Skylark: Happy Birthday Hibari-san! This story is for you!

Hibari: Hm. I don't care.

Skylark: *pouts* Demo, Hibari-san, I stayed up late just so I can finish this. I even made a virtual birthday cake in the shape of Hibird for you.

Hibari:...

Skylark: *sighs* On with the story.

I don't own KHR. It all belongs to Amano Akira.

"A date?"

Hibari stared at the purple haired girl in front of him. Chrome stared back at him calmly.

"Hai, kuro-san. A date. Just the two of us."

"Why?"

"E-eto, Uhm..."Chrome struggled to find the right words. to say. Hibari grunted in annoyance and started to walk away.

"W-Wait!" Chrome quickly grabbed Hibari's arm and turned him around to face her. She leaned closer and looked at him directly in the eye.

"Please go out with me, Kuro-san," she said, a fierce determination in her eyes-or rather, eye. Hibari tried to maintain his composure. Clue word: tried. Their faces were only a mere inches away from each others and he could feel some sort of warmness in his cheeks. He tried to break away from the girl's gaze but couldn't stop looking at her eye.

"Fine," he answered.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"I'll go on a date with you."

Chrome let go of Hibari who was glad to be free from her grasp.

"Namimori Amusement Park. 1 pm," she called out to him.

Hibari quickened his pace and disappeared into the Reception Room. He looked at mirror hanging on the wall. A flush of red was visible against his usually pale skin. He placed a hand on his forehead. He didn't have a fever yet he felt warm. What was happening to him? Was it some sort of illusion placed on him? No, if it was Hibari would have sensed it the moment Chrome touched his arm. A sudden tingling sensation appeared on his right arm-the same arm Chrome had held only moments ago. The memory of what had occurred made his heart beat faster. And now he was going to meet her again tomorrow for a date.

Wait? He was going on a date?

"What did I just do?" he asked himself.

Promptly at 12:59 pm Hibari was standng in front of the gate heading to Namimori Amusemtn Park. Hibari being Hibari he didn't even bother to change and was wearing his school clothes. Exactly at 1pm Chrome entered his line of vision. It seemed that Hibari wasn't the only one who didn't bother to change. She was also wearing her Kokuyo Uniform.

"Ready to go Kuro-san?" she asked.

Hibari gave a grunt and went inside, Chrome falling in pace with him. His eyes twitched at the sight of the colorful decorations and people crowding in groups. Somehow he knew it was going to be a very long day.

"Would you like to go on a ride?" asked Chrome timidly. Hibari ;ooked around the park. All of the rides looked herbivore-like to him. The ferri wheel, the rotating teacups, the merry go round and...oh. Chrome followed his gaze and saw a humongous roller coaster smack dab in the middle of the park. An unsettling feeling bubbled in her stomach at the sight of the hundred feet tall machine. She was shook out her thoughts when Hibari called out to her," Are you coming or not?" He was already heading towards the ride. Masking the fear she had Chrome followed him.

'It was just a ride. Nothing more,' Chrome thought to herself. She wanted to put the ride o hold as long as possible but somehow Hibari managed to get them in front of the line. Translation, he glared at everyone so they had no choice but to let the two guardians cut into the front. Now, Chrome peered down the side of their car-yes, she and Hibari were in the same car-and immediately snapped her head back up. They were so high up. Hibari reached over and put on Chrome's safety strap on for her," You wouldn't want to fall off now, would you? That would be troublesome."

Chrome gulped nervously and tried to hold back a shriek when the ride began to move. The cars started to move upward- the higher they got, the more fear she felt. Finally, they were at the top of the first slope and she looked down once more. With a shriek she grabbed the nearest thing next to her-which happened to be Hibari's shirt.

"What are yo-" but Hibari didn't get to finish his sentence as the cars started to rush downwards.

The next thing Chrome knew she was being led away from the roller coaster.

"You can let go now," someone said.

She blushed when she realized she was still clutching at Hibari's shirt and let go of her grip.

"Maybe we should go on a ride closer to the ground," suggested Hibari. She nodded in agreement. They made their way around the park looking for rides when the illusionist spotted the line for the bumper cars. The prefect made his way towards it but Chrome stopped him.

"A-Ano could we wait in line this time?"

