Disclaimer: Not mine.

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"Look, I don't really deal with biological anatomies, just robotic ones." Spanner said, waving the sheaf of papers in his hand.

Col. Nello glared at him. "But they said you finished a degree in medicine. They said you finished seven damn doctorates by the time you were twenty."

Spanner sucked his lollipop more insolently than was possible. "Well, bodies are boring, being squishy all over the place."

"You sick godda—"

"Mr. Nello, please." Kusakabe interfered. "Mr. Spanner has already attended to Hibari-san and Reborn-san and was merely baiting you."

"He what?" With that Col. Nello charged down the corridor with Spanner and Kusakabe in tow. "Then where are they? Why haven't you told me? Where's Tsuna? Have you told him? They're in lab five, right? That was the only undamaged lab after that bastard—" Col. Nello punched in the code, swearing left and right about that white-haired turncoat. "—and so help me god, I will—"

He stopped as Kusakabe coughed and Spanner behind him muttered, "And that was why I was trying to distract you from seeing them."

Tsuna had just unbent from kissing the younger Hibari's nose.

He flushed bright red, having been caught red-handed. "I, um. I was, I was just checking his temperature!"

"Sure kid, you were. You've been checking Hibari's temperature since ten minutes ago," Spanner said as he walked forward to check on his sleeping patients on the hospital beds. He grabbed the monitor screen for both the Hibari siblings' progress, scanned it, then typed in a couple more commands and notes. "Not bad. Just a few more injections from nasty white millipede monster in the next two weeks or so, and they'll wake up. Can't have them overdosing which is what caused your Byakuran to destabilize in the first place."

Col. Nello didn't seem to hear him, was still pale and stricken.

"Kid. You and me. We gotta talk. Come on." He marched right out again.

Tsuna looked at Spanner and Kusakabe.

Kusakabe nodded at him to reassure Tsuna that he would look after Hibari. Spanner just waggled the stick of his lollipop in his mouth.

Without much protest from either one, Tsuna followed after Col. Nello.

They ended up in a storage room of cardboard boxes full of files. It was dusty and dark, perfect for dark business. It might have made Tsuna nervous if he wasn't so worried about Hibari-san. As it was, Tsuna just waited impatiently for Col. Nello to say his piece so Tsuna could go back to Hibari-san's side.

"Look," Col. Nello said as he leaned against the concrete wall. "It's none of my business, really. But Reborn's such a—" He wiped a frustrated hand over his face. "He's, well. Okay, it's none of my business who you like or not like, god forbid I'm talking like a six year old girl, but I mean, Reborn's been…wait, do you even know who Reborn is?"

"Um, yes." Tsuna fidgeted, feeling his ears burning. "I remember him. When I was…in the tank. He visited me a lot, called me hatchling."

"Oh." Col. Nello was quiet, a bit disturbed and a bit sympathetic. But he was a man on a mission, and so bulldozed into the topic tactlessly. "Give Reborn a chance. He's a nice guy. Real elegant and smooth. Dependable. First class. And besides, he's sort of fixated on you. I mean, the guy has a pet name for you, for god's sake, can he get any more obvious?"

"I won't leave the younger Hibari-san." And there it was, the silent steel under soft brown eyes.

Col. Nello regarded Tsuna. "Kyouya isn't exactly the most stable person around."

Tsuna smiled. "Neither am I."

"You don't know much about the Hibari's, do you?" asked Col. Nello, almost rhetorically. When Tsuna shook his head in confirmation, Col. Nello sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't lie. All the Hibari's are dangerous people. I'm warning you now. Either one," Col. Nello shrugged. "—you stay with one of them long enough and you'll understand. They're catalysts." He said the word with distaste. In his opinion, the world had already seen too much change. Two active Hibari's running around, heading two of the biggest survival institutions wasn't the greatest idea.

"Their father too," Col. Nello said with a pinched expression.

"Who—?"

"You wouldn't know him." Col. Nello said. "He wasn't much for the political scene and after that, well. The brothers keep a tight lid on what happened. And Reborn's erased the whole fucking memory from his DNA, that's how much he hated the old man."

