Summary: When I told him I loved him, the first thing he did was whack me in the face with his tonfa. Still, he blushed, didn't he? That was something. 8018!

Disclaimer!: Katekyo Hitman Reborn and Hibari and Yamamoto and everyone else mentioned (;~;) do not belong to me.

Hero would like you to know: Title dedications to Roriette. Wow, it's like my KHR fics are around these two. This is dedicated to RabuLove because she absolutely adores 8018 and she wants fics of them. Even though I'm sure there are plenty of good ones out there, I just wanted to contribute. Ohgeez, this time, I actually didn't over-edit because last time I did, I ended up making more mistakes. But even so, I'm sure there'll be some mistakes here and there. Sorry in advance! Enjoy the read~

8018 ;; Love in Denial
T. Yamamoto & K. Hibari

It happened after school. During school hours, as I was on my way to the Principal's office to get a dress pass (I had, according to one of my stupid teachers, worn inappropriate shoes. I didn't think he'd notice my running shoes), that little baby, Reborn, popped out of the vending machine. It didn't shock me as much as it used to; in fact, I found it amusing sometimes. He informed me that I was going to train with him after school and even though I knew it was futile to argue, I tried it anyway.

"But…" I scratched the back of my head, running my fingers through the strands of my black hair. "I have something to do after school today. Can we reschedule?"

Silence met my request. Making a face, I bent down from my tall height to see if Reborn had left, but he was still there, standing straight as if at attention. Waving my hand in front of his face, I quickly came to the realization that Reborn had fallen asleep whilst standing up. The only reason why I didn't pat his cute little hat right there was because Tsuna had warned me not to disturb Reborn while he was sleeping, or else unimaginable horrors would occur. I sighed, a small smile tugging at my lips. It was to be expected anyway.

"Guess it can't be helped then," I said to myself, taking slow strides towards the vague direction of the office. "I'll just have to tell him to wait a little longer."

Kyouya Hibari.

Just the sound of his name in my head made my heart do a weird double beat. We'd only just started to become friends, but already, after being with him for a few hours (courtesy of Tsuna and Vongola family meetings), I couldn't stop my smile from widening to gigantic proportions every time I was with him. I thought it was quite the miracle that he hadn't noticed yet. But maybe I wasn't too obvious. I've heard from my friends that I'm always smiling, anyway.

I never thought I'd like someone like him. That mat of unruly black hair that rested on top of his head was the exact opposite colour of the one I thought would attract me. If anything, I always thought I'd fall for Gokudera or maybe even Tsuna, my best friends. But no, it just so happened to be Hibari. Maybe it was that cold, distant expression that seemed to be permanently glued to his face, or maybe it was the way those venomous eyes narrowed at me and my friends whenever we did something to piss him off. Every little thing…it didn't matter what it was; I had fallen in love with it.

I didn't see him in the hallways after my math class, but since I had lunch right afterwards, I had about an hour or so to look for that dark, brooding, raven-haired male. I knew where he was though. Being a graduate from Namimori high school, he was almost always in the same room nowadays.

"Yamamoto!"

Hearing another familiar voice, I glanced back to see Tsuna and Gokudera sprinting full speed towards me. It was a wonder that they even stopped in time before they could collide into me. I was ready to dodge just in case anyway; I had forgotten they had the same lunch as me for a moment.

"Hi!" I bared my teeth in a wide grin. Tsuna placed his hands on his knees, panting for short puffs of breath. I don't think I've ever seen anyone this out of shape, and it amused me a little. Gokudera was wearing his usual scowl, I noticed vaguely.

"Are you having lunch then? With me and Jyuudaime?"

I shook my head ruefully. "Sorry. I…I've got something to do." My brown eyes met with Tsuna's and I was thankful that he understood immediately. He tugged on the bomb-thrower's sleeve, attempting to drag Gokudera outside so that they could eat,

"Alright. Good luck." He gave me a shy, reassuring smile. I tried to smile back, but my heart was now beating nervously, uncontrollably against my chest and I found it hard to even say bye back.

"Thanks, Tsuna."

With a little wriggle of my fingers and a flick of my wrist, I waved a short good-bye to my friends. The hallways were clear since everyone had rushed to their next period class, courtesy of the Discipline Committee. Adjusting the backpack strap on my shoulder, I listened to the resounding thuds of my sneakers as they echoed down the empty hallway. I wasn't even thinking about where to go; it was involuntarily automatic.

