[fic] Vena Amoris (#1)

[aimeeshii]

Title: Vena Amoris.
Summary: Being wooed all summer wasn't on Kyouya's agenda. Attending camp was close to torture, and with a flirtatious stranger thrown in, he wanted to slam his head against a wall.
Rating: PG-13.
Word Count: 5294.
Pairing: Dino Cavallone/Kyouya Hibari.
AN: This chapter is from early January.
Chapters: I II  III
      As I pushed the taxi door open, my eyes darted around the site, taking in the bright green shade of the grass and then all the trees that were surrounding the area. A grimace formed on my face when I realized the buildings were all log cabins, bound to have been boiling inside, sometimes cold especially when the night came. I hoped there was at least electricity inside of them; the worst case scenario was something along the lines of candlelight. Why am I even here? I asked myself whilst getting out of the car. I ignored the goodbye the driver sent me, choosing to block him out of my mind and forget about the weird looks I kept receiving whenever I looked forward. I swore, the front mirror was rotated so he could clearly see me, not the cars that were behind me. A shudder went through my body as I picked my black bag up from the boot, slamming it shut with too much force despite the gentle care that should have been used. The taxi drove away quickly; revving the engine too harshly in what I assumed was an attempt to spite me. I quirked an eyebrow at the middle aged man's action, watching the car speed off into the distance before my grip on my bag became tighter. I placed the bag on my shoulder quickly, trying to keep my irritation to a minimum as I took a step forward.

It's okay, I assured myself. I'm only here for a month.

It wasn't my choice to come to summer camp. My parents had died a little over two years ago from a car crash, meaning that I had to stay with my only remaining relative; my grandmother that I knew nothing about. Life was awkward at first, especially since she kept showering me with attention and wanting to know everything that had happened. I'd never met her before my parents had died; she'd shunned my father, claiming that he wouldn't fit into the family and that he was a disgrace. I couldn't understand why, but apparently it was due to the fact the was a foreigner. I was grateful I inherited my mother's looks; therefore I wasn't chased around the house with a frying pan by my grandmother. I'd heard odd stories about her from my father, but they had never been good. Mother had never mentioned her from what I could remember, only showing me a few pictures and claiming it was some old lady. From what I could tell from living with her for years, she was a fine old woman. She preferred to stick to old traditions, wearing formal clothes around her home and brewing some sort of tea when the time was appropriate. When she fell ill a few weeks ago, not terminal but enough to stick her to a hospital bed for weeks on end, she'd decided it was for the best that during summer, I had somewhere to go. I'd attempted to refuse at first, claiming that it wasn't for me, but she'd insisted.

I couldn't say no to someone who had taken me in despite our differences.

Sucking up my pride and packing away my clothes, my cherished tonfas I received from my parents when I was thirteen-three years ago-and a few necessities, I finally made it to the camp after two days. The actual drive to the area was only a few hours away but as I looked around the area again, taking in the ocean in front of me, the trees and log cabins, I knew that I missed Namimori. One month, I reminded myself. I tried to convince myself that it couldn't be as bad as I imagined. It wasn't as though there would be children dancing around a campfire; the camp was for individuals over the age of fourteen. I don't know anyone here either.

I was gnawing on the inside of my cheek as I finally forced myself to take a few steps forward. From what I could see, there were three cabins placed next to each other, large ones that were probably for sleeping in from what I could tell. By the water, there was a peer and even a few canoes and boats placed beside it. There was a small hut beside a tree a few meters from the peer, and on the left side there was a trail leading through a wood. I quirked my eyebrow at the odd placement of the camp, choosing to ignore it and simply find out where I was supposed to go and get it over and done with. I didn't know what sort of things were supposed to have been happening, but I was a day late and my attitude certainly wasn't correct for such a place. If someone tried to boss me around, even if it was a camp counsellor, I wasn't going to listen. Simply staying in my assigned room, walking around or finding somewhere to laze around was how I'd planned to spend my time.

