FIC: KHR! - *Heroes not Included - Part I ~ Chapter 7
Title: *Heroes not Included
Part I: No Replacements, No Refunds
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Pairing: 1859 - Hibari/Gokudera
Genre: Humour, case fic, AU
Rating: PG-13 (For some violence courtesy of the Varia.)
Word count: overall ~ 24,500 | Chapter 7: ~ 2,780
Chapters (click to jump to): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
~Part I~
No Replacements, No Refunds
Gokudera woke up with a thrumming headache and to the realisation that his wrists were bound together above his head. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and winced when his joints complained about the sudden movement. He was sitting on a plain concrete floor in a room that felt distinctly bigger than the portion of it that he could see. The only source of light was a lamp that had obviously seen better days - about twenty years ago.
"Voooi! He's awake!" Squalo was just inches from Gokudera's ear - which meant that he was going to be deaf on his right side for the next couple of days.
Gokudera grimaced and shot the long-haired Italian a disapproving glare. "Hey, Squalo."
"About time you woke up!" Squalo presented him with a triumphant smile and stood up. They called him 'shark' and it might have had something to do with the sword he kept carrying around, but Gokudera was convinced that it was because of his grin. He was strangely pointy in every regard.
Gokudera cast a look around and to his horror he found Xanxus lounging about in an armchair right across from him. The man was barely illuminated by the single lamp but it didn't take much to imagine the expression on his face. Gokudera could only guess as to where the rest of the Varia were. Best not to think about it too much, though.
"So," Gokudera wiggled until he was sitting up straight, which also had the convenient side-effect of bringing more space between Xanxus and him, "what the fuck is this about? Couldn't wait for Sunday?"
Squalo gave an eardrum-perforating laugh while Xanxus simply continued to stare at him. "Vooooi! The dimwit thinks we would have actually met with him!"
Gokudera was a tad confused at that. Of course he'd thought that the Varia would meet with him. After all, he was offering something that would certainly be of interest to them. Except if...
"We needed someone to keep the authorities off our backs for a while," Squalo smirked, casually positioning himself right next to Xanxus, "and you did a pretty good job, I'll give you that."
Gokudera's heart sank to the bottomless pits of resignation. He was really doing a fucking excellent job at giving everybody what they wanted. He let his head fall back to rest against the rough concrete and couldn't help but give a scratchy, broken laugh. "So you knew about me all along."
"Sure," Squalo shrugged, "but don't worry about your FBI buddies. They're not going to find you any time soon."
He fumbled for something in his coat and then tossed the item over to Gokudera. The anklet clattered onto the floor. The little red light that usually indicated it was sending data had died down. It looked like the sad remains of a disassembled robot.
"We cut it off while you were out cold," Squalo explained. He was probably thinking that Gokudera would be scared shitless now that he knew nobody was coming. And he was damned right. Depending on where the transmitter had last been active the FBI could be searching for him anywhere between here and the Himalayas. But Gokudera refused to believe that the Varia had gone through all this trouble just to kill him. So he played the only card he had left.
"What a brilliant move, Einstein. Now, is there a point to any of this?"
"What have you got to offer?" It wasn't Squalo's sonic-barrier-breaching voice this time. Gokudera shivered at the sound of Xanxus' deep rumble. It felt like the forebodings of an earthquake. No amount of time spent with the Varia would ever make him get used to that.
Gokudera took a deep breath and headed off into the proverbial lion's den. "I know where they're keeping your birth certificate."
That was the magic word. Xanxus slowly rose from his chair and walked over to Gokudera, planting one boot-clad foot firmly on Gokudera's stomach - one push and Gokudera would have to stick to a liquid diet for the rest of his life.
"Where is it?" Xanxus growled, his shadow lingering on Gokudera like a mystical beast straight from the depths of Hell. The heel of Xanxus' boot was painfully digging into Gokudera's abdomen.
"I can tell you," Gokudera winced but if there was one thing you didn't show around these people it was fear. They lapped it up like bloodhounds, "but I want something in return."
Gokudera met Xanxus' fiery gaze head-on. All that practice with Hibari was paying off.
