One More

The one thing he found similar among all the people he'd encountered thus far was that when faced with death, they always cried for one more something. Whether it was to see someone one more time, or to live for one more day, there was always one thing, one more something that they'd regretted not doing before passing onto the next world.

He never understood it…

But if he ever had to choose one thing…

Just one more something…

It'd probably be…

Dino was walking around his villa idly, unsure of what to do with himself. He was supposed to be on vacation and Romario finally let him take a break from the paperwork. The missus had gone to the city with their son and the men that stayed behind were lounging around the place or taking cigarette breaks.

With nothing better to do, he set Enzo down and began to clean and polish his whip. He hadn't really used it in awhile; there'd never been a need to. When there were threats, his men would use their guns. When there was danger, he was always instructed to find his family and then his men would use their guns. And when he sparred…well, he never sparred anymore. Ever since he got engaged, he began avoiding the Vongola's Cloud Guardian to the best of his ability, but that was in hopes of sparing the boy from any discomfort…that was the excuse he used anyhow. And when Tsuna found out, he went out of his way just to avoid having the two being in the same country at the same time.

Idly, he looked up and wondered how his student was. It'd been years since he'd seen the boy-no, the young man last. Somehow, living a domestic life wasn't all he thought it'd be. Making sure no one else was around, he turned to his turtle and sighed, "Enzo, I miss Kyouya…I haven't seen him in so long, I wonder if he's mad at me…actually, I wonder if he still remembers me at all," receiving a blank stare for a reply, he shook his head, "probably not, hm? But maybe he does," he tried to cheer himself up, "I mean, maybe he hasn't found himself a good sparring partner yet! But then again, he probably has a million people to bite to death at any given time…"

Enzo continued watching him with silent regards.

When he thought about the issue truthfully, he knew the reason he avoided the younger male was because of his weak constitution. If anything happened, he would've backed out of the engagement without a second thought. Even now, when left alone, his thoughts would wander into dangerous areas on their own. Of course, they never had a romantic bond between them and they never would. No, that was probably the last thing they'd ever have between them. But they still had a deep bond that sparring partners often had, a sense of respect and trust that built up over time. And as Kyouya was his first and only student, he could never forget the brunet even if he wanted to.

He sighed, "I wonder what he's doing. Don't look at me like that, it's not like I'm cheating on her or anything just by wondering! Besides, they're not even the same gender so it doesn't count! There should be a rule stating that you get one of each! Besides, everything between us is platonic! Kyouya could never get involved with anyone, he's the epitome of a cloud, you know? Sometimes I wish I was that free…free from paperwork anyways…"

The turtle blinked slowly before turning his attention back towards the window.

Amber eyes followed before widening as a yellow bird flew into the room singing a tune all too familiar to him. Running to the window, he looked out back towards the forest only to see trees and more trees. There was nothing moving out there except for the gentle breeze ruffling the tree branches and leaves. Smiling lightly, he held his hand him for the creature.

The bird perched on his outstretched finger, hopping up and down a few times to get comfortable. It preened its feathers for a moment before turning its attention back to him, "Stupid horse, I'll bite you to death! I'll bite you to death!"

Too excited about the idea of sparring with someone, he grabbed his whip and pet and left the room. As stealthily as he could, he crept out the backdoor, making a note to steer clear of any of his men that might've still been around. Once outside, Hibird immediately took flight towards the forest and without a second thought, he ran after it as quickly as his feet would carry him.

"Kyouya! Are you there, Kyouya?" After running for awhile, the bird suddenly flew up and he was knocked off his feet by something.

Dumbfounded and eyes tearing up from the pain, he still couldn't suppress a grin when his eyes fell upon a familiar intimidating figure lying there, eyes closed, silently enjoying the breeze. If he'd been anyone else, he would've never suspected the thrower of the tonfa lying by his feet to be the young man who was innocently sleeping there. He beamed, "Kyouya!"

The young man merely opened his eyes and watched him with disinterest, "stop crying. You deserved it. Only herbivores would've fallen for that. Now get up so I'm going to bite you to death."

He rubbed his sore cheek for a moment before laughing, "Only you'd greet someone that you haven't seen in years like that. What are you doing here?"

