Title: Snow White

Pairing: 8018

Summary: Hibari, held captive as a maid by his stepfather Mukuro, escapes after his death is ordered. But not before capturing the heart of Prince Yamamoto.

Notes: I own nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing….

I wish I owned it…

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman and her husband, and together the two of them ruled a fair kingdom. It was peaceful and happy, with solid ties between them and their neighboring kingdoms that were retied whenever needed. The couple was very happy, and wished for only one thing more: a beautiful child that they could raise with love. They wished for a daughter, a beautiful princess with black hair and fair skin, with lips as red as blood. After a number of years, the queen was delighted to find out that she was pregnant – well, as delighted as one can be after just throwing up last night's dinner and bile.

They were slightly dismayed to see that their child was male, but they loved him anyways, and named him Hibari Kyouya. His skin was as pale as snow, with locks of hair as dark as a raven's wing. His lips were found to be red as well, though the nursemaids soon found out that was simply because of his habit of biting whatever flesh came close enough. It was… startling, to say the least, for the king and queen to see, but they loved their son nevertheless.

It was only after a few years that tragedy struck, and the beautiful young queen fell ill and passed away. The king, knowing he could never love any woman as much as he did his beloved queen, married a young man by the name of Mukuro, whom he was instantly entranced with. Mukuro slipped easily into the role of king's consort, and took it upon himself to look after Hibari with love. Soon, tragedy struck again, and the king fell a great height from the castle tower. With Hibari too young to inherit the throne, the title of king was passed to Mukuro, until he died or Hibari reached the age in which he could rise to the throne.

Within the week after the old king's death, Mukuro showed some of his true colours, especially with his treatment of Hibari. The people of the kingdom speculated on whether Mukuro was jealous of Hibari's good looks, or if he was just a sadist. Mukuro destroyed all of Hibari's fancy clothes; instead forcing the boy to wear old rags of maid dresses, and sent him to work outside in the gardens, tending to the flowers and such.

Now, Hibari was a strong boy. From a very young age, he was always aggressive, and taught himself how to fight. He would have easily stepped up to Mukuro and bitten the ruler to death, beating him until he was nothing more than a bloody pulp staining the floors, and he wished desperately that he could do such a thing. What prevented him was the air outside the castle, strong enough to permeate inside and foil his plans. Mukuro had planted row upon row of sakura trees, Hibari's folly and allergy. Hibari had to wear a mask over his mouth while outside in the gardens in order to avoid death. Even when winter came, the sakura seemed to continue blossoming, and it became a well-backed rumor that Mukuro was a kind of sorcerer, and that he had enchanted the previous king into marriage in the first place.

Hibari didn't know if this was true, and he had no intention of finding out – Mukuro would die by his hand anyway, so one more reason to kill him wouldn't make a difference – so he chose to focus on his method of getting his revenge. He attempted chopping down the trees, but always passed out before he could, and when he woke up his axe or sword or whatever blade he used would always be gone, and the damage to the tree would be repaired. So Hibari found he had no way of getting revenge, and had to simply stand through the runny noses, itching, sneezing, and burning hatred for Mukuro that he couldn't do anything to ease.

Needless to say, Hibari was not a very happy prince.

One spring, Mukuro was expecting a visit from a neighboring kingdom. It was time to retie their bonds, and so the prince and his attendant rode their horses down the road. Yamamoto smiled cheerily, his white stallion trotting happily down the path that took them to the castle, his demeanor matching his owner's. Gokudera scowled upon his brown horse, eyes glancing around them for any signs of an ambush or an attack. He had done his research on this kingdom for their trip, and had noticed a decline in travelers' safety after King Mukuro took over.

"Maa, maa, Gokudera. You shouldn't look so scary, your horse will buck you." Yamamoto said, laughter in his voice. Gokudera scowled even more, though now his attention was focused on the man riding beside him.

"Your Highness, one is never safe when traveling in low numbers through an area such as this. You should have taken my advice and taken a company of knights."

"I've got you to protect me!" the prince said, clearly not worried at all by Gokudera's words. "I'll be fine."

Gokudera scowled, ready to lecture the prince again, but they soon found themselves coming up to the wall that surrounded the castle that was their destination. They led the horses on further, towards the corner they needed to turn before they could reach the gate. After only a few yards, their ears were ambushed by the harsh sounds of someone sneezing rather violently. A string of curses reached their ears, and Gokudera had to wonder what kind of help the castle hired. Yamamoto seemed interested too, though his interest level was certainly higher than Gokudera's.