Tsuna bit his lip. "Oh. Why are you telling me this?"

"I think you should know what you're getting mixed up with." Col. Nello said, his mouth a grim line. "Did you know? The Hibari's practically own Namimori City. Of course, it's just a ghost town now with all the evacuations but back in its heyday, it was one of the biggest metropolitan cities on the continent."

"That explains a lot of things," Tsuna said thinking about Hibari's behavior.

"The head of the house at the time was Dr. Kronos Hibari. Hell of a man. Hell of a scientist. Obsessed with the übermensch, with eliminating all flaws in dna coding—"

"Umm…"

Col. Nello shook his head. "I keep forgetting. You're still a kid, right? Haven't even gone to college yet? Übermensch, sort of like Superman. The ideal of perfection. A god above the herd with a vision for the world." Col. Nello dug around his flak jacket's pockets. He took out a cigarette and lit it and dragged a smoke. "Of course, his obsession spilled to his kids. It was like living in a Skinner box the whole time. There were experiments and physical examinations and combat simulations. There were classes in weapons training, in survival contingencies, in counter-intel tactics and increasing memory recall and reaction time. There were courses in politics, multiple language, and socio-economics and psychological warfare."

Col. Nello laughed. "The two were being groomed to be leaders and commanders. And all the while, Dr. Hibari kept notes on how fast they were progressing, on what mistakes they kept making, on the weaknesses they seemed to accumulate."

Tsuna felt a growing numbness at those words. He wondered how the siblings had survived and immediately wished he hadn't. "…Why did I see Hibari-san back in school? I mean, he—"

"Wasn't a student." Col. Nello shrugged. "He was patrolling. Reborn did too but on the other side of the city. One of their duties," Col. Nello spat. "A Hibari did not neglect what was in his care. Dr. Hibari was big on that, in leading the herd. When the Calamity hit, it was Dr. Hibari's idea to mesh the virus with nanobots. Tried it on the whole family."

Tsuna swallowed bile. "Why? Why would he do that?"

The blond smiled at him, baring white teeth. "He wanted them to survive, to be at the top of the food chain"

He inhaled another puff, as if preparing himself to dive into murkier topics. He gave Tsuna a flat look. "The irony of it was that he would destabilize into an unstable monster who would swallow one of his own sons whole. And Reborn would use what he learned to beat the bastard down and pull his younger brother out of his living father's slit stomach. I heard Kyouya finally killed the fucker. Good on him. But I can't blame him for being pissed that Reborn chose to forget everything."

Col. Nello left Tsuna after that in the storage room, a trail of grey smoke behind him. Tsuna mildly thought that if anything, Col. Nello was exactly like the Hibari's. Birds of a feather and all that in revolutionizing someone's worldview.

With jumbled thoughts and conflicting emotions, Tsuna wandered back to Hibari-san's side in the lab.

Where he was immediately seized by the blond doctor, Spanner.

"There you are. I was wondering what the colonel would do to you. I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

"Um." Tsuna looked longingly at Hibari-san, still asleep. "Shouldn't we separate them? Hibari-san and his brother?"

Spanner flicked one eye towards his patients and shrugged. "Afraid they'll get into another tussle? Nah. Magic of drugs will keep them sedated for a while. Why don't you and me go on a date?" He said while hauling Tsuna's arm along, not much noticing Tsuna's stuttered proclamations of being sort of taken already. By whom didn't even need to be asked. Spanner thought he was cute, being all shy discretion about his sappy devotion to his sick Hibari-san, all big brown eyes scrunched in anxiety.

"So, I heard you've got awesome gardening powers," said Spanner as he marched Tsuna briskly down another corridor.

Tsuna blushed furiously and muttered, "I know it's sort of lame—"

"You're sort of like Persephone, then? Kidnapped by big bad boss guy, comes back as goddess of spring married to said guy, having tamed and whipped the man into shape."

