Tomorrow Never Dies KHR

Synopsis: Dino has always been able to see the amount of time a person has left to live. He'd grown used to watching people's life tick away until he sees Hibari's time. Never before had the apathetic blonde wanted to save a dying man so badly when he finally learned to value the gift of life, look past the inevitable factor of death.

Gah, it's summer time already. Hooray! I'll be in Gr.12 next year; holy crapp. I can't believe how quickly the years have gone by…I'm not sure what I'd like to do in the future! ;^; But hopefully, I'll still be writing. I plan to write during the summer. Maybe not so much in my senior year, but…ah, who cares. Hope you guys like this little piece.

And I promise I'll update Now is the Time for Hell soon. I know the excuse 'writer's block' is unbecoming and overused, but I, very honestly, have no idea how to continue it. Asddfghjkl; I'm sorrryyyy.

Title from a song by The Gazette

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Any similarities in events or characters living or dead are entirely coincidental.

Enjoy!

Chapter One: Non Locum Paenitenda

He was six years old when Dino first saw it: numbers.

They weren't the digital numbers on the tummy of his robot alarm clock, or the green-tinged digits on the microwave, or even the Arabic formations in his math workbooks, but they were undeniably numbers.

They were black, a little transparent, with a smoke-like texture. Or that's how Dino's six year old mind thought of it, given the fact that the numbers faded a little every so often and wavered like a reflection in the water. These numbers were strange, because there were four of them in total, and they were always counting down. They always appeared over the head of a person, who was always unaware of its existence. Dino once pointed it out to his father, who blinked, smiled, and told Dino that there was nothing there at all. The little Cavallone had insisted, but the adults thought he was just telling a story. Dino didn't think he was telling a story. Those numbers were real, after all.

They were always there.

Always counting down.

And the first time Dino watched all four digits drop to zero, it was over the head of a man who was crossing the street, and was struck by a speeding truck. Dino watched in horror as the body was sucked under the thick rubber wheels, limbs twisting into angles that limbs weren't supposed to twist into, and everything go still. His aunt had screamed, covered his eyes and tore him away from the scene of the accident, but not before Dino saw the black zeros drift upwards into the sunny sky like smoke escaping a fireplace, dissolving into nothing at all.

He wondered, foolishly, like a six year old would, if it was like 'game over' in the computer games he played sometimes. Dino shrugged it off and had followed his aunt down the street, thinking about ice cream after supper.

As he got a little older, the blonde noticed that not everybody had numbers on over their head. The longest digit he had ever seen was over the head of a kindly old lady who gave him candy when he went shopping with his mom. Dino told her to be careful crossing the road.

Sometimes, he'd see numbers over the head of people walking in the street, in a restaurant, or by the movie theaters. But he'd never seen an accident with them. Nor had he ever seen anybody else's numbers drop down to zero ever again. After a while, the memory of the man and the truck faded away like a bad nightmare would, and Dino lived on, happily, care freely. However, nightmares like to return, regardless of one's desire to have one.

When Dino was thirteen, he walked downstairs one morning to see his mother smiling at him, scrambling eggs on the frying pan with four smoky numbers steadily counting down over her head.

He told his father again.

Cavallone senior had frowned, recalling a six year old Dino telling him about numbers, but told him not to worry about it. He convinced himself that it was simply the strange talk of preteens, or a joke Dino was trying to tell him. Dino had gone off to school, worried for his mother, but didn't take it to heart. So, when the blonde had arrived home around three o' clock, he didn't expect to see his front door broken down, and his mom lying in the middle of a ransacked living room, bleeding profusely from the stomach.

Dino had screamed; dropped whatever he was holding, and had run to his mother, panicked, terrified, and unsure of what to do. Cue Cavallone senior running in from the front door seconds later, the look of utmost horror etched upon the face Dino once saw warm smiles and kind looks on. He wasn't sure what he was trying to do, given the fact that he was only a kid and the memory was still hazy in his mind, but Dino recalled, grabbing his mother's hand, tears falling thick and fast out of his azure blue eyes, and had sobbed out, "Mom! Mom! Don't die mom, don't die! Come back! I'll give my life for you! You can take some of my time! Mom! Don't go, mom, don't go!"

And then, mysteriously, miraculously, the numbers that had been nearing zero over his mother's head stopped…and began to reverse.

Dino and his father watched in astonishment as the wound on his mother's torso began close up, the gashes on her blouse began to knit themselves together, and her eyes started to fluttered weakly, mouth gasping a little as she regained consciousness. The numbers increased, faster and faster, until they faded away completely. Dino blinked, staring, shocked. What had happened?

