[fic] A Job for the Right-Hand Man {1859 woo-hoo!}
serious... business? not quite PG-13, but you get the idea.
this is for mithas, who wanted hibagoku ages ago omfg, and for simply_kim who linked to a fun video that kind of spurred me on. thanks, guys ♥
A Job for the Right-Hand Man
Seventeen and far too serious, Gokudera Hayato took a deep breath before he entered Hibari Kyoya's sanctuary. He didn't want to look like he was actually nervous, because he'd thought this over until he just couldn't think anymore.
It was simply something that had to be done. That was what he told himself. That was what he was still telling himself while he closed the door behind him.
He had been hard at work coordinating with the architects and engineers affiliated with the Vongola family. It had not been an easy three months for him, designing an underground base similar to the one he remembered seeing only a few years into their future - and if he had learned anything from that experience, it was that he had no time to lose.
There was no better place for a secret base for the Vongola family than under Namimori integrated school. And there was no better time to build it than now, when the enemy was still plotting to topple the Vongola, without being aware of the unfair advantage the family's successors got by being shot ten years into the future.
In a flash Gokudera Hayato was forced to grow up, and in surviving the experience he understood way ahead of time the Sistema C.A.I., the way the guardian boxes worked, and most important of all - the need to be ready.
He voluntarily piled the responsibility to ensure the safety of the family onto his shoulders. It was his burden, dammit, no one else's. And no one knew that better, it seemed, than Reborn, who actually encouraged that line of thinking.
"You consider yourself Tsuna's right-hand man, don't you?" the three-year-old had asked point-blank. "Then you know what you should do. Spare him as much as you can. Attend to the important things he won't be able to deal with on his own."
So Gokudera took a deep breath, entered the door, closed the door behind him, and ended up facing one of the worst things he'd ever had to face alone.
Hibari Kyoya.
Head of the Prefects of Namimori integrated school, the eighteen-year-old feared even by teachers and the whole damn city's militia, he was in charge of anything and everything that had to do with the school.
He was infamous for his aloof and completely selfish nature. And right now Gokudera Hayato had to talk to him. To try to bargain for permission to mess with his property.
As expected, Hibari wasn't amiable about it at all. He might have been toying with Gokudera by giving him the once-over quite a few times while they were discussing the matter, and by never inviting Gokudera to sit down in the course of their conversation.
As a result, Gokudera stood in front of the seated high school senior, feeling completely naked and abandoned by the world, but trying hard not to show it.
"How much of the land are you planning to use up, again?" Hibari asked languidly, barely stifling a yawn.
Gokudera swallowed. "All of it," he attempted, "would be ideal."
There was no reply for a long while. Gokudera felt himself losing patience. But he had to be mature, he reminded himself, he had to be formal, deferential, because he wasn't the only one who stood to lose anything if he mucked this up -
"You really think it's that easy, don't you?" Hibari challenged. "You think I'm just going to hand over the entire school to you? That I'm just going to let you desecrate it?"
"Desecrate it?? What are you talking about? It's all going to be underground, you stubborn son of a -" Down. Down, boy. He took another deep breath and composed himself. Must not forget his mission. "I make this request on behalf of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Tenth Boss - "
"Then go back and tell the Tenth Boss," Hibari said as nonchalantly as ever, "your request is denied."
There was no way around it. Let it not be said, ever, that Gokudera Hayato was not someone who did not think things through. He expected this would happen.
That was how he found it somewhere inside himself to bend his knees.
And to touch his knees to the floor.
"Please," he said in the most polite tone he could muster with bile rising up his throat, "I'm begging you."
His head was bowed down low. He wasn't able to see the smirk on Hibari Kyoya's face, wasn't able to watch Hibari pick up one of the pair of tonfa that lay on the desk nearest to him. But it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen.
Gokudera clenched his fists tight. He'd even thought of this. He wasn't expecting to walk away from this without a scar. Or several.
The tonfa slid under his chin and tilted his head back. Gokudera found himself staring straight into the eyes of the Cloud guardian.
He didn't dare flinch.
"Who would have guessed," Hibari remarked in a predatory whisper. "Begging suits you."
