked to think that they had gotten closer to being so.

Hibari, on the other hand, was having a very hard time controlling himself.

The truth was, he had already realized a long time ago that he liked Tsuna as more than a…friend or, god forbid, a subordinate should (and he was well-aware that he wasn't the only one among the Guardians to harbor such feelings for the clueless young Boss). Hibari felt protective of the boy, an instinct which he had originally fought every step of the way, until he had finally managed to convince himself that it was only his role as a Guardian that was getting to him and that the strange urge to fight for Tsuna would go away if he bit the boy to death often enough. It hadn't worked. Though he suppressed them, his protective urges when it came to the skinny brunet remained, eerily similar to the ones he had in regards to, for example, Namimori or Hibird - only Hibari was pretty sure that he would have been called a sexual deviant had the very strong and completely foreign attraction he held for Tsuna been directed at Hibari's territory or his pet bird.

When he had just met Tsuna, Hibari had found him unremarkable, if somewhat cute, in a fragile way – like a small rabbit, pleasing to the eye, but weak. But after watching the little Decimo go up against opponents who had sometimes seemed invincible even to Hibari - opponents who had had years of fighting experience under their belts where Tsunayoshi had had months at best - and win, he had understood Tsuna's true nature: the scrawny brunet wasn't a herbivore at all, but a carnivore, albeit a young one. A young carnivore that was willing-, albeit afraid, to fight to the death to protect what he held dear. The boy was but a cub at the moment, but Hibari had no doubt that in time he would become the noble and fearsome lion mafiosi had spoken so highly of during Hibari's time in the future. And Hibari could respect him for that.

Indeed, Hibari was well-aware that he was in love with his (the word always left a bad taste in his mouth) Boss, but had simply decided to let his feelings for Tsuna be because, really, what chance was there that the younger teen would ever reciprocate them? It was obvious the little brunet was terrified of him and, as far as Hibari knew (…though his knowledge was admittedly very limited when it came to anything akin to romance), a…a relationship couldn't exist if one of the partners was scared stiff of the other. Hibari, very uncharacteristically, had given up on Tsuna.

Which was why Tetsu's interference in this matter was such a godsend – not that he'd ever admit that to the taller male. The vice-chairman knew Hibari better than he knew himself, so if anyone could figure out how Hibari could ever be a love interest for Tsuna, it would be Tetsu. And it seemed that Tetsu already had a plan, so Hibari was trusting him. For now.

Tetsu had told him that he would need to be very patient in his courting of Sawada Tsunayoshi, who was a naturally skittish and easily frightened creature: the boy would be chased off if Hibari suddenly became extremely nice to him or, god forbid, started flirting with him, so Kusakabe had told him to take things slow. But it was very hard for Hibari not to simply go up to the teen, take him up to the reception room and make Tsuna his in every possible way.

"That's statutory rape, Kyou-san," Tetsu would reply almost apologetically, and Hibari would grumble, but would comply and be patient.

So it was with much (carefully hidden) delight that Hibari received the words he had been waiting for, nearly a month after the start of his courting of the baby carnivore:

"It's time to move on to the next stage, Kyou-san."

"Oh? The next stage, you say?" he prompted with a raised eyebrow as he leaned back in his comfortable leather chair in the reception room, lacing his fingers over his midsection.

"Yes, Kyou-san," Kusakabe confirmed with a serious look on his mature face (all the while inwardly grinning at his leader's façade of nonchalance – the way he kept subtly fiddling with his white shirt's buttons gave the black-haired teen's nervousness and excitement away). "You have now established a bond of tentative trust with Sawada-san. He no longer fears you as much as he used to, if at all, and I have seen him greet you with a smile and a wave when you happen to cross paths."

Hibari merely nodded, secretly pleased at the small, new gestures and mannerisms he had noticed in Tsuna, which had ascertained him of his progress in making the small Decimo his.

"Now he needs to know that, not only will you never hurt him, you are willing to protect him of those who will. After all, as the so-called 'female' in your future relationship, he must be assured that his prospective mate is a strong one."

Hibari growled slightly in frustration – Tsuna should know how strong Hibari was: he'd been on the business end of the fearsome prefect's tonfas more than once, after all. But then again, Hibari had never showed Tsuna that said tonfas could be used for more than just beating the life out of the small brunet or the loud herbivores that made up his posse.

Tetsu had said this was the way to go, and the taller teen hadn't been wrong yet in walking Hibari through this new and surprisingly complex endeavor, so Hibari would trust him and bide his time, for now.

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna! I seem to have lost my lunch money…care to lend me some?"

Tsuna whimpered quietly as he was cornered by three lumbering seniors in a quiet corner of the schoolyard, between the gym and the science building.

He had been hurrying along, just minding his own business, towards the occult club's room, which Gokudera had just joined on the previous day, in order to ask the bomber if he wanted to join him for lunch. Ever since the popular Yamamoto and the (to most people) scary Gokudera had started hanging out with Tsuna, the bullying had simmered down to next to nothing, but it figured that the bullies would come right back as soon as Tsuna was alone. The young Boss was now mentally cursing himself for not thinking of that possibility.

The old Dame-Tsuna, the one he was before this whole Mafia madness had started, probably would've just shrieked like a girl and handed over his money, all the while cowering like a kicked puppy. He was sorely tempted to do just that, but couldn't for two very good reasons:

1. He hadn't needed any lunch money since he'd brought a bento today, and had left his schoolbag in the classroom anyway, so he was currently penniless.

2. Reborn would kill him for displaying such cowardice.

So he just offered the menacing upperclassmen a shaky smile and said politely, "Um…I'm very sorry, but I don't have any money on me at the moment…"

"Haah? Don't fucking lie to us, Dame-Tsuna!" growled a buff teen with a Mohawk, small, beady eyes and a broken nose, wearing a Hawaiian-style flower-pattern shirt instead of the white, uniform-regulated one. All in all, he looked like a no-name extra in a bad yakuza movie – and Tsuna couldn't help but wonder how exactly the older boy hadn't been caught and severely punished by the Disciplinary Committee for his dress code transgressions already.

"Who the hell goes around without money in this day and age? Now hand it over if you don't wanna get hurt!" another one snarled, this one short and stumpy, but noticeably brawny, with a face that would've been plain if not for his rather thick fish-lips.

"But I really don't have any!" Tsuna squawked helplessly. He would've liked to say that, having been exposed to- and having fought against a (formerly) evil illusionist hell-bent on destroying the Mafia and causing World War III, the extremely violent head of an entire squad of Italian assassins, a white-haired madman with angel wings and a God complex the size of Mount Fuji, and a vengeful Mafia Family with entirely new powers, whose Boss later became one of his best friends, he wasn't afraid of three measly middle school bullies…but he was. He fought to protect his Family when it was needed, but the fact remained that Tsuna didn't like pain, and was cowardly by nature. He wasn't at all inclined to fight back when confronted with this familiar threat.