"What do you want, scum?"
"The take from the robbery," breathing was getting more and more difficult as Xanxus' foot was weighing him down, "there was a document. A last will. I want to see it."
Xanxus frowned, "What's so important about that piece of garbage?"
"That's none of your business." Gokudera spat but he regretted it seconds later. The massive sole of Xanxus' shoe connected with his stomach, sending Gokudera's senses spinning out of control. He spent the next few minutes coughing and trying to curl in on himself. His bound wrists prevented him from doing much more than squirming under Xanxus' heel. Not far to his left he heard Bel's spiteful laughter.
"Make it my business, trash." Xanxus' expression changed but to call it a smile would have been an insult to all the smiles in the world. It was more like a death omen.
"It's...," he hesitated, searching for a safe way to put it, "there's some information in there that I need."
"Information about what?"
"About a-," Gokudera never finished that sentence. Squalo's shout ripped through the air and suddenly the entire room drowned in chaos. Xanxus spun around, probably trying to determine how many intruders they were up against. Knives were whirling through the air like deadly hornets, throwing sparks where they recoiled from solid stone. Squalo's sword was flashing repeatedly in the dim light of the lamp, seemingly fighting nothing but shadow.
There was only one person who could catch the Varia off guard like this.
"H-Hibari?" Gokudera peered into the dark. He got his answer when Squalo's screams stopped abruptly and his limp body slithered into the pool of light, knocking over the lamp. Come to think of it, the crazy shishishi's had ceased as well.
Gokudera and Xanxus both stared at the tall young man stepping into the light. Strangely, neither of them was relieved to see him.
"Hibari!" Gokudera exclaimed, "How did you-"
"I followed you," Hibari didn't take his eyes off Xanxus, "you there. You killed two of my men."
Xanxus shrugged, "And you killed two of mine. What of it?"
Hibari looked down at Squalo's unmoving body and shook his head, "They're not dead. It would be bothersome if I killed any of you. Too much paperwork."
Xanxus blinked in bewilderment for a moment and then burst into laughter, "Paperwork, huh? How about I give you something to report?"
Gokudera stilled completely at the click of the safety catch. When he turned his head he was staring straight down the barrel of Xanxus' gun.
"Please tell me you brought a gun, Hibari." Gokudera swallowed but he knew he was pleading to the wrong man. Hibari never carried any weaponry besides his beloved tonfa.
"No." Hibari replied, seemingly perplexed by the mere suggestion.
"When this is over we so need to have a talk about what to say in a situation like this and what to keep to yourself."
"You mean if you get out of here alive," Xanxus growled, "any last words, trash?"
"Yeah." Gokudera scowled, "Threatening to shoot me won't do you any good anyway."
"And why's that?" Xanxus smirked, bemused.
"Because he doesn't like me enough." He said testily. He didn't even have to act for that. He was miffed. For one, Hibari's Superman attitude had blown Gokudera's chances of seeing Krejcik's last will to pieces. And if that wasn't enough there was also the issue of the kissing and Gokudera's graceless exit from Hibari's house. All of it combined could hopefully be used to distract Xanxus long enough to make sure that none of them died. It was cheap and promised to end in disaster but it was all they had.
Gokudera finally locked gazes with Hibari, who looked slightly confused.
"I thought I had made myself perfectly clear?" Hibari mused.
"You threw me out!"
"I kissed you."
"Yeah, and then you threw me out!"
"You said it yourself, it's against the rules."
"You didn't need to agree with me, for cryin' out loud!" Gokudera risked a glance at Xanxus. The Varia leader was torn between laughing his ass off and shooting the both of them.
"What would you have me do then?" Hibari was apparently beginning to catch on, if the knowing glint in his eyes wasn’t a figment of Gokudera’s imagination.
"I don't know," Gokudera huffed, "you could have told me it doesn't matter. Shit, you could have told me anything. Anything would have been better than throwing me out of your house, dammit!"
"But it would have been a lie."
