#hibari be like: why using the door when i can climb up to the window

[discendia]

Can I request a Hibari x Rio art with some romance? 😆💖 Riobari is my OTP. She’s one of the characters I actually see Hibari loving in canon and hope to see how you further develop their relations.

Hi, sweet anon! Thank you so much for passing by my blog and for your kind words, it means a lot to me that you like this ship, and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts! 💕✨

It's a bit difficult to imagine Hibari in a quite romantic situation, so I hope this is fine! Since it's February, of course it has to be Valentine's Day.

I should try writing and sharing more... But I'm the type of person who keeps things for herself unless specifically asked haha...

[vannahfanfics]

Between the Book Spines

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Characters: Kyoya Hibari, Kyoko Sasagawa

Additional Tags: Bookstore AU

Greetings, all~! Here’s my story for Day 4 of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! RarePair Week, for the prompt “Bookshop AU”! Happy reading! <3

Kyoko could get lost in it all- the heavy aroma of parchment painting the air, the flutter of flipping pages and shuffling of quiet footsteps, the rows and rows of colorful book spines stretching to the back of the story like towering forest trees. She thought that at least once a day, leaning over the cashier’s counter with a cheek in one hand while her deft fingers flipped through an illustrated fantasy novel. Many people read simply to escape reality into faraway, fictional lands. The escapism was all well and good, but Kyoko loved the bookstore itself. It was a gateway full of countless doors, doors for all different kinds and desires. It was the most magical place on Earth, more magical than any of the realities inked within the many, many pages.

Kyoko straightened up when the little bell on the front door chimed, indicating the arrival of a customer. She called a cheerful greeting and asked if she could help, which was customary, but the patron did not reply. He never did; that’s how Kyoya Hibari was. However, he always answered her more pertinent question.

“Did you enjoy the last book?”

“Indeed.” He always answered as such. He strolled over to the “new arrivals” bookstand beside the front door, pausing to scratch the shop owner’s fluffy, fat cat behind his ears. Kyoko watched him with intense wonder and curiosity. Kyoya Hibari was a regular customer to the bookstore, but she had hardly heard more than a few words out of him out of the countless interactions they’d had.

Kyoya Hibari was slightly older than her, a high school third-year. He was the head of the disciplinary committee, a position he had relished since his time in middle school. Thus, he held high power and authority. His status naturally landed him in the eyes and thoughts of every hopeful young girl in the three-story building. He was the school’s heartthrob. Too bad Kyoya cared not for fledgling school romances. He also held the reputation of a ruthless heartbreaker, bluntly refusing every poor soul who dared toss her heart to him. Kyoya swatted a confession away like a disinterested cat and sauntered away, leaving the heartbroken girls sobbing in the halls and classrooms.

Kyoko hummed thoughtfully as she watched him peruse the selection. His calm and aloof demeanor certainly lent to the rumors; she’d never once seen him smile. Still… Can he be that cold-hearted?

“You’ve been staring a while. Is there something on my face?” Kyoko flushed when he suddenly turned his piercing gaze on her. His black eyes shone like polished obsidian, hard-edged and shining. Still, she detected no malice there, not even a glimmer of annoyance. More like… amused curiosity. Rubbing her pink cheek with an index finger, she regarded him enquiringly.

“No. I was just thinking about what all the girls say at school.”

“And what do they say?” he smirked, plucking a courtroom drama from the shelf and striding over to the counter. His every move exuded confidence and pride; he moved like a lithe panther, fluid and dangerous and riveting. Kyoko found herself involuntarily straightening up when he leaned over the counter to trace his index finger over the inked pages of her fantasy novel.

“They say you’re a cold-hearted, mean boy who won’t let anyone in. You don’t bare your heart to anybody.” He blinked, and then his mouth curled into a devilish smirk. Despite his attempts to seem amused, however, Kyoko saw a flash of pain in those obsidian eyes.

“They’re right. I don’t.” The blunt admission startled her, making her swallow thickly. What a mysterious boy. He comes right out and admits it, yet I have the feeling he’s not entirely truthful. The hardback binding of the courtroom drama scraped over the counter as he pushed it forward. “Just this, please.”

“That will be 1500 yen.” He fished over the proper amount of bills and dropped it into her hand, then grabbed the book. He never asked for a paper bag. He tucked it under his arm and headed for the door; the little bell chimed as he pushed it open, piercing the air like a cry of lament. He paused in the threshold and glanced over his shoulder at her.