"He's lying! He must've got some on him somewhere! Let's just strip him and search," suggested the third thug wannabe, a tall and lanky boy with a fairly handsome face and shoulder-length, bleach-blond hair.

They quickly got to work, ignoring the scrawny brunet's teary complaints and pleas to let him go as they tugged off his blue sweater-vest and ripped his shite shirt open, growling when their search through the chest pocket came up fruitless. They were just starting to look through his pants pockets when a low, deadly voice made them stop short and freeze in place, faces rapidly paling.

"What do you herbivores think you're doing?"

Hibari was seeing red. After finding that Sawada Tsunayoshi hadn't come to have lunch on the school roof with his herbivorous friends like he usually did, he had decided to go do some rounds around campus – he was absolutely not looking for the brunet carnivore because he was worried about him, no sir-ee. But the scene he had stumbled upon…adorable, defenseless Tsuna being held down by three dastardly delinquents, tears gathering at the corners of his big brown eyes, and a pretty pink flush appearing on his cheeks as the bastards ripped off his clothes mercilessly. These herbivores were trying to…to rape Hibari Kyouya's property!

(Yes, Tsunayoshi was already Hibari's, whether the younger boy knew it or not.)

The DC chairman didn't even pause to utter his catchphrase before he pulled out his steel tonfas and swooped down on the degenerates that had dared to try and possess what was rightfully Hibari's. The herbivores were down in minutes, beaten black and blue and groaning weakly.

Tsuna only watched the proceedings from his place curled up against the science building's wall, shivering slightly, one hand clutching his shirt at his midsection to try and keep it somewhat decent despite its ripped state (though, really, after all the times Reborn had shot him with Dying Will bullets before he had learned to control his flames, Tsuna was already a repeat offender when it came to public exposure).

He jumped and squeaked when Hibari's hard ice-blue eyes turned to him, but relaxed when Hibari's tonfas disappeared under the pristine black blazer, back to whatever dimensional pocket they usually materialized from. In a few purposeful strides, Hibari was by his side, and he crouched down to be level with the short brunet that was his love interest.

"Did they hurt you, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" the prefect asked quietly, almost gently, and oh my God was that concern I heard in his voice? Did Hibari-san really just ask me if I was all right?

"N-no, they only wanted to see if I h-had any money on m-me…" Tsuna managed to choke out in as the adrenaline slowly receded in his veins, making his voice quiver slightly.

Hibari's gave a quiet sigh of – was that relief? – and sat back on his haunches. A few minutes went by, and Tsuna started to shift uneasily under the prefect's unwavering and strangely heated stare.

(Little did the young Decimo know, his Cloud Guardian was inwardly drooling at the sight of Tsuna's graceful collarbone and smooth, flat stomach, both of which were left exposed rather indecently by the open white shirt.)

"Hi-Hibari-san…?" Tsuna hesitantly stuttered out after around five minutes of awkward silence on Tsuna's part and lustful ogling on Hibari's. The sound of his name snapped the Cloud Guardian out of his daze, and he stood abruptly before helping Tsuna up as well, supporting the smaller boy when his still wobbly legs nearly gave out on him. After making sure that Tsuna would be fine with one last cursory glance, he spun on his heel and stalked away, off to bite some other herbivores to death.

But Tsuna, thinking that he couldn't just let the prefect go without properly thanking him, and feeling very much like the heroine in some cliché shoujo manga, clenched his eyes shut and bowed at the waist, loudly calling out, "Th-thank you for saving me, H-Hibari-san!"

Hibari halted and turned slightly so Tsuna could see his profile, and the brown-haired Boss-in-training thought there might've been the slightest curve to the prefect's lips...and promptly choked on thin air, his already large brown eyes widening so that they took up nearly half of his small face.

Hi-Hibari-san is...smiling…?

And then Hibari was off once more, Black gakuran flaring dramatically behind him with an imaginary breeze as he disappeared down the dark passage between the two school buildings like a shadow, a dark, stealthy knight ready to protect his princess no matter the cost–

As Tsuna repeatedly bashed his own head against a nearby wall in order to beat the insanity out of it, two thoughts were prominent in his on-the-verge-of-a-mental-breakdown mind.

Where the hell did that image even come from…? God, I have got to stop listening to Kaa-chan's delusions/stories of how she met that no-good Tou-chan…

And:

I'm getting that cliché shoujo manga vibe again.

"Very good, Kyou-san!" Kusakabe congratulated gravely after a long while of good behavior from Hibari. "Sawada-san now trusts you not only not to physically harm him, but also to protect him in his times of need."

Hibari only stared at him and motioned for him to go on, looking quite pleased with himself. For the past three months, he had treated Tsunayoshi like a perfect gentleman, gallantly coming to his aid whenever bullies threatened him and even refraining from beating the baseball herbivore, boxing herbivore and silver-haired herbivore too much so as not to cause Tsunayoshi any unnecessary headaches or worries. Surely he must have made some progress in his quest for the brunet's heart…?

"However, he has yet to develop any actual feelings for you."

And there went Hibari's good mood. "What exactly do you mean, Tetsu…?" he inquired slowly, dangerously, fingering the hidden leather straps that held his collapsible tonfas (because really, they had to come from somewhere, didn't they?).

Kusakabe shuddered at the show of bloodlust: it seemed he would have to choose his next words carefully. "Well…Sawada-san is no longer as intimidated by you as he was before, he sees you as a friend, maybe not a close one, but certainly a reliable and trustworthy one. He clearly admires your strength and the way he smiles at you proves that he also enjoys your company.

"Still, he does not yet see you as anything more than a friend. If you want him to see you as something more, maybe even a potential lover, you must make him feel as attracted to you as you are to him."

'And how do I do that?' Hibari's raised eyebrow inquired/demanded.

Kusakabe's next words were spoken in an almost ominous tone:

"Through skinship."

Tsuna had been in a particularly good mood lately. All of that studying- and training from hell with Reborn had finally started taking effect: he was still called Dame-Tsuna occasionally, but his grades were much higher (now more often around 70/100 than 17/100) and he wasn't quite as hopeless in PE, even out of his HDW state. This served to get his mother off his back somewhat – that and the fact that Iemitsu had finally taken a six-months leave from his work as Vongola's Outside Advisor to spend more time with his "darling Nana-chan" and "adorable little son".

Tsuna had also gotten closer to the kids lately: now not only Fuuta, but also I-Pin and Lambo had taken to calling him Tsuna-nii. The three children had grown up some, and no longer chased each other around the house throwing childish insults, grenades, bazooka-shaped time-travelling devices and poisonous gyoza dumplings every single day (…well, that had been mostly the two pint-sized hitmen. Fuuta had always been very well behaved). However, they had become very vocal when it came to clamoring for their Tsuna-nii's attention. It got a bit annoying at times, but Tsuna couldn't help but be very flattered and happy that they would consider him an older brother figure.