"Haha! Sounds like someone's got allergies! Why are they working in the gardens?" he said, and steered his horse in front of Gokudera's, causing the brown beast to dig his hooves into the ground and rear backwards, whinnying loudly and causing Gokudera to slip out of the saddle, his foot still caught in the stirrup.

"Yamamoto, you stupid freak!" Gokudera growled, unhooking his foot and calming his horse down. Yamamoto laughed out an apology, sounding not nearly sincere enough for Gokudera's taste, and lifted his rear out of the saddle. He placed his hands on his horse's head, then against the wall as he climbed upwards, peering over the stones while Gokudera chastised him from below.

It took Yamamoto only a second to locate who the sneezes belonged to, and he was awestruck. There was a young boy standing there, rubbing his nose with a rag that appeared to have been torn from the same material as the ragged dress he wore. He wore a cloth mask around his neck, pulled down in order to breathe as he cleared out his nasal passages. His skin was pale, though his cheeks and nose were flushed a bright pink, as though he had just done something completely embarrassing, and his hair was the blackest that Yamamoto had ever seen, and perfectly messy. His lips looked soft and pink, no, they could easily pass for red at this point, and Yamamoto couldn't help but stare at the boy as he blew his nose.

Suddenly, the boy looked up, noticing that he was being stared at, and locked eyes with Yamamoto. He paused for a moment, and Yamamoto felt his heart fluttering rapidly in his chest. He grinned at the boy, feeling his own cheeks go a little warm, and waved at him. Hibari paused, blinking, and turned around, crouching to the ground. Yamamoto flushed as he wondered what he could be doing. Was he picking a flower to give to him? Was he just being shy? The answer came when Hibari turned around, standing up, and hurled a small rock at Yamamoto's face. It struck him in the nose and Yamamoto fell backwards, his horse skittering away so Yamamoto landed on his back in the dirt. He was laughing, blood streaming from his nose, and Gokudera leaned over him, arms crossed and his expression reading: annoyed.

"You're such an idiot."

It didn't take much longer for the two to enter the castle and meet up with the King in their meeting room. Mukuro raised an eyebrow at the dried flakes of blood that Yamamoto had failed at cleaning away from his nose, but continued despite them. The treaty had to be reformed, solidified, and Mukuro had a plan to ensure his royal standing.

"You know, Your Highness, a marriage between our lands would be the best way to solidify our treaty for many a year to come." The blue-haired man said, flipping his ponytail as non-chalantly as he could manage, leaning back in his throne. Yamamoto tilted his head, his interest piqued.

"Really?" he asked, a finger pressed against his chin in thought.

Mukuro smiled thinly, eyelashes sliding downwards to stare at Yamamoto seductively. "Oh yes." He assured him, lips parting ever so slightly to show pearly white teeth.

Gokudera glanced at his prince, clearly reading the expression in his face, and sighed. "Here we go…."

"Then I'd like to marry that boy in the gardens!" Yamamoto's smile was dazzling; despite the smear of flaky blood that adorned his face, he still managed to appear obliviously adorable.

"WHAT?!" Mukuro, if he had been drinking anything at the time, would have surely sprayed fluid all over the table, likely far enough that it would hit Yamamoto as well. Yamamoto kept grinning, and Mukuro stared at him in shock and horror.

"Stupid logic…" Gokudera sighed again, placing his hands on his hips and looking down his nose at Yamamoto. "Yamamoto, he can't even be royalty! What kind of prince works in the gardens?"

"No, no, he's a prince alright! I can feel it in my gut!" Yamamoto smiled up at Gokudera, impervious to his condescending attitude, then smiled at Mukuro. "Well, how about it?"

Mukuro smiled thinly, not quite sure of how to take this unexpected turn of events. "Ahh… I will have to talk with Hibari about this, of course… I just want my son to be happy… In the meantime, feel free to reconsider…."

Yamamoto smiled. "Nah! I know that won't happen!" Mukuro just smiled and nodded, slowly regaining his composure, and summoned his servant Chikusa to him. The glasses-wearing boy showed the pair to the rooms they would be staying in, following Mukuro's orders, and then went to bring the royal huntsman, Lancia, to Mukuro.

"Kill Hibari." Mukuro ordered. "Drag him out to the woods and kill him, I don't care how."