Tsuna laughed, a little bit easier with the breezy attitude of the blond. "I don't think Hibari-san would appreciate being called tamed or whipped. And I'm not really a goddess, because I'm a boy. A titan. I mean, at least now, I can tell the difference between a god and a titan."

Spanner hummed around his lollipop. "True. But some say Persephone was originally one of the older chthonic gods anyway. Oops—I mean goddesses."

Tsuna wondered if he'd let the gender mistake slip intentionally.

"Anyway, I want you to demonstrate. I want you to grow plants in the desert. What exactly happens when you grow plants? Do you feel something different?" Spanner's non-stop questions wobbled his lollipop dangerously loose. "Do you go into a trance? Do you generate heat like the other two? Do you need a starting point of some seeds hanging dormant in the ground? If you answer my questions, I'll give you a lollipop." He popped out the one he had. It was appropriately in the shape of a spanner.

"They're delicious and hand-made, too." Spanner gave his I'm-such-a-genius smile at the suitably impressed Tsuna. "And then I can finally say you've sucked my junior spanner—Kidding! Just kidding." He added hastily at the look Tsuna was giving him.

Then they finally reached an automatic door with a keycard slot. Spanner fished his id from the many pockets lining his coat and continued his monologue. "I just want to observe the whole process and ask you some questions afterwards. Then a medical check-up to see if there's any harmful physiological effects. I'll nag you later on to do another demonstration with an MRI helmet or something to record your brainwaves. Then a CAT scan and an x-ray and some blood and urine tests. I'll bring in a botanist and microbiologist to analyze the plants and a psychologist to analyze you—"

He slid the id into the slot and the doors hissed open.

"You're really excited about this." Tsuna said, a bit nonplussed at all the fuss. He wondered a bit why he wasn't scared to be under another scientist's thumb but when that scientist was sucking a lollipop and explaining every step of the way, it wasn't hard to trust him.

Spanner raised an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you? Right now, the ecosystem's in a bad state. And your magical green thumb will invigorate the restorative ecology research into light speed. You could probably restore the world forty percent back into its past prime, never mind the research material you're providing us with."

"Oh." Tsuna said with a surprised smile.

"Well, go on." Spanner indicated the ground right next to the building. "Some plants here."

Tsuna nodded.

He bit his thumb and blood beaded out. He squeezed, letting it fall. The wind rose in speed and the air became damp with humidity and his eyes went gold. "Wake up," he said. From where his blood had fallen, small sprouts started growing, leaves pushing out of the ground. It grew higher and higher until it was about three feet high, green leaves unfurled like sails and pink star-shaped flowers opening with a sigh.

Spanner crouched down to mumble and poke at the plant. "…definitely a new species. Not something I've seen before."

Tsuna sat down next to him, folding his legs underneath him. "Um. I think I know why."

"Yeah?"

"This is the same one as the first one I grew." Tsuna said, his eyes on the flowers. "They come from the virus. I mean, that their seeds are the virus. They still do photosynthesis and stuff but I just sort of nudged them to do it faster."

"Huh." Spanner rubbed his chin. Then he dug around another pocket and produced a balled up tissue. He unwrapped it and took out some apple seeds.

It was common sense to hoard whatever seeds they had.

"Here. See if it works on other plants."

Tsuna picked them up and walked a little further away from the building. Then he poked some holes into the ground with his fingers. He dropped the seeds in. And he could feel their little embryonic cells waiting to flourish, waiting to stand up high under the sun, and embrace what freedom and independence they could.

This time, he didn't even need the words anymore as his eyes flashed golden and there burst from the ground apple trees under Eve's watchful eyes.

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After some time when Tsuna had managed to escape Spanner's clutches, he attended the funeral rites for the dead left in the wake of Byakuran's destruction. Soldiers and scientists, the best of their generation, gone. Dr. Irie had been one of them.

Other humans whispered, looking back at him with fearful prejudiced eyes.

Monster.

Cannibal.

Inhuman.

Tsuna held his head high. On his neck was the reassuring weight of Hibari-san's collar.