And, most importantly, Tsuna thought that Hibari was finally starting to accept him as a friend! After all, the prefect hadn't "bitten him to death" in months now, and had even helped Tsuna whenever he was in a pinch instead of just turning away, saying it was none of his business, herbivore.

(Or that could mean Hibari had accepted Tsuna as his Boss, and his own role as a Guardian – but that just couldn't be true because Tsuna wasn't going to become a Mafia Boss. Besides, the day Hibari would submit to someone, least of all to someone like Tsuna, would be the day pigs flied in Hell's snowy skies.)

And speak of the devil…

As Tsuna got closer to the school gates – a full thirty minutes early now, unlike Yamamoto and Gokudera who still tended to be late pretty much every day – he smiled lightly when he caught sight of Hibari leaning against the stone walls, his arms crossed and his chin resting against his chest, sharp ice-blue eyes closed.

Gathering all his courage (because even though Tsuna wasn't afraid of Hibari anymore, the older teen was still rather intimidating), he walked up to the prefect and smiled broadly as he said, "Good morning, Hibari-san!"

Hibari's eyes opened in a flash, and Tsuna froze as the prefect continued to just stare at him somewhat incredulously. His smile slowly faded and he started fidgeting nervously. Did I do something wrong…?

(Tsuna had no idea how adorable he looked when he actually smiled, and didn't just give a small, shaky grin or a sort-of-smile that looked more like a grimace. For a moment, Hibari had been sure that Tsuna had started emitting some kind of pink aura with sparkles, rainbows and flowers in the background. Yes, the short brunet was indeed his mother's son.)

Eventually, Hibari snapped out of his moe-induced trance and returned the radiant smile with his least threatening smirk, uttering a quiet greeting as well. Then, remembering what Kusakabe had told him about skinship on the previous night, he reached out and gently ruffled Tsuna's hair.

The little brunet was quite surprised by the affectionate gesture, but welcomed it anyway: the prefect's long, calloused fingers felt nice threading through his spiky tresses. Tsuna closed one eye and leant into the touch, all but purring, and was slightly disappointed when the stroking ended. Nonetheless, he gave the prefect another wide smile before hurrying off to his classroom, cheeks feeling warm for a reason he couldn't yet fathom. Yep. Today is a good day indeed.

Once he was sure that Tsuna was indeed gone, Hibari stared at his hand with something akin to wonder. Not only had Tsuna not pushed him away, he had even seemed to enjoy the prefect's touch! At the moment, Hibari was as close to giddy as a carnivore of his caliber could ever get. His efforts up until now evidently hadn't been for naught.

It seemed he had a real chance with the little lion after all.

Also, Hibari had made an interesting discovery: indeed, the auburn mess of spikes that was Tsuna's hair was much softer and silkier than it looked.

Kyou-san's romance was progressing very well. After clearing the "hair-ruffling" stage, the head prefect had heeded Kusakabe's precise advice to the T, and it had worked perfectly: Kyou-san had managed to clear the "hand-holding"-, "loosely-embracing"- and "kiss-on-the-cheek" levels with remarkable speed (though such acts had been rare and few in-between)! Kusakabe was so proud.

Though the vice-chairman couldn't honestly say he hadn't helped his emotionally retarded superior a little bit along the way…

For example, in the instance when he had informed Sawada-san about the little fact that the brunet was the only human being besides Kusakabe himself whose extended presence Kyou-san seemed to tolerate, and maybe even enjoy.

(The pleased flush that had appeared on Sawada-san's cheeks had spoken legions, and had confirmed the fact that Kusakabe's Master Plan was working: the Decimo-in-training was slowly but surely falling for Kyou-san.)

Or the time when Kusakabe had off-handedly mentioned the fact that Kyou-san rarely ate lunch since he was too busy going over paperwork for the school to buy anything.

(On the next day, Sawada-san appeared at the reception room's door with a delicious-looking double-layered bento complete with homemade tamagoyaki, hamburger meat, shrimp tempura and a dessert of sliced up strawberry, banana and kiwi – and a thermos full of expertly brewed green tea. It seemed that despite the boy's natural clumsiness, Sawada-san had fully inherited his mother's talents in the kitchen.

The elated smile Sawada-san had showed when Kyou-san had thanked him and complimented him on his cooking had been very endearing.)

Kusakabe discreetly wiped away a small tear as he watched his chairman, and said chairman's love interest interact in (what they thought was) the privacy of the reception room. Sawada-san was eating quietly on one of the plush leather couches, and Hibari was reviewing the regulations for the upcoming Valentine's day - indeed, some of the girls tended to get a little crazy while striving to confess to their respective crushes if some ground rules weren't laid down - between bites of his now customary two-layered bento. Kusakabe thought it very cute, the way their eyes would stray back to each other's forms every few second, only to flicker away the moment their owners realized the other had caught them staring.

Yes, Kyou-san had made great progress with Sawada-san, and it was obvious the younger one had at least a large crush on his Cloud Guardian, but none of them had confessed to each other yet, and Kusakabe frankly had no idea how to initiate such an event. Kyou-san probably wouldn't make the first move, either out of apprehension or out of pride, and Kusakabe was pretty sure that the shy Sawada-san wouldn't do it without a push (or kick where the sun didn't shine) in the right direction.

Kusakabe smiled to himself. That could be arranged: the vice-chairman knew just the person for that.

"What do you want, Reborn?"

The Sun Arcobaleno ignored his dame-student's mildly annoyed tone and the suspicious glare thrown over a slender shoulder. He sipped his espresso and continued to gaze at Tsuna from his seat at the kitchen table, watching as the boy puttered around in the kitchen, preparing the daily bento box for Hibari while dressed in Nana's frilly white apron, which, Reborn had to admit, looked rather fetching on the teen. Reborn knew that his staring was making Tsuna uncomfortable, and reveled in it for a few more moments, but he had to get down to business now. "You've been getting up rather early these days…and you always make two bentos now," Reborn observed off-handedly.

Tsuna stiffened for an instant, then resumed his cooking while attempting to maintain a nonchalant attitude. "Y-Yeah, I'm making one for H-Hibari-san as well."

Reborn arched an eyebrow and steepled his fingers in front of his face to hide a growing smirk. Really, it was almost cute how easy to read Tsuna was. "Hoooh? For Hibari? What did he do to warrant such a favor?" Before the brown-haired teen had a chance to stutter out some incoherent and long-winded excuse, Reborn declared, "I talked to Kusakabe."

Tsuna just about hacked off his own finger with the large knife he was using to carve a small sausage in the traditional octopus shape. He quickly regained his composure and slowly asked, mentally cursing when his voice shook, "Oh…? About what?"

With a single sharp, don't-play-games-with-me-young-man look (really, Reborn was so motherly sometimes) from his tutor, Tsuna gave up, laying the knife down on the cutting board with a heavy sigh. He quickly tucked the now finished octopus-sausage into the full bento box and deftly wrapped the lunchbox up in white, sakura-patterned cloth.