As much as Hibari wanted to disobey her he found himself patiently waiting at the end of the line. Soon a group of girls- who were obviously from another town based on their flashy outfits- took the place behind the tow guardians. One of them noticed Hibari and began whispering in excited tones with her friends.

"Excuse me, have we met before," she asked in an what could pass off as a seductive tome.

"..." He didn't respond.

"Oi, no need to be shy. I don't bite."

"..."

Chrome felt sorry for the girl but it was replaced by an uncomfortable feeling of insecurity. Compared to her, she was very beautiful. Her hair was shiny and practically combed to perfection. She had no shame in showing off her legs under her shorts and the top two buttons of her shirt were unbuttoned.

"Hey, maybe you would like to join me on the bumper cars."

Hibari huffed and crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Come on now. You obviously don't have a date anyway."

"As a matter of fact I do." The girls eyes finally landed on Chrome who shrunk away and hid her face.

"Oh that little thing. She looks like a freak show! No way she's on a date with someone like you. And what's with the eye patch? Pirate much?"

Chrome blinked her eyes and tried to block out the sounds. Fortunately, she was saved by the ticket handler admitting them through the gates. She rushed to the nearest car and gladly sunk in. When she looked back she saw Hibari sitting in a separate car. Looks like he doesn't want to sit in the same car as her.

Lights began flashing and music started playing as everyone drove their cars. Chrome just sat there, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, there was something that hit the side of her car and she had to grab the wheel to avoid being thrown off. In her haste she had forgotten to put on her safety strap just like during the roller coaster.

he girl from earlier smirked and rushed towards Chrome again. Her friends also began to target the poor girl. Chrome couldn't do anything else but to hold the wheel and hope the ride will end soon. The bumping stopped and she thought the ride was finally over. But when she opened her eyes she saw all of the girls getting ready to rush at her all at once. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. She waited and waited but it didn't come. When she opened her eyes again the sight shocked her.

Hibari was successfully fending off her assailants. If one of them got to close he was there to intercept it. Chrome was suddenly reminded of the Arcobaleno trials-when Hibari jumped in to defend her from Verde's attack. The memory made Chrome's heart flutter. And now, here they were again-the damsel in distress being protected by the knight in shining armor.

The buzzer sounded and everyone got out of their cars. The girls from earlier rushed away hurriedly in fear of Hibari. Said prefect got out and approached Chrome. " We should probably go." Chrome nodded and followed him out.

At Chrome's insistence they stopped going on rides and just walked around the amusement park, glancing at each other ever so often. Then, the illusionist stopped in her tracks making Hibari stop as well. Following the direction she was looking at he saw a row of crane machines set up near the merry go round. Chrome started walking towards it and Hibari curiously followed her. When they were close enough the prefect saw a large, purple and white owl plushie in one of the machines. Distaste filled him at the sight of his rival's box animal and he started to glare menacingly at the huge-eyed toy.

Chrome put a coin in the slot and maneuvered the crane to where the owl sat. She pressed the button to drop the crane. It began to pull but was unable to carry the owl for even an inch. She mumbled something under her breath and inserted another coin, and another, and another, and another, and another until she was at her last one. Before she could insert it, however, Hibari grabbed it and took his position in front of the machine. She watched as her moved the crane and dropped it on the owl. It began to rise up but just when they though they had it the owl slipped out of the crane's grasp and landed back in the pile.

"It's okay Kuro-san. I didn't want it that much anyway." Chrome began to walk away. Suddenly, she heard the sound of glass breaking and turned around to see where it came from only to meet with the owl plushie face to face.

"Here," said Hibari placing it in her hands. She reluctantly took it and looked behind him to see the machines. The glass encasing the prices was broken and some shards were in the ground. Nobody seemed to noticed the damage. Yet.

"Thank you Kuro-san," said Chrome, smiling as she did so. With the cute owl plushie in her hands and the sincere smile on her face Hibari looked away, a pink tinge on his cheeks. Just what exactly is that herbivore doing to him?

The two guardians made their way to the food court of the park. Hibari chose the table farthest away from the crowd while Chrome went to buy their food. When she came back both of them though they were going to eat in silence. But it was the opposite of that-instead they started a normal conversation. One would think they weren't talkers-with Chrome's shyness and Hibari's dislike for crowds-yet when they were talking to each other they didn't seem to mind. The questions were really simple like 'What's your favorite type of music? 'What are your hobbies?,' then, it got more personal.