And while Lancia did not want to obey this command, he set forth to the gardens to lead Hibari down to the woods. At the mouth to the deep forest, Hibari stopped sneezing, and took off his mask so that he could breathe fresh, sakura-free air. Lancia stood behind him, one hand on his hunting axe, staring at the boy's back. He wrestled with his mind, and fell to his knees. Hibari turned around to see what the fuss was, and Lancia gripped his arms, telling the boy that Mukuro had ordered his death, and that for his own safety he should run into the woods and never come back.

Hibari kicked him in the face for touching him and ordering him around, but decided to follow his advice, since he could not get close enough to Mukuro for his revenge. He casually strolled down the forest, snapping away branches that dared to rip at his clothes, and crushing rocks that attempted to trip him. Lancia, after recovering from his broken nose, killed a wild boar, and told Mukuro that the blood on his axe was Hibari's. Meanwhile, Hibari had traveled far enough into the forest that he came across a group of seven babies who called themselves the Arcabelanco. The babies allowed Hibari to take refuge in their home, and so Hibari began his adjustments to this new life.

In the evening, Mukuro walked through the hallways of his castle, quite satisfied with himself. Lancia had arrived mere hours ago with the good news, and Mukuro was pleased with the circumstances that had arrived. He smirked to himself, changing it to a welcoming smile when Yamamoto and Gokudera rounded the corner.

"Ah, young Prince! Good to see you again." He greeted Yamamoto, who smiled his greeting and went straight to business.

"What did Hibari say?"

"Damn…" Mukuro muttered under his breath, smile dropping like a ton of bricks. He took only a second to readjust his face into one of victimized concern. He sighed sadly and touched his cheek with one hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm afraid he's locked himself in his room after violently refusing your offer. He's so ungrateful, I'm sorry."

"Oh…" Yamamoto's eyes slid down, his whole body posture dropping with his disappointment. "Okay then." He turned around, leaving for his room. Gokudera waited a moment, staring at Mukuro, who offered him an apologetic smile. Gokudera scowled, raising an eyebrow, and followed Yamamoto. Mukuro was up to something, Gokudera just had to figure out what. He knew he should have studied more about the current king before traveling. Well, he could always do a little research now…

In the forest, Hibari found himself rather pleased with this new life. His allergies were no longer a problem, and he found his strength returning anew with each and every day. Which was a great thing, because he found out that each of the babies he lived with were quite strong, and he spent a large amount of time fighting them. He had not been able to have a decent fight in such a long time, due to the constant sneezing and weakness brought upon by the sakura trees, but now he was at his true strength, and getting even stronger with each fight a day.

But he still yearned for his revenge against Mukuro, dying for the day in which he could shred the man to pieces. He would lie in the clearing, contemplating methods on how to get into the castle. He wanted to rush in fast enough that the trees would have no time to affect him, and slice open Mukuro's throat. But he knew that would not work, and so he spent more time thinking in the clearing, the only comfort gained being the soft song of the bird he had tamed when in a moment of boredom.

Mukuro, meanwhile, was getting fed up. A week had passed, and the prince and his attendant were still staying in the castle, still set on having Hibari accept the offer.

"Why is he so set on a dead man?" he asked his magic mirror one day, fixing his hair while he growled out his complaints. "I mean, I know he doesn't know he's dead, but he's got to sense somehow that it's never going to happen."

"…" His magic mirror remained silent.

"Besides," Mukuro straightened up, his hair pleasantly cared for. "I'm indisputably the most attractive in the land, now that Hibari's dead."

"… Uhhh…"

Mukuro paused, glaring at the mirror. "What was that?"

Slowly, Mukuro's face faded into the background of the mirror, and the face of Fuuta, the magic behind the mirror, appeared. "Well… your statement isn't exactly true…"

"What do you mean? Are you saying I'm not the hottest in the kingdom?"

"Umm… yeah."

"Impossible! Hibari's dead, though, right?"

"Uh, no. He's actually alive. Plus, now that Prince Yamamoto and his servant are in the kingdom, the rankings are different-"

"HE'S ALIVE?!!!" Mukuro nearly screeched, if screeching wasn't completely beneath him. Fuuta gave a jump, his eyes tearing up in fright, and his face retreated from the mirror's surface. Every muscle in Mukuro's body tensed up, and he spun around to face Chikusa, ordering him to bring Lancia to him right then and there. Within minutes, the man was brought before him, and it only took another couple of minutes of Mukuro's torture for the man to reveal that he had let Hibari free in the woods. Ken was ordered to drag the man to prison, and Mukuro exited his room fuming, intent on finding Chrome.

"Your Majesty."

The voice, so accusing, stopped Mukuro in his tracks. The king turned around, a soft, pleasing smile on his face as he looked into the prince's servant's eyes.

