[Fic] Reborn!: Goodwill Come Undone
12 Days of Christmas Meme
DAY 02
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Prompt: D18... something Yuletide-y. Or Saturnalia-y.
Requester: forochel
Warnings: None
___________________________________________________________
Title: Goodwill Come Undone
Series/Characters: [Reborn!] Dino/Hibari (one-sided?), Romario
Disclaimer: Amano's. Am only playing.
Word Count: 1,793
Notes: Last time I wrote D18 was... a while back. July 2008 to be exact. My grasp on Dino, on this pairing in general at this point is tenuous at best. Actually, my grasp on ficcing in general is really pathetic. Writing this was hard--felt like I'd lost my comedic timing on top of everything else. So. If it ends up reading like a big steaming pile of shit-characterisation, I'm so, so sorry. OTL
Summary: When Reborn commands, Dino follows; Hibari doesn't give a shit, but he gives it a go anyway.
___________________________________________________________
Goodwill Come Undone
by kasugai gummie
___________________________________________________________
It was a brilliant idea. As brilliant as most brilliant ideas ever came, which, if Dino allowed himself a purely self-congratulatory moment, was pretty damn brilliant.
“Romario, I’m brilliant.”
“I don’t know, Boss…” Bamboo rustled underneath as Romario shifted uneasily to the side, right foot over left, away from the perhaps not-so-judiciously placed sprig of mistletoe near the indoor pond construct.
Dino smiled at that and gestured grandly at his handiwork with a wide sweep of his arm. What used to be a traditional Japanese-themed room dominated by clean lines and austere simplicity now boasted buntings and other festive paraphernalia in yuletide red and evergreens abound. Frankincense, myrrh, and boughs of holly. His fingertips tickled the nearest rope of tinsel draping from the wall.
“Trust me on this one, Romario,” he said, and raised a stalling hand when his second-in-command opened his mouth to voice his concerns. “No, no. No need to say it. I know what you’re thinking.”
Romario looked at him dubiously but didn’t try vocalising his objections again. He didn’t have to, not while projecting a profound sense of Do you really? from the very eloquent, if not stiffly-held posture and age-engraved furrows in his brow.
“Kyouya’s come a long way. I mean, just last week I saw him interact with a troupe of-ah-rambunctious school children in the town square! Without creaming them!” Dino jabbed a triumphant finger in Romario’s direction. Granted, the kids still all broke down crying after two minutes in Hibari’s presence. His former pupil didn’t even have to say anything to terrorise them into submission. From what Dino had seen when he’d glanced over that one time, all Hibari had done was cross his arms and look unimpressed. He’d merely frowned (and looked fetchingly murderous in his tailored, three-piece Armani but… Dino put that particular thought aside). “He wouldn’t have been able to do that five years ago, you know. Besides, I’d be remiss if I don’t take this last lesson seriously.”
“Is that what Signor Reborn contacted you for?”
Dino laughed. “Got it in one. Apparently he wants all the tenth generation Vongola Guardians to experience some time-honoured tradizioni italiane before Tsuna inherits the title, and I thought why not take advantage of the season? You’ve seen how he is with Hibird when he thinks no one’s looking; surely there’s room In his prickly little heart for some holiday cheer!”
“But he isn’t even Christian, Boss.”
“And that’s the beauty of the holidays, Romario! Goodwill to mankind extends beyond the boundaries of religion.”
Romario didn’t look convinced. Not at all. “If anything, I’d say the kid despises the Vatican and everything it stands for.”
“He hasn’t been a kid for quite some time now, Romario.” Dino rubbed long fingers over the back of his neck and laughed something rueful. “Although, I do admit to hoping that he’d have gotten over that unfortunate incident with His Holiness and the rest of the families already,” he confessed, just as the main door slid open with a hiss of rice paper, wood, and moving air.
Dino startled. Speak of the devil… he recovered himself with a shake of his head and steeled his nerves. Despite all his optimisms, Dino was still first and foremost a mob leader with a well-ingrained survival instinct (no matter the numerous suggestions to the contrary).
A fool, the Cavallone leader was not.
“Kyouya, welcome back!” he said. Play it cool, play it safe. “And it’s good to see you too, Tetsuya! How was the trip?”
“Passable,” Hibari answered shortly for both himself and his companion who remained a respectable distance behind him. He stared at his transformed quarters. Then, “Tetsu, go make the call.”