"So what? At least you wouldn't have-"
The shot was loud enough to wake the dead. Plaster was drizzling from the ceiling onto Xanxus' raised arm, "Shut the fuck up, you two scumbags!"
The second shot was accidental and only fired because the gun was knocked out of Xanxus' hand by a tonfa whirring through the air. Xanxus cursed, stumbling backwards and sporting a hand with at least one broken finger. Cheap didn't always mean ineffective.
"You bastard!" Xanxus roared, his wrath sizzling around him like an aura. He was ready to charge, reaching for his second gun but Hibari was faster. He sent the man tumbling with a hit to his stomach but Xanxus was quicker to regain his composure than most opponents. He caught Hibari's bare fist in his own and forced the agent's arm into a position that practically reeked of cracked bones.
That was the last Gokudera saw of them because his attention was drawn to a certain silver-haired minion who was waking from his involuntary slumber. Squalo caught sight of the fighting men and snarled, scrambling up from the floor. He grinned victoriously when he rushed forward with his sword raised to strike. He didn't count on having his kneecap relocated.
Gokudera put all his disappointment and rage into that one kick. It left Squalo squirming on the ground, howling and clutching his left knee.
"That's for punching me, asshole." Gokudera added triumphantly but he doubted Squalo currently gave a damn. Gokudera risked a look around but the far corners of the room were shrouded in darkness. He could hear the two opponents exchanging blows somewhere to his right. A crushing sound indicated that one of them had just left a lasting mark on the wall.
While everybody was either busy crawling on the floor or fighting to the death Gokudera tried to worm his way out of his bonds. He didn't know how far behind Hibari's backup was or if he'd even bothered to call any, but somebody needed to make sure that all the bad guys stayed knocked out. And the remaining Varia members hadn't shown up yet either - which didn't mean they were not around. Gokudera prayed that they had already had an unfortunate encounter with Hibari on his way down here, but better safe than sorry.
Gokudera's wrists were bound with tape and it cut into his skin as he twisted it this way and that to free himself. Eventually the plastic loosened enough for his hand to squeeze through. One quick look at Squalo assured him that the long-haired Italian was no immediate threat. Gokudera staggered up to search for Bel.
He didn't need to go far.
A dagger soared past him, ripping an ugly cut into the left arm of his shirt. Gokudera hissed in pain and whirled around, using his momentum to uppercut the everloving fuck out of the charging princeling. Bel stumbled away from him with an oddly happy grin on his face and hit the floor in an awkward tangle of limbs. Gokudera beamed. "Fucker. Try to laugh at th-"
It was only then that Gokudera noticed the small dart sticking out of Bel's neck - and the men in tactical gear pouring in through the door. Red dots were swarming along the walls like fireflies.
Kusakabe emerged from the dark and came running up to him. "Everything alright?"
Gokudera snorted, a little disheartened that he wasn't the one to deliver the final blow which had knocked Bel out. "Depends on who you're referring to. Where are the others? There should be three more Varia idiots sneaking around here somewhere."
The agent nodded. "We found them outside, all of them unconscious and handcuffed to each other."
Gokudera tried to picture that and grinned. "Trust me when I say they deserved it."
Kusakabe gave a short laugh that sounded as if he'd rather not ask. He quickly excused himself and hurried towards the other end of the room where Xanxus was still promising Hibari a slow and painful death. Hibari, as usual, said nothing and just kept on frustrating Xanxus by refusing to die in any way at all.
Gokudera couldn't hide a smirk when several SWAT members were trying to drive the two men apart. Xanxus continued to thrash even as no less than five men were holding him down. Hibari only backed off when Kusakabe jumped in his way, imploring his boss to stop. Hibari was not particularly happy but he obliged, briskly striding away from the mess.
The smile disappeared from Gokudera's face as Hibari walked in his direction. He was stuck in a vicious circle - one part of him was angry that Hibari had turned up so soon, another was grateful and yet another was pissed because he couldn't just tell the agent why he was upset. All in all he was basically mad at everything and nothing.
He tried to avoid any potentially unpleasant conversations by turning around and pretending to be on the look-out for a medic to take care of the cut on his arm. But Hibari ignored the hint and stepped in front of him. His eyes briefly flickered to the bloodied shirt.
