(Untitled)

[kenspeck]

Haha, this is new.

[ He's calm, relaxed, with an undefinable smile on his face as his fingers move down to rest against the metal of his weapon.

He's not really doing anything, though, and there's nothing threatening in the motion. It's as casual and as open as everything else that he does tends to be, and it's like an instinct or a habit that

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[decimo_calandra]

Yamamoto Takeshi.

[kenspeck]

Haha, another one?

[decimo_calandra]

[ It's almost routine by now, to raise his hand and bring the Vongola Sky ring into the other's vision. Another herbivore. He tilts his head back, looking into Yamamoto's eyes. ]

No.

[ How mundane. ]

[kenspeck]

[ Yamamoto just stops.

His expression freezes, but his smile doesn't falter, and there's a long stretch of silence as he considers the ring on Hibari's finger.

He clucks his tongue, and his eyes might have narrowed for a second, there, and then he's just as pleasant again as he always is. ]

Huh. What do you know.

[decimo_calandra]

[ Now, that was something familiar. The sudden flash of danger in those eyes. Hibari's lips curl up slightly at the edge, sharp as razors. ]

Oh? [ A tilt of his head, and Hibari runs his eyes up and down the other's body, taking note of the difference - the scar on his chin, the katana slung on his back... the lack of a Vongola Ring.

Another one. ]

[kenspeck]

[ Yamamoto notes everything that Hibari says with the careful, aged certainty of someone who just knows better. The bits and pieces, the details, the shit that kind of matter but doesn't really, that's all the same, and it still drips with everything that he knows Hibari is. But Yamamoto can see the difference, too.

It's a little unsettling.

He rocks back on his heels, and his hands slide down into his pockets as he just watches him back. Still smiling. Still calm. ]

You're not the Hibari I know, huh?

[ Of course he isn't. ]

[decimo_calandra]

Still stating the obvious, Yamamoto Takeshi. [ There is no venom in that tone, only a slow drawl, as if he curls the words around his tongue and savours them before releasing them into the air. His eyes travel down to the hand; not empty entirely, but empty of the Vongola ring.

He frowns. The implications of this has been adding up for some time now - almost every sing;e person he has met in this place does not have the ring. Before, it is inconsequential; unimportant. But now...

Curling his fingers in, his muscles tighten just slightly - not yet a fist. ]

What happened to your ring?

[kenspeck]

Haha, I guess I'm pretty good at that.

[ There's a moment of silence, and his chin tips skyward while his eyes remain intently focused on the other's face. ]

Which one? I have a lot of rings, Hibari.

[ He's treading on thin ice, and oh, he's so painfully aware of it. It might be why his muscles tense just barely, waiting and watching and waiting, because Hibari's always been violent, and Yamamoto already knows this.

But this still isn't his Hibari. ]

[decimo_calandra]

[ There are certain things that one realizes about Yamamoto Takeshi when one has known him for long enough - sometimes the cluelessness is real.

But other times (more often than not, nowadays), it is nothing but a ploy.

Hibari's eyes narrow, annoyance spiking from within him as his jaw tenses. A step forward and he is directly in front of Yamamoto, making a grab for the loosened tie of his to twist it. His eyes flash with irritation- not anger.

Not yet. ]

Answer my question, Yamamoto Takeshi. [ And now his voice is nothing more than a low whisper, because Hibari Kyouya has never found the need to raise his voice. ]

[kenspeck]

[ Yamamoto doesn't stop him when he makes a grab for his tie, and he falls forward a step as he's yanked a teensy bit closer. He'd been expecting this, to a certain extent, and he doesn't say anything for a second. He just watches him carefully, silently. ]

-- You wouldn't like my answer, anyway.

[ And then his fingers are moving up to gently close around Hibari's wrist to pull his hand away from the material of his tie. He shifts back a step as his hand drops, moving out of his way and out of his reach. ]

[decimo_calandra]

Don't make judgements about me. [ Hibari's words are tight, snapping off at the last syllable. He jerks his hand towards himself, making a hard, shaking motion that makes the ring on his middle finger catch on the light.

As if he's trying to remove the other's touch from his skin.

His anger is affecting him, affecting the air around him, thinning it to almost suffocating levels. The oxygen is stolen away with every breath Hibari takes, his Sky flames growing stronger, growing visible around the lines of his suit, his wrists.

He breathes out; reins his flames in; does not take a step forward. ]

Answer me. [ His words are a command, spoken like a man who is used to being obeyed. ]