And after the dead were buried and everyone had long gone and all the stars had come out, Tsuna bit at his fingers to splatter his blood far and wide on the graveyard and there grew a tangle of pink star-shaped flowers. To remember them for the lives they lived.

After, Tsuna was tired and fell asleep next to Hibari-san's bed.

It seemed so long ago since Tsuna heard Hibari-san's voice.

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Hibari snapped wide awake on the hospital bed. He stared down at his hand where Tsuna was drooling on it, asleep. A little bit ticked off but still mostly amused, Hibari slipped his fingers into the warmth of Tsuna's snoring mouth. He dug around Tsuna's mouth, sliding his fingertips against slick teeth, casually possessive in his exploration. Tsuna choked and gurgled, finally waking up. Watery brown eyes looked up at him.

"Nurse Sawada. I'm bored." Hibari said as he flexed his fingers, stretching Tsuna's mouth wide.

Tsuna darted a look at his brother's sleeping form in anxiety.

Hibari felt a brief implacable urge to shove his brother out the window. But when Tsuna looked back at him with beseeching eyes, the moment passed and he took out his fingers to rub the soft dip on Tsuna's neck. "Um, Hibari-san—?"

"Don't call me that," Definitely annoyed now, Hibari thought. "My name is Kyouya."

"K-Kyouya-san—" Tsuna gasped out, flushing bright red. "Um. We can't. Can't play now. In front of Reborn-san."

Chains sped out to cuff Tsuna's wrists and ankles. Hibari clenched his fist and the chains obeyed, swiftly tying Tsuna's arms behind him. Then he flicked his fingers in a come-here gesture. The chains rolled and neatly deposited Tsuna into Hibari's lap. Hibari reached behind Tsuna to slice off the chains not binding his arms. With nothing else holding him up and with Tsuna unbalanced on his knees around Hibari's hips, he fell face-first into Hibari's chest.

"Mff. Kyouya-san, your brother might wake up."

"…Good idea," Hibari said. "Kusakabe."

The door slid open and the Vice-Chairman leaned his head in. "Yes, Hibari-san?"

"Kick him out," Hibari nodded at Reborn still comatose.

Kusakabe went to wheel Reborn's hospital bed somewhere else. Not really paying attention after that, Hibari palmed the plump swell of Tsuna's buttocks. Who squeaked at him.

"That was a nice sound," Hibari commented. He squeezed again, wanting to hear it a second time around.

Tsuna just frowned into Hibari's t-shirt. "Kyouya-san? …Is your brother going to be okay? I mean, his arm, it's…gone."

Hibari frowned at the brown head resting on his shoulder. "…That amount of living tissue gone? Even the virus can't recreate that much. If he'd just lost a hand, maybe."

"Oh."

That left a bad taste in his mouth, Hibari thought. Tsuna worrying over his brother. "It's not hard to make prosthetics," Hibari said as he fingered the perfect curve on Tsuna's hip.

"…I want to tell you a story," Tsuna said.

Hibari listened to Tsuna talk as the fledgling's warm weight leaned on him. About his days during the Calamity when he'd picked up a metallic bat and killed his infected mother to save his own little brother. About picking up a gun and killing more walking corpses to protect the ragtag team of survivors in a building. And coming back to find Fuuta had shot himself. About the dogtag a friend had given him, a symbol of hope in a bleak future. About the Heinlein Hospital and about the laboratory experiments and the red-haired doctor and the kind-hearted soldier. About his nightmares where Fuuta showed up in a mist-filled forest.

By then, Tsuna's voice was hoarse and his eyes were red, red, red.

He was trembling but he was digging his forehead into Hibari's shoulder, as if to physically anchor himself.

And then, Tsuna started talking about the dream he had, about Fuuta smiling back at him and eating pomegranate seeds with him. About what he thought that meant, about redemption and death and life after that. About rising back up after grief and finding a new future, finding a new family. And it meant Tsuna could never give up those memories, of all those people in his life even at the cost of pain.

For Tsuna, forgetting was true death.

Hibari closed his eyes and pulled Tsuna in to kiss his mouth. To drink in that strength, that audacity to live even in a hellish world like this.