Reborn watched him dispassionately go through the well-practiced motions, and waited until Tsuna ceased all movement to reply, "You know perfectly well where I'm going with this, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna only nodded. "I do. You know I like Hibari-san."

And it was true, Tsuna was in love with Hibari. He was so strong, so unbelievably powerful, invincible even, that Tsuna felt like everything would be all right as long as Hibari was by his side, as if the prefect's strength could somehow seep into his skin and help him become better. Tsuna loved the way he would always get Hibari's undivided attention whenever they spoke, how the Cloud sometimes looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered in the world; he loved the fiercely protective glint that appeared in the older teen's ice-blue eyes whenever someone threatened his beloved Namimori or, recently, Tsuna; he admired the fact that Hibari could always, always keep his composure, no matter the situation; he loved how cute Hibari looked when he yawned widely after waking up from one of his long naps; he loved how patient and kind the black-haired teen was with small animals like Hibird and Roll, and found his secret love of tiny and cute things endearing; and most of all, he felt immensely honored that said patience and kindness now extended to him, the useless kid, the eternal loser, Dame-Tsuna (though once could think that the fact that he was so happy about being treated the same as Hibari's pets said a thing or two about the young Decimo's mental state after three years of exposure to the insanity that was the Mafia).

Tsuna loved Hibari, and, though he knew that it was impossible that a man as great as Hibari would ever feel the same about a no-good person like Tsuna, it didn't mean Reborn had to put salt in his wounds like that!

The young Decimo's tone grew more incensed as he exclaimed, "And you're going to tell me I can't be with him because I have duties to Vongola and that as the Tenth boss, I have to produce an heir. But it doesn't matter anyway, because Hibari-san could never look at me like that and…!"

Reborn sighed. It seemed that Kusakabe's plan had worked, but only to some extent: Tsuna was in love with Hibari, but he clearly had no idea that his feelings for the black-haired teen had in fact been born from Hibari's unrelenting efforts to woo him for the past ten months.

Cutting into his no-good student's pity-party, the Arcobaleno retorted scathingly, "Shut up, Dame-Tsuna. You won't know if Hibari likes you or not until you ask him." Seeing that he had the now wide-eyed teen's full attention, he went on, "As for the issue of children, why are you even worrying about this now? Even if you did start going out with Hibari, how can you be sure that you would still be with him when it's time for you to start trying to have kids? As for the issue of having a male lover, while it is uncommon, it isn't unheard of in the Mafia, and with the technology we Vongola have at their disposal, it would be a cinch for us to create an heir for you either via a foster mother or in vitro."

Tsuna staggered a bit at the onslaught of information, but could appreciate the fact that Reborn was being straightforward and truthful for once, and that the ex-baby was actually making sense. "…So what is it you're trying to push me into doing, exactly?" he asked after a few moments of thoughtful silence.

Reborn smirked once more. "Valentine's day is coming up soon…"

Hibari couldn't honestly say he wasn't disappointed.

It wasn't an emotion he allowed himself to feel often - disappointment, that was - because he had learned early in his life not to expect much out of the herbivores he was surrounded with. But he had still held a small hope that Tsuna would...that he would...

That he would give Hibari some chocolate for Valentine's day. There. He'd said it.

Technically, even if Tsuna had been as smitten with Hibari as Hibari was with him, it didn't mean that the brunet would have had to give him chocolate - because Tsuna was...well...a male. And it was common knowledge that on Valentine's day, females gave chocolate to their love interests. Not boys.

Still, the fact remained that if Hibari did end up being with Tsuna in a romantic sense, Hibari definitely would not end up being the girl in the relationship (or, as they called it in the yaoi manga Kusakabe had given Hibari as future reference, the uke). So, since Tsuna hadn't given him any chocolate yet even though it was already past 5 P.M...did that mean that, despite Hibari's efforts for the past ten months, Tsuna still didn't feel...that way...about him?

The daily bento had been delivered by Kusakabe - and now, Hibari somewhat regretted the fact that he hadn't been petty enough to demand chocolates for dessert - but...no, surely Hibari was reading too much into this. Just because Tsuna didn't give him anything or even speak to him on lovers' day didn't mean the boy felt nothing for him...

...it had sounded more convincing before he'd actually thought of it that way...

Giving a small sigh, he rounded another corner and ended up in one of his favorite spots in all of Nami-Chuu: a small courtyard behind the gym, which boasted a small stone fountain, and a cluster of three sakura trees with wooden benches placed strategically beneath them.

The Cloud Guardian couldn't have been more glad that the perverted doctor had finally inoculated him with the anti-virus for the sakura disease after many, many threats and beatings (Shamal had finally caved when Hibari threatened to open a separate infirmary for female students only). The trees were not in full bloom yet, of course, seeing as it was still early February, but Hibari would've still felt dizzy and slightly weak if he hadn't been cured of the annoying disease.

Seeing that the courtyard appeared empty, Hibari was about to wrap up his evening rounds and go back up to the reception room to sulk - ahem, to do some paperwork, but a small, timid voice that reminded him slightly of Tsuna's, if it weren't for its distinctly feminine pitch, stopped him in his tracks:

"H-Hibari-senpai...?"

Hibari spun around to face the intruder (this courtyard was technically reserved for the school staff - the head prefect was obviously an exception, though) and hid his surprise at finding one of Nami-Chuu's most popular students standing there, a pink, heart-shaped box clutched to her chest with trembling hands. Hasegawa Miki, Hibari's memory databank supplied, a first-year.

She was rather attractive, the DC chairman supposed - petite and slender, with long, pitch-black hair, pale skin, a small, well-proportioned face, and large, almond-shaped chocolate brown eyes: the typical Japanese beauty - but for Hibari, it was like some kind of gray, semi-transparent film had appeared over his eyes once he'd realized his attraction to Tsuna: no one could garner his attention and affections as effortlessly as the scrawny brunet did, no matter how beautiful or strong they were.

"This part of campus is reserved for Nami-Chuu's teachers. You are trespassing, herbivore. Leave or be bitten to death," Hibari said coldly, holding his tonfas up threateningly.

The girl shivered in fright, but did not move from her spot, meekly looking up at her senpai through her long lashes. Hibari sighed through his nose in an exasperated manner and asked/demanded: "Was there something you wanted, herbivore?"

Hasegawa inhaled sharply and seemed to gather her courage before she bent forward, bowing at the waist in a manner eerily similar to the way Tsuna had after Hibari had saved him from his bullies for the first time several months ago (though Tsuna had been at least a hundred times cuter while doing it, of course), while holding out the heart-shaped box with rigid arms. "I...I love you, Hibari-senpai!"

From his position behind a nearby sakura tree, Tsuna stiffened considerably, fingers tightening around his own, purple-wrapped box as tears sprang up in his eyes.

