elegance and deathly grace

[decimo_calandra]

Hibari stepped into the room, cool eyes scanning over it and taking note of the... crowd. His lips thinned, and he raised a hand. The light glintedoff the heavy silver-and-blue ring on his finger

Comments

[sparatoria]

Ciaossu, Hibari.

... [ Confused he's a bit... Confused;;; ]

[decimo_calandra]

"Yo, baby," Hibari drawls, the curves of his lips turning up just so slightly. Here is a familiar face, and one he respects and is rather fond of, at that.

He tilts his head to the side, rather curious now. "Do you enjoy that form so much that you return to it even aftet the curse was broken??"

[sparatoria]

He couldn't help but to be... A bit curious to why Hibari was wearing the Vongola ring-- and that 'cursed' comment. It was possible that this Hibari was from a totally differently world compared to his own. Though, he focuses his attention onto the other man.

"I believe I don't recall the curse being broken, by chance."

He pauses.

" ...Is there a reason why you're wearing the Vongola Ring, Hibari?"

[decimo_calandra]

Now, that. Hibari's eyes narrowed. There was one thing about knowing Reborn for so long and having such close contact with him - he was very much attuned to his tutor. It really was something inevitable - after all, Hibari Kyouya wasn't one to actively seek out bonds and connections with other people; quite the opposite.

In any case, Hibari's instincts were giving him mixed messages. This infant in front of him was both his tutor and not his tutor at the same time - the former as no one would be able to imitate Reborn's physical body and his manner, while the second... it was obvious enough.

Those questions.

How very... disconcertingly odd. Hibari hated things that disconcert him, especially after becoming the official leader of the Vongola. (Assassins were everything, targeting everything that was his and he would never, ever let them succeed; let the other Families in the costa nostra get a whit of power more than what he allocated them. If they were to live in his world, they had to behave within his rules.)

[agguerrito]

Oh, now this is unexpected.

Sure, he's seen a lot of things he's better off not dealing with (especially in a place such as this one), but this - this is something new. The first thing he notices is the Sky Ring that adorns Hibari's finger, the should-have-been Cloud Guardian of Vongola, but - this isn't - his thoughts can't even formulate. Can't even begin to process the sudden confusion.

But it's okay, it's fine. Ten years is long enough to teach him that letting his temper flare and take over isn't the right way to deal with this, so - he starts it simple, cautious, and just a tad bit confused while he's at it. "Since when did you have the Tenth's ring?"

And it's a simple enough question that only really needs a simple enough answer. Straightforward, without dodging it - no sidestepping. Gokudera is pretty sure he can expect this much, from Hibari, at least.

[decimo_calandra]

"Gokudera Hayato," Hibari greeted, almost genial if not for the narrowed eyes. The previous encounter with the baby had shown him, if nothing else, to not expect the 'usual' with this place. He had no idea who he brought him here, but he knew that he was going to bite to death the person who did.

(But that was inconsequential now. Hibari was, after all, a man who lived solely in the moment. He had learnt to think of the future - any leader had to - but it was in the present that he thrived.)

This man- he was not the Gokudera Hayato he knew. His walk was too loose-limbed, too uncontrolled, and he didn't carry the subtle hint of a threat hidden behind a scowl. His eyes were not as sharp as they were supposed to be. His movements were not ones of a predator, but one who was...

Barely competent. Someone who was just slightly better than the boy Hibari had first met and defeated long ago.

Hibari's lips curled up in distaste, and he curled his hand slightly inwards. "Because I am the Decimo."

[agguerrito]

Now this is where Gokudera slowly narrows his eyes, goes just a little bit rigid - ah, right, this is the joke this place is playing on him right now. He almost laughs, but he doesn't; it'll seem out of place, he reasons, out of line. And of course, he's seen crazier things, seen alternatives much worse? more creative? than this one, but something about this Hibari causes him to see red a little

[decimo_calandra]

Hibari barely acknowledged the glare, simply cataloging it in his mind as another reason why this man was inferior to Hibari's Storm. He wasn't this puppy's master - puppy, because now he looked for all like a dejected puppy who had just lost his masters, ears pressed down against his head and tail still. No, this man wasn't like Hibari's Gokudera Hayato at all.