Tsuna leaned back from the kiss and in a perfectly serious voice said that he wanted to save the world.

Hibari started laughing and it felt good and filled him with an unbearable lightness, like a balloon on a string.

He kissed Tsuna's lovely mouth over and over again.

And he said to that gutsy little animal, "Okay, we will."

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It was embarrassing to call Hibari by his first name. Yes, Tsuna had managed it and yes, he'd done it dozens of times now. But it was oddly…intimate to call him Kyouya. But Tsuna had promised to himself before, he would do anything for Hibari-san. Or as the case may be, Kyouya-san.

But it didn't mean, he'd forgotten. He still remembered Reborn, the god who'd called him hatchling and who'd watched over him and who'd almost been like a father. Those dopamine imprinting moments as Dr. Irie's notes called them had not left Tsuna apathetic. He harbored a small spark of affection for this dark-eyed god who seemed more lost than even he was. This was Kyouya-san's older brother, the older brother who had done all he could to save Kyouya, even if it meant tearing up their own father.

So how could he refuse Reborn's request to speak with him?

When Reborn woke up, when Kyouya-san started sporting that murderous look, and when the various retainers of both leaders began to twitch and glance at each other in obvious suspicion, Tsuna decided to end it then and there.

Kyouya-san had taken him aside and demanded, "Only twenty minutes. I already feel like killing him all over again."

"But you never did," Tsuna said. "Anyway, you're being unfair. Kyouya-san gets to talk with other people all the time and I don't complain."

"Fine. I won't speak more than twenty minutes with other people besides you."

Tsuna laughed. "I didn't know you had such an odd sense of humor."

Kyouya-san narrowed his grey eyes. "Twenty."

"Thirty…and I'll, um, make you green tea—"

"Twenty-five and you'll wear a girl's kimono for a whole day."

Tsuna frowned.

Kyouya-san shrugged. "The Foundation won't be there. They'll be on patrol."

And he could defend himself now anyway, Tsuna thought to himself. And really, what was one day? "Deal." He stuck out a hand and Kyouya-san shook it, his grip like steel and his smile like a cat with a belly full of cream.

Kyouya-san was really handsome like this.

Tsuna tried to curb the growing grin on his face. He knew what Kyouya-san's weaknesses were now, what could put a dent on that cool and unruffled surface. And if it took Tsuna in girl's clothing and bondage items to make Kyouya-san happy…

Well.

Tsuna smiled at his toes on his sandals.

Maybe tamed was the right word.

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They were leaving today and Spanner had already taken as much tests and samples he could from Tsuna. He'd already promised he would visit again to check up on Tsuna's green thumb and Tsuna had agreed even if Kyouya-san had merely quirked his lip downwards.

They were outside with three Pantheon army trucks being packed with supplies and some machinery that Reborn was supposedly giving to the Foundation and Tsuna tried not to think too much on that, on how it sounded like a bridal dowry. He was pretty sure it wasn't. Really.

Kusakabe meanwhile, was already ordering several of his crew to start their patrols as they were behind schedule in relieving some of their guards on shift.

Col. Nello had, before saying goodbye, told him that he would take care of the growing hatred against the Pantheon and titans in the mortals by compiling information into a documentary. The truth would prevail, he'd said as he flicked off ashes of his cigarette. He'd added one last warning before leaving. "You three aren't the only ones left. There's still some roaming the empty districts."

Tsuna had accepted that without much dread. He was sure that with Kyouya-san and maybe even Reborn's help, they could protect the surviving civilization they were building.

And then Reborn was there in front of them, blank-faced as a brick wall.

And Kyouya-san was stepping in front of Tsuna with tonfas at hand, slitted eyes gleaming.

Tsuna coughed behind him, a barely recognizable word as "—kimono—" in his voice.

Kyouya-san frowned and with disgust, stepped aside. He addressed his older brother, "Tsunayoshi is under Namimori jurisdiction, being a former resident and student in my city. Attempting to contaminate him with your presence will result in a heavy penalty and I will not hesitate to carry it out against your useless corpse."