"Yes, Gokudera?" he asked as pleasantly as he could manage in his already agitated state.

Gokudera noticed this, and an eyebrow was raised. "Is there something upsetting you?"

Mukuro strained his smile to go even farther. "Why, why ever would you say that?"

"Because I couldn't help but notice that Hibari had not been around, at all, anywhere. And I found a time when I could check into the prince's quarters, finding no one there. So tell me, where is our Prince Hibari?"

Mukuro paused a moment, then let loose a heavy sigh. "I did not want you all to find out and worry, but… Hibari has run away…"

"Oh?"

"Yes… One of my serving girls told me that he confessed his fear that I would marry him off to Yamamoto, despite his refusal, and I was just told by another of my servants that he had run away."

"Oh really?"

"Yes." Mukuro let out another sigh. "I was just going to look for my serving girl, Chrome, because she may have an idea where he is. So, if you could excuse me…"

"Of course." Gokudera stepped aside, and watched as Mukuro walked away. His eyes were narrowed and distrustful, and he soon walked briskly towards Yamamoto's room, deciding he needed to have a long talk with the prince. After all, he had finished his research on Mukuro.

It was only hours later that Hibari was walking through the forest that was now his home. The babies were all out, doing whatever it was they did that caused them to come back home covered in blood. Hibari envied them, hoping for the day when he would be able to exact his own bloody revenge.

While on this walk through the forest, his right shoulder was blindsided by a strange girl. Hibari turned to glare at the girl, who had fallen onto the ground from the impact. She was strange, carrying a basket of apples, wearing a green cloak, and having an all-too-similar hairstyle to that damned stepfather of his. Hibari wished he had his tonfa on him, feeling the urge to hit her in place of Mukuro.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" the girl said, looking at up him pathetically. Hibari wondered if she really was this pathetic or if it was just a ploy to lower his guard. He glared down at her, and the girl's face became even more awkward as she broke away eye contact with her one good eye.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, and scrambled to stand, clutching her basket of apples close to her. "I didn't mean to bother you in any way, sir." She seemed to be stumbling in her words, unsure of how much longer she should tarry with Hibari. The boy decided to make the choice for her and turned to walk away.

"Ah! Wait!" the girl cried out, almost reaching out to grab the hem of Hibari's sleeve, but thinking better of it. Hibari turned to glare at her again, and she stumbled over her words again, red-faced. "I-I would like to make it up to you. All I have are these apples, b-but please take one." She managed to get her words out, and held out the basket of apples, which Hibari looked at with distrust. "Th-they're good! I picked them myself."

In an effort to show this, the girl took one of the apples out of basket and took a small bite, chewing the fruit and offering the apple to Hibari, who seemed placated by this gesture. While Hibari never explicitly liked apples, they weren't bad, and the girl seemed trustworthy enough, for a spineless herbivore. So he took the apple she had bitten into and took a large bite of his own.

It was odd. He was sure apples were not supposed to taste like that. Then again, all his recent encounters with food happened while he was undergoing allergy attacks. Still… the fruit's skin seemed thicker and syrupy, like an invisible caramel coating surrounded it, and it burned his throat as he forced it down. This discomfort was evident on his face, and he heard the girl take a sharp intake of breath. He glanced over in time to see the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she blurted out a thick apology and ran off, her basket of apples falling to the ground, fruit scattered everywhere.

He knew better than to take another bite. He dropped the apple like it was a hot coal and opened his mouth wide, struggling for breath. He turned in the direction the girl had ran, one hand on his throat as though it would help ease the gross swelling that had occurred, his other hand pressed firmly against every tree he stumbled upon for support, until it finally hit the ground as Hibari passed out.

The steady, quick clip-clop of hooves against the forest trail resonated against the trees as two stallions, one white and one brown, carried their burdens away from the castle. Gokudera clutched his reins tight, reporting to Yamamoto his opinions on Mukuro and the suspicious activities that had been going on ever since he began his reign. Yamamoto listened with a grim face, something alien for him, until he shushed his manservant, pulling his own horse to a halt as a green blur moved from behind some trees.

A strange girl was running from deeper within the forest, lucky to have not been run over by the prince's horse. She did not seem to notice them, however, and soon rushed out of sight. Curious, Yamamoto steered his horse in the direction she was running from, Gokudera following after, though not without a long string of muttered curses.

With not more than a minute's worth of riding, the two stumbled across the small clearing where Hibari lay. With a shout, Yamamoto dismounted, leaping from the saddle and rushing to the boy's side. Gokudera followed suit, hurrying to find out what this was all about.