"I'll live." Gokudera grumbled, clutching his arm and trying to sidestep the agent. Behind them they were still working to get Xanxus under control - a futile undertaking.
Hibari gave him a somewhat bewildered look but didn't allow him to pass. "You're angry."
"No," Gokudera glowered, "what makes you think that? I'm terrific. Never been better."
"Would you rather I had let them torture you some more?" There was a tiny smile tugging at the edges of Hibari's mouth. He was not taking Gokudera seriously and nobody could blame him for it. Gokudera knew that it looked stupid to be all peeved when he'd just been saved. He probably would have reacted the same way had he not had all the facts together.
Gokudera poked a blood-red finger at Hibari's chest, successfully soiling the spotless shirt. Considering that Hibari had just gone through twelve rounds of death match with Xanxus it was a miracle that his outfit was still intact. Hibari gave the word 'untouchable' a whole new meaning.
"I would have been fine," he spat, "I was seconds away from having them hand over the entire take from the robbery to me."
"It looked different from my angle."
"I don't c-," Gokudera stopped abruptly when a shot disturbed the air. People were suddenly scrambling around and yelling and Gokudera thought for a moment that somebody had finally had it and just shot Xanxus. But then he felt something warm and sticky trickle down his back. At first it didn't really register but after a couple of seconds his entire back was on fire with scorching pain.
Gokudera stood there, his fingers slowly beginning to curl into a fist in Hibari's shirt. He couldn't remember breathing ever being that hard and he was pretty sure there was not supposed to be blood in his mouth. He barely noticed his legs giving out from under him but for some reason he didn't hit the ground. Unless the ground had recently transformed into a set of strong arms. He wasn't too sure if he was imagining that; or the irregularities in his heartbeat that was pounding in his ears.
He tried to remember why he'd been so furious but he couldn't. It was like swimming through a sea of jelly, everything was terribly slow and sticky. And then it was just black and nothing moved anymore.
~*~*~
Chapter 6 <-- Back to | On to --> Chapter 8
Part I: No Replacements, No Refunds
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Pairing: 1859 - Hibari/Gokudera
Genre: Humour, case fic, AU
Rating: PG-13 (For some violence courtesy of the Varia.)
Word count: overall ~ 24,500 | Chapter 7: ~ 2,780
Chapters (click to jump to): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
~Part I~
No Replacements, No Refunds
Gokudera woke up with a thrumming headache and to the realisation that his wrists were bound together above his head. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and winced when his joints complained about the sudden movement. He was sitting on a plain concrete floor in a room that felt distinctly bigger than the portion of it that he could see. The only source of light was a lamp that had obviously seen better days - about twenty years ago.
"Voooi! He's awake!" Squalo was just inches from Gokudera's ear - which meant that he was going to be deaf on his right side for the next couple of days.
Gokudera grimaced and shot the long-haired Italian a disapproving glare. "Hey, Squalo."
"About time you woke up!" Squalo presented him with a triumphant smile and stood up. They called him 'shark' and it might have had something to do with the sword he kept carrying around, but Gokudera was convinced that it was because of his grin. He was strangely pointy in every regard.
Gokudera cast a look around and to his horror he found Xanxus lounging about in an armchair right across from him. The man was barely illuminated by the single lamp but it didn't take much to imagine the expression on his face. Gokudera could only guess as to where the rest of the Varia were. Best not to think about it too much, though.
"So," Gokudera wiggled until he was sitting up straight, which also had the convenient side-effect of bringing more space between Xanxus and him, "what the fuck is this about? Couldn't wait for Sunday?"
Squalo gave an eardrum-perforating laugh while Xanxus simply continued to stare at him. "Vooooi! The dimwit thinks we would have actually met with him!"
Gokudera was a tad confused at that. Of course he'd thought that the Varia would meet with him. After all, he was offering something that would certainly be of interest to them. Except if...
"We needed someone to keep the authorities off our backs for a while," Squalo smirked, casually positioning himself right next to Xanxus, "and you did a pretty good job, I'll give you that."