“On it, Kyou-san,” said Kusakabe, his voice and cell phone audio disappearing around the corner.
And then there was silence.
Anticipation merged with apprehension into a tight knot that Dino swallowed down with some difficulty. Honestly, the longer Hibari stood unmoving, sharp eyes shuttered and roving over the state of his personal belongings, the greater the unease he felt. The brilliance of the decorations was quickly fading and Dino found himself suddenly glad that he’d left off setting up the Bambino Gesù manger diorama.
At twenty, Hibari was taller, faster, sharper than when they first met; a refined instrument for discipline and retribution in co-allegiance with one of Italy’s greatest families.
But Dino really did believe it when he said that his former student had come a long way. A long, hard, often bloody way. They all had. And it was on this belief that he banked his hope of at least getting through the night physically unscathed if the Japanese hitman wasn’t feeling at all charitable.
“So, what do you think?”
Hibari refocused on him with what appeared to be-bemusement? Bemusement was good; he could live with bemusement. Then Hibari took that first step over the threshold, Vongola ring throwing back the warm candlelight, and Dino firmly reigned in the instinctive urge to back away slowly (turning his back would only invite an undignified death by way of biting).
“Reborn put you up to this.”
“Well, actually, you see I-”
“You bribed Hibird into giving you the pass codes to my facility and this is what you do with them.”
How did he-no, never mind that. A desperate glance at Romario for back-up yielded an equally helpless shrug from the older Mafioso. He didn’t dare uncoil his whip in the room, not now. Not even for the momentary emotional security of self-defence (Hibari would only take the gesture as an invitation to beat each other bloody anyway). For the second time that night, Dino sent up a silent prayer of thanks for his negligence to install his great grand-aunt Giovanna’s Christmas heirlooms where they’d ended up placing the small bonsai fir tree instead.
At twenty, Hibari was more mature, more calculating, more aware, but despite those changes Dino knew, he knew that the rules were still the same. And if he’d gotten complacent with the idea of a Christmas miracle… well.
Thankfully Romario was too respectful to say “I told you so.”
Dino shifted his weight, planting his feet firm on the ground. After all, flight was never an advisable option with Vongola’s Cloud. If only he could manoeuvre them somewhere less receptive to damage.
“Now Kyouya-”
“Ten minutes.”
Dialogue was unexpected, and so Dino didn’t merely startle; he froze, right hand hovering over the small of his back where his weapon lay clipped to.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You have ten minutes to clear this clutter and leave the grounds in one piece.” Arms hanging loosely by his sides with nary a gleam of reinforced steel in sight, Hibari offered Dino and his admittedly unsubtle grab for his whip a droll look before canvassing the holiday décor with one last sweep of dripping disdain and striding back out.
It might’ve cost him a full minute before he could breathe again but when he did exhale, it was with his whole body. “He definitely didn’t like what we did to the room,” Dino muttered at last into the unnatural stillness that remained. He sighed, plucking absently at shredded silver foil.
“I’m surprised he didn’t just trash it all on sight though,” Romario offered from where he’d already begun to unhook the wall-hangings.
“He didn’t, didn’t he?” Dino murmured to himself. Which really was odd, since all the non-verbal signs had been pointing to some vaguely tonfa-shaped retribution for the transgression. He’d forgotten just how much Hibari disliked classical European architecture to begin with… And that’s when it hit him. “Oh. Oh.”
“Boss?”
“Romario! What if that was his really weird and awkward attempt at celebrating the holiday spirit?”
“Well…”
Dino spun on his heel and sprinted out after Hibari tossing a “I’m leaving the rest to you, Romario!” over his shoulder. He was out of earshot before his second could even grunt a reply.
Wood thudded beneath his rubber soles as he ran out through the exterior walkways, silk tie fluttering against his shirt like one of those wind-caught goldfish kites he’d bought Hibari for his birthday that one year. Instinct led him through the corridors until he caught up to the dark-haired man just outside the entrance. “Kyouya! Kyouya, oh for God’s sake, Kyouya, wait up!”
Hibari turned to glance at him impassively, his mobile held loosely to his ear, but didn’t stop. When Dino got closer, the cell phone snapped shut.
“Why are you still here?”
“Romario’s taking care of it, and I bet Tetsuya is helping him too. Besides, my ten minutes aren’t up yet.”