"Does it matter? I go wherever I want to go, and I came here to play, so hurry up and fight me."

Dino raised his whip, adrenaline pumping through his veins, "I haven't been able to use this baby in awhile, let's see how I do."

The brunet snorted and launched himself at him, "doesn't matter, you're going to be bitten to death by me anyways."

After fighting each other for as long as their stamina would allow, the two finally decided to take a break. Dino let out a deep sigh and leaned against a nearby tree. "So what brought you here, Kyouya?"

There was a pause before the other answered honestly, "I came to play. Everyone else I've played with only lasted a single round…then they stopped moving."

The Cavallone smiled nervously, "Kyouya, you have a really warped grasp on the concept of 'play'. Wait, does that mean you came all the way here just to spar with me because I'm strong?"

"No, you're just a little more durable…"

Taking the statement for what it was worth, he took a deep breath of fresh air and couldn't help but give a happy grin. "I remember when I used to take you training all over Japan. That one time we went to that forest, you suddenly disappeared and I thought you were eaten by a bear or something."

The younger man rolled his eyes, "I was looking for the forest god. He grants a wish to the people that find him. I was going to bite him to death."

He laughed and pulled the other closer into a loose hug, "Now why would you want to bite a genie to death? Don't you want your wish to be granted?"

Hibari immediately began struggling, "Not a genie. He's a forest god. And granting wishes to herbivores goes against the Namimori Middle Code of Conduct as set down by the Disciplinary Committee. Anyone that dares disrupt the order of Namimori has to be bitten to death by me. Stop crowding me or I'll bite you to death, you stupid horse."

Getting elbowed several times, he did as he was told and released the other. "Kyouya, as if I'm not banged up enough, you didn't have to go and add more bruises to my ribs." But then glancing over, he realized that he dealt quite a bit of damage to the younger man as well. "And before you get started about how rusty I've become, you didn't exactly come out unscathed either, you know?"

The other merely let out a huff and turned away.

The Italian grinned and pushed himself up, "you never change, do you? But I think your consistency is kind of nice as well." He stretched, the dull aching of his wounds forgotten, "Ah, I feel young again! It's been such a long time since I've had someone to spar with."

Gray eyes blinked, "your wife doesn't fight?"

Taken aback by both the topic and the question, he stared incredulously at the other, "che? You know about her? No, she doesn't fight. I don't think she's ever fired a gun before either…she's not exactly fond of violence."

The brunet continued eyeing him questioningly, "then what's the point in getting married?"

Crouching down in front of the younger man, he asked, "Kyouya, why do you think I got married?"

A shrug, "I just thought you found a sparring partner that you could actually beat sometimes. If you get married, you get to fight every day…"

He tried to contain his laughter but failed. Inwardly, he was relieved that there was no anger or malice in the other's voice. After all, it was because of this very topic that he'd avoided the younger man for the past few years now. Pulling the other into a hug, he grinned, "Kyouya, you're so adorable! Only you'd think of something so practical! Does that mean you would've married me if I'd asked you to?"

Furling his brows, the guardian frowned, "why are you laughing? Of course I wouldn't marry you. Marriage is for herbivores. Besides, you're too weak."

"Hey! I am not! Kyouya, take that back!"

Dino regretted trying to get the other to retract his words when he got hit again. The brunet was glaring at him with his weapons out and ready to be used, "Stop crowding me unless you're ready to get bitten to death by me again."

Immediately holding his hands out in defeat, he got back onto his feet with a soft chuckle, "hey, I know I might've said I was feeling young again and all, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not a teenager anymore. Anyways, you're not looking all that great yourself."

"I'm fine," was the immediate reply.

He picked up Enzo and put him back onto his shoulder. "You might be but at the moment, I'm not. You know, even if you won't marry me, I think the system we have going works just fine, don't you? Occasion spars are great but it's not something I'd be able to do everyday anymore. Let's head back to my place and grab something to eat."

The younger man frowned, "No. Go by yourself. I hate mingling."

The Cavallone let out a mock-exasperated sigh, "Ah, that's right, I almost forgot…fine, tell you what, you wait here while I go get the first aid kit and something for us to eat, then afterwards, we can have one more round, okay? How do hamburgers sound to you? You still like them, don't you? I'll get my chef to whip a couple up for us."

