We Are Vongola

Hold

Summary: He wasn't supposed to be here. But Hibari lets him hold on for a moment longer. Platonic 1827. AU.

• • •

They were heading to their destination as they should have when the brunet had suddenly veered off track.

"Tsuna, where are you going?" Reborn asks from his seat. His hologram flickers as his student heads down, gaining speed quickly as he flies. Tsuna didn't spare him even a glance as he lands, Spanner holding on as his ride slides across the floor.

The inventor looks up in time to see the back of Tsuna's green jumpsuit tear as he frantically rips off the belt that was dragging them along. What was he doing?

"Oi, we can't afford to stop here now," he tells the teen, but it looks as if Tsuna isn't listening. When he looks over, Tsuna is already gone, running off to the distance. When did he get there?

"I'll go after him," Reborn says, but before he can flicker and disappear, Spanner shakes his head, pointing to the ground.

"You can't, he left his headset here," he says, picking it up. Reborn's annoyance at his student's recklessness is nearly tangible, and Spanner regards the place where Tsuna had run off, wondering what had made him do so.

• • •

Hibari knows that he cannot stay here for long. Like all the other Guardians, he will be replaced by his counterpart, and arrive where the others had gone, one by one. In his limited time, he prepares and plans, but everything will be out of his hands. He doesn't like it, things not going his way. But it has been that way ever since he had agreed to this plan.

He strides to his next destination, his steps silent in the base when he hears running coming from behind him. Immediately, he has his tonfas in his hands, his grip tight and ready for a fight. What comes to him, however, is not an enemy.

Annoyed that the boy had clearly forgotten the purpose of the mission, Hibari glares at him. They were in a middle of a battle -- what was he doing, running towards him? As the brunet comes closer, he forces himself to wait so he could explain himself. He had not asked for any help or contacted him. This is what he was meant to do at the moment. But he never receives the chance to say the words.

In one swift movement, the boy has his arms wrapped around his neck and his legs around his waist for stability. He hugs Hibari close, and he can hear a stifled whimper. At the moment of contact, Hibari had dropped one of his tonfas in favour of holding the boy up. His weapon clatters on the ground, but it's forgotten within seconds. The only acknowledgement of the support he has given is the loosening of the boy's legs around his waist, dangling beside his legs.

Hibari fights off the urge to throw the boy off of him; it's been a long time since he had allowed any physical contact other than those in a fight. His hand grips around his silver weapon at the unfamiliarity of the action. He turns his head to see the brunet, but he has effectively hidden his face away from him, burying it into his shoulder.

Without any reason for the sudden motion, Hibari is irritated that he's allowed this. But he's not willing to cause a scene in a mission for a trivial reason like this. Turning his attention away from the brunet, he searches for a reason for the boy's arrival when he notices the familiar colour of crimson on the boy's back. The brunet was injured, and with the injury in close proximity to him, he can see every detail of it.

An "X" is formed from what must have been two swords that had slashed him from the shoulder to the waist, deep enough to scar. It's not bleeding freely, but it hasn't been long since he has had the injury as Hibari watches the jumpsuit saturate the falling drops of blood. Some of it drips onto his hand, warm and sticky. In an instant, he knows who had done this, but Hibari knows that the boy must have beat him, though it could not have been easy.

Even so, the attack would have only damaged the dark green jumpsuit, not ripped the back so he can see the most of the injury. Hibari tears his eyes from the injury to search for the ripped piece when he sees the trails of blood from where the boy had come from. All at once, he's reminded of the age of this child, fighting a war the ten-year older version could not win. He's not the man he knows in his present, but a child he had met ten years before.

Slowly, the grip around his tonfa weakens and he leaves it dangling loosely in his hand. He's aware of the soft sobs from the boy now, the boy of the man he's known and respected for ten years. Dimly, he smells the familiar metallic scent of blood from the fabric.

Hibari knows that in this future, the boy's ten-year counterpart has his fair share of scars; but he's never had one that represents the title he had rejected many times before. He knows that this injury, even if it was to be treated now with Sun Flames, would leave a scar for the rest of the boy's life. From this moment on, when he returns back to his present, his eyes would linger on the scar until he moves on. And Hibari knows without a doubt, the only way to move on is acceptance of the scar that represents his inevitable future of being Vongola Decimo. At the tightening of the brunet's arms, the boy must have realized that as well.

He lowers his eyes, and his arm is limp at his side. He stares at the drops of blood, and remembers the world at stake. But he cannot set the boy down, and lets the brunet hold on for just a little longer.

• • •

Fun Facts:

1. This took me three drafts to write. Hibari is a hard character to fit into, especially since I was doing the ten-year later counterpart. And when I realized he was actually, voluntarily holding on to Tsuna in the picture.

2. The reason Tsuna had run to Hibari is that he believes Hibari would understand what he's going through. And since Hibari is the strongest of the group, it also means that being with him means being protected by him.

3. Hibari doesn't notice the blood saturating into his suit. Not at all.

• • •

A/N: I have wanted to do this ever since I saw this picture. Also, I have a guilty conscious for not updating (in spite of my bi-monthly update status), so since it's the start of March Break, why not?

Adding on to that, I have no idea how this picture happens. In the manga and anime, Tsuna and Hibari are in different fights that prevent them from even passing by each other, so somehow, I had to make them meet.

For those wondering where the heck Spanner is, he's waiting for Tsuna. He believes he'll come back. And he will . . . eventually.

Thanks for sticking with me through thirty one-shots! I hope you guys continue to stick around with me. And I hope you enjoyed this one-shot.

Signing off,

NightofFrost