When Tsuna had swung by the reception room earlier, hoping to catch Hibari alone and give him his honmei (1) chocolate (which he'd finally caved and made for Hibari after many hours of psychological harassment from his sadistic home tutor - being locked into a small room with many fragile, breakable items and Lambo on a sugar high was not a fun way to spend one's Sunday afternoon by anyone's standards), the room had been noticeably empty save for Kusakabe who, after Tsuna explained his reason for coming, had seemed strangely supportive of Tsuna's love, and had even told him where to find Kyou-san if he wanted to catch the prefect at the very end of his rounds. Tsuna had hurried over to the courtyard the DC's vice-chairman had directed him to, and had decided to hide out behind one of the trees and wait for Hibari there.

And then that really cute first-year, Hasegawa Miki-chan, had come along with her own chocolates in hand, obviously hoping to confess to someone.

Tsuna had watched her with a slightly amused and sympathetic smile - the poor girl looked like she was about to faint from nerves, which was pretty much exactly the way Tsuna himself felt at the moment. Then he had watched, heart skipping a bit with sudden nervousness, as Hibari appeared in the secluded courtyard...but Tsuna had just about dropped the precious purple box when he had seen what was happening next, right before his eyes.

The girl had had the courage to do what he, Dame-Tsuna couldn't. His confession...it was over before it even began. There was no way that Hibari would choose a scrawny, plain-looking, no-good boy like him over a girl like Miki-chan. He had no chance left whatsoever with the handsome prefect, if he'd ever had one in the first place.

He could only watch numbly as Hibari stared down at the girl with astonishment, neither refusing nor accepting her confession at the moment - but he would. He would. Miki-chan was perfect for him. The ideal Yamato Nadeshiko. Beautiful. Kind. Soft-spoken. Female.

"I-I made the chocolate extra bitter since I know you h-hate sweets, Hibari-senpai."

That's not true, Tsuna wanted to scream. He knew from the desserts Hibari requested with his daily bentos that Hibari unexpectedly had quite the sweet tooth: there was no way he would enjoy bitter dark chocolate. He would like Tsuna's chocolate better, surely: a slice of milk chocolate sachertorte with layers of white chocolate and heart-shaped white chocolate sprinkles on top.

But no: Hibari would definitely like Miki-chan's better, simply because it had been made by a girl. A girl who loved him.

"S-so, Hibari-senpai...P-please accept my feelings!"

It's all over.

Hibari was so surprised that he lost his unshakable composure for a moment (luckily, Hasegawa's head was bowed so she couldn't see it) and sheathed his tonfas. The Cloud Guardian was aware that he had quite a few admirers among the student body, but none had actually had the guts to confess to him before. He had to commend her for her courage, but the fact remained that his answer...would be a big fat no. The girl was not strong or (in his opinion) beautiful enough to catch his eye, nor did she have the unique, utterly sweet, selfless to a fault, cowardly-yet-strong, insanely protective personality that would warm his heart.

In short, she wasn't Tsuna.

And then, suddenly, he felt white-hot anger surge through his veins. Because she wasn't Tsuna. Hibari had hoped and prayed that Tsuna would give him chocolates today - maybe even honmei ones - but the younger teen hadn't, and now here was this puny little girl, thinking she could just take Tsuna's place in Hibari's admittedly ice-cold heart with one measly chocolate - of a variety which he didn't even like, at that. The girl knew nothing about him: her "love" was obviously just a silly crush - did she truly think he could ever love her as much as he (secretly) did Tsuna? Who did she think she was? And just who did she think she was talking to?

Hibari really, really wanted to bite the stupid herbivorous female to death, but he did have some morals, one of which was to never strike a child or a civilian female, so he settled for a one-word, cold and to-the-point answer: "I refuse. Now get out of my sight, herbivore."

The girl stared up at him for a few seconds, uncomprehending, then tears gathered in her pretty eyes as her lower lip wobbled dangerously. She opened her mouth, obviously about to ask some silly thing like why or please, why won't you give me a chance, but thought better of it when Hibari shot her a particularly scathing glare. So she simply bowed her head and murmured, "I understand," before running off, her heart-shaped box forgotten on the concrete ground.

"No littering in Namimori," Hibari muttered with annoyance as he picked up the box and promptly tossed it into nearby trashcan. He knew that he had been unnecessarily cruel to the girl, and that he could've been gentler in his refusal, seeing as he understood her feelings of unrequited love quite well, but Hibari wasn't the type to be kind to complete strangers, and frankly, he'd been too (irrationally) ticked off to care. He was about to leave the courtyard and go quietly fume in his office over his lack of progress with Tsuna, when a rather high, but clearly male voice stopped him once more.

"Why did you turn her down?" Tsuna asked quietly, long bangs hiding his expressive brown eyes from view.

Hibari scowled, clearly annoyed by the odd question. Wasn't it completely, glaringly obvious that Hibari was in love with Tsuna? The brunet was the only one Hibari treated kindly, the only one he willingly fought for and protected, the only one he welcomed any kind of physical contact with! Was the boy really that stupid, or was he just incredibly dense? Where was this so-called "Hyper Intuition" the ex-Akambou was often going on about?

Whatever the case, Hibari, loath as he was to admit it, did not have Hasegawa Miki's bravery, and was absolutely not ready to admit his feelings to the younger teen. So he didn't. "I'm not interested in some pathetic herbivore's half-baked 'feelings' for me," he stated simply, keeping his back to the younger teen.

The reaction he received was definitely not what he'd been expecting. Tsuna visibly flinched and took a step back, as if struck, and then...he turned on his heel and left without another word.

Not sure what to do and what had caused this reaction, Hibari watched him go.

Tsuna was avoiding him, Hibari was sure of it.

The boy wasn't even trying to hide it, either: he turned tail and ran every time they happened to cross paths at school, or even on the streets (he had even taken out those strange pills of his and flown away with the use of his flames once when cornered in a narrow alley after Hibari had chased after him to demand an explanation). Tsuna never came to give him his bentos anymore, preferring to send them to Hibari through Kusakabe; and the little Decimo even forwent his nonviolent principles and took care of any bullies that approached him himself, so Hibari wouldn't have a chance to swoop in and help him.

Yes, it was perfectly obvious that Tsuna was avoiding him.

But Hibari had no idea why!

Was it something Hibari had done? Something he'd said? Had the little carnivore had a crush on the Hasegawa girl or something, and had he gotten angry at Hibari for trampling over his secret crush's feelings? Or maybe he had finally figured out Hibari's feelings for him and he was disgusted with the older teen?

No, that didn't make sense. Hibari didn't remember saying or doing anything to offend the little Boss and, from what the prefect had observed (and Hibari kept a very, very close eye on Tsuna), the brunet barely even knew the Hasegawa herbivore. Also, the DC chairman hadn't seen any sign of disgust on Tsuna's expression whenever the baby carnivore ran away from Hibari - just something that looked like...pain. Emotional pain of some sort. Perhaps...anguish. In fact, Tsuna had been looking almost depressed lately, from the rare glimpses Hibari had caught if the boy.

All in all, Hibari was left feeling confused, unsure and - dare he say it - lonely. He missed Tsuna, and that loneliness quickly turned into anger as weeks, then months of avoidance went by with no sign of stopping.