But then, he felt it. A painful stab to his back. Dino choked on his breath, and then clutched his neck, feeling as though his windpipe was being squeezed shut. His limbs burned, his hands felt like someone was ripping his bones apart, his muscles felt like the tendons were being cut. Oddly enough, his school uniform felt constricting on his body, tie strangling his already contracting throat, and his feet were agony in shoes that seemed to be five sizes too small…

"Dino," his father stuttered, staring at his son. "What in the name of god…?"

Dino unwound his tie, staggering to his feet unsteadily, and—wait, since when did the couch in the corner of the room get so small? Now that he was thinking of it, did his living room shrink as well? Dino gulped in air as he rubbed his neck, kicking off his shoes, completely bemused as to why they suddenly didn't fit anymore.

"Dino," his father started again, clutching his wife's hand as he stared helplessly up at the blonde.

"What, dad?" Dino asked, but jumped, startled by how deep his own voice sounded to him. What on earth?

Dino took a step back, and at that moment, he caught sight of him reflection in the polished mirror hanging in the hallway next to the coat rack. All of a sudden, the tiny uniform, strangling tie, and shrinking shoes all made sense.

Dino was older. He was taller, shoulders broader, hands larger. His face had suddenly lost all its baby fat, and his jaw was angular, his eyes narrower, and the slightest hint of stubble on his chin. Starting at the stranger in the mirror, Dino advanced slowly on his reflection, touching his face, jaw hanging open. He wasn't thirteen anymore. He looked like a sixteen year old teenager.

"How?" he stammered, stunned. "How did this happen?"

There was a long, long silence in the Cavallone family home that day. Mrs. Cavallone was lying on her back, recovering from the near-death experience she barely escaped from, Cavallone senior was sitting on his knees in shock at the events he'd just witnessed, and Dino remained frozen in front of the mirror, knowing—but denying—that deep down inside, he knew where three years of his own life had been transferred to.

On the lush carpet of the living room, Mrs. Cavallone took a tired, long-drawn breath of renewed life.

Dino moved away from Italy after that.

It was to be expected; there was no possible way anyone could explain how he grew three years older in a span of three seconds, so his father withdrew him from school, put out the story that his mother's injury and the robbery in their home had traumatized Dino, and sent him to a school in Japan. Knowing that it would be lonely for his son to be on his own, his father had arranged for him to stay with a family friend: Sawada Iemitsu. Dino had been incredibly awkward and clumsy in his new surroundings given the fact that he was completely unused to Japanese culture, but Iemitsu spoke Italian, his wife, Nana, was as warm and loving as his own mother was, and their son, Tsunayoshi, was several years younger than him at age nine but was extremely friendly nonetheless and did not let the language barrier get between the two of them at all. Overall, the Sawadas were a wonderful, kind family who treated Dino like their own son.

So, time progressed, and Dino picked Japanese up fairly quickly. He also became fast friends with another Italian in his school named Romario, who was a year older than him and was living in Japan with his father because of work. Romario introduced him to a couple of other really nice kids, and Dino learned to adapt to his surroundings in no time. Iemitsu left the next year for business abroad, so Dino took about helping Nana with housework and tutoring little Tsuna, who would be entering middle school soon. On his seventeenth birthday, Dino blew half of his allowance from his parents on a complicated, intricate tattoo that now dominated the entire left side of his body. He wasn't sure what made him do it, but for Dino, that was what distinguished him from being a fourteen year old at heart to the appearance of a seventeen year old boy about to turn into a man. Throughout his time in Japan, Dino wondered about his mother. He called daily, to catch up with her and to ease her worries about him being overseas, but couldn't ever bring himself to ask about her health.

How are you feeling, mom? How've you been, mom? Resting well?

Dino couldn't. He knew she was living on borrowed time, and like a coward, he hid away from the inevitable truth: that someday, that time would have to be returned. Dino both feared and wondered when.

His answer came on a cold November evening when his father called at eleven in the night. Dino remembered nothing except crying for hours later on in Nana's arms, taking in the warmth and wishing that he could have been there to hold his own mother, the same way he did three years ago, when he was thirteen years old.

Somewhere along the way, he had a bit of a falling out with his father. Dino supposed it was hard on his old man, after losing his wife and pretty much his son as well. He himself grew busier and busier as he tackled University and several jobs; he was really sixteen now, but had the appearance of a nineteen year old. Dino had struggled with the sudden leap between grades when he first arrived into the country, but with Romario and Nana's help, he caught up in almost no time. He was accepted into a University an hour's drive away in the core of Tokyo, and worked part-time at a book store, a coffee shop, and 24-hour printing station. Dino didn't really know what he wanted to pursue in life. He took Psychology, but quickly switched to Business. After a general lack of interest in that as well, he took one last leap of faith and signed up for Media Studies. That was a fairly good choice because it was a lot more hands-on and a lot less bookwork, something that Dino appreciated. He studied as hard as he worked hard, and eventually moved out of the Sawada residence despite Nana's protests and Tsuna's pleas for 'big brother' to stay a while longer.