Hibari paused before turning his head to the side with a huff of approval, "make it quick or I'll personally go down and bite you to death."

Grinning, he began jogging back, "I wouldn't put it past you. I'll be back in a couple minutes then!"

"Hey," the other called out.

He paused and turned around, "sì?"

There was a slight smile on the other's lips, "Let's play again."

Dino nodded happily, "certo!"

Once inside, after he got his cook started on the burgers, he snuck upstairs to change but was caught by Romario. "Boss, there you are! I said a fifteen minute break, not go run off for an hour break. There's been news from the Vongola…what happened to you? Did someone attack you?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I guess you could put it that way…so what did Tsuna have to say?"

"Kyouya's missing."

Amber eyes blinked, "what?"

"He was on a mission on an island in Japan when they suddenly lost all contact with him. He never showed up at the pickup point where Kusakabe was waiting for him with the helicopter-it's the only way off apparently. Vongola's already sent his men to the scene and they've been going through all the bodies and searching the island but no one's found him yet. They were hoping for assistance."

A new sense of awareness hit him, "Wait, what about his bird?"

"Unfortunately, Hibird actually died about a year ago, he was getting really old. I thought you knew. The poor thing couldn't even fly properly but he kept following Kyouya anyways. So what should I tell them, boss?"

He stood there, unsure of what to think. "Wait, but…that can't be right…I saw it…I saw him." Turning around, he bolted out of the house and towards the forest where he'd spoken to the Cloud Guardian but moments ago. "This can't be right…Kyouya was just there!"

Reaching the clearing where a battle had taken place less than half an hour ago, he was expecting the brunet to be sitting there, angry at him for not bringing the burgers as he'd promised. Instead, he found emptiness. Neither the bird nor the brunet was there anymore. Frowning, he wandered around looking for either one of them, "Kyouya? Where'd you go? Please tell me you're hiding here somewhere…"

The damage they'd done to their surrounding had remained as had the wounds all over his person proving that a fight had taken place. At least he knew that he wasn't going crazy…

After awhile of searching, he turned around and retreated to his house where Romario was waiting for him with a concerned expression on his face. "Are you alright, boss?"

Nodding, he replied a little hesitantly, "I'm fine, just had to go cool off."

"So what should I tell Vongola? If you're still worried about whether or not Kyouya's upset with you…"

He shook his head, "this is no time for that. Tell them we're on our way and get me on the next flight to Japan. There's no need to bring everyone, I'm sure the island won't fit all of Tsuna's men and mine. Tell the missus and junior I'll be back as soon as possible."

His henchman immediately nodded obediently, "Yes, sir!"

Once he arrived at the island, he was greeted by Tsuna, "Dino-san! Thank you for coming all the way out here, and I'm sorry for calling you on such notice, I'm sure you were busy with your own business."

He waved his hand, "no, no need to apologize, Kyouya was my student and you're my sworn brother, it's only natural I'd come. So let's get started, the sooner we find him, the better."

The brunet nodded in agreement, "of course. Here's a map of the island. As you can see, it's not very big so our search teams had no problem covering most of it. But at the same time, it's not small enough that they're able to do a thorough search within the allotted time, hence, we asked for more men."

Amber eyes blinked, "There's a time limit?"

Another nod, "this is Hibari-san we're talking about. According to Kusakabe, after he infiltrated the base, he was going to sink the island. And from what we're been seeing, this place is slowly going underwater. This means that Hibari-san successfully accomplished his mission, we also have Kusakabe to confirm this. However, after finishing the mission, seeing that this place was very heavily guarded, I'm afraid something may have happened to him."

Dino pulled his lips taut for a moment, "how much time do we have left?"

"Well, we've been here since last night and at the rate it's sinking…I'd say 3 hours tops before we have to start evacuating."

Looking at the map, he scanned it and ran a hand through his hair anxiously, "3 hours…alright. Romario, organize the men into teams and assign areas to them. I'm going to go ahead and start looking."

"Alright, boss."