Namimori's student body quickly learned to truly fear the unpredictable DC chairman, who had become increasingly violent and whose temper was sometimes sparked by the oddest things: two students arguing about whether melon bread or tuna sandwich was a healthier lunch, one girl who had mentioned the fact that the gray, cloudy sky looked particularly sad recently, a couple of boys discussing player number ten in the Hanshin Tigers' team, and even one boy who had bragged about eating spaghetti alle vongole in an expensive Italian restaurant in Tokyo for his fourteenth birthday.

Nami-Chuu's students also learned that any mention of Dame-Tsuna's name, or anything that sounded even remotely like it, was practically suicide.

Kusakabe had noticed that the relationship between Kyou-san and Sawada-san had suddenly soured, but had been keeping his questions and worries to himself, hoping that the two would resolve the issue themselves. However, after two months of obviously worsening depression on the younger teen's part, and increasingly frequent bouts of murderous rage on the older one's, Kusakabe decided that he had to intervene: the hospital had started to seriously consider leaving an ambulance on standby at the gates of Nami-Chuu full-time due to the ever-increasing number of Kyou-san's victims.

So one fine afternoon, Kusakabe carefully approached a darkly scowling Kyou-san, who was busy doing some paperwork at his desk, in the privacy of the reception room, and asked as gently as possible, "Kyou-san...I couldn't help but notice that you seem..." How can I put this tactfully? "...on edge, lately. Is everything alright with Sawada-san...?"

Kyou-san shot him his best no-things-are-obviously-not-okay-you-idiotic-herbivore-why-did-you-take-this-long-to-offer-advice-anyway? glare and snorted through his nose like a grumpy horse.

Kusakabe smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry Kyou-san, I thought it would be best if I left you to sort it out with Sawada-san by yourself...Now, what seems to be the problem?"

Hibari crossed his arms in a manner reminiscent of a petulant child and muttered almost poutily, "Sawada Tsunayoshi is avoiding me."

"...and you really have no idea when or why he started avoiding you?" Kusakabe prodded curiously. Sawada-san had the patience of a saint, after all (and how could he not when living with three particularly rowdy children, a ditzy and completely oblivious mother, a sadistic baby-turned-adult hitman-turned-home-tutor, and dealing with his crazy Guardians' antics, on a daily basis?), so it was very unlikely that the boy would start avoiding Kyou-san out of anger - which meant that Kyou-san had to have said or done something to Sawada-san that had hurt the boy's feelings enough for him to want to stay away from Hibari. But what?

"After Valentine's day." Kyou-san said thoughtfully, twirling in his chair to look out at Namimori's main courtyard from the open window.

Ah, they were finally getting somewhere! "Did anything worthy of notice happen on Valentine's day? Did you refuse Sawada-san's chocolate, Kyou-san?"

Kyou-san's neck whipped around so fast, Kusakabe thought he heard a particularly nasty crack. But Hibari didn't seem to be in any pain as he demanded, ice-blue eyes trained on his right-hand man with frightening intensity, "Chocolate...? Sawada Tsunayoshi was going to give me...Valentine's chocolate? Giri?"

"No, honmei...so he didn't give it to you after all?" Kusakabe frowned: had the boy chickened out on his confession after all? But that was no reason to start avoiding Kyou-san for so long. "Kyou-san, please tell me the full story of what happened at the end of your usual patrol on that day..."

It had all been a simple misunderstanding.

Hibari had the strong, and completely uncharacteristic urge to slap himself. How could he have acted in such an utterly herbivorous manner? Of course Tsuna would have returned his affections after months of such obvious efforts in courting the brunet, as he should! Hibari had everything one could want in a mate, after all: he was strong, smart, good-looking, and protective, and he'd even allowed the brunet glimpses of his more affectionate side, which Hibari normally only showed to his pets. Hibari should have known full well that he was worthy of Tsuna, but he had allowed his herbivorous feelings of insecurity to take over, and had lashed out, angry at himself for being so weak as to be unable to actually tell Tsuna that he wanted the young Decimo to be his.

"When you said that, Kyou-san, Sawada-san took it as an indirect rejection," Kusakabe had explained. "Even though you haven't called him 'herbivore' for months now, you haven't actually told him you don't consider him to be one anymore, have you? He probably thought that your statement included him, and considered himself rejected before he could confess. Sawada-san is a little dense. If you don't tell him clearly that you want him, he simply won't get it! My strategy has worked thus far: Sawada-san is in love with you. Now, Kyou-san, it's up to you to make sure he knows that you love him too."

Hibari had been scared and weak, and so he hadn't told Tsuna that he respected him, that he loved him, that he wanted him so bad it hurt.

If there was one thing Hibari despised, it was weakness - especially when it was shown by himself. He had put in as much effort in wooing the little carnivore as he usually did in protecting Namimori, and then chickened out when it came to actually owning up to his feelings. For pete's sake, Hasegawa had been braver than him, and Hibari had acted as though that were something he couldn't help! If a weak female herbivore could confess earnestly to the object of her, admittedly misguided, affection, then so could Hibari!

Which was why he was currently racing, or fast-walking as Hibari would not do something as undignified as running, across the rooftops of Namimori, jumping from roof to roof and the occasional electric pole with all the grace of an experienced parkour athlete. It took the prefect mere minutes to reach the Sawada residence; standing at its gates, Hibari gazed up at Tsuna's room window on the second floor, considering, then pushed open the gates and politely rang the doorbell, deciding not to take the risk of antagonizing the hurt brunet more by intruding upon his domain unannounced.

The door opened moments later, revealing the cheery visage of one Sawada Nana, whose smile widened upon seeing the teenager standing on her doorstep with an uncharacteristically nervous appearance despite his impassive face. "Oh, Kyouya-kun! Good evening! Are you here to see Tsu-kun?" she enquired kindly, wiping off her hands, wet from washing the dinner's dishes, on her white apron.

"Yes, Okaa-sama," Hibari replied stoically. Nana had requested, after two years of frequent visits from all of Tsuna's Guardians, that they all call her 'mother', and they had all agreed eventually, after much wheedling for the most stubborn ones, such as Hibari ("Hn. Herbivore."), Gokudera ("I'm not worthy!") or Chrome ("B-Boss's mother...I-I couldn't..."). "Is Tsunayoshi home?"

"Ara, no, he left to the park a while ago," Nana replied thoughtfully, an index pressed to her lips in what seemed to be the official Sawada family thinking pose. "That boy, he seems depressed recently...Reborn-chan", she still hadn't stopped calling the Sun Arcobaleno that, even after he had regained his adult form, "said that Tsu-kun got his heart broken by someone, but Tsu-kun won't tell me by whom; do you know, Kyouya-kun?"