It wasn't right to trespass upon their hospitality for such a long time. Besides, they didn't know what still haunts Dino; the numbers that never left him alone. The blonde had grown used to ignoring them. Long gone were the days the painful, startled pangs in his heart would start up because he caught sight of the fluttering indicators of doomsday. He couldn't afford those emotions. If he continued to feel sorry all the time, he'd wear himself down into an old man before he turned thirty.

Several more years passed, and by now, Dino looked like a twenty-five year old, had landed a better paying job at a graphic design hub and could afford a bedframe to go with his mattress in his tiny apartment over the Chinese restaurant near his hometown. Tsuna was in his last year of high school, frantically scraping his abysmal grades together before applying for every University whose application he could get his hands on. Dino was reminded fondly of himself—he even offered to take Tsuna to the universities' presentation dates so he could really see what he was getting himself sucked into.

It was a cold January morning when Dino and Tsuna stumbled out of the city bus and joined the crowd swarming into a local university that specialized in law and politics. Tsuna gulped at the sight of hardcore bookworms pushing their way through the masses to get in, but Dino had laughed and just pulled his 'little brother' along. While the two browsed through pamphlets, sat through presentations and shuffled through all the applications Tsuna wanted to get, Dino saw no fewer than a dozen black numbers jumping out at him from random people in the crowd. He deliberately kept his head down until Tsuna suddenly said, "Hibari-senpai! What are you doing here?"

Dino looked up, initially curious about Tsuna's 'friend', and he froze.

'Hibari-senpai' was a slender young man with a mass of smooth, raven black hair that hung lightly around his thin face and drooped in spikey bangs over his depthless, onyx eyes. He had a permanent scowl fixed on his face, even though he seemed to recognize Tsuna and had walked over. He wore a silvery black jacket and dark jeans with a giant stack of pamphlets tucked under his arm. Dino could barely breathe. It should be illegal for anybody to look so…pretty.

"What are you doing here, herbivore?" Hibari asked, glaring Tsuna down. The tiny brunette withered a little under his senpai's gaze, but offered a tentative smile as he gestured to Dino. "My brother's taking me to university presentations."

Hibari turned to observe the blonde, who felt his knees go a little weak, and promptly stated, "He's not Japanese."

"No, I'm Italian," Dino grinned, scratching the back of his head and bowing. Hibari didn't move. "I'm just a really good friend of the Sawadas. So, you went to school with Tsuna?"

"Stop grinning like that," Hibari said starkly. "You look like a herbivore."

It was fortunate that it took a lot to rile Dino up, and Tsuna looked like the as going to pass out from embarrassment because of Hibari's (obviously) terrible people skills. He hurriedly made better introductions, and Dino learned that Hibari Kyoya was a year older than Tsuna, had attended the same middle and high school, and was currently majoring in criminal law at the said university. And apparently Hibari was here helping out with the presentations because his roommate bailed on the school's activity council last minute and made him fill in instead.

"Well, I guess we'll see you later, Hibari-san," Tsuna said weakly, giving a half wave to the raven as he started to merge through the crowd. Hibari gave a half nod of acknowledgement in reply and was in the midst of elbowing people out of his way when Dino was suddenly struck by a sudden, stupid idea. To this day, he'll never understand why he chose to do it, but he'll never regret it.

"Hibari-san!" Dino shouted, making the raven snap his head around with a murderous glare in his eyes. But Dino didn't stop there, not even when Tsuna let out a gasp of warning.

"Would you like to grab dinner with me sometime?"

He said that in a hall packed with over a hundred people, so Hibari returned the favour by punching Dino so hard he passed out in plain view of the said hundred people. Despite the throbbing pain of his dislocated jaw, Tsuna's shrieks of horror and Hibari's burning rage, Dino supposed there was never a spoken rejection, so he figured his chances were still as good as anybody's.

Which, according to Tsuna as the brunette handed him an ice pack later on, weren't very high.

So~ Dino met Hibari! I know his childhood's a little morbid, but I think that's why Dino's able to just let things breeze by him so quickly. There's no way he'll be able to lead a relatively 'normal' life if he sees people's doomsday times so often…so I suppose he sorts of ignores it even when he can't. His time in Japan is sort of the childhood he never really had in Italy.

I hope you guys liked the first chapter :') I shan't take too long writing chapter two. Thank you for taking the time to read!

Non Locum Paenitenda: No place for repentance (Latin)

-BlackStar