"知らぬが仏"

caesar is not fit for duty.

he has been stabbed 23 times.

vignette will be taking over his duties for the mean time.

the code is still the same.

It was the afternoon after he got back from the library. Kusakabe has long left his house, with the copy of the (admittedly interesting) book in hand with a nervous look in his face. His father was in his navy blue yukata and was pouring himself matcha. He was smiling serenely as he poured and there was a spare teacup next to his cup.

"Would you want some tea, Kyoya?" He asked, as he gestured to the teacup next to his. "There is nothing quite like tea after a long day."

"No thank you father, I am quite good." Kyoya replies to him as politely as he can despite his whole being burned with curiosity as he replayed the scene that he saw just hours ago. He frowns as he thought about it, trying to find any explanation for what he saw. This does not escape his father's attention (very little can, if Kyoya thinks about it).

"You seem distracted Kyoya. That is unlike you, but you perhaps already know of that." His father smiles at him, a hint of concern in his eyes and before Kyoya can take it the other way he continues. "I am not reprimanding you, mind you, I just want you to remember; 猿も木から落ちる, anyone can make mistakes, so if you have done a wrong deed, do not worry I will still forgive you." He stops and thinks for a moment, "Well, not before confiscating your tonfas if it is truly a bad deed." He smiles at the indignant protest of his son and promptly sticks out his tongue before taking a sip of his matcha.

"I have not done a wrong deed father!" Kyoya protests, conveniently forgetting about the incident before he went to the library in which he beat up two (rival) yakuza members who were loitering near the his school (and who gave his father some bad headaches lately, but that definitely was not the main reason. Nope). He calmed himself down before replying, "I am just—I am worried."

"Oh. Did you and Kusakabe have a fight?" Takahiro frowns, setting his cup near his stomach. He sighs, still holding the beautiful ivory cup. "I know you are trying to court my dearest friend's son, rather, I think that you have successfully set up an arranged marriage with Chiharu without me knowing, but often you are too direct! It is understandable if you scared him off, tact is something people often wants you know."

"We did not have a fight!" Kyoya exclaimed, his face flushing red. Though, he did put the 'advice' his father told of him. "Though, Kusakabe has also expressed desire to marry someone close to him and the obviously means me, I think. Hopefully."

His father chuckled, it was a bit comforting to know that his son was still a child bridled with insecurity it was still a bit unnerving to see him not confident in his actions especially in his intentions of pursuing the son of his second hand. "You know I am only joking Kyoya, though you did not deny that you have no tact." Takahiro's eyebrows quirked in curiosity. "Oh? You are worried for someone not part of your committee? That is… Unusual."

"四面楚歌.Defeat is clear; there is no use to contest against something that is true." Kyoya replies, shifting a bit in embarrassment.

"Humbleness is a virtue, so it is quite okay if you admit that you do not have any tact." His father laughs at the sleeve of his yukata as he says this, leaving only one hand holding his teacup. "Though I cannot quite help but notice that you have avoided my question."

"I—" Kyoya fidgets once more. He was certain that if anyone had the answer to his questions, it would be his father. Takahiro was more knowledgeable than anyone the young skylark has ever known. Sure, his teachers in his school would like to say and would like to brag that they were the reason why Kyoya was so smart, but they were wrong. It was his father's, and only through him, that he was able to pass school with flying colors. His father was perhaps the perfect example of a proper Heian male in modern times. Innocent, empathic, modest and an intellect, Kyoya has vowed to protect him (it is, after all, also Yue's wishes). He coughs, his father would not judge him if he would ask this question, perhaps it would be the very different.

"You—?" His father encourages him, watching him curiously.

"Can humans—can we have golden blood?"

Takahiro blinks, then laughs once more and for a moment Kyoya freezes, shame welling up inside of him for asking such a stupid question.

"I'll—I shall be taking my leave then, father." Kyoya starts to stand up, his face red with shame.