"Didn't the letter say I had to go to the main cabin?" I mused.

None of the cabins that were around me at that point looked like the main ones. The fact that I couldn't hear any noises come from them, too, indicated that they weren't occupied. I eyed the trail through the woods in curiosity, pondering whether or not that was where I had to go down. After debating my options for a few minutes, I sighed before adjusting the bag hanging off my shoulder and walking carefully through the woods. A grimace was plastered across my face with every step I took, even more so when I almost tripped over a large pebble. I kicked it out of my way quickly, glaring at the amount of trees around me and the leaves that were falling into my hair. My right hand ran through my hair quickly, shaking out the leaves and pushing the bangs out of my face. The temperature that day was too hot for me to be wearing a jacket. I paused halfway through my trek, placing my bag on the floor before wiping my forehead, trying to get rid of the beads of sweat that had built up. I took off my black jacket quickly, folding the material quickly before placing it inside the bag with the rest of my clothing. Brushing the imaginary dirt off of the rest of my clothing, I frowned at myself for being ignorant of the weather. A pair of dark jeans and a white shirt with long sleeves wasn't appropriate when the sun was scorching that day. The rest of my clothing I'd packed was similar to what I was wearing at that moment. Apart from the traditional clothing I wore at home-that I'd left at home, too-all my clothes were either dark jeans or trousers and shirts. Not practical, I internally moaned.

My bag was hoisted back onto my shoulder as I walked through the rest of the woods. Every now and then, my foot would connect with a twig and a small crack would echo through the tree, sometimes I saw a few birds perched upon the branches of a tree, but apart from that, it was relatively quiet. I'd finally made it through to the other side after a few minutes, squinting as I took in the sight.

The other side of the camp was similar to the other, except this side had at least six cabins, all on a larger scale. The largest was the furthest away whilst the others were scattered across the area with a path between them all. I glanced at each of them as I walked past, looking for anyone outside. I still couldn't hear anyone at all, but I was sure that I was at the right site. There weren't any more as I'd passed on the way here, the taxi driver even confirmed that this was the only one for miles. I had the money on me to go back home in my wallet, but that would have meant disappointing my grandmother. She didn't deserve that and I didn't have a number for a taxi anyway. My phone was stashed inside my back pocket, pressing into my body with every step I took reminding me that I could always have an escape route by searching on the internet. If I could actually get a signal in the middle of nowhere, that was.

I approached the biggest cabin was wary eyes, my body an uncomfortable colour as I debated whether or not to retreat into the shade of a tree until someone came within my sight. I though myself out of it quickly, walking up the stone steps towards the wooden door, my right hand reaching out to grasp the door handle. As soon as the door had opened smoothly, the cold air from the inside hit my face, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up from the drastic different. I was relieved that the cabins were at least air conditioned. I shut the door behind me quickly, adjusting my bag on my shoulder before walking forward.

"Hello?" I called lowly.

When I received no reply, I grinded my teeth together.

Glancing around, I assumed that it was a cafeteria of sorts. There were tables with lots of chairs placed around them, a few doors leading out to other areas. Countertops were along one of the sides, all of them made out of wood again. Someone likes their wood, I observed. I went to the door in the farthest corner again, ignoring the panels of glass instead of a wall on the far right. It was a convenient way to save electricity, even if the sunlight pouring through was annoying.

"If I don't get a reply in five minutes, I'm taking a nap," I grumbled under my breath.

The door by the far side only lead to the kitchen. I clucked my tongue in disappointment before closing it again, leaving the cabin as quickly as possible and stepping outside. There was a peer of sorts on this side of the camp as well, so I chose to sit by the tree nearest to the water, resting my back against the bark as I crossed my arms over my chest. My bag was placed beside me, ready to be used as a pillow if I thought it was necessary. I closed my eyelids quickly, shifting in discomfort when a beam of sunlight travelled through the leaves above to come down on me. Eventually, I lulled myself to sleep despite the warm weather. The lack of sound that the site was emitting was convenient, too. I'll find someone later, I'd decided.