Because Hibari owned a wolf.

The difference was irritating him more and more now. It reminded him of his 'Guardians' past incompetence, reminded him of the reasons why it took him so long to even begin to tolerate them. But he calmed himself down, leashed the irritation and forced his expression to remain as still and calm like the eye of the storm.

"I do, Gokudera Hayato," he replied, and perhaps his voice was just a little more tight, his tone a little colder. He tilted his head to the side, and wondered, detachedly, what had made this puppy lose its exuberance?

"The Gokudera Hayato I know would have killed himself before giving me that look," he commented, and smiled.

[veryfail]

Party- no way, it's no party- there's no way some place like this could ever be a party with people like the Varia (WHO KILLED PEOPLE) and Hibari (WHO ALSO KILLED PEOPLE) and people Tsuna didn't know (WHO MOST LIKELY KILLED PEOPLE) everywhere and it's crazy and he wants to go home only there doesn't really seem to be a way to do that which is even worse than crazy-

Which is sort of why he's kind of trying to NOT LOOK DIRECTLY at the person who's right in front of him. Because he might die, right? Which really wouldn't be in his interest at all. Except that the person in front of him is Hibari Kyoya- it is Hibari, except that he's also wearing the Vongola ring which Tsuna notices because he's looking at the hand not at the face and that's, something like that's-

'That ring- there's no way- since when?!'

-probably not what he should have said.

[decimo_calandra]

Ah, the weakling. Better yet, he was de-aged to the stage where he was truly a weakling and not merely a growing predator trying desperately to hold onto his shell of a prey. A more ridiculous man Hibari had never seen.

He smirked at the blatant fear in his eyes, and the mumbled words.

"Since ten years ago, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari answered, nearly drawling. He didn't make a move to attack - while this boy might have annoyed him in his own youth, he only amused Hibari with his sheer incompetence.

[veryfail]

And it's about then that Tsuna notices that Hibari's really OLD, old like an adult, like Dino, like- old, which wasn't really reassuring. But then, it was Hibari, right? And this guy- this guy wasn't ever reassuring, except when he wasn't within a 100km radius of Tsuna, which would've meant that he'd be killing other people. Not Tsuna, this was the important thing.

(NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO RUN AWAY, something in him prompted- what was it again?)

So he takes a half step back, but his eyes are still drawn to the ring on Hibari's hand, identical in every aspect to the one hanging around his neck. Really identical, and Hibari wouldn't bother with a fake (wouldn't even bother with the Cloud ring, that guy-), he wasn't that kind of person at all, was he- not from what Tsuna remembered.

(Oh, right. It was his common sense.)

'Eh- but-'

(REBORN ISN'T AROUND AND YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE-)

'But it's the ring from the Varia fight and I- we fought- you- that doesn't make any sense-'

(MAKE THAT WILL, his common sense finished.)

[decimo_calandra]

Hibari's lips twitched, just so slightly. Long exposure to this boy had taught him to read enough about what was running through his head. He was probably panicking now, mentally running around like a headless chicken in sheer panic. Really, such a useless guardian.

It was a good thing that Reborn had managed to make him viable, or else Hibari would've just bitten him to death for being such a disgrace to him. But Sawada would, he supposed, always be the subject of jokes around here, if only for the fact that he actually seemed to like being so useless and clung to it with the tenacity of a bull.

But this was not the Sawada he knew, no. This was someone quite possibly worse, so Hibari neatly blocked out all of the boy's ramblings. What was different about-

His eyes suddenly took notice of the chain around Sawada's neck. His eyes narrowed, lips thinning as he stepped forward and grabbed it, pulling it forward and possibly dragging Sawada along as well.

That ring. His ring. Ornate silver with a blue gem. The symbol of power in the