The first place he searched was the base that'd been infiltrated. All around the vicinity were dead men, which wasn't all that surprising to him. After all, Kyouya wasn't the type to leave survivors or evidence behind. Inside, he could see Vongola men running around and searching for the guardian already so he decided to search elsewhere.

It didn't take very long for the anxiety and pressure to set in. He sat down, shook his head to clear his mind and to calm himself down. "Okay! Think, Dino, think! If you were Kyouya and you finished a mission…where would you go? To the helicopter of course…okay…if he still had time and didn't want to leave yet, where would he go? Nowhere, Kyouya hates wasting time during missions…he especially wouldn`t wander off while the place is sinking…not for over half a day anyways."

He groaned and looked up at the sky, "that means he's probably hurt somewhere…but he looked fine when we fought…" Suddenly pausing in his thoughts, he stared at the map and noticed a small area shaded in green, "Kyouya would've definitely known all the details to this island and he's always moving around when he's injured even after I've told him a million times not to…this is probably the place."

Getting up, he set off towards the green patch marked on the map. On his way there, he noticed a trail of bodies. Unlike the base, there were merely a few here and there, but there was still a definite trail that grew thinner as he went.

Upon reaching the forest, he couldn't help but worry. The very thought that the brunet had turned and made his way towards a forest instead of the helicopter either meant he was trapped or gravely injured.

He hoped it was the first because he was confident that his student could deal with any type of trap thrown at him.

Continuing to follow the trail of corpses, he found himself in the middle of the forest when it ended. But although that particular path ended, he discovered a new trail, one he hadn't noticed before due to all the casualties.

It was a trail of blood.

Frowning in disbelief, he began jogging down the path until he reached a clearing. There, he stopped in his tracks. His breath got caught in his throat and all he could do was stare. Lying, crumpled on the ground in the middle of the forest was the brunet. And before he knew it, his feet had begun transporting his body towards the other. Kneeling next to his student, he rolled the younger man onto his back and propped his head up as gently as he could.

In his arms, he held the boy that'd attacked him without thought the first time they met. He held the guardian he'd personally trained and took care of all those years ago. He held the man he'd avoided for years. "Kyouya… Kyouya, wake up…please open your eyes…"

But his body was cold.

Although he already knew, he checked the body for vital signs.

Anything would've done.

But there was no response.

No pulse.

No breathing.

No warmth.

No life.

Holding the other close, he tried his best to hold back his tears but that proved to be futile.

Hibari thought tears were for herbivores.

And although he should've seen this coming with the way the brunet constantly disregarded his health and safety, the idea of losing him still hit him hard.

He continued clinging onto the body, tears rolling down his cheeks, "Please say something, Kyouya, threaten me! If you open you eyes, I promise to spar with you everyday…I'll get the cook to make you hamburgers everyday…I'll personally sponsor any projects you want to take on, I'll even rebuild your school in gold! Anything at all, Kyouya, just…please…open your eyes…fight me like you did in the forest…just do…something…just one more time… Kyouya, I'm so sorry. All you wanted to do was play..."

Dino just kept kneeling there and begging the other to open his eyes...it was the only thing he could do to stop himself from screaming.

But despite his pleading, the other remained motionless.

"But Kyouya, tell me, how are we supposed to play again now?"

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before finally picking the body up and returning to their rendezvous point. There, Tsuna immediately spotted him and began jogging towards him, "Dino-san, there you are! We were getting worried, we've started evacuating everyone and-" he stopped when he caught sight of the body in his arms. "Is that…?"

Swallowing thickly, he nodded, keeping his voice as calm as possible. But he could tell by the other's expression that it was obvious he'd been crying. "I found him in the forest. Sorry it took so long."

The Vongola head bit his lower lip, "the forest? Why would he go there instead of back to the helicopter for help…?"

Dino looked down at the figure in his arms, "Knowing Kyouya, he must've known that he…" he paused to gather himself, "he wasn't going to make it…perhaps that's why? Or maybe…"

He was cut off by Kusakabe and Romario running towards them. Noticing that Tsuna had gone still, he turned around and before reluctantly handing the body over, placed a gentle kiss on the young man's forehead. Then he let go of him for the last time.