When I felt someone poking my head, I snapped my eyelids open before tilting my head back, looking up to see who was disturbing my nap. I blinked in surprise when I saw someone standing over me, their lips curled into a smile as he stared down at my face. I definitely didn't recognize him; I doubted I would forget someone with bright blond hair, sienna irides and tanned skin with features that I couldn't find a flaw in. I quirked an eyebrow when I saw his smile become larger, his considerably long bangs, that reached just above his eyes, falling over his features as the rest of his hair was moving from the breeze.

"What do you want?" I demanded.

A musical chuckle left his lips, making my own curl into a frown. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he asked.

Despite his looks at that moment, the stranger's voice was deep with a husky quality about it.

I pushed myself up from the floor and tree, inwardly grimacing at the kink in my back from the uncomfortable position I was placed in. I turned around with a frown on my face, eying the stranger with displeasure.

The blonde was taller than me by a head. His attire was a lot more practical than my own; a black sleeveless vest with beige cargo shorts that went to just above my knee. I couldn't look down at his shoes without being strikingly obvious, so I cursed inside my mind that I couldn't judge him quickly. That was what I usually looked at when I met someone; it was a good indication on what the person would be like. A name tag was attached to the right side of his vest, the black of the badge blending in with his shirt apart from the bright white writing saying, 'Dino'.

"You've got nerve waking me up," I grunted.

I was used to being a figure of power back at home. For some reason or another, pupils and even individuals out of school eventually learnt not to come across me. When I was woken up from a nap one time, accidentally I'd lost my temper and caused someone to have a broken arm and then someone else to have internal bleeding from knocking into me, I knew I had a problem. Before high school, I never knew that I had sadistic tendencies. My smile would increase as I saw someone gasping out in pain, their scarlet blood oozing out of an orifice as they pleased for me to stop. Until later on, I'd realized what I'd done and groan to myself, saying that I'd did it again despite the fact it was unintentional. It was as though I lost myself in the feeling of violence, my tonfa connecting with someone's skin becoming music to my ears. I have problems, I admitted.

"It can't be helped," Dino laughed, "You were randomly sleeping there."

Narrowing my eyes, I retorted, "I wouldn't have been there if someone was here when I arrived."

Surprise flashed across his face as he said, "Eh?"

My lips curled into a frown as I watched Dino dramatically raise his hand to his face, his index finger trailing across his chin as he looked behind me in thought.

"Oh!" he gasped. "You must be Kyouya."

I jerked away from him in surprise, narrowing my eyes in suspicion as I saw the twinkle in his eyes. Being called my first name straight away was sickening; only my grandmother had called me that for the last two years and I didn't feel comfortable with a stranger referring to me in such a casual way.

"Don't call me that," I demanded.

"That's your name, isn't it?" he questioned with his eyebrows raised.

Trying to keep my voice above a growl, I spat, "Don't be so familiar with me."

Placing his hands out in front of him, his expression soon turned to amusement as he replied, "Calm."

He's trying to order me around? I thought incredulously. My eye twitched as I walked past him, ignoring the stare that was on my face.

"Ah, crap," Dino muttered. "Wait! Damn it, I can't remember your last name."

After five steps, I realized I'd forgotten my bag. I muttered a curse under my breath before turning around again, my lips curling in amusement as I saw that Dino was gripping his hair in his hands, apparently trying to wrack his brain for my last name. It was amusing that he was actually bothering to think about what my name was, even though he didn't have any reason to. Is he one of the counsellors? I hadn't opened the letter completely to see the list of counsellors and then the supervisors that came every now and then. The name tag could have been a big clue.

"I was supposed to come and get you," he said. "Yesterday."

As I opened my mouth to reply, he cut me off.