On my way there, I slid a folded paper airplane out of my back pocket, expanding the crushed wings so that it could at least look like it was still capable of flying. Some of the blue ink I'd used to write my message in had bled through the thin paper; I could actually read a little of what I had scribbled onto it.

- - after school - - important - - tell you - -

I stared at it for a while, debating indecisively whether or not I should write the note over again, but then again, I never gave a specific time. He could wait.

Then, as I turned the corner, there it was: The Reception Room. I cautiously peeked through the fingerprint-tainted window; the last time I had tried to barge in here with my friends, Hibari had beaten the crap out of us. I wasn't too fond of that memory. There he was, though. Well, I could only see the top few strands of his pitch-black hair since he was lying down on the couch and the armrest covered most of my view, much to my dismay. I knew better than to creak the door open since, like Reborn, he would 'bite the person to death' if said person disturbed his slumber.

I was usually careful, so this shouldn't be a problem. The door only squeaked a little as I cracked it open. The curtains were slightly open, but the gist of light was covered by the blinds. Still, it didn't stop a pallid glow from lighting the room a little bit. With stealthy skills that could almost be compared to a ninja, I slid inside, closing the door behind me. Hibari was sleeping, but I knew that even the slightest pin drop could wake him up. It wouldn't be wrong for me to assume that he was already awake and waiting for my next move.

After tugging tentatively at the paper wings of my plane, I let it soar across the room. It flew over his jacket, which had been laid out like a small blanket over his torso, and just as I thought it was going to poke his nose, it veered off course and nestled in his disheveled hair. Just the slightest movement of it landing caused Hibari to stir from his light slumber and the plane to fall off his head. Blearily fluttering his eyes open, he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and I waited.

His gaze fell on me and I could already sense the perilous aura in the room. Time to start talking.

"Good morning~!" I tried to say as cheerfully as possible.

Instead of answering me, he sat up, his jacket sliding to the side and off the couch. Still ignoring me, he reached up high and pulled off a nice stretch, mouth parting slightly in a small yawn. Tousling his hair a bit, he glared at me. "You woke me up, herbivore."

I grinned at the accusation, waving my hands in front of me defensively, "It looked fun at the moment-but I had good reason to do it, I promise," I added hastily.

"You must really want me to bite you to death."

Just when I thought he was going to stand up and grab his tonfas, his lips formed a little frown; he had noticed my paper airplane. Giving me one final testy stare, he delicately picked the plane up from the couch and scrutinized it. I thought he looked rather adorable with his half-asleep, confused look. He didn't seem like one of those idiots that looked like they were thinking too hard, which was what I looked like when I woke up on Saturday mornings.

"What's this?" he finally asked. Without waiting for my reply, he started to unravel the plane. Apparently, he could see the leaked ink as well. I sheepishly stole a glimpse out the window as he swiftly scanned through my message. I was just thankful that he didn't choose to read it out loud.

"What has to be so important that you have to tell me after school?"

I placed my hands behind my head and leaned against the wall nonchalantly. "It's only if you want to know."

I knew I had intrigued him, and that had been my plan all along. He scoffed doubtfully through his nose, resting his arm across the top of the couch as he leaned back. "I don't want to know. It'll be a waste of my time."

Even though I had been half-expecting this answer, I now felt faintly discouraged, but I managed to keep the smile on my face. There was no point in trying to change his mind; what he said, usually, always stuck. But then again, I wanted to keep hoping. Urging myself forward, I nodded. "Suit yourself." I shrugged my backpack back onto my shoulder and took slow, deliberate steps towards the door in case he decided to change his mind at the last second.

But when I reached the exit, he didn't say anything. Instead, I heard something else that made my heart lift a little.

I heard the rustle of paper, which meant that he had picked up the plane again to re-read the note I had written for him. I smiled.

I didn't see Hibari at all as I went through my training with Reborn. The Arcobaleno made me run around the baseball field, all the while dodging multiple dangerous objects that were shot at me. It wasn't hard – I'd done it before so I didn't really understand the point of all this. It was fun, though, so I supposed that I didn't mind too much. The only thing that was different this time was that my mood was really down, even if I didn't let it show.