"Hibari? Hibari! Wake up! Are you okay?" Yamamoto continued prattling at Hibari's unconscious form, while Gokudera did a swift inspection of Hibari's body, then of the apples that lay not too far off from the body.

"Gokudera, what's happened with Hibari?" Yamamoto asked as Gokudera returned with one of the apples and kneeled by the prince's side.

"Allergies." Gokudera stated simply, handing the apple over to Yamamoto. "Smell that? It's sakura, made into some kind of paste and spread over the apples. All of them. The swelling of Hibari's throat suggests he bit into it unknowingly, which sparked an allergic reaction that made his throat swell up." Yamamoto glared at the apple, throwing it away with considerable force, as Gokudera continued talking and opening his bag, pulling out a small medical kit he had gotten from his mentor, Doctor Shamal, shortly before leaving on this trip. "Since it's constricting his airways, he stopped breathing and passed out."

Gokudera pulled out a small needle, filled with a clear liquid that almost looked exactly like water. Yamamoto didn't question him though, when he stabbed the needle into an area on Hibari's neck. The liquid was pumped into Hibari's body, and Gokudera pulled back, closing up his kit and watching the swelling become less and less, ever so slowly.

"Gokudera…" Yamamoto said. "I don't think he's breathing yet."

Gokudera frowned, and pressed his ear against Hibari's chest, listening for a moment. "Hmm… It could be that the airways aren't open enough yet, or it could be that he's just stopped breathing for too long… We should still administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, just to be sure."

"I'll do that!" Yamamoto blurted out quickly, before Gokudera could even lift his head off Hibari's chest. It was a simple enough procedure that Yamamoto knew, and he didn't want Gokudera's lips touching Hibari's. No way.

So Yamamoto leaned forwards, sealing his lips around Hibari's like a vacuum. He wished it could be a little more romantic, but there was a life at stake at the moment, so he could push those thoughts aside for another time. He breathed into Hibari's mouth repeatedly while Gokudera pressed on his rib cage, letting the air out, until Yamamoto felt a sudden sucking of air around his lips. He pulled away, looking down at Hibari, who slowly opened his eyes, blinking for a moment before scowling.

Yamamoto seemed to not notice this, too wrapped up in the bliss of seeing his beloved awake and all right. His face lit up like a beacon, and he happily chirped out Hibari's name before he felt a fist connecting with his face. He fell backwards as Hibari sat up, glaring at Yamamoto and demanding to know what was going on.

Gokudera gave Hibari the general idea of what they had done, and Hibari perked up noticeably at the mention of Gokudera administering a cure for his allergy.

"So, I'm completely cured. I'm not allergic to sakura at all anymore?"

"In theory, no. And even if you are, they won't be affecting you for at least twenty-four hours."

Gokudera almost wanted to take back his words upon seeing the smile that fell upon Hibari's face. His eyes lit up with a murderous frenzy, and his lips pulled into a smile that was almost smirking at the thoughts that were littering his mind. Bloody thoughts, where the gore almost seemed to be dripping out of his ears. But before Gokudera could say anything else, Hibari turned away, leaping onto Yamamoto's horse and riding away in the direction of the castle. There was a pair of long daggers in the saddle that would do nicely…

Gokudera stared at the sight of Prince Hibari stealing Prince Yamamoto's horse and riding off to exact his personal, bloody revenge. Yamamoto sat up, nose bloodied by Hibari for the second time, and once again seeming undisturbed by his beloved's reactions at all.

"He's even cuter now." Yamamoto said cheerfully, and Gokudera slowly turned his head around to stare in bewilderment.

"And you're even stupider now. Come on." Gokudera sighed and handed Yamamoto a handkerchief for his nose. Yamamoto wiped at the bloody mess and trotted along after him as they walked towards Gokudera's horse. "Get up." Gokudera instructed, and assisted Yamamoto into the saddle.

"What're you doing?" Yamamoto asked, sniffing away the last remnants of blood.

Gokudera gave a heavy sigh. "We gotta get you to your beloved prince, right?"

Yamamoto grinned and settled himself in the saddle as Gokudera guided the horse as he walked, finding no reason to hurry towards the castle. Not if the screams that one could hear coming from it were any indication. So as Yamamoto happily hummed a tuneless song and wiped away blood flakes from his lips, Gokudera gripped the horse's reins and wondered why he had to serve under the prince that had the worst taste in relationships.

AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER

(except for Mukuro)