[Fic]: A Lesson In Communication (4/4)
Hibari didn't leave, but he didn't exactly acknowledge Dino's existence.
"Hey Kyoya, do you want something to eat?" Dino asked but received no answer.
That was how Hibari was. Once he decided that a person wasn't worth his attention, that person did not exist in his world.
But Hibari didn't leave yet. Dino took comfort in that.
Dino was surprised when Gokudera showed up.
"I'm here to pick up the Tenth's things," Gokudera said calmly, and Dino led him in, feeling disappointed that Tsuna didn't come. But there was no rule that said Tsuna had to go, was there?
Hibari had taken one look at Gokudera and said, "What is that herbivore doing here? Where's Tsunayoshi?"
"I'm here for the Tenth's possessions," Gokudera said without further explanation.
"They're-" Dino looked around the room hesitantly. He hadn't packed any of Tsuna's things yet because he had hoped that Tsuna would show up and do it instead, and-
"No," said Hibari.
"No?" Dino looked at him.
Gokudera narrowed his eyes.
"If that herbivore wants his things, he could go pick them up himself," said Hibari.
"The Tenth does not have to answer to you," Gokudera glared and then turned to Dino. "Where are his things?"
Hibari whipped out his tonfas. "You're not getting any of his stuff. Tell Tsunayoshi to come and get them himself."
"I've had enough of this." Gokudera drew out his dynamites. "You've both made the Tenth upset, and that's unforgiveable."
"No, wait!" Dino tried to stop them both, but then Hibari dodged the dynamites Gokudera aimed at him, and his bedroom quickly dissolved into a warzone.
When Tsuna finally came, Dino practically yanked Tsuna into his bedroom, but then he remembered that things between them were not-okay, so he quickly let go of Tsuna's hand. Tsuna, however, didn't notice, occupied as he was with Gokudera being thrown against the wall by the momentum of Hibari's punch.
"Stop!" Tsuna jumped in front of Hibari before Hibari could charge forward again. "Why are you hurting Gokudera-kun?"
"Tenth…." Gokudera quickly got back on his feet. "I…."
"And Gokudera-kun," Tsuna turned to Gokudera, so furious that Dino thought he might go into Hyper Dying Will Mode then and there. "What are you doing here? I thought I said you didn't have to come!"
"But Tenth-"
"Get out of the way, Tsunayoshi. I still haven't finished biting him to death."
"No!" Tsuna stopped Hibari by his shoulders when Hibari charged forward again. "I will not have my guardians fight against each other. Stop this now, Hibari!"
Even Dino and Gokudera winced at Tsuna's tone. Hibari lowered his tonfas. "Tsunayoshi."
"I will talk to you both properly," Tsuna said to Hibari and Dino. "I'm sorry that I've been avoiding you both for so long."
"You don't have to apologize to them, Tenth!"
"I'll-" Hibari jerked forward again, but Tsuna held him back. "Gokudera-kun, please. This is something that I have to deal with on my own."
"You always say that!" Gokudera raised his voice. "You've always had to shoulder things on your own. How could you be so selfish?"
"Gokudera-kun, I-"
"When have you stopped telling me things?" Gokudera looked away. "I didn't even know about this thing between you and these two until baseball freak told me. Am I not your best friend?"
"I've heard enough," Hibari growled, but Tsuna just said. "I'm sorry Hibari-san, Dino-san, but may I speak with Gokudera-kun for a moment? Alone?" Tsuna added when Hibari looked like he was going to protest.
Hibari didn't say anything, so Tsuna turned to Dino.
"It's fine," Dino said, barely managed to find his voice. "We'll wait."
"They're taking too long," Hibari paced back and forth impatiently, even though it had been only five minutes.
"What's the matter with you?" Hibari's question startled Dino, and Dino found himself disorientated.
"Ummm, nothing."
"Really?"
"I….I'm sorry," Dino blurted out because he couldn't hold back anymore.
"Why?" Hibari's pacing stopped. Dino wished Hibari kept pacing because now Hibari was looking directly at him, and it was making him more uncomfortable.