I really couldn't see Hibari anywhere. I guess he wasn't coming then…

"Whoa!" If I hadn't seen that cannonball – yes, cannonball – flung at me from the corner of my eye, there was no doubt that it would have smashed into my face and I would've been knocked out cold. It was a good thing I ducked.

Reborn floated down gracefully on his lime-green parachute, which slowly turned back to Leon as he landed. "You're not focused." It was more like a question than a statement. I dropped my hands to my side, unable to stop another weary smile from crawling onto my face,

"Just a little, but I can still do it…I think," I added for hesitant reassurance.

Reborn's expression remained unfazed. Feeling a bit exhausted, I pressed my back against the cool, wired fence and sighed. Feel disheartened really seemed to put me out of shape, or that's what it seemed like to me anyway. Reborn turned his back on me. "If you're not focused, we should do this another time. There's no point in training if your heart's not put into it."

"But—" I started to protest. I was feeling a little bad; I knew I could do better, but I was just…distracted, which was rare. Reborn knew that too. I could see it in his eyes, and I knew he wasn't disappointed in me. He didn't give me a second look as he walked away. Shoulders sagging, I rested my head against the fence, ignoring the wires catching onto my hair. For a few minutes, I just stood there, eyes scrolling up to see the fluffy clouds floating by.

Cloud…like Hibari.

Beaming uncontrollably, I pushed myself off the fence only to hear a melodious chirp from overhead. It was a mellow tone, and it was also a song that I was quite familiar with.

Midori tamabiku Namimori no~ Dainaku shounaku nami go ii ~

Wait.

That was the Namimori anthem. I jerked my head up to see a yellow ball of feathers flapping its tiny wings above and my heart swelled so big that I thought it was about to burst. That was Hibari's bird. Where Hibird was, Hibari was always near. My eyes darted left to right as I tried to seek out that boy I loved. There he was, clad in uniform still, even though school had ended two hours ago.

He was staring straight at me. With a hearty chuckle, I started a light jog towards him. "You came after all, Hibari!"

The boy continued to glower at me, "I only came to make sure you wouldn't make a mess of the school grounds. You and your friends seem to like to make a habit of doing that."

"Oh, yeah." I laughed. Despite his harsh tone, I was just incredibly happy that he had come.

He tensed a little, deciding not to say anything about my training, which was all for the better. I didn't want to explain to him exactly why I had been doing so horribly. Hibird fluttered down and rested on top of his head, momentarily distracting me from the reason why I had wanted him to come here in the first place.

"You needed to tell me something," Hibari interrupted my reverie. I noticed that his tonfas were still being held tightly in his hands and I wondered whether or not it was a good idea to confess right now. Still, I couldn't help but tease him a little.

"I thought you said you didn't want to know."

"I'm here now, so I might as well listen to what herbivorous ideas you've got to tell me. Now are you going to tell me or am I going to have to bite you to death for wasting my time, Yamamoto Takeshi?"

I never realized how much I loved it when he said my full name. I anxiously brought my hand up to my face, averting my eyes from his. How to start this…? If I beat around the bush, he was going to attack me. If I was to blurt it aloud right now, I don't know how he would take it – then again, who would know what to do if someone randomly confessed their love to you?

He continued to wait, his eyes narrowing even more. That was a dangerous sign.

I decided to go with my second option, "Hibari Kyouya," I started, pulling out every inch of emotion I had in me. It wasn't hard to detect his eye twitching in annoyance when I called him by his full name, but I thought the occasion called for something different. Almost casually, calculatingly, I pronounced with a light smile, "I love you."

Hibird flew away, chirping frantically. Hibari blinked; once, twice. His eyebrows furrowed as if he wasn't sure if he had heard correctly, but I knew he was slowly piecing together the words that I had said to him.

I. Love. You.

His gaze fell down and he allowed his bangs to hide his eyes. A faint blush tinted his cheeks and the…dark, ominous aura clouding around him started to increase alarmingly in size-

WHAM!

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, on my butt, and my hand was holding my throbbing jaw. His arm was raised from hitting my across the face and all I could do was gawk at him. I just confessed my love to him and the first thing he did was…whack me in the face with his tonfa? Did that seriously happen?