Hibari's expression darkened slightly with guilt, and he bowed his head to hide it, prompting a worried stare from the motherly Sawada matron. "That...would be my fault, Okaa-sama." He looked up, staring straight into wide, innocent caramel brown eyes - so much like Tsuna's it tore at Hibari's icy heart - and added with determination, "But I'm going to go fix my mistakes, right now." And with that, he was off towards Namimori park, leaving Nana to gaze after him with her largest smile since the news of Iemitsu's six-month leave had reached her ears.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed dreamily, cupping her blushing face with dainty hands as flowers and sparkles literally poured off of her. "To think my Tsu-kun would manage to seduce such a handsome boy! Mama wholeheartedly approves!"

Tsuna swung his legs back and forth idly as he sat on Namimori park's lone set of swings, watching despondently as the last of the playing children were ushered home by their parents before the setting sun could completely disappear in the horizon. He shivered lightly when a cool breeze blew through the playground - it was still only mid-April, after all, and the winter's chill had not yet completely passed - and cursed himself for not having thought to pull on a hoodie over his orange, white-striped t-shirt before he had left his home earlier.

He knew that his mopey attitude was worrying his family, heck, even Lambo had gone quieter and more introspective when around his surrogate older brother, but he couldn't get rid of his heartbreak just like that! It didn't help that he still had to see the object of said heartbreak every day at school...

Now, Tsuna could see that he had never really loved Kyouko-chan, because the mildly put-out feeling he had gotten when the pretty girl had decided to get together with a reformed, and far kinder Mochida, couldn't at all compare with the crushing disappointment Hibari's plain, if indirect rejection had caused in Tsuna. He had never really thought he had any chance with the upperclassman in the first place, but it still hurt to have his assumptions confirmed. Hibari would never be his; Tsuna would never get to hold the taller boy's hand, to have him rest his head on Tsuna's lap and clean his ears for him (2), to hand-feed him his homemade bentos, or even just to hold him, and be held by him in turn...

Tsuna quickly halted this train of thought before the tears that were already brimming in his eyes could fall. What hurt even more, was that he knew that he was causing Hibari pain as well. As far as the young Decimo knew, he was Hibari's only friend aside from Kusakabe: the DC chairman was probably confused as to why Tsuna was suddenly avoiding him like the plague, maybe even hurt... Why couldn't Tsuna be less of a wimp, just accept the fact that Hibari would never love him, and move on? Why did he have to be so weak as to dwell on his rejection for months, despite knowing that he was causing problems for both his family and his (unrequited) love interest? Dame-Tsuna indeed...

The brunet gave a humorless chuckle, which quickly turned into a small hiccough, followed by a series of silent sobs and sniffles as fat, salty tears rolled unchecked down reddened, wind-kissed cheeks. He was very grateful for the fact that the park was empty at the moment: he didn't think he would have been able to live it down if a bunch of kids had been there to see him start crying like a baby. He hadn't broken down like this since his first night in the horrific future that had been averted thanks to his future self's plans. Why couldn't he be more like the older Tsuna, more mature, more dignified? He was sure TYL!Tsuna wouldn't have dwelled on simple heartbreak for so long, and would never have allowed his own pain to trouble the people he loved...

"Tsunayoshi!"

There he was. Hibari sighed in relief as he caught sight of the small figure sitting on the park's swings, the mess of auburn spikes being distinctive enough for Hibari to recognize Tsuna from a distance. The prefect took a few moments to regain his breath and compose himself, then strode forward purposefully and silently...only to pause a few meters behind his objective when the sounds said objective was emitting reached Hibari's keen ears.

Tsuna was crying. His sobs were nearly silent, but even without hearing them, Hibari could've reached the same conclusion just by looking at the short brunet's hunched and trembling shoulders, the whiteness of his knuckles as his fingers clenched tightly around the swings' chains, and the drops of moisture that were appearing on the dusty ground at Tsuna's feet.

Tsuna was crying...all because Hibari hadn't had the guts to tell him about his true feelings.

Well, Hibari intended to correct that immediately.

"Tsunayoshi!" he called, his voice slightly raised and almost pleading, so different from its normal low, dangerous purr that it surprised even Hibari himself.

Tsuna, however, was obviously the more surprised of the two, the prefect noted as he watched his love interest startle so badly that he nearly fell off the swings, then right himself and hastily rub at his face with the collar of his shirt while keeping his back to Hibari, no doubt in an effort to hide his tears. Without preamble, Tsuna started to walk away, refusing to acknowledge Hibari's call, but this time Hibari wouldn't let him. He grabbed the shorter boy's bony upper arm and tugged, sending Tsuna crashing into his chest.

The boy struggled when Hibari wrapped his arms firmly around the smaller body - and the prefect had to marvel at how perfectly, utterly right it felt to cradle the fragile form against his own - and dragged him over to a nearby bench, settling himself down with a wriggling Tsuna straddling his lap. The young Decimo tried damn near anything to get away from his Cloud Guardian: writhing, punching, kicking, clawing and biting, even pulling at Hibari's hair and spouting impressive curses he had no doubt learned from his foul-mouthed Storm Guardian. Hibari took the abuse stoically, not letting up his grip one iota and simply waiting for the brunet to tire himself out - which didn't take long, seeing as Tsuna had had trouble sleeping lately.

After that, he stayed immobile in the older boy's now gentler grasp, his harsh, panting breaths doing wicked things to Hibari's libido as they fanned across his cheek and sensitive ear. The black-haired teen forcefully squashed down his mounting desire and asked in a somewhat strained voice (the deliciously soft weight of Tsuna's butt and thighs on his crotch was making it very difficult for Hibari to keep from bucking his hips up against it):

"Have you calmed down now, carnivore?"

Tsuna jumped a little, and opened his mouth to answer that no, he was not calm in the least, and that Hibari had better let go of him if he intended to keep his fingers intact...but then he realized what Hibari had just called him, and verbalized his surprise in a most eloquent manner:

"Huh?"

Hibari let out a trembling breath, half-sigh and half-chuckle, and Tsuna blushed and unintentionally relaxed against his firm, broader chest, soothed by both the comfortable warmth Hibari's body was emitting and the pleasant vibrations Hibari's laugh elicited in said chest. "You are not a herbivore," Hibari said plainly.

Tsuna just blinked up at him somewhat sleepily.

"You are a carnivore, Tsunayoshi," Hibari went on, then amended, "Albeit a young one. Thus, my statement regarding the trespassing herbivore was not applicable to you."

"Trespassing herbivore?" Tsuna parroted curiously, frowning as his brow furrowed in confusion. It took him a few moments to understand who his upperclassman was referring to, and exactly what Hibari was trying to tell him. Hibari had to smirk as he watched the flush crawl up Tsuna's neck, all the way to the bridge of his cute little button nose, coloring his cheeks a fetching shade of pink.

"Why do you think I don't bite you to death anymore, Tsunayoshi?" Hibari abruptly changed the subject. He gave Tsuna no time to reply before he went on, "And have you ever seen me treat those other herbivores the way I do, you? Why do you think that is, Tsu-na-yo-shi~?" he purred into Tsuna's sensitive ear, making the smaller boy gasp lightly as a shiver raced down his spine.