Gokudera set his jaws and steeled himself from the coming assault. Hibari might go for the eyes - he was that type. Or, given the way that weapon was positioned, a single blow to the windpipe that would knock him out cold or worse.
But Hibari did nothing of the sort.
The tonfa slid off, and Hibari stood, walked back to his desk. Gokudera watched him, puzzled, but not ready to let his guard down just yet.
Hibari slumped onto the lounge chair at the center of the room - without putting down his weapon, Gokudera noticed. This definitely did not mean things were going his way.
"You may think of me as part of your little 'family' and I may have played your games because they interested me. But your 'family' can't take from me what I won't give away." He started swinging the tonfa lazily off the edge of the armrest. "And I never give anything away. You need to offer something in exchange."
"Anything!" Whoops. Did that come out too eager/angry? Gokudera pulled himself up and toned his voice down a little. "If it's within my power, you can have it."
Again with that smirk. Gokudera wondered what exactly he was doing that caused so much amusement in that twisted little head...
"Oh it is definitely within your power," Hibari said, with a touch of something Gokudera couldn't pinpoint at the moment. "We can organize a series of payments. One area of land in exchange for the things I will specify. If you hold up your end of the bargain, you'll eventually end up with exactly what you wanted. On the other hand..."
He stopped swinging the tonfa and looked straight at Gokudera.
"If you deny me anything, or overstep your bounds, the deal is off. All of it. I will destroy what you have built and make certain you and your little herbivore friends can never defile these grounds again."
What the hell, Gokudera said to himself - was Hibari actually leaving an opening for him? So he didn't want to give the place up, but he was willing to trade?
It was turning out better than Gokudera expected. Frankly, what he had expected was a flat-out, angry, violent NO. The Vongola could take the land by force, but Gokudera was sure Tsuna wouldn't want that much blood on his hands (not to mention it would mean infighting in the family, which would mean Tsuna having to mediate, and wasn't the whole point of this meeting to spare Tsuna the trouble?). They could also try to find a better location, but Namimori integrated school was at a strategic center - there was, logistically speaking, no such thing as a better location.
"How will I know," he ventured, "that you'll keep your end of the bargain?"
A grunt escaped Hibari. Apparently Gokudera had just leveled up in "amusing."
"You won't. All you have is my word. But as you may have seen these past few years, Gokudera Hayato, my word is law where you're kneeling."
All right, Gokudera told himself, this was the best possible place he could maneuver himself into. He got to his feet (taking a moment to wonder exactly why he never thought of doing it earlier).
"Your terms seem fair." Formal clearly worked, so he decided to go all the way with formal. "In what currency would you like your payment? How would you like it delivered to you?"
"You misunderstand. I never said anything about money." Hibari started tapping his tonfa against the palm of his open hand. "An underground facility, you say? Then I suppose the open courts at the back of the complex would be the most valuable commodity here. It's a good place for a discreet exit/entrance, don't you agree?"
Gokudera blinked. The open courts were exactly where he had wanted to start building. Had Hibari somehow gotten information about the construction plans? But Gokudera was drafting them in Italy. He was speaking to architects and engineers in Italian.
Composing himself, he replied, "The open courts are fine. Of course I assume you mean all four of them..."
"No. Just the two farthest from the classrooms." Hibari shrugged. "From there, I'll gauge how fast your people work and adjust my terms accordingly. I wouldn't want to be careless and place myself on the losing end of this deal."
It wasn't a total loss: two of the open courts alone would be a good start. Gokudera could finish building on it overnight. And an adjustable payment scheme may not be all that bad.
Something was still bugging him.
"So tell me," he carefully began, suddenly aware all over again that no one knew he was here, nobody would find his corpse if he poked the Cloud guardian the wrong way. "If you don't want money, what is it that you want?"
That smirk had reached new dimensions of creepy, Gokudera had to admit to himself. "I will require you to personally perform certain tasks for me. They may be difficult for you, but it is not my concern. You are the official representative of the Tenth Boss, aren't you?"
Inside, Gokudera winced. Way to make it sound like he was going to betray the family if he was going to botch this.
Seventeen and much too naive.
"Yes. I am. So we have a deal?"
"We can finalize it right here, right now, between the two of us. You can start work on the farthest two open courts as early as sunrise tomorrow."
"Acceptable. What are your terms?"