"No, please do not! I apologize Kyoya; I was not asking because of the absurdity of your question, it took me by surprise. I think I have the answer to your question though," Takahiro tells him, and Kyoya is filled with relief and then excitement at the words of his father. "I have heard of a man with golden blood. Of course his blood wasn't really literally gold, but he was called such because he had a rare blood mutation."

"Oh." Kyoya was filled with dissatisfaction as he realized and pondered the words of his father.

His father frowned. "Were you expecting something else?"

"I—I did actually." Kyoya admitted, his hands fidgeting. "I was wondering if it was possible to have blood colored of gold."

His father froze for a moment as he tightened his hold on his teacup that Kyoya was afraid that his father would break the cup and injure himself. It was quite unsettling to see calm and gentle Takahiro to act so out of character, to see him treat something (despite it being a non-living thing) so harshly. He was always a man who did not like needless violence. Kyoya was almost afraid of his father but he quickly dismissed it because he knows that his father would not do him any harm.

"Kyoya," His father starts, his voice so cold that the young skylark almost flinches. "I have likened myself to be a good father, one who does not force you to do anything, just one who suggests things. That will not change, but I will strongly suggest you right now, " His normally warm grey eyes steels themselves to be a stormy grey and Kyoya swears he can see. "If you ever meet anyone who has golden blood, if you ever meet a deity in real life; avoid them. Do not—do not—fraternizing with the immortal does not bode well for us mortals. Most are as toxic as their blood."

Kyoya shivered at the words and at the tone of his father. "Most?" He asked wanting to confirm more, wanting to know more. It would be unlike him to bite someone he knows to death without proper information. If the new librarian of the town was in fact a deity, and if her blood was indeed toxic then it could bode bad things for Kyoya (perhaps he should also start keeping tabs with the other herbivore of the Sawada household, his aura did not feel like the weak and pathetic herbivore he was once).

"Most." Takahiro reaffirms. "There are deities who do not wish harm upon us or rather just would not want to meddle with our affairs. Not all deities are unkind, but not all of them are trusting of mortals." His father sighs, "If you think there is an immortal in our midst—please, please do not do what I think you will do. It is best to just leave them to their own devices if they are not touching us."

Kyoya nods, and he lies to his father. Strangely enough, he realizes that lying to his father no longer bothers him at it once had.

("Hibari Takahiro does not understand this, perhaps he does but chooses to not comment upon it, but the folly and the downfall of his son would be his bloodthirstiness, inherited from his mother, and of course, like all Vongola guardians, the desire to protect his loved ones. These are not weaknesses, they are far from weakness, but it did cost the life of the cloud in the past future.

It is no surprise that Hibari Kyoya visits the library the very next day without his most trusted companion, his fangs bared out and his tonfas out. He scowls, wearing it as his armor, and he confronts the dying librarian.

Who was of course, as you all know, me.

Sometimes, I quite regret choosing to record at first-hand. You do not know the taste of true fear until you are at the receiving end of an angry cloud, fighting to keep his self the strongest and fighting to keep his loved ones safe.")

A tonfa whizzes by Hestia as she writes on her grimoire. It had been a fairly busy day as there were a few elderly women who wanted to borrow some cheesy and steamy romance novels, which greatly both pleased and bothered Hestia. The crack on her desk was sloppily taped with duct tape and by some miracle; it was not yet noticed by the head librarian. (The woman either had very bad eyesight or was just so used to broken desks. Hestia did not know which was sadder; the thought that someone had an eyesight so bad that they no longer knew what was broken from not or someone that was so used to weird shenanigans that they did not pay them any heed.)

"You're back, Hibari-san!" Hestia smiles as she sees the cloud approaching her with tonfas out. She was a bit scared but she was starting to get used to the protective approaches of the young cloud. Even in the past future, he was ever the protective one. "Did you already finish the book?"