"You've been out here overnight? I'm sorry, I was careless!" Dino apologized quickly, even bothering to bow his body as he looked down at the floor. "I got carried away playing poker last night."

"Quit being an idiot," I scoffed. "I got here this morning." I moved past him quickly, ignoring the look of surprise that came his face as I reached down to grasp my bag. I hoisted it onto my shoulder quickly, clucking my tongue in irritation when I heard Dino start to talk again.

"This morning?" he repeated. "It's not even noon yet and you were sleeping! When do you think morning is?"

With my eye twitching in irritation again, I chose to tighten my grasp on my bag. "Are you a counsellor?"

Immediately, his expression changed. From one similar to being incredulous, Dino soon beamed down at me, taking a step forward as he said, "Why, yes. Dino, at your service." He raised his hand up, grasping the air before twirling it for a few moments, in a move similar to one of tipping an imaginary hat.

I blinked in surprise from his action, hardly believing that he hadn't stumbled over his words from performing such an embarrassing action. I would've felt humiliated if I pretended I owned an imaginary top hat, even more so if I smiled during the action. I reminded myself inside my mind quickly that I was only staying for a month. All of the counsellors couldn't have been as bad as he was, even though they were volunteers, over the age of eighteen so they were qualified adults.

"Wonderful," I muttered under my breath. It was just my luck that I was stuck with the energetic one. "Just take me where I'm staying."

Dino blinked before saying, "Oh?"

He'll be gone soon. "Hurry up, Herbivore."

His lips twitched in amusement, his sienna irides gleaming too, as he took steps towards me, raising his arms out cheerfully as he exclaimed, "Well, aren't you a friendly guy?"

Taking a step away from him, I inwardly cringed as he'd moved into my personal bubble. He was far too close if he was intending to show me the way, staring down at me in amusement before is eyes trailed down to the bag I was grasping tightly.

"Alright, K-Mister," he cleared his throat. "You'll be sharing a cabin with three other people. Male, of course, can't have you stealing any of the ladies."

My eyebrow was raised in curiosity as I saw him shake his head before skipping past me, raising his hand in a beckoning movement to influence me to walk faster and follow him. From what I could see, we were walking down towards the trail through the woods I'd ventured through earlier that day. His arms were folded behind his head as he walked quickly; letting his feet connect loudly with the dirt a he travelled forward. I trailed after him irritably, trying to be as quietly as possible and hope that we wouldn't come across any more people on our small journey. I was dreading just meeting whoever I was sharing my room with-there was no doubt within my mind that my sadistic tendencies would start to shine through if they happened to get in my way or wake me up in my sleep. If they were males who preferred to drink and smoke instead of doing something productive or getting out of my way, I was going to have a horrible time. From what I'd seen since I'd stepped foot onto the site, there weren't any free cabins for me to occupy. I can't make a tent from scratch, I internally scoffed, deeming it a ridiculous idea.

"How do you like it so far?" Dino asked loudly, turning his head to the side to flash me another smile. I blinked from how light his teeth looked when the sun was finally shining directly onto him, his blond hair almost a platinum shade in the sun.

It's torture already, I thought to myself, biting down on my tongue to stop myself snapping at him aloud. Making an enemy out of the first person I'd met in the middle of nowhere was not the way to go if I wanted a smooth ride during the month I was here. I chose to avert my eyes, looking down at my feet and looking up every few seconds to see where I was supposed to go. Dino was humming a quiet tune as he walked along, not fazed at all from the lack of conversation on my end.

"You're such a charmer," he said after a few minutes of silence. When he'd opened his mouth, I was busy snapping a branch off of a tree so it wouldn't become a bother in the future. I blinked in surprise before dubbing his comment as sarcastic, telling myself not to reach into my bag and bring out my tonfas. They were too good to touch his tanned skin; he needed to do something bad, such as initiating the fight, before I could deem him appropriate to touch the steel.