Gokudera's heart sank to the bottomless pits of resignation. He was really doing a fucking excellent job at giving everybody what they wanted. He let his head fall back to rest against the rough concrete and couldn't help but give a scratchy, broken laugh. "So you knew about me all along."
"Sure," Squalo shrugged, "but don't worry about your FBI buddies. They're not going to find you any time soon."
He fumbled for something in his coat and then tossed the item over to Gokudera. The anklet clattered onto the floor. The little red light that usually indicated it was sending data had died down. It looked like the sad remains of a disassembled robot.
"We cut it off while you were out cold," Squalo explained. He was probably thinking that Gokudera would be scared shitless now that he knew nobody was coming. And he was damned right. Depending on where the transmitter had last been active the FBI could be searching for him anywhere between here and the Himalayas. But Gokudera refused to believe that the Varia had gone through all this trouble just to kill him. So he played the only card he had left.
"What a brilliant move, Einstein. Now, is there a point to any of this?"
"What have you got to offer?" It wasn't Squalo's sonic-barrier-breaching voice this time. Gokudera shivered at the sound of Xanxus' deep rumble. It felt like the forebodings of an earthquake. No amount of time spent with the Varia would ever make him get used to that.
Gokudera took a deep breath and headed off into the proverbial lion's den. "I know where they're keeping your birth certificate."
That was the magic word. Xanxus slowly rose from his chair and walked over to Gokudera, planting one boot-clad foot firmly on Gokudera's stomach - one push and Gokudera would have to stick to a liquid diet for the rest of his life.
"Where is it?" Xanxus growled, his shadow lingering on Gokudera like a mystical beast straight from the depths of Hell. The heel of Xanxus' boot was painfully digging into Gokudera's abdomen.
"I can tell you," Gokudera winced but if there was one thing you didn't show around these people it was fear. They lapped it up like bloodhounds, "but I want something in return."
Gokudera met Xanxus' fiery gaze head-on. All that practice with Hibari was paying off.
"What do you want, scum?"
"The take from the robbery," breathing was getting more and more difficult as Xanxus' foot was weighing him down, "there was a document. A last will. I want to see it."
Xanxus frowned, "What's so important about that piece of garbage?"
"That's none of your business." Gokudera spat but he regretted it seconds later. The massive sole of Xanxus' shoe connected with his stomach, sending Gokudera's senses spinning out of control. He spent the next few minutes coughing and trying to curl in on himself. His bound wrists prevented him from doing much more than squirming under Xanxus' heel. Not far to his left he heard Bel's spiteful laughter.
"Make it my business, trash." Xanxus' expression changed but to call it a smile would have been an insult to all the smiles in the world. It was more like a death omen.
"It's...," he hesitated, searching for a safe way to put it, "there's some information in there that I need."
"Information about what?"
"About a-," Gokudera never finished that sentence. Squalo's shout ripped through the air and suddenly the entire room drowned in chaos. Xanxus spun around, probably trying to determine how many intruders they were up against. Knives were whirling through the air like deadly hornets, throwing sparks where they recoiled from solid stone. Squalo's sword was flashing repeatedly in the dim light of the lamp, seemingly fighting nothing but shadow.
There was only one person who could catch the Varia off guard like this.
"H-Hibari?" Gokudera peered into the dark. He got his answer when Squalo's screams stopped abruptly and his limp body slithered into the pool of light, knocking over the lamp. Come to think of it, the crazy shishishi's had ceased as well.
Gokudera and Xanxus both stared at the tall young man stepping into the light. Strangely, neither of them was relieved to see him.
"Hibari!" Gokudera exclaimed, "How did you-"
"I followed you," Hibari didn't take his eyes off Xanxus, "you there. You killed two of my men."
Xanxus shrugged, "And you killed two of mine. What of it?"
Hibari looked down at Squalo's unmoving body and shook his head, "They're not dead. It would be bothersome if I killed any of you. Too much paperwork."
Xanxus blinked in bewilderment for a moment and then burst into laughter, "Paperwork, huh? How about I give you something to report?"