Hibari’s lips thinned. “You’re pushing it,” he warned.
Dino approached the other until they were side by side, only an arm’s length away. He smiled cautiously, warm and winning. “What am I pushing?” Come on, Kyouya, throw me a bone here.
Hibari tucked his phone away and crossed his arms. “My goodwill.”
Goodwill. Of course. “How so?”
“You’re still making a nuisance of yourself despite my generosity to let you leave the grounds by your own means,” Hibari explained, his displeasure deepening at the fact that he even had to explain in the first place. “Reborn had Sawada’s lapdog explain it at the last conference. You Europeans and your unnecessary ideals.”
Dino muffled a helpless laugh at that, but didn’t bother correcting the younger man his biases.
“I’m merely humouring him you know.”
“Him?” A small jab of what Dino was honest enough with himself to identify as jealousy poked him.
“Reborn.”
Dino fixed his smile in place. “Yeah, I know.”
“Although,” Hibari continued, “I will admit to there being some merit to some of the notions these festivities insist upon.”
“Yeah?” Dino brightened; perhaps there was still hope for his seemingly soul-less student yet.
Hibari turned and took a step into Dino’s personal space, grabbed Dino’s arm with one hand to still him, and slipped his other hand into Dino’s front coat pocket. When he pulled away, he held the keys to Dino’s Maserati by the ring. “Yes. Charity, for one.”
Wait. “Wait," Dino said. And blinked. Wait. "What. Why did you- What are you-”
“Charity, herbivore.”
“But, but that car was a gift from my first girlfriend!” Dino protested.
Hibari only smirked as he pocketed the keys. “It has also just been donated to the Namimori Overseas Fund. I’ve already made all the necessary arrangements with your local auto dealer, Cavallone. Consider it reparations for what you did to my rooms.”
“Kyouya!” Dino wailed, just as the tonfas slipped out. His plan had been brilliant, damn it, but he should’ve known it would devolve into this. Should’ve known.
“By the way, your ten minutes are up.”
___________________________________________________________
Fin
Completed: December 12, 2009
___________________________________________________________
And before I forget, thank you to fyretoppaaa and sapphira_angel for the virtual snowflake cookies! ♥
DAY 02
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Prompt: D18... something Yuletide-y. Or Saturnalia-y.
Requester: forochel
Warnings: None
___________________________________________________________
Title: Goodwill Come Undone
Series/Characters: [Reborn!] Dino/Hibari (one-sided?), Romario
Disclaimer: Amano's. Am only playing.
Word Count: 1,793
Notes: Last time I wrote D18 was... a while back. July 2008 to be exact. My grasp on Dino, on this pairing in general at this point is tenuous at best. Actually, my grasp on ficcing in general is really pathetic. Writing this was hard--felt like I'd lost my comedic timing on top of everything else. So. If it ends up reading like a big steaming pile of shit-characterisation, I'm so, so sorry. OTL
Summary: When Reborn commands, Dino follows; Hibari doesn't give a shit, but he gives it a go anyway.
___________________________________________________________
Goodwill Come Undone
by kasugai gummie
___________________________________________________________
It was a brilliant idea. As brilliant as most brilliant ideas ever came, which, if Dino allowed himself a purely self-congratulatory moment, was pretty damn brilliant.
“Romario, I’m brilliant.”
“I don’t know, Boss…” Bamboo rustled underneath as Romario shifted uneasily to the side, right foot over left, away from the perhaps not-so-judiciously placed sprig of mistletoe near the indoor pond construct.
Dino smiled at that and gestured grandly at his handiwork with a wide sweep of his arm. What used to be a traditional Japanese-themed room dominated by clean lines and austere simplicity now boasted buntings and other festive paraphernalia in yuletide red and evergreens abound. Frankincense, myrrh, and boughs of holly. His fingertips tickled the nearest rope of tinsel draping from the wall.
“Trust me on this one, Romario,” he said, and raised a stalling hand when his second-in-command opened his mouth to voice his concerns. “No, no. No need to say it. I know what you’re thinking.”
Romario looked at him dubiously but didn’t try vocalising his objections again. He didn’t have to, not while projecting a profound sense of Do you really? from the very eloquent, if not stiffly-held posture and age-engraved furrows in his brow.