"For being selfish," Dino said, Gokudera's words coming back to him in waves. He had chickened out before thinking of how Hibari or Tsuna might have felt about the situation, placing assumptions before their feelings.
"I don't know what you're saying," Hibari said, and when Dino was about to explain, Hibari lifted a hand to stop him. "Don't. Whatever you're about to say, you could say it in front of both Tsunayoshi and me. Can you do that?"
"I don't know," Dino answered honestly, and Hibari looked away, disappointed.
"Do you ever know anything?" Hibari seemed like he wanted to start another fight, and no, Dino wasn't in the mood for one right now, and no, everything wasn't about him, damn it. It was easy for Tsuna and Hibari because they were young, and they could do whatever they wanted, but Dino was getting old. If Tsuna and Hibari left him, they would still have chances waiting, but Dino would have nothing.
"Of course I do!"
"Do you even know what you want?"
"I do! I-" Dino began, but stopped when he realized that he didn't know what he wanted. Hibari was right. He knew nothing. "I….never mind."
A knock at the door prevented Hibari from sprouting more angry words, and Tsuna poked his head in through the door way. "Hi. I'm just…sorry for interrupting, but I'm going to grab my stuff now. Gokudera-kun is waiting outside."
"You're not interrupting," Dino said, and Hibari added. "No, because you're a part of this conversation too."
"He is?" Dino asked at the same time Tsuna said, "I am?"
"Ah, I did say that I would talk to you guys about…this," Tsuna scratched his head and shuffled his feet nervously. Dino couldn't blame him. He didn't know what 'this' was either. "I've been thinking about it for a while, and so I'm just going to say it straight out: What I want hasn't changed. I want a relationship beyond sex. I understand if both of you are not comfortable with that, so I'll back off."
"Don't assume that you know everything about our feelings," said Hibari, and Dino nodded in agreement because even though his feelings still confused him, at least he agreed with Hibari's words.
"Then what does Hibari-san and Dino-san want?"
There was a silence after that, and Dino shot Hibari a look. Hibari shot one back. Dino continued to stare at Hibari, hoping that Hibari would go first because he was scared, which might sound ridiculous because this was Tsuna and Tsuna wouldn't hurt a fly unless it threatened the well-being of the world by existing, but Dino didn't want to be the first to admit that he had feelings, and so fine, Dino might be a coward, along with his other titles of slut and pervert.
But Hibari didn't say anything even though he had no trouble admitting to Dino that he wanted the same thing as Tsuna. Then Dino remembered that it was Hibari who suggested that they were in a physical-and-nothing-else relationship in the first place, so he was as reluctant as Dino to concede that he wanted more.
Damn, seemed like both of them weren't going to talk.
"You senpais are not being fair, you know," Tsuna sighed with a sad smile, and then there was this expression on his face, the same one that Dino had once seen when Iemitsu left for five years because he needed to be cruel, the same one on Tsuna's face when Reborn announced that he was leaving for Italy now that he had nothing else for Tsuna. It was worse to see this than to miss Tsuna's presence, because at least when Tsuna wasn't by his side, he could think that someone else could make Tsuna happy. But Tsuna was here, all crushed hopes and disappointment, and Dino hated himself for doing this. He was supposed to be different, Tsuna's brother, not a coward, someone that Tsuna could rely on, and he was everything but that lately.
"Stay," Dino said.
Both Hibari and Tsuna looked startled, and Dino was surprised at himself as well. "Dino-san?"
"I don't know a lot about romance," Dino said. "But…I want you to stay. I want us to be together, and it doesn't matter if we have sex or not. I mean, sex would be nice, but I also like other things too, like when we talked, or when we visited my parents together. I don't know how to be a good…boyfriend," Dino hesitated at the word. It had been a long time since anyone wanted more than sex from him. "But I'll try, if we can have those things other than sex."
"Dino-san," Tsuna smiled, and Hibari didn't say anything, but he looked thoughtful.
"I'm sorry, but I am getting old," Dino sighed. "I might not be able to give what you two really want."