"I try my best," I murmured.
"Oh!" he gasped, stopping as he were about to step out of the woods and turning around to face me. He clasped his hands in front of his face, his eyes wide as he spoke again. "You do have a sense of humour!"

So much for not looking at him, I grumbled internally. I narrowed my eyes at him before walking past; trying to resist the urge to make one of the branches hit him in the face or side. It was tempting, but I chose to ignore it and looked at the grass in front of me. The three cabins were in clear view at that moment and as I looked around the site, I realized that I could make out two figures by the water. One was sitting on the peer, looking as though they were letting their feet rest in the water whilst the other was pacing back and forth across the planks of wood.

"Oh, Gokudera and Yamamoto are back," Dino said behind me as he came out from the woods.

Does it matter? I wanted to ask aloud, but decided it wasn't important as Dino walked happily in front of me again.

With his arms crossed behind his head again, he turned around so he was walking backwards, still smiling in my direction. "You could look happier, the weather's nice," he pointed out.

I feel like I'm melting. I ignored his comment, simply following him and repeating inside my mind that I wanted him to turn around quickly so we could simply get to a cabin quicker.

Dino had opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly closed it as he whipped his left arm down again, looking down at the silver watch that was placed around in. His eyes practically bulged out of his head as he absorbed the time before placing his arms back down by his sides. "Ah, shit, I was supposed to meet Mukuro fifteen minutes ago," he muttered whilst turning around. "Stupid poker game."

"Hurry up," I demanded.

"I've got to cut this short," Dino sighed lowly. "You're staying in the cabin on the far right."

I looked past him, noticing that it was the first cabin that I'd seen when I'd stepped into the camp. I raised my eyebrows in understanding, hoping that our meeting was over and then that was the last time I would have to see him. He was too energetic for my tastes; I tended to stay away from people in general, but being thrust together with someone who skipped was far too much for me to handle.

From my internal musings, I hadn't realized that Dino had taken a few steps towards me. I blinked in surprise when I realized he was inside my personal bubble again, this time with his body almost pressed against my own. I froze from the surprise, curling my right hand into a fist as I tried to keep myself from slamming it into his face.

"I'll come find you later to finish the tour," the blonde told me.

Please don't, I thought to myself, pressing my lips shut so the thought wouldn't be put into words.

To say I was surprised when he leant down towards me further was an understatement. I'd tried to narrow my eyes at first, but when his lips pressed against my cheek briefly, they were widened in surprise.

Dino merely grinned down at me as if it was nothing. "See you later, Kyouya."

My expression was incredulous as he walked away quickly; looking down at his watch again to check to see how much time had passed since the last time he'd looked. My hand had automatically slapped onto my left cheek, the section of flesh where his lips had touched. Even though my body was hot anyway from the temperature outside, I could feel my cheeks were a warmer than the rest of my face-it was surely due to the embarrassment from someone acting familiar with me.

After a few minutes of convincing myself not to take my anger out on the random males on the peer, I chose to curl my hands into fists before walking towards the cabin. I pushed the door open warily, expecting someone to be inside but I was pleasantly surprised when no one was in there. I walked inside quickly, closing the door behind me with a small click before looking for a lock. When I realized there was no such thing on the inside, only on the outside, I let out a sigh. There were four beds in the room, all single and pressed into each corner. There wasn't a big wardrobe or anything remotely similar, only eight drawers that I supposed we had to share. There was a door on the other side and when I inspected it, I found out it was a bathroom. It wasn't anything fancy, only a bath with a shower built in, a toilet and a sink. It was more than enough, I'd even bothered to fear that I'd have to go to the toilet in a small building outside. Apart from the bed in the far left corner, all of the others had possessions placed on top of them. One had a packet of cigarettes, which made me curl my lips into a frown, another baseball and strangely enough, the last had a comic book shoved onto it.

