[Reborn!] - Waltz
Title: Waltz
Fandom: Katekyou hitman Reborn
Pairings: Dino/Squalo and just a little wee bit of hinted 1827.
Rating: PG-13
Dino tried not to look at the grotesque posture of the beaten up Daisy lying lifeless on the ground with untold amount of blood tainting the ground his young disciple held dear. He had long since stopped bleeding and his heartbeat returned closer to normal now that one of the Funeral Wreaths was down. Knowing Tsuna and the others were unharmed calmed him down somewhat, but there was still a small nagging feeling that tugged incessantly at his heartstrings, slowly bringing him back to the state of mild panic.
He received nothing from the headquarters. He didn’t even know how badly damaged the hideout was, but if the explosion they heard all the way from Namimori Middle School was an indication of something, it would be a significant hint of the hideout’s probable total destruction.
The hideout Tsuna spent hours upon hours working his brain through the planning and organisation of strategies. Dino remembered Tsuna arguing with Xanxus about the estimated total cost of construction, with Squalo and Gokudera stuck in the middle listening to the bickering bosses.
Squalo.
One of Dino’s hands flew abruptly to his chest as if to stop the sudden twinge of pain in his heart; to stop whatever it was from pulling and twisting and pricking at his nerves, bringing cold sweat to his forehead wrinkled in thought. A part of him believed that Squalo was still alive while the other was convinced they had lost the Sword Emperor. Although Dino was an optimist, his mind didn’t seem to agree when it was under the influence of his feelings. Dino found himself asking hundreds and thousands of questions in his head - questions he knew would never be answered.
Twenty years. Over twenty years had passed since he first met Squalo. Over twenty years had they known each other, but not even half of them were spent the way Dino would have loved them to. The bond they developed in their school days was almost severed when Xanxus came into the picture, communications limited to unanswered phone calls and business meetings. It was only after the Ring Battle that they started having real conversations again, sometimes spending time outs at quiet ends of some coffee houses. Occasional ghostly brush of hands as they walked pass each other, eyes filled with suppressed longing and nostalgia, watching each other’s back as the Cavallones worked together with the Varias on missions, making phonecalls only to hang up after the first sound of greeting they got on the other end of the line - it was like a pointless, nameless dance in which both of them glided across the dance floor but never meeting each other, only passing by.
He wanted to run. He wanted to run back to the base as fast as he could. He wanted to just leave this gory post-battle scene and see with his own eyes if Squalo was still alive as he had been trying to convince himself from the moment he heard of the man’s defeat. Sighing in frustration, Dino started chewing his lips only to accidentally bite it in surprise when a cold voice ten years younger than the one he was familiar with addressed him monotonously.
“Why are you still here if you’re that worried about that guy? Don’t even try to use your injury as an excuse.”
Licking the bruised lips, Dino blinked up at the boy leaning against the wall, looking down at him with bored eyes. He was almost sure that he was hearing things. Kyouya noticing something about another human being was something extremely rare, but then again, the boy was an embodiment of standing, living mystery although Dino was genuinely surprised that the boy knew specifically who he was thinking about. He wondered if the Kyouya he knew from this era knew about it too.
Dino chuckled well naturedly, wincing at the slight prickling of pain coiling in his stomach at the small action. “Well, yeah, I’m worried about Squalo, but a kid like you needs an adult’s supervision. I’d be the one responsible if my charge suddenly goes missing.”
Where other people would normally roll their eyes, Hibari closed his eyes in annoyance. “I’m not a child.”
“Haha, is that short for ‘get the hell out of my sight already’, Kyouya? You really are such a kid.”
In a split second, Hibari retrieved his tonfa and pointed it at Dino, who immediately held up his hand in defeat.
“I get it, I get it. Geez, would it hurt to be a little bit kinder to an old man?”
“I don’t care.”
Sighing, Dino signaled for Romario to help him on his feet. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel too painful for him to stand. The fluttering anxiety curling somewhere in his chest was a hundred times more painful than any other physical pain.
“You’ll manage on your own, right? And listen to Kusakabe before you do anything. I’m telling you once again that he knows what’s going on more than you do, no arguing about that.”
A snort was all Dino received for an answer. As expected. As he prepared to leave with Romario, he decided he would just play one last card against his haughty young disciple who still thought only of himself. It was amazing how the boy would manage to mellow out slightly as he grew into the role of a real Vongola Guardian worthy of standing by their precious Tsuna’s side.
Dino grinned widely before he spoke, making sure to inject a hint of mirth into his voice. “You should hurry to Tsuna’s side too. You know you’d hate to make him worry for too long.”
Hibari’s eyes widened considerably at the blatant hints behind Dino’s words. The reaction was enough to tickle laughter out of his tutor. It was as if the man knew about the inner turmoil he was still struggling with at present. “You-- How-“
Dino threw his head back and laughed, ignoring the pain. “You forgot I’m now ten years older and that I know an older you as well. Besides, your eyes kept twitching to direction of Tsuna and the others when you stare blankly.”
“…Shut up.”
Dino’s eyes softened. These kids… They were all still so young, yet they were entrusted with this heavy task of fighting for the era they are not from. He reminded himself to pinch the older Tsuna’s cheeks like he would do to the Decimo’s younger self, for making a reckless decision on his own. He probably should try to elbow older Hibari’s head for being Tsuna’s accomplice too. Those kids…
Dino wondered what would happen to this future once they returned to their rightful time. Would he still become what he was at present, or would he be different? He wished he could switch places with his younger self. If he could only leave at least a short memo to his younger self… If he could only do a little bit of something to change the bits of his past that he still regretted even to this day. If he could change at least a small portion of his past, he wanted to end this silent, nameless dance he had with Squalo all these years and turn it into a magnificent ballroom waltz instead.
“Just go to him, okay? And take care.”
“Hn.”
Straightening himself against the pain, Dino started to run in the hideout’s direction, heart beating faster with every step he took.
Squalo. I promise I’d put an end to this dance with my own hands, so don’t die!
~End?
End Note: I love brotherly interactions between Dino, Hibari and all the young characters. My Dino is mostly always an older brother figure, because that’s how I like him to be (minus the occasional D27 and D59 that I write *_*). Thank you for reading :)
p.s/You know… I actually have a 10p+ assignment to submit in less than 28 hours, but what the heck XD
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