"Explain yourself, immortal." Kyoya spats out, burying his other tonfa inside Hestia's desk, making a new hole in it though this time Hestia did not mind, as she opted for just staring at the skylark's eyes in wide disbelief.

There was never a doubt that the past future's cloud knew that Hestia was something else—was not human. Judging from the suspicious glances (that was almost downright hostile) the cloud often threw at her, he had an inkling that she was not from this world. His senses were so terribly sharp that Hestia almost thought he would find out what she was in the past future. Back in the past though, in a time where the young skylark would have a chance to actually know her, she had placed bets that he will find out what she really was. There was no other way and no other path for this timeline to take.

"Oh." Hestia simply says, shock coloring her voice. She may have betted on the young cloud to find and figure out what she was, she did not expect him to find out so fast (though perhaps, he would have his father to thank for; he was ever the suspicious one.)

"Yes, oh." The skylark snarls. "You have five seconds to tell me of your business in Namimori before you get bitten. What does an immortal—what business do you have here? Those five seconds starts now."

"I—" Hestia stutters, she was always afraid of the cloud guardian even in the past future and it was no use lying. One of the curses of being an eclipsed sun was the inability to lie directly. "I'm here to record history!"

"Likely story," Kyoya yanks out the tonfa from the desk and prepares to strike Hestia. "Sorry to say but you get bitten now." He snarls.

"No, wait!" Hestia covers herself with her hands before covering her mouth specifically as she can feels the beginnings of a cough forming. "I'm—I'm telling the truth! I—I am not here to harm your father and it's not like I can." She says through a muffled voice and Kyoya stops for a moment. Hestia takes this as the sign to continue. "I am weak, the weakest of all gods perhaps and—I am dying."

"Dying? Quit telling lies, herbivore!" Kyoya growls out and prepares to strike once more, "Immortal beings cannot die—"

"That is a half-truth!" Hestia exclaims, her hands moving away from her a mouth for a moment before she remembers that she could cough any moment now. The blood of most sun-governed gods cannot harm, instead they do the opposite, though a dying Eclipsed Sun's blood may have different properties that of a normal healthy one and Hestia did not want to take that chance and poison the young cloud. "We can die, we just—we do not stay dead for very long."

"Then you wouldn't terribly mind if I bite you to death?"

"I would! I'm dying—but the source of my power is—" Hestia closes her eyes, what a sight she must be now. "If you have noticed, my pink eyes have been dulled to a greyish pink color, my skin is paler than yesterday; you see—we deities, we are not from this realm. If you bite me to death now, I would—I would not return to this world not until my source of power can be strong enough."

Kyoya stops and stares at her, and so far he cannot trace any lies from his words. He was bluffing a while ago when he attempted to call her out on her lie, but so far—so far he hadn't notice any lies from her. She was telling the truth, a hundred percent.

"Tsunayoshi needs me, so please—"Hestia's voice cracks through her fingers. "I cannot leave him just yet—"

The cough that she has been feeling since a while ago comes up. Tremors rack her body as she hacks her lungs out and she knows the young cloud will be watching her with fascination but she still takes great care to keep him from touching his blood, but it does splatter near his tonfa though not the handle. She regains herself after a few seconds and she is glad that it was only a minor episode, and not one that will probably take most of her energy like the coughing episode from yesterday.

"I trust that you saw me coughing yesterday? That must be how you found out I was not a human." Hestia removes her hands from her mouth. She feels her lips dripping with something warm and she takes a look at her painted hands. The young skylark takes a step back, perhaps in wary. "Do not worry, even my unstable blood can do no more than just a small cough. Only a mild inconvenience, nothing more and nothing less."

Kyoya only stares at her with curious and intrusive eyes and Hestia cannot help but shiver.

"I cannot—I cannot die." She regains her composure, and the intensity of her voice. She lets her hands fall to her side but she closes them and clenches them in a fist. "Please, I still have a duty to Tsunayoshi—just wait until I regain the power to stay in this realm."