"U-um...does Hibari-san..." Tsuna spoke up hesitantly after taking a moment to find his suddenly missing-in-action voice. "...l-like...me?"

"No," Hibari replied patiently as his hands slipped under Tsuna's shirt and settled on his hips, his thumbs leisurely stroking the brunet's soft skin. "I'm in love with you, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna blushed even brighter at the small, yet intimate gesture, and nuzzled into the crook of his Cloud Guardian's neck to try and hide his glowing face as he hugged Hibari back. In a subdued tone, he finally confessed, "I love Hibari-san, too. Very much."

Hibari couldn't help but freeze completely, stiffening in Tsuna's hesitant hold. he had known, in theory, that Tsuna had liked him back for a while now, but to actually hear the brunet speak those words, and to feel him return his embrace...it was foreign, it was heavenly, it was mutual love. It was something Hibari had never dreamed he would have ever since he had realized that his feelings for Tsuna went far beyond loathing, and even beyond friendship...and now that he had it, it was so much better than he had ever imagined. Hibari's heart was hammering almost painfully against his ribs, and his arms reached up of their own accord to wrap around Tsuna's thin waist and squeeze the smaller body, so soft and warm despite its skinny appearance, against his own.

Tsuna looked up curiously, and Hibari found himself lost in his younger lover's large, clear caramel brown eyes, almost missing Tsuna's words when he asked, voice full of concern, "Hibari-san? Are you alright?"

"Kyouya."

Tsuna blinked. "Eh?" Then, upon realizing what his, as of now, boyfriend meant, the blush that had finally subsided came rushing back. "O-oh...Then...K-Kyouya...san?"

"My Tsunayoshi," Hibari murmured, burying his face in Tsuna's messy mop of hair as his arms tightened possessively around the smaller teen's waist.

"My Kyouya-san," Tsuna replied in kind as he snuggled deeper into the prefect's hold, giggling softly.

Just the sound of his name being uttered in Tsuna's sweet voice was enough to make Hibari shudder. Gods, the boy had no idea what he was doing to him, how every one of his gestures, words and expressions were enough to make Hibari's insides burn with desire...To Hibari, everything about the boy was just perfect: Tsuna appealed to all of his senses.

His odd, sweet-and-spicy scent, which never failed to make a throaty purr rumble in Hibari's chest whenever he caught a whiff of it...

The silky texture of his fair skin and fur-like spikes of hair...

The sight of long, dark lashes shadowing glimmering caramel-colored orbs and brushing against round cheeks whenever Tsuna closed his eyes, or of said eyes becoming half-mast and burning a fiery orange while a small, lithe body soared through the air in a haze of glorious orange flames, and took down opponents twice his size with a few well-placed hits of black leather gloves...

The soft, soothing quality his voice took on when he wasn't busy screaming in terror or tsukkomi-ing to the ex-Akambou's boke (3), and the tinkling, bell-like sound of his timid laughter...

Hibari simply couldn't get enough of Tsuna, and he was fairly confident that the younger teen felt the same way about him.

Still, the fact remained that, despite having already thoroughly indulged in smelling, listening to-, and gazing at the boy in an evryday setting, Hibari had not yet had a chance to truly touch and taste Sawada Tsunayoshi, and, he thought as he swooped down to claim full, pliant lips and cradled the small, seemingly fragile frame against his own stronger one, Hibari intended to correct that. Effective immediately.

Three months later, Hibari sat up on his two-person futon and looked up through the open shoji doors at the cloudy night sky outside, the moon's dim light casting short shadows across his mansion's traditional Japanese garden, and making the surface of his koi pond shimmer prettily, and gave a quiet sigh.

"Kyouya-san? Is there something wrong?"

Hibari's gaze snapped down to his younger lover, surprised to find him still awake - Tsuna had a tendency to pass out after particularly long lovemaking sessions. The prefect felt the beast inside him growl in possessive satisfaction as he took in the sight of Tsuna's naked body lying next to his, tangled in thick white covers, leaving his torso and legs bare and exposed to the night's chill. His thin neck was covered in love bites, and his auburn hair was fanning out on a small pillow like a dark halo, while sweaty bangs clung attractively to Tsuna's face, which held a small, tired smile. This was the smile Tsuna showed only to Hibari, a smile full of love, trust and sweet concern for his Cloud Guardian, and as always, the sight of it made something twist pleasantly in Hibari's insides.

Hibari reached out to gently thread his fingers through Tsuna's sweaty locks, making the younger teen nearly purr when he gently massaged his scalp. The prefect's fingers slowly traced the delicate planes of his lover's pretty face, lingering on baby-soft cheeks and finally settling on kiss-swollen pink lips. Tsuna closed his eyes in bliss, and kept silent, obviously waiting for an answer to his worried enquiry.

"No. I am just..."

...happy. The word wasn't spoken, but Tsuna could hear it all the same, and his smile widened in response. He curled up next to the taller teen like a happy, thoroughly sated kitten, and pressed a sleepy kiss to Hibari's thigh, before drifting off to sleep under Hibari's uncharacteristically warm gaze.

A year, maybe a little more...That was how long it took for Hibari to make Sawada Tsunayoshi his. It had been a long, rather arduous process, and a veritable trial in patience and self-control...but it had all been completely worth it in the end. Or so Hibari thought, as he lay down next to Tsuna and pulled him closer before quickly joining his lover in rest.

...I just realized that I never mentioned Hibird in this story, not even once. Well...just imagine that he's always there on Hibari's shoulder, singing the Namimori anthem in that creepy/cute little voice of his.

(1) This is basic otaku culture, but I'll explain it anyway: in Japan, girls give chocolate to the guys they like on Valentine's day (and if said guys reciprocate those feelings, they must give the girl(s) a present in return on White Day, a month later). But girls also sometimes give them to very close guy friends or male family members, in which case the choco is called "giri" chocolate. If they give it to the guy they like/love, it's called "honmei" chocolate.

By the way, please don't hate on Miki. She's just some minor OC I thought up, and she's not some evil bitch out to steal Tsuna's man. She's not a Mary Sue, either. Miki is just a normal middle school girl with slightly above average beauty and a nice personality, who happens to have a crush on Hibari.

(As for the whole bitter/sweet chocolate thing, it is a common belief in Japan that males prefer bitter chocolate, while girls like the sweet kind better. I arbitrarily decided that the Hibari in that story has a sweet tooth: this has no canon basis whatsoever - that I know of. Anyway, my point is that, since Hibari is kind of the epitome of all that a Japanese man should be, Miki assumed that he would prefer bitter chocolate.)

(2) An activity that is shared between couples: the man lays his head on his wife/girlfriend's lap and she gently cleans his ears with a special, particularly fluffy type of Q-tip. Yes, I find this concept rather strange as well but, hell, some aspects of Japanese culture are just beyond me.

(3) Look up "manzai" on Wikipedia.