"First," Hibari began, pointing with his tonfa, "take off your shirt."
this is for mithas, who wanted hibagoku ages ago omfg, and for simply_kim who linked to a fun video that kind of spurred me on. thanks, guys ♥
A Job for the Right-Hand Man
Seventeen and far too serious, Gokudera Hayato took a deep breath before he entered Hibari Kyoya's sanctuary. He didn't want to look like he was actually nervous, because he'd thought this over until he just couldn't think anymore.
It was simply something that had to be done. That was what he told himself. That was what he was still telling himself while he closed the door behind him.
He had been hard at work coordinating with the architects and engineers affiliated with the Vongola family. It had not been an easy three months for him, designing an underground base similar to the one he remembered seeing only a few years into their future - and if he had learned anything from that experience, it was that he had no time to lose.
There was no better place for a secret base for the Vongola family than under Namimori integrated school. And there was no better time to build it than now, when the enemy was still plotting to topple the Vongola, without being aware of the unfair advantage the family's successors got by being shot ten years into the future.
In a flash Gokudera Hayato was forced to grow up, and in surviving the experience he understood way ahead of time the Sistema C.A.I., the way the guardian boxes worked, and most important of all - the need to be ready.
He voluntarily piled the responsibility to ensure the safety of the family onto his shoulders. It was his burden, dammit, no one else's. And no one knew that better, it seemed, than Reborn, who actually encouraged that line of thinking.
"You consider yourself Tsuna's right-hand man, don't you?" the three-year-old had asked point-blank. "Then you know what you should do. Spare him as much as you can. Attend to the important things he won't be able to deal with on his own."
So Gokudera took a deep breath, entered the door, closed the door behind him, and ended up facing one of the worst things he'd ever had to face alone.
Hibari Kyoya.
Head of the Prefects of Namimori integrated school, the eighteen-year-old feared even by teachers and the whole damn city's militia, he was in charge of anything and everything that had to do with the school.
He was infamous for his aloof and completely selfish nature. And right now Gokudera Hayato had to talk to him. To try to bargain for permission to mess with his property.
As expected, Hibari wasn't amiable about it at all. He might have been toying with Gokudera by giving him the once-over quite a few times while they were discussing the matter, and by never inviting Gokudera to sit down in the course of their conversation.
As a result, Gokudera stood in front of the seated high school senior, feeling completely naked and abandoned by the world, but trying hard not to show it.
"How much of the land are you planning to use up, again?" Hibari asked languidly, barely stifling a yawn.
Gokudera swallowed. "All of it," he attempted, "would be ideal."
There was no reply for a long while. Gokudera felt himself losing patience. But he had to be mature, he reminded himself, he had to be formal, deferential, because he wasn't the only one who stood to lose anything if he mucked this up -
"You really think it's that easy, don't you?" Hibari challenged. "You think I'm just going to hand over the entire school to you? That I'm just going to let you desecrate it?"
"Desecrate it?? What are you talking about? It's all going to be underground, you stubborn son of a -" Down. Down, boy. He took another deep breath and composed himself. Must not forget his mission. "I make this request on behalf of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Tenth Boss - "
"Then go back and tell the Tenth Boss," Hibari said as nonchalantly as ever, "your request is denied."
There was no way around it. Let it not be said, ever, that Gokudera Hayato was not someone who did not think things through. He expected this would happen.
That was how he found it somewhere inside himself to bend his knees.
And to touch his knees to the floor.
"Please," he said in the most polite tone he could muster with bile rising up his throat, "I'm begging you."
His head was bowed down low. He wasn't able to see the smirk on Hibari Kyoya's face, wasn't able to watch Hibari pick up one of the pair of tonfa that lay on the desk nearest to him. But it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen.
Gokudera clenched his fists tight. He'd even thought of this. He wasn't expecting to walk away from this without a scar. Or several.
The tonfa slid under his chin and tilted his head back. Gokudera found himself staring straight into the eyes of the Cloud guardian.
He didn't dare flinch.
"Who would have guessed," Hibari remarked in a predatory whisper. "Begging suits you."
Gokudera set his jaws and steeled himself from the coming assault. Hibari might go for the eyes - he was that type. Or, given the way that weapon was positioned, a single blow to the windpipe that would knock him out cold or worse.