"I thought you don't have a midlife crisis," Hibari said flatly, but Dino knew that he was trying to make a joke.
"Perhaps I do," Dino admitted, and it felt good to say it.
"Your age doesn't change my feelings for you Dino-san," Tsuna said, walking up to Dino and pulling him into an embrace. When had Tsuna grown so strong? Dino hadn't noticed.
"I still want to bite you to death" was Hibari's consolation.
Dino gave Hibari a look, and Hibari said, "No, I refuse."
Tsuna turned to Hibari with a questioning look, and Dino tried to send telepathic signals to Hibari, but Hibari seemed content with ignoring them.
Hibari had to say it too. It wasn't enough without what Hibari wanted. Besides, whatever pride Hibari had was something that Hibari had to overcome himself.
"Hibari-san?"
Hibari reached them both in two strides, and for a moment, Dino thought that Hibari was going to do it, that he was going to admit his feelings, but then Hibari froze as he stood in front of them, wordless. Dino wanted to smack him.
Then Hibari leaned down, a hand underneath Tsuna's chin, and pulled him into a kiss. Hibari began to pull away, but then Tsuna placed both hands on either side of Hibari's face and deepened their kiss.
Hibari had never initiated a kiss before. Ever.
When Hibari and Tsuna pulled away from each other, face flushed and looking adorable, Dino may or may not have pouted. Hibari saw the expression on his face, and, with an exasperated sigh, "Fine," he leaned in to kiss Dino as well.
All was beautiful in the world.
"I want us to go on a date," Dino declared one morning, the one morning that Hibari actually stayed after sex, and Tsuna actually managed to make eggs for breakfast without burning Dino's place down.
"That's fine," said Hibari after a sip of tea.
"I think that's a great idea!" Tsuna said enthusiastically, but then he must have read something from Dino's face because Tsuna began to look hesitant as he asked, "But there's also something else that you want?"
"I…." Dino began, not knowing how to say this. "I want….I don't know, but I thought it might be nice."
"What is it?" Hibari asked.
"I don't know how to say this…."
"What is it, Dino-san?"
"It's…very difficult to ask both of you…."
"Just spit it out already."
"I….I want us to hold hands."
There was an awkward silence.
"No," said Hibari.
They went on a date, but mostly it consisted of walking around Naminori and trying to stop Hibari from beating up a group of delinquents.
And yes, they held hands.
Dino got a bruise from Hibari's tonfa for trying though.
The bruise wasn't as bad as the one Tsuna got for trying to kiss Hibari in public.
Dino might be enjoying an embarrassed Hibari way too much.
They were all trying to make this work, whatever this thing between them was.
It wasn't until years had passed, when they were having breakfast at a small Parisian café, that Dino stopped, flipped his newspaper, and asked over the breakfast table. "Wait a minute. Are we in an abnormally structured and unofficial marriage?"
Tsuna was chewing his croissant, and Hibari had his eyes closed, ignoring Dino in favor of the nice morning breeze. So it was Tsuna who swallowed down his bite of croissant with a gulp of espresso and answered Dino with a question. "What do you think?"
Damn it, Tsuna. This was something Reborn would do. When the hell did Tsuna turn into Reborn? Dino could have sworn that Tsuna's side burns were nonexistent before, but they had reached the edge of his jaw line now.
Hibari had his arms crossed, his eyes still closed and relaxed, ignoring Dino and his usual burst of emotional stupidity. Tsuna was more patient. He leaned back against the chair, waiting for Dino's thoughts to catch up to him.
A small breeze past by the terrace, and Dino could smell his soap on Tsuna's hair and Hibari's skin. Hibari opened his eyes at last, reaching over the table to take a bite of Tsuna's croissant and a sip of Dino's tea. Dino didn't even like tea and Tsuna didn't even like croissant, but they had ordered their breakfast like this anyway, just because Hibari happened to have a fondness for both.
"We'll visit Kyoya's parents someday," Dino declared, and Tsuna smiled.
~End.
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