Reborn threw him a calculating look. "Tsunayoshi is my hatchling and was, from the beginning, intended to be mine. I have spent much time keeping him stable in his chemical egg and I will not see my work wasted. If you so much as harm one little hair on his head, I will take the appropriate payment in ten times the pounds of flesh carved from your carcass."

The siblings glared at each other.

Then nodded.

Kyouya-san then squeezed Tsuna's shoulder and left to give them twenty-five minutes of privacy.

Tsuna bit his lip, to stop from cracking up. The Hibari siblings were the type to beat each other senseless for fun. But when a common enemy appeared, they would gang up on that man. And if it was a common lover? He quickly sobered and smiled hesitantly at Reborn. "Um. Hello." As much as he loved Kyouya-san, he wondered what life would have been like if he had ended up with Reborn.

Reborn nodded his head. "Ciaossu."

"I know you," Tsuna blurted out. "When I was in the tank. I remember. Bits and pieces of you visiting."

The dark-eyed god blinked at him, slow lizard blinks that slightly unnerved and endeared him to Tsuna. "I was not aware of this. But I am glad." He rummaged around the pockets of his slacks with his one arm. "Here. I wanted to give this to you."

It was a dogtag with a lizard on it and a lightning bolt on its skin and a barcode underneath it. "This is my personal seal. You'll have access to most of the Pantheon bases across the continent if you show them this. And you'll be treated hospitably at any of them if you…need a place." Reborn said.

Tsuna gaped at it, at this wonderful and possibly dangerous gift. "T-thank you, I, um, this is a great honor—"

"Don't stutter," Reborn said. "It's unbecoming." He studied Tsuna for a while. "I must admit. I'm surprised. At your rapid growth. And your effect on Kyouya." He shrugged and chuckled. "Really, it's a bit of a treat to see him act like a fool. I should thank you."

Tsuna suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and felt the urge to apologize even if he didn't really understand why. "I'm sorry. I don't want to leave Kyouya-san alone and I mean, I don't want to leave you alone either, not that you look lonely or anything or," Tsuna explained hastily at the incredulous look Reborn was giving him. He gave up and just said, "But I'll always remember you as the dark-eyed god who called me hatchling." He rose to his tiptoes and pulled at Reborn's necktie to give him a butterfly kiss on his cheek.

Behind them, Kyouya was watching and had tightened his grip on the handlebar of his motorcycle. But a deal was a deal. And Kyouya was counting down the minutes.

Reborn stared down at Tsuna bemusedly then said, "Numquam periit amor."

"Huh?" Tsuna asked.

"Take care of my little brother, Tsuna." Reborn said, ignoring Tsuna's curious expression. "Farewell, brave little fledgling. I'll come a-knocking on your door sometime in the future after I'm done rebuilding this world." He turned around and loped off to the Pantheon building.

Tsuna called out, "Um, I'd be glad to accept you sooner. In my home. At the Namimori School."

Reborn waved a hand distractedly without looking back.

And then Kyouya-san was grumbling into his ear about interfering dirtbag brothers and wiping down Tsuna's mouth with his sleeve. Then he swooped in and caught Tsuna's lips and Tsuna promptly blanked out as chapped lips closed over his own, as a heated tongue dug into his pliant mouth, and white sharp teeth nipped at his lower lip in sharp possessive bites. In broad daylight. In front of everyone.

When Tsuna blinked back into awareness, Kyouya-san had already maneuvered him onto his bike and was jamming a pink helmet on him. Tsuna blushed beet red. Kyouya-san inspected the color on his cheeks and hummed in satisfaction as he strapped the last belt under Tsuna's chin. He ordered Kusakabe, who was hovering nearby and avoiding Tsuna's eyes, to go on ahead with the Pantheon's trucks to headquarters.

Then they were driving off and Tsuna gripped Kyouya-san's waist in terror at the speed they were going. The desert landscape rolled around them, yellow and orange and brown shades blurring under a forget-me-not blue sky. The bike reverberated underneath him, a visible throb of mechanical speed and it let off its own heat and coupled with Kyouya-san's own, Tsuna would have boiled all over if not for the wind whipping past them, cooling him off.