I shook my head quickly, telling myself that it was simply a strange place to be before walking forward. I placed my bag down onto my bed soon after, opening it up to collect my clothing and place them within a drawer. Due to the small amount that I'd brought with me, I didn't have to search for another one, simply leaving it free. When I'd reached into my bag again and grasped my tonfas, I debated about whether bringing them with me or not. I didn't have anywhere to place them on me, though; it was too hot to wear my jacket anymore that had the extra pockets sewed on the inside to stash them within. With a small click of my tongue, I placed within my draw, making sure my shirts covered them so my roommates wouldn't get any suspicions. I didn't know what kind of people they were yet and the way my luck had been going that day, I was suspecting they were the worst kind.

When all my possessions were placed away quickly and I'd splashed water on my face inside the bathroom and brushed my wet bangs out of my face, I perched myself on the end of my bed and breathed a sigh of relief. There were a few options for what I could do at that moment, but none of them seemed appealing. I could have looked around the site some more and found out where the areas that were empty most of the time were, but that meant I had to walk between groups of people to see where I was going. There was a chance I'd meet more counsellors as well that would've made me groan aloud.

My index finger and thumb was pressed against the bridge of my nose when I heard the door opening. I didn't bother looking up to see who it was; I wasn't particularly interested to see who I was rooming with, they were bound to only get on my nerves most of the time.

"Oh no," I heard a male mumble. "Kyoko-chan's going to kill me."

You're kidding me, I thought incredulously. He sounds too feminine to be here. The male's voice had risen in volume as he stepped inside; closing the door behind him before saying he was going to be killed. It was far too high pitched to be a male over fourteen.

"What am I-A-ah!" he squawked. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

I pressed down harder into my nose, attempting to ignore his presence. He was still high pitched even when he was apologizing.

"You must be Hibari-san," he announced. "I thought you were coming yesterday."

At least there's an honorific this time, I pointed out inside of my mind. I let my hand fall down onto my lap as I turned my head slowly, looking to see who exactly the boy was. I was surprised to see someone who probably only came up to my chest with large brown hair, clumps of it sticking out in random directions looking as though he hadn't even attempted to tame it. His eyes were large whilst his irides were a shade of brown, deep but not as expressive as Dino's had been earlier. The male was clenching his hands together in front of his, looking at me with his mouth open a small amount. His attire was simple; an orange shirt with the number twenty-seven written across it whilst his shorts were white.

"I-I'm Tsuna," he stuttered.

"Hn," I greeted him lowly before turning around again, choosing to stretch my arms out in front of me.

After a few minutes of an awkward silence, Tsuna asked a question. "This is your first time here, isn't it?"

If it wasn't my first time, I would've been worried. Who would come back here willingly?

"I'm sure you'll like it here, Hibari-san," he exclaimed. "I can show you around if you need help."

Finally, my irritations were too much for me to handle. It was annoying me to no end that anyone I'd came across that day was being far too familiar with me, openly starting a conversation despite the fact I was clearly emitting a disapproving aura. Curling my right hand into a fist-the one that was pressed against my bed-I turned around to face the brunet with a scowl etched across my lips.

"Leave me alone," I snapped. "I don't need your help."

He reacted as though I'd thrown cold water over him, jerking away from me and slamming his back against the door. The small thud echoed through the silent room, making the atmosphere even more awkward from the shocked expression that was on his face.

"I-I was only-"

My voice became lower without me attempting to make it so. "Get out," I hissed.

A small squeak escaped his lips before he thrust the door open, slamming it behind him before he walked away. I peered through the window in time to see him walking away, moving towards the two males that were perched on the peer still.

I let my body fall back onto the mattress, releasing a sigh as I realized that things could only go downhill from that point. I'd already had a counsellor that was far too familiar with me, even having the nerve to kiss my cheek before saying goodbye and then my first roommate turned out to look like a scared mouse.

"Perfect," I muttered sarcastically.