Gokudera stilled completely at the click of the safety catch. When he turned his head he was staring straight down the barrel of Xanxus' gun.
"Please tell me you brought a gun, Hibari." Gokudera swallowed but he knew he was pleading to the wrong man. Hibari never carried any weaponry besides his beloved tonfa.
"No." Hibari replied, seemingly perplexed by the mere suggestion.
"When this is over we so need to have a talk about what to say in a situation like this and what to keep to yourself."
"You mean if you get out of here alive," Xanxus growled, "any last words, trash?"
"Yeah." Gokudera scowled, "Threatening to shoot me won't do you any good anyway."
"And why's that?" Xanxus smirked, bemused.
"Because he doesn't like me enough." He said testily. He didn't even have to act for that. He was miffed. For one, Hibari's Superman attitude had blown Gokudera's chances of seeing Krejcik's last will to pieces. And if that wasn't enough there was also the issue of the kissing and Gokudera's graceless exit from Hibari's house. All of it combined could hopefully be used to distract Xanxus long enough to make sure that none of them died. It was cheap and promised to end in disaster but it was all they had.
Gokudera finally locked gazes with Hibari, who looked slightly confused.
"I thought I had made myself perfectly clear?" Hibari mused.
"You threw me out!"
"I kissed you."
"Yeah, and then you threw me out!"
"You said it yourself, it's against the rules."
"You didn't need to agree with me, for cryin' out loud!" Gokudera risked a glance at Xanxus. The Varia leader was torn between laughing his ass off and shooting the both of them.
"What would you have me do then?" Hibari was apparently beginning to catch on, if the knowing glint in his eyes wasn’t a figment of Gokudera’s imagination.
"I don't know," Gokudera huffed, "you could have told me it doesn't matter. Shit, you could have told me anything. Anything would have been better than throwing me out of your house, dammit!"
"But it would have been a lie."
"So what? At least you wouldn't have-"
The shot was loud enough to wake the dead. Plaster was drizzling from the ceiling onto Xanxus' raised arm, "Shut the fuck up, you two scumbags!"
The second shot was accidental and only fired because the gun was knocked out of Xanxus' hand by a tonfa whirring through the air. Xanxus cursed, stumbling backwards and sporting a hand with at least one broken finger. Cheap didn't always mean ineffective.
"You bastard!" Xanxus roared, his wrath sizzling around him like an aura. He was ready to charge, reaching for his second gun but Hibari was faster. He sent the man tumbling with a hit to his stomach but Xanxus was quicker to regain his composure than most opponents. He caught Hibari's bare fist in his own and forced the agent's arm into a position that practically reeked of cracked bones.
That was the last Gokudera saw of them because his attention was drawn to a certain silver-haired minion who was waking from his involuntary slumber. Squalo caught sight of the fighting men and snarled, scrambling up from the floor. He grinned victoriously when he rushed forward with his sword raised to strike. He didn't count on having his kneecap relocated.
Gokudera put all his disappointment and rage into that one kick. It left Squalo squirming on the ground, howling and clutching his left knee.
"That's for punching me, asshole." Gokudera added triumphantly but he doubted Squalo currently gave a damn. Gokudera risked a look around but the far corners of the room were shrouded in darkness. He could hear the two opponents exchanging blows somewhere to his right. A crushing sound indicated that one of them had just left a lasting mark on the wall.
While everybody was either busy crawling on the floor or fighting to the death Gokudera tried to worm his way out of his bonds. He didn't know how far behind Hibari's backup was or if he'd even bothered to call any, but somebody needed to make sure that all the bad guys stayed knocked out. And the remaining Varia members hadn't shown up yet either - which didn't mean they were not around. Gokudera prayed that they had already had an unfortunate encounter with Hibari on his way down here, but better safe than sorry.
Gokudera's wrists were bound with tape and it cut into his skin as he twisted it this way and that to free himself. Eventually the plastic loosened enough for his hand to squeeze through. One quick look at Squalo assured him that the long-haired Italian was no immediate threat. Gokudera staggered up to search for Bel.