"Don't joke around, herbivore," he muttered, fighting frantically to keep the rosy colour from taking over his face.

"Haha…wha?" I asked incredulously. I didn't like the pain I was experiencing, but the ache in my jaw was gradually starting to ebb away. I maneuvered around to pick myself off the ground. I instantly paused, however, when Hibari loomed over me, aiming the tip of his tonfa at my face. I took in his expression; it was hard to tell because of his shadow, but he was still flushed – and it wasn't from the warmth of the glowing sun either. Just in case he decided to jab me with his weapon again, I quickly pulled off a grin,

"Aha, you don't have to get all embarrassed, Hibari."

He immediately retracted his weapon and stepped backwards some because he was too cool to stumble back. My words didn't help the colour in his cheeks and he looked like he wanted to drill a hole in the middle of my head, the way he was glaring at me. He huffily tore his eyes away, lowering his weapons,

"Hn. Don't mistaken me to be like your friends. I'm not easily humiliated."

I smiled. "Adorable," I mumbled under my breath, not caring about my choice of words. He might have heard because the next second, he stubbornly pivoted on his back foot and started to march away. I continued to stare at the back of his black vest. That was it? I gave him a straight-forward, honest, heartfelt confession and he was going to leave me on the ground? My mind was all fuzzy from the earlier hit, but I was doing my best to click the gears inside my head.

He had blushed a little, didn't he? That was something.

An imaginary light bulb lit over my head and I leapt to my feet, my bottom of my sneakers slapping on the rough, gray asphalt as I chased after him. He must've heard my incoming footsteps because he paused, tilting his head to the side (which I thought was cute, by the way). I was glad he stopped though; it gave me enough time to run up to him, wrap my arms around his lithe figure, and rest my chin at the crook of his neck. Right on contact, he bristled, but I didn't let go.

"I was being serious, you know."

"…Get off me, herbivore, or I'll bite you to death."

"No~" I smiled against his skin and I could sense a light shiver running through his body. I hugged him even tighter. Hah, now he shall never escape from me. It would be useless to try (at least, that was what I liked to think anyway). Realizing that he could still whip his tonfas at me, I quickly grabbed his wrists with both my hands, preventing him from such action. I could almost visualize the pout that he could be wearing on his face, but I highly doubted it. Still, imagining it was good enough for me.

"What do you want?" he growled in half-resignation.

I thought for a moment, my chin on his shoulder now. I grinned, "Can I have a kiss?"

"Wh—"

He had whipped his head around so quick that I was sure he didn't really have a chance to fully take in the situation. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, I caught his lips in a soft, firm kiss. From that second, I was inwardly bracing myself for that bite he was so fond of threatening me with, but when he made no such move, I loosened my grip around his waist and whirled him around to face me.

At that instant, I felt something poking gently into my stomach. No, it wasn't that. Breaking the kiss, I glanced down to see the tip of his tonfa pressing into my lower abdomen. It wasn't painful at all – just surprising. He pushed it against me and this time, he really staggered backwards. I was ready to catch him, but he balanced himself on his two feet in time.

"You'll pay for this tomorrow, Yamamoto Takeshi," he murmured, bringing his fingers to his lips, glinting eyes still glowering at me.

The corner of my lips twitched upward, "Why not now?" I laughed, pulling at his wrist to draw him back in. It was nice, holding him against me. What was even better was that he didn't struggle to get away. He mumbled into my shirt,

"Sakura."

Sure, he was using his weakness as an excuse to be close to me. I didn't mind too much though. Hibari Kyoya wasn't one that was going to say 'I love you too' back to me any time soon, and I was willing to wait. I took his chin, tilting his head up only to receive an obstinate glare, but I beamed naively, leaning down to capture his mouth again.

Kissing Hibari is nice, I reflected absentmindedly. Out of nowhere, a sudden thought occurred to me; I peeked through one eye to check my surroundings. I started to smile into the kiss. He had lied.

There were no signs of sakura anywhere.

LOLWHAT? :D Yep. That's it. I hope it wasn't a disappointing ending. LOL. It is, after all, a one shot. And it was supposed to be 2500 words but then again, it went over. I was actually slightly depressed when I pressed word count and it read: 2510. LOL, FAIL.

Here's to another round of 8018!

Anyway, I hope you liked~ Reviews are greatly appreciated!