Title: Familiare
Summary: Dino isn't so useless without his men anymore. Hibari wants to know why.
Note: Full version with the answer can be found on my LJ, because this site doesn't allow fancy html formatting. :\ Although, you could probably figure it out on your own. :3

Hibari feels when Hibird perks up from a short afternoon doze, wings fluttering about excitedly as he leaves the nest atop Hibari's head and chirps a foreign name made of familiar syllables. Laughter cuts through the peace of Namimori, an accompaniment to the cheerful twitters, and Hibari feels his fingers itching for the handles of cold, hard steel.

It's been months since Hibari's last seen him, but Dino Cavallone's presence isn't that much of a surprise. His hair is perhaps a little longer, a little messier, his face more angular, but Dino looks the same as ever—obnoxious jacket, ripped jeans, scuffed sneakers. There is that ever-present smile on his face as he stretches out one arm, finger extended in an offering of a perch.

Hibird lands safely, pecks once at his finger, takes off to higher ground. Hibird circles Dino's head once, twice, then settles in the center of the mess Dino calls his hair, camouflaging perfectly in the golden strands.

It prompts Dino to laugh again, lightly, softly. "Kyouya," he says in greeting as he advances a few steps across the rooftop.

It prompts Hibari to sit up a little straighter, blink a little slower.

"It's been a while," Dino continues, a warmer smile widening his lips.

Hibari narrows his eyes, tracking Dino's movements with no small amount of suspicion. Dino stops at the edge of the wide berth of Hibari's personal space, easily out of reach. Hibari casts his gaze across Namimori's rooftop again, but his assessment remains the same as when Dino stepped foot through the door. Romario is nowhere in sight, and Romario's never been the type to hover behind doors.

"Where are your men."

"Ah?" Dino blinks and scratches his head. Hibari rarely asks questions, rarely speaks if he could help it. "Back at the hotel…?" Dino trails off, an unspoken question in his words, a knowing look in his expression. "Why do you ask?"

Hibari ignores the question and wonders if Dino's lying. Dino Cavallone has no use for lies, but that doesn't explain why he, ever useless without his men, had not crumbled in a flailing mess of limbs at Hibird's approach. He has yet to trip over air or slip on concrete or walk into walls. He's standing at just the right distance away, grace present in the way he moves stands speaks.

It's suspicious and somewhat bewildering—Hibari's never liked confusion. The irritation grows with every passing second Dino stands there apparently oblivious, a vexing itch tingling through his fingers and all the way up his arms. Without warning, Hibari's on his feet, tonfas falling into his hands, cool and steady in his palms.

He hears a startled laugh as Dino asks, "Did you miss me that much?" and then Hibari's lashing out with a blow aimed at Dino's chest.

There's a loud whistle in the air and a whip winds firmly around one arm and tonfa, constricting painfully and throwing him roughly to the side, into a familiar routine.

Dino wins the fight without once waking Hibird. Hibari doesn't know if that should frustrate him.

Hibari makes sure to keep at least a good three rooftops between them when Dino sets off to visit Sawada Tsunayoshi. He knows the way to the herbivore's house well enough that he doesn't really need to keep Dino in his sights, but following Dino directly ensures he catches sight of any black-suited men lingering about nearby. There's no need for them to trail behind when their boss is alone, Hibari knows that much.

Dino ambles up the steps to Sawada's house and knocks firmly on the door, all in relative ease. Sawada's mother answers, and Dino pulls her into a hug and offers kisses on either side of her cheeks in a manner she must've found charming if her flustered face is anything to go by. She gestures him inside, but lets out a shocked gasp, hands flying to her mouth, when something goes flying over her shoulder at a frightening speed.

Dino dodges without so much as a blink, a bright beam on his face as he peers beyond the woman's shoulder. He laughs heartily as he straightens, another cheerful greeting leaving his lips. Baby, Hibari thinks, spine straightening in attention. Hibari doesn't see anything else, because Dino's stepping through the threshold, but he does see when Dino glances over his shoulder ever so briefly, eyes flickering to Kyouya's general vicinity before the door closes behind his back. It's that smile again, strange and knowing on upward-curved lips.

Hibari settles back on his heels, a frown playing across his lips even as Hibird flutters about happily above his shoulder.

There's not a single black suit in sight.

Hibari tails Dino in the days following when Dino's not on his rooftop fighting him. He takes extra care when he does, completely out of sight and void of hearing. He leaves Hibird behind, bright and yellow and a distraction, just in case.

There's really nothing out of the ordinary if he discounts Dino's sudden (But is it sudden? How long has he been like this—a recent development?) lack of need for constant herding, a phenomenon simultaneously intriguing and maddening.

The second day yields the same results as the first. As does the third, fourth, fifth. By the sixth day, biting—trying to—Dino to death does nothing to alleviate the frustration. The fact that Dino always turns up with more injuries on him than Hibari left him with only exacerbates it further—when…?

So on the seventh day when Dino visits him on the rooftop at the usual time with his hands shoved casually in his well-worn jacket, more pieces of plaster littering his face and a tail-end of a bandage peeking out from underneath his shirt, Hibari merely raises a brow in an almost-but-not-quite question and scoffs.

"What happened," he deadpans as he looks up, the first not-quite-question since the first day of Dino's visit. It's clearly a demand, but Dino pretends it's the question that it should be. So Dino smiles brightly, a touch fond, and bends to ruffle Hibari's hair in a more than affectionate manner. Hibari pins a pointed glare to the hand, but he doesn't move away.

Encouraged, Dino simply laughs, warm and smooth down Hibari's spine, and sprawls across the ground on his back. Hibird vacates his master's crown and resettles on Dino's forehead. Hibird takes to chewing on a long strand of hair that usually falls over his eyes.

"Oh you know," Dino says airily in a manner he knows irritates Hibari. "This and that." He laughs again as he goes cross-eyed, gaze narrowing on Hibird. Then he shakes his head gently, and Hibird flutters off and onto his chest. Dino tilts his head back to look at Hibari's upside-down face. "Small things, really." He offers a charming smile.

Hibari stares at him, stares at him long and hard, but Dino's resolve is equally relentless, perhaps more so with the hidden knowledge behind vague smiles and knowing eyes.

And after a long time, because the sun had definitely not been that high up when Dino invaded the rooftop, Hibari diverts his gaze down towards Namimori's gate, a blank expression on his face, hair shrouding his eyes.

Hibari thinks.

Dino Cavallone is less of a herbivore, more a carnivore, a challenge all the time without the constant crowding.

He stops. He leans back, lies back down on the ground, stares up at the cloudy sky, swirls of white on blue, and he stops. Stops thinking about it altogether.

Hibari can't figure him out just yet, but that makes him interesting, more worth his time. For now, Hibari can be satisfied with that.

Dino smiles to himself, resists the urge to smooth out the crease between Hibari's brows, and looks up at the same cloud sky as he absently runs a finger over Hibird's head.

Dino thinks.

And Dino closes his eyes, sunrays warming the smile on his lips, rests. He wonders how long it'll take Hibari to figure it out.