He linked his hands around Kyouya-san's abdomen and pulled himself tight against the broad back of the titan. It was reassuring, the solid weight of him in Tsuna's arms. Reassuring to have someone to depend on.

The motorcycle slowed and then stopped.

They were at the edges of Namimori City, the electrical plant, the grave of Kronos where Tsuna's first tree had shot upwards and flowered. Byakuran's skeleton had crumbled completely underneath that tree and already its roots were slipping underground for more water, for more nutrients. Tsuna peeked out from behind Kyouya-san.

The tree's flowers were showering around them and a carpet of scrunched pink petals covered the ground.

"Um, Kyouya-san—?"

"Kyouya. Without the honorific."

Tsuna mumbled into the titan's shirt. "…Kyouya."

Kyouya turned around. "Yes?"

"Why are we here?"

Kyouya studied him, in an eerily similar gesture as Reborn, his head tilted sideways and his eyebrows raised high in question. "…Your tree has borne fruit."

"What? Really?" Tsuna squinted at the branches. And there, round squat reddish fruit hung ripened with skirts of listing petals. "Huh. Can we eat that? I mean, it's still technically made of the virus. I guess?"

Kyouya made a sick face. "I am not an herbivore. I eat meat."

"You don't eat vegetables?" asked Tsuna, scandalized.

"…We do not need nutrients anymore," Kyouya reminded him.

"Oh, that's true." Tsuna stared up at the fruit. "But can I eat them?" He sniffed and the flowers' heavy musk filled his head with the smell of burnt and caramelized sugar. "It smells sort of delicious. And maybe I could even spread the seeds and make more? I wonder if the fruits will affect other people? Hopefully, it won't," Tsuna rambled as he clutched at Kyouya's shirt, a bit happy and excited to see what he'd made, especially if Kyouya got to see it too.

Kyouya pulled him along until they were nearer the tree, right at the base of the large roots as thick as cars driving deep into the ground. Here, the flowers falling were thicker and the carpet of pink had completely dominated the soil and it felt like stepping on silk.

And it was starting to set off fireworks in Tsuna's stomach the way the whole scene presented it to him. Flowers. Tall, dark, and brooding Kyouya. And a practically empty spot. No way, Tsuna thought. Kyouya wasn't, he just wasn't that romant—

Tsuna bit his lip and tried to kill that surge of hope.

He didn't want to be bitterly disappointed and even then, he would still be devoted to Kyouya, would still forever follow him, and he didn't need anything else, didn't need anymore. He wasn't selfish. He wasn't greedy. He would take what he could.

It sucked that Tsuna could not stop his entire face from flaming.

Because this might very well be a d-date.

Kyouya stopped and faced him.

Blood rushing in his ears, his heart beating like drums, and his hands trembling like crazy, Tsuna listened to Kyouya speaking.

Under this blue sky and this large flowering tree, Kyouya asked a question.

Tsuna managed not to stutter his answer.

Kyouya took out a silver signet ring and clipped it onto Tsuna's collar.

It had his seal, three black horns.

Kyouya dipped into Tsuna's mouth one more time and resting his forehead on Tsuna's, he said, "From now on, you are Tsunayoshi Hibari."

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Fin.

0101010

Notes:

Ring on a collar: Ring of O, worn by submissives in BDSM.

Numquam periit amor. (latin: love never dies)

"You can live your entire life bored like you are right now, or live it happily. I want you to live, feeling, It's great to be alive!" -Nana Sawada, first chapter Reborn!canon.

AN: This is the last chapter. But not the Special Sequel Omake Chapter. No, you do not need to read it to see any more relevant information (aside from the foot fetish which I had to put in the omake because this chapter was already too long). But why? Why a sequel omake? To make up for the massive amounts of angst in this fic. Really, it'll just be fluff after fluff (and sex) until you're practically stuffed with it. Like a teddy bear.