“They’re all troublesome, those girls. They don’t care about my heart at all. To them, I’m just a pretty face.” Kyoko watched with wide eyes as he strode out of the bookshop. Her gaze trailed him through the clear glass window until he disappeared from her line of sight. The fat cat meowed and hopped onto the counter, butting her chest demanding pets. Robotically she complied, still gawking at the space he had melted behind the brick.

Kyoya Hibari… What a fascinating boy.

The next day he came, it was raining. Business was always mind-numbingly slow on rainy days, so Kyoko was reclined in one of the store’s bean bag chairs in the front lobby, flipping through a historical fiction novel. The drumming rain cascading down the glass gave the light a marbled effect, and the rhythmic pounding was the perfect level of ambient noise to help Kyoko concentrate on the book. Suddenly, the little bell chimed gleefully, and the fat cat mewed invitingly. When Kyoko peered over the top of the book, there Kyoya was, scratching the cat’s belly and poring over the “new arrivals” stand.

“Did you enjoy the last book?”

“Indeed,” he answered without looking at her. He plucked a book from the stand and read the summary before putting it back. “I enjoy reading about law and order.” Kyoko giggled, and in response, he peeked at her through his peripheral vision. “Is that amusing to you?”

“A little. You’re head of the disciplinary committee; I’m sure rules and order are something you enjoy very much. It’s just a little funny to hear you say it aloud.” He blinked slowly at her, not unlike a cat. The corner of his mouth then twitched upward into a wry smile.

“I suppose.” He retrieved another book from the stand, a biography of a civil rights activist. He tossed it up into the air by the spine, watching it twirl before catching it. Kyoko jumped when he abruptly rounded on her. “And what do you enjoy, Miss Sasagawa?” She admittedly flushed at the proper use of her name. Of course, he knew her name; it was written plainly on her nametag, and she had introduced herself to him as such. Yet, it made her feel… happy that he called her by name.

She closed the book and showed him the front cover.

“Love stories! This is a Victorian-era love story.” She imagined Kyoya had no interest in romances, given his track record of purchases from the bookstore, but he admired the tome with slight interest. He quirked his eyebrow, clearly asking for more details. “It tells the story of a young maid who works for a rich banker. He refuses to marry because he believes that all women love him for his money.”

“Why does that sound familiar?” Kyoya snorted in laughter. Kyoko blinked, then looked at the illustrated couple on the front cover. She then snickered. Now that she thought about it, the wealthy banker’s plight definitely resembled Kyoya’s present reality. Smirking, Kyoya sunk into one of the armchairs and crossed his legs. “What happens to this young banker? Do you know?”

“Oh, yes. This is one of my favorite love stories,” she nodded excitedly. “The banker marries the maid, because she was the only one who ever loved him for himself.” The smile fell from his face, returning that dull blank stare to his features. He gave her that slow, cat-like blink, but she could read nothing from the countless emotions swirling in those onyx irises of his. Slowly, he rose from the chair and regarded his chosen book as if it were suddenly the most uninteresting scientific dissertation.

“I wonder,” he breathed distantly, almost to himself. “I wonder.” Stiffly, he plodded to the counter and placed 1500 yen’s worth of bills on the wood. “The same price as usual, yes?” Kyoko tossed the book aside and jumped up.

“Y-Yes, but-!”

“Good-bye.” Then he was gone, the little doorbell wailing his parting. He plunged into the rain without even bothering to retrieve his umbrella from the small stand by the door. The fat cat sprung down from the windowsill and wound around her legs, purring thunderously. Kyoko wrung her hands thoughtfully, the image of his back still burning in her eyes.

Kyoya Hibari… Just what were you thinking, then?

He came again the following week. The wee bell tinkled his coming like the greeting of a long-parted friend. Kyoko stood within the stacks on a stepladder stocking the teen romance section. Through the gap between the row of novels and the wooden shelf, she could observe him scratching the massive cat on his haunches, with his other hand under his chin as he searched the “new arrivals” shelf for his latest read.

“Did you enjoy the last book?”

“Indeed,” he affirmed. Kyoko smiled, taking comfort in the ritualistic aspect of their interactions. She had come quite to enjoy his routine visits; the simple idea of looking forward to his coming was soothing, in a way. After he had stormed out so suddenly the previous week, she was slightly afraid he would not come back again.

“Hibari-” she began as she carefully climbed down the stepladder.

“You may call me Kyoya.” She paused halfway down the steps to gape at him surprisingly. His mischievous grin flashed at her through the bookshelves’ gaps. “I feel we are well acquainted enough for a mutual first-name basis, eh, Kyoko?” Her hand flew to her breast on reflex when her heart somersaulted in her chest, and her cheeks blazed bright pink. His