"Tsuna…"

The brunet wasn't crying but his eyes clearly reflected the devastation he felt, "I shouldn't have assigned this assignment to him. Anyone else would've known better than to go in alone. I'm sorry, Dino-san, I know how much you cared about him. I can't even begin to imagine how you must feel. This is my fault! I should've known better…I should've been a better boss-!"

Grabbing the younger man firmly by the shoulders, he shook him, trying his best to stay strong since one of them had to be, "Tsuna! You need to calm down. This wasn't anyone's fault. Kyouya…Kyouya's gone now…I'm sorry but he's gone and no one's to blame."

It was at his words that the tears finally escaped the Vongola's eyes, "I'm so sorry, Dino-san, I'm so sorry…"

Quickly looking upwards, he blinked back his own and spoke offhandedly, "Come on, don't cry…that's for herbivores… Hey Tsuna, did you know?"

The younger man turned to him slowly with a sniffle, "Know what?"

"Kyouya came to see me before all this happened. He came to play with me...I've avoided him for so many years but he still came to play with me, isn't that strange? All this time I thought he forgot about me, actually, I suppose I'd hoped he'd forgotten about me because it'd ease the guilt a little... All these years, I…" He couldn't finish, "Hey, is it true that there's a legend about a forest god?"

The other paused and blinked, "yes, I think I've heard something about it. He grants a wish to anyone that sees him, right? What about it?"

Dino smiled weakly and shook his head, "no, it's nothing. I just remember Kyouya mentioning it once, a long time ago…come on, let's get back to your base and figure out what to do from here on out."

Kyouya's funeral was surprisingly full of people, everyone from his own lackeys to Dino's and Tsuna's henchmen stood there, mourning for the guardian. Glancing around, the Cavallone frowned in disapproval, "Kyouya would've hated all this crowding…"

Romario patted him reassuringly on the shoulder, "I'm sure that even Kyouya would've understood that today's a special occasion and there's no helping this kind of turn out. Especially his men, they're all suffering from the loss of their leader. You should understand, boss. Kyouya's men, they were like a branch family off the Vongola."

Looking in the casket and running a hand over the other's hair one last time, "yea, Kyouya was definitely something special. Do you think he found the forest god in that forest? You remember him talking about it, don't you, Romario? The one that grants wishes."

The older man raised a brow before putting out his cigarette, "you know what, boss? I think it's very possible if it's Kyouya."

He smiled, "You're probably right about that. What do you think he wished for before biting that poor genie to death?"

"Well if it's Kyouya, he probably wished for…"

Faintly, he could hear a familiar bird chirping a familiar name and opened his eyes groggily. "Hibari! Hibari!"

A few rays of sunshine had managed to sneak through the tangle of branches and leaves. He tried to sit up only to realize that he couldn't move. Suddenly, there was a footstep coming from above and a sagely, upside down figure came into view. He frowned, "hey, are you the forest god?"

The being just continued examining him quietly.

"I technically found you so you have to grant my wish, right?"

Silence.

"Hey…just one more time, let me play with him again. I need to bite him to death, then it'll be your turn. You can do that much, can't you? I just…want to play again…"

Darkness and then…rustling…

"Kyouya! Are you there, Kyouya?"

He let his lips curl into a faint smile before he sent his weapon flying towards the owner of the voice.

Nya~

Well, first fic this year! And first reborn fic in awhile! As you might've noticed, I decided to give my usual fics a little twist by killing Hibari off instead of Dino. That was just me trying something new with an idea. And no, even though Dino's married and his wife and kid's mentioned, they don't make an appearance because well...they were kind of an optional side dish to this meal I suppose you could say. Anyways, I'm kind of really out of it at the moment so hope you had fun reading! Thank you reviewers! Enjoy!

Extra: Kyouya continued haunting/ beating Dino up after that one time because true to his word, he went and bit the forest god to death. And after taming the poor thing, he went and had the entity grant his wishes every day. And so, Dino kept returning home with bruises and injuries. When Romario asked how his wounds came to be, the Cavallone merely laughed and shook his head, "I had a spar with a playful ghost. I thought it'd just be that one time, but Kyouya's ghost managed to tame a genie. Well, I suppose if it's Kyouya, it's possible..."