But Hibari did nothing of the sort.
The tonfa slid off, and Hibari stood, walked back to his desk. Gokudera watched him, puzzled, but not ready to let his guard down just yet.
Hibari slumped onto the lounge chair at the center of the room - without putting down his weapon, Gokudera noticed. This definitely did not mean things were going his way.
"You may think of me as part of your little 'family' and I may have played your games because they interested me. But your 'family' can't take from me what I won't give away." He started swinging the tonfa lazily off the edge of the armrest. "And I never give anything away. You need to offer something in exchange."
"Anything!" Whoops. Did that come out too eager/angry? Gokudera pulled himself up and toned his voice down a little. "If it's within my power, you can have it."
Again with that smirk. Gokudera wondered what exactly he was doing that caused so much amusement in that twisted little head...
"Oh it is definitely within your power," Hibari said, with a touch of something Gokudera couldn't pinpoint at the moment. "We can organize a series of payments. One area of land in exchange for the things I will specify. If you hold up your end of the bargain, you'll eventually end up with exactly what you wanted. On the other hand..."
He stopped swinging the tonfa and looked straight at Gokudera.
"If you deny me anything, or overstep your bounds, the deal is off. All of it. I will destroy what you have built and make certain you and your little herbivore friends can never defile these grounds again."
What the hell, Gokudera said to himself - was Hibari actually leaving an opening for him? So he didn't want to give the place up, but he was willing to trade?
It was turning out better than Gokudera expected. Frankly, what he had expected was a flat-out, angry, violent NO. The Vongola could take the land by force, but Gokudera was sure Tsuna wouldn't want that much blood on his hands (not to mention it would mean infighting in the family, which would mean Tsuna having to mediate, and wasn't the whole point of this meeting to spare Tsuna the trouble?). They could also try to find a better location, but Namimori integrated school was at a strategic center - there was, logistically speaking, no such thing as a better location.
"How will I know," he ventured, "that you'll keep your end of the bargain?"
A grunt escaped Hibari. Apparently Gokudera had just leveled up in "amusing."
"You won't. All you have is my word. But as you may have seen these past few years, Gokudera Hayato, my word is law where you're kneeling."
All right, Gokudera told himself, this was the best possible place he could maneuver himself into. He got to his feet (taking a moment to wonder exactly why he never thought of doing it earlier).
"Your terms seem fair." Formal clearly worked, so he decided to go all the way with formal. "In what currency would you like your payment? How would you like it delivered to you?"
"You misunderstand. I never said anything about money." Hibari started tapping his tonfa against the palm of his open hand. "An underground facility, you say? Then I suppose the open courts at the back of the complex would be the most valuable commodity here. It's a good place for a discreet exit/entrance, don't you agree?"
Gokudera blinked. The open courts were exactly where he had wanted to start building. Had Hibari somehow gotten information about the construction plans? But Gokudera was drafting them in Italy. He was speaking to architects and engineers in Italian.
Composing himself, he replied, "The open courts are fine. Of course I assume you mean all four of them..."
"No. Just the two farthest from the classrooms." Hibari shrugged. "From there, I'll gauge how fast your people work and adjust my terms accordingly. I wouldn't want to be careless and place myself on the losing end of this deal."
It wasn't a total loss: two of the open courts alone would be a good start. Gokudera could finish building on it overnight. And an adjustable payment scheme may not be all that bad.
Something was still bugging him.
"So tell me," he carefully began, suddenly aware all over again that no one knew he was here, nobody would find his corpse if he poked the Cloud guardian the wrong way. "If you don't want money, what is it that you want?"
That smirk had reached new dimensions of creepy, Gokudera had to admit to himself. "I will require you to personally perform certain tasks for me. They may be difficult for you, but it is not my concern. You are the official representative of the Tenth Boss, aren't you?"
Inside, Gokudera winced. Way to make it sound like he was going to betray the family if he was going to botch this.
Seventeen and much too naive.
"Yes. I am. So we have a deal?"
"We can finalize it right here, right now, between the two of us. You can start work on the farthest two open courts as early as sunrise tomorrow."
"Acceptable. What are your terms?"
"First," Hibari began, pointing with his tonfa, "take off your shirt."