He didn't need to go far.
A dagger soared past him, ripping an ugly cut into the left arm of his shirt. Gokudera hissed in pain and whirled around, using his momentum to uppercut the everloving fuck out of the charging princeling. Bel stumbled away from him with an oddly happy grin on his face and hit the floor in an awkward tangle of limbs. Gokudera beamed. "Fucker. Try to laugh at th-"
It was only then that Gokudera noticed the small dart sticking out of Bel's neck - and the men in tactical gear pouring in through the door. Red dots were swarming along the walls like fireflies.
Kusakabe emerged from the dark and came running up to him. "Everything alright?"
Gokudera snorted, a little disheartened that he wasn't the one to deliver the final blow which had knocked Bel out. "Depends on who you're referring to. Where are the others? There should be three more Varia idiots sneaking around here somewhere."
The agent nodded. "We found them outside, all of them unconscious and handcuffed to each other."
Gokudera tried to picture that and grinned. "Trust me when I say they deserved it."
Kusakabe gave a short laugh that sounded as if he'd rather not ask. He quickly excused himself and hurried towards the other end of the room where Xanxus was still promising Hibari a slow and painful death. Hibari, as usual, said nothing and just kept on frustrating Xanxus by refusing to die in any way at all.
Gokudera couldn't hide a smirk when several SWAT members were trying to drive the two men apart. Xanxus continued to thrash even as no less than five men were holding him down. Hibari only backed off when Kusakabe jumped in his way, imploring his boss to stop. Hibari was not particularly happy but he obliged, briskly striding away from the mess.
The smile disappeared from Gokudera's face as Hibari walked in his direction. He was stuck in a vicious circle - one part of him was angry that Hibari had turned up so soon, another was grateful and yet another was pissed because he couldn't just tell the agent why he was upset. All in all he was basically mad at everything and nothing.
He tried to avoid any potentially unpleasant conversations by turning around and pretending to be on the look-out for a medic to take care of the cut on his arm. But Hibari ignored the hint and stepped in front of him. His eyes briefly flickered to the bloodied shirt.
"I'll live." Gokudera grumbled, clutching his arm and trying to sidestep the agent. Behind them they were still working to get Xanxus under control - a futile undertaking.
Hibari gave him a somewhat bewildered look but didn't allow him to pass. "You're angry."
"No," Gokudera glowered, "what makes you think that? I'm terrific. Never been better."
"Would you rather I had let them torture you some more?" There was a tiny smile tugging at the edges of Hibari's mouth. He was not taking Gokudera seriously and nobody could blame him for it. Gokudera knew that it looked stupid to be all peeved when he'd just been saved. He probably would have reacted the same way had he not had all the facts together.
Gokudera poked a blood-red finger at Hibari's chest, successfully soiling the spotless shirt. Considering that Hibari had just gone through twelve rounds of death match with Xanxus it was a miracle that his outfit was still intact. Hibari gave the word 'untouchable' a whole new meaning.
"I would have been fine," he spat, "I was seconds away from having them hand over the entire take from the robbery to me."
"It looked different from my angle."
"I don't c-," Gokudera stopped abruptly when a shot disturbed the air. People were suddenly scrambling around and yelling and Gokudera thought for a moment that somebody had finally had it and just shot Xanxus. But then he felt something warm and sticky trickle down his back. At first it didn't really register but after a couple of seconds his entire back was on fire with scorching pain.
Gokudera stood there, his fingers slowly beginning to curl into a fist in Hibari's shirt. He couldn't remember breathing ever being that hard and he was pretty sure there was not supposed to be blood in his mouth. He barely noticed his legs giving out from under him but for some reason he didn't hit the ground. Unless the ground had recently transformed into a set of strong arms. He wasn't too sure if he was imagining that; or the irregularities in his heartbeat that was pounding in his ears.
He tried to remember why he'd been so furious but he couldn't. It was like swimming through a sea of jelly, everything was terribly slow and sticky. And then it was just black and nothing moved anymore.
~*~*~
Chapter 6 <-- Back to | On to --> Chapter 8