"Why do you wear an eye patch?"

Chrome began to tell him about her past. Her accident, Mukuro saving her, meeting the family-everything.

"Do you still feel that way?" asked Hibari after she finished talking.

"Huh? What way?"

"Alone?"

Chrome looked away and mumbled," I guess so. When Mukuro-sama left me I was crushed but then I realized I wasn't so alone anymore. It was because of him that I met Bossu, Kyoko-chan, Haru-chan, the rest of the family and you, Hibari-san."

"Hm."

"Did I say something wrong?"

"That's the first time I heard you say my real name before."

"Ah," said Chrome blushing a bit," A-Ano, Kuro-san- I mean- Hibari-san, can I ask you something?"

"Hm."

"Why are you protective of Namimori so much."

Hibari fell silent and the illusionist thought she pushed it too far.

"It's because," he finally said after a while," Namimori is important to me. Some say once you find something important to you you must fight til' the end to protect it. Not because it is important but because it is something worth fighting for."

Chrome was stunned for a bit. Was this really Hibari Kyoya sitting in front of her? Her mind started to connect pieces of the puzzle-the time when she was fighting to stay alive in the future, being attacked by Verde during the trials and the moments ever since they step foot in this park. All of those times he was there for her.

"Hibari-san, Am I important to you?"

It was as if the noises around them were muted out and they were the only two people on earth. Chrome waited for the answer but got nothing in response. Abruptly, Hibari stood up," It's getting late. We should go back."

A bit of disappointment hit her. Still, she got up and followed.

They walked back in companionable silence towards Hibari's house-which was closer to the park than Chrome's. Said Mist Guardian, kept thinking back to their conversation a while ago. She really didn't know what made her ask that question. As she looked at her companion she started to regret that question. Maybe Hibari just did those things because it benefited him in some way and maybe she just misinterpreted those as acts of kindness. Now that she thought about it Hibari wasn't really one for kindness, why would Chrome be an exception?

She stopped walking in time to avoid a collision with Hibari.

"We're here," he said Chrome looked behind him and saw a Japanese-style house- Hibari's house. She felt eyes boring at her and saw Hibari looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, ah, goodbye then."

Hibari nodded in reply and started to walk to his house. Suddenly, Chrome's phone started to ring. She flipped it open, read the message and 'eeeped' in panic.

"Hibari-san! Wait!'

By then Hibari was already at his door and beginning to open it. Chrome hurriedly ran towards him. Just when she was only an arms-length away she tripped and began to fall. Instead of the hard impact of the ground she felt arms circling around her waist, completely preventing her fall. She looked up and saw blue-grey eyes looking at her, a flash of worry in them.

Both guardians blushed at the position they were in yet neither in them made a move to change their positions. it was as if they were comfortable just being in each others arms. Then, the unexpected (*cough*expected*cough*) happened.

Their faces leaned closer to each other until they could feel each others breathing. Their lips touched in a sweet and gentle kiss that lasted for only mere seconds yet already told so much. They broke away and their eyes connected, some sort of emotion inside of them.

"Uhm...Does this mean your answer is 'yes'?"

"Hm?"

"My question earlier. Am I important to you?"

A rare smile crossed Hibari's face. It was enough to tell Chrome what his answer was.

A sudden creaking sound was heard. The door swung a few inches open and Hibari saw some movement in his house. Tonfas whipped out, he took a protective stance in front of Chrome and pushed the door open.

"SURPRISE!" shouts came from every corner of the room and confetti began to pop," HAPPY BIRTHDAY HIBARI-SAN!"

Instinctively, Hibari slammed the door shut.

"Don't you want to attend your party Hibari-san?"asked Chrome.

"No. It is my birthday and I do what I want."

"What do you want?"

"Another date with you."

Like it? Love it? Review.

Skylark: Thanks for reading it guys it really means a lo-Hibari-san! Did you eat all of the cake?

Hibari: *smirks*

Skylark: You didn't even save some for me. TT n TT Oh well, Happy Birthday Hibari-san!