“Kyouya’s come a long way. I mean, just last week I saw him interact with a troupe of-ah-rambunctious school children in the town square! Without creaming them!” Dino jabbed a triumphant finger in Romario’s direction. Granted, the kids still all broke down crying after two minutes in Hibari’s presence. His former pupil didn’t even have to say anything to terrorise them into submission. From what Dino had seen when he’d glanced over that one time, all Hibari had done was cross his arms and look unimpressed. He’d merely frowned (and looked fetchingly murderous in his tailored, three-piece Armani but… Dino put that particular thought aside). “He wouldn’t have been able to do that five years ago, you know. Besides, I’d be remiss if I don’t take this last lesson seriously.”
“Is that what Signor Reborn contacted you for?”
Dino laughed. “Got it in one. Apparently he wants all the tenth generation Vongola Guardians to experience some time-honoured tradizioni italiane before Tsuna inherits the title, and I thought why not take advantage of the season? You’ve seen how he is with Hibird when he thinks no one’s looking; surely there’s room In his prickly little heart for some holiday cheer!”
“But he isn’t even Christian, Boss.”
“And that’s the beauty of the holidays, Romario! Goodwill to mankind extends beyond the boundaries of religion.”
Romario didn’t look convinced. Not at all. “If anything, I’d say the kid despises the Vatican and everything it stands for.”
“He hasn’t been a kid for quite some time now, Romario.” Dino rubbed long fingers over the back of his neck and laughed something rueful. “Although, I do admit to hoping that he’d have gotten over that unfortunate incident with His Holiness and the rest of the families already,” he confessed, just as the main door slid open with a hiss of rice paper, wood, and moving air.
Dino startled. Speak of the devil… he recovered himself with a shake of his head and steeled his nerves. Despite all his optimisms, Dino was still first and foremost a mob leader with a well-ingrained survival instinct (no matter the numerous suggestions to the contrary).
A fool, the Cavallone leader was not.
“Kyouya, welcome back!” he said. Play it cool, play it safe. “And it’s good to see you too, Tetsuya! How was the trip?”
“Passable,” Hibari answered shortly for both himself and his companion who remained a respectable distance behind him. He stared at his transformed quarters. Then, “Tetsu, go make the call.”
“On it, Kyou-san,” said Kusakabe, his voice and cell phone audio disappearing around the corner.
And then there was silence.
Anticipation merged with apprehension into a tight knot that Dino swallowed down with some difficulty. Honestly, the longer Hibari stood unmoving, sharp eyes shuttered and roving over the state of his personal belongings, the greater the unease he felt. The brilliance of the decorations was quickly fading and Dino found himself suddenly glad that he’d left off setting up the Bambino Gesù manger diorama.
At twenty, Hibari was taller, faster, sharper than when they first met; a refined instrument for discipline and retribution in co-allegiance with one of Italy’s greatest families.
But Dino really did believe it when he said that his former student had come a long way. A long, hard, often bloody way. They all had. And it was on this belief that he banked his hope of at least getting through the night physically unscathed if the Japanese hitman wasn’t feeling at all charitable.
“So, what do you think?”
Hibari refocused on him with what appeared to be-bemusement? Bemusement was good; he could live with bemusement. Then Hibari took that first step over the threshold, Vongola ring throwing back the warm candlelight, and Dino firmly reigned in the instinctive urge to back away slowly (turning his back would only invite an undignified death by way of biting).
“Reborn put you up to this.”
“Well, actually, you see I-”
“You bribed Hibird into giving you the pass codes to my facility and this is what you do with them.”
How did he-no, never mind that. A desperate glance at Romario for back-up yielded an equally helpless shrug from the older Mafioso. He didn’t dare uncoil his whip in the room, not now. Not even for the momentary emotional security of self-defence (Hibari would only take the gesture as an invitation to beat each other bloody anyway). For the second time that night, Dino sent up a silent prayer of thanks for his negligence to install his great grand-aunt Giovanna’s Christmas heirlooms where they’d ended up placing the small bonsai fir tree instead.
At twenty, Hibari was more mature, more calculating, more aware, but despite those changes Dino knew, he knew that the rules were still the same. And if he’d gotten complacent with the idea of a Christmas miracle… well.
Thankfully Romario was too respectful to say “I told you so.”
Dino shifted his weight, planting his feet firm on the ground. After all, flight was never an advisable option with Vongola’s Cloud. If only he could manoeuvre them somewhere less receptive to damage.