Kyoya looks at her eyes and he sees the very same determination he sees every day in the mirror before he takes off to clean the streets of Namimori. His grip on his lone tonfa becomes lax and he remembers one of the earliest lessons of Yue before she left for her death.

He leaves and Hestia sighs in relief. He was never one to take down people who had honor.

("Listen child. One of the most formidable opponents in the battlefield would be one who has the desire to live." Yue whispers to him one day, "They will do anything and everything to live and often times, often times it would be because they have someone to protect." She tells him, her eyes softening as she looked at him lovingly. "We should strive be those kind of people and thus—we should not hurt the people who lives by this unless we need to."

Kyoya only nods.)

There was a skylark outside of the window.

Oh dear, Tsunayoshi cannot quite help but think as he sees his future cloud guardian standing outside his window. It did—it did hurt to see him since the last time he saw the skylark was at his own funeral (he cannot quite forget the cloud's funeral—after all there was no body left to be buried). What did Hestia do this time?

It was not fair for him to assume right away that it was the fault of his historian but Tsuna was laying pretty low, refusing to go outside except when his mother asked him to run an errand for her and even then that could hardly called going outside as he made sure to use the routes where he was positive he would not see ghosts. She was acting a bit weird lately too. Yesterday she came home later than usual and when Tsuna asked about her day, she did not respond as cheerfully as she usually did but rather only gave Tsuna a weak smile and a weak response. She did seem paler than usual too—her pink eyes did dull a bit. Tsuna frowned as he thought about this; was Hestia suffering from overworking? He cannot recall if she did in the past future though, but it would seem likely judging from the recent actions of the historian. She did also say that she recently used her prophetical ability.

He gulped down his fears, stood up and put on his best pacifist smile. He was not yet in the level of fighting Kyoya head to head as he was admittedly skipping out on both his physical and flame training because he was more focused on drafting up plans to save his friends. It was rather irresponsible of him but he just wanted to save everyone. Call it his hero-complex or anything but the people who died—it was his fault and he was determined to set it straight once more. (He was, more than anything, determined to save him who was taken so early—it was just unfair.)

He walked up to the door of his window, oozing fake confidence (one of the trick he thought him), and then promptly opened it open with one movement.

"Can I do anything for you, Hibari-san?" Tsuna asked in his best sickly sweet voice that he often used when things did not go his way (which was not often, mind you, he only used it when bastard famiglias were quarrelling and bad-mouthing Vongola in front of him)

The carnivore looked and assessed Tsunayoshi for a few minutes before looking away. "Hn. Weak." He then said, rustling a few of Tsuna's feathers. "There's potential, but still—weak."

"Is there a reason for this visit?" or did you just come to insult me, Tsuna childishly added in his mind. He may be a twenty-something mafia boss in the past but that did not mean he could not be childish. He pouted on the outside though, to show his displeasure.

"Yes, actually. I've—" Kyoya stopped and hesitated, almost as if not wanting to tell this to Tsuna. It shocked Tsuna through and through and it was unnerving to see the skylark like this. The young cloud took a deep breath and continued. "I am not sure if I should tell you this, but she is your charge, am I not wrong?"

"That would be…" Tsuna frowns, thinking about the relationship he had with the sun historian. "Not far from the truth?"

"Ah, then I suppose I should tell you, regardless of what she would like. I would just like to say though, I did not bite her to death." Kyoya says, turning serious. He brought up a regular tonfa, but the more Tsuna looked at it the more he noticed something sparkling, something glittering. His eyes widens as he realizes what was on the tonfa.

"You—"

"No, I did not. I did not even lay a hand on her." Kyoya calmly replies, and Tsuna realizes how idiotic for him to even consider that as the splatters on the tonfa wasn't big enough. "But, the immortal being is dying. She told me herself."

Tsunayoshi inhales sharply as he looks at the tonfa decorated with splatterings of vibrant gold and everything clicks.

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