“Now Kyouya-”
“Ten minutes.”
Dialogue was unexpected, and so Dino didn’t merely startle; he froze, right hand hovering over the small of his back where his weapon lay clipped to.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You have ten minutes to clear this clutter and leave the grounds in one piece.” Arms hanging loosely by his sides with nary a gleam of reinforced steel in sight, Hibari offered Dino and his admittedly unsubtle grab for his whip a droll look before canvassing the holiday décor with one last sweep of dripping disdain and striding back out.
It might’ve cost him a full minute before he could breathe again but when he did exhale, it was with his whole body. “He definitely didn’t like what we did to the room,” Dino muttered at last into the unnatural stillness that remained. He sighed, plucking absently at shredded silver foil.
“I’m surprised he didn’t just trash it all on sight though,” Romario offered from where he’d already begun to unhook the wall-hangings.
“He didn’t, didn’t he?” Dino murmured to himself. Which really was odd, since all the non-verbal signs had been pointing to some vaguely tonfa-shaped retribution for the transgression. He’d forgotten just how much Hibari disliked classical European architecture to begin with… And that’s when it hit him. “Oh. Oh.”
“Boss?”
“Romario! What if that was his really weird and awkward attempt at celebrating the holiday spirit?”
“Well…”
Dino spun on his heel and sprinted out after Hibari tossing a “I’m leaving the rest to you, Romario!” over his shoulder. He was out of earshot before his second could even grunt a reply.
Wood thudded beneath his rubber soles as he ran out through the exterior walkways, silk tie fluttering against his shirt like one of those wind-caught goldfish kites he’d bought Hibari for his birthday that one year. Instinct led him through the corridors until he caught up to the dark-haired man just outside the entrance. “Kyouya! Kyouya, oh for God’s sake, Kyouya, wait up!”
Hibari turned to glance at him impassively, his mobile held loosely to his ear, but didn’t stop. When Dino got closer, the cell phone snapped shut.
“Why are you still here?”
“Romario’s taking care of it, and I bet Tetsuya is helping him too. Besides, my ten minutes aren’t up yet.”
Hibari’s lips thinned. “You’re pushing it,” he warned.
Dino approached the other until they were side by side, only an arm’s length away. He smiled cautiously, warm and winning. “What am I pushing?” Come on, Kyouya, throw me a bone here.
Hibari tucked his phone away and crossed his arms. “My goodwill.”
Goodwill. Of course. “How so?”
“You’re still making a nuisance of yourself despite my generosity to let you leave the grounds by your own means,” Hibari explained, his displeasure deepening at the fact that he even had to explain in the first place. “Reborn had Sawada’s lapdog explain it at the last conference. You Europeans and your unnecessary ideals.”
Dino muffled a helpless laugh at that, but didn’t bother correcting the younger man his biases.
“I’m merely humouring him you know.”
“Him?” A small jab of what Dino was honest enough with himself to identify as jealousy poked him.
“Reborn.”
Dino fixed his smile in place. “Yeah, I know.”
“Although,” Hibari continued, “I will admit to there being some merit to some of the notions these festivities insist upon.”
“Yeah?” Dino brightened; perhaps there was still hope for his seemingly soul-less student yet.
Hibari turned and took a step into Dino’s personal space, grabbed Dino’s arm with one hand to still him, and slipped his other hand into Dino’s front coat pocket. When he pulled away, he held the keys to Dino’s Maserati by the ring. “Yes. Charity, for one.”
Wait. “Wait," Dino said. And blinked. Wait. "What. Why did you- What are you-”
“Charity, herbivore.”
“But, but that car was a gift from my first girlfriend!” Dino protested.
Hibari only smirked as he pocketed the keys. “It has also just been donated to the Namimori Overseas Fund. I’ve already made all the necessary arrangements with your local auto dealer, Cavallone. Consider it reparations for what you did to my rooms.”
“Kyouya!” Dino wailed, just as the tonfas slipped out. His plan had been brilliant, damn it, but he should’ve known it would devolve into this. Should’ve known.
“By the way, your ten minutes are up.”
___________________________________________________________
Fin
Completed: December 12, 2009
___________________________________________________________
And before I forget, thank you to fyretoppaaa and sapphira_angel for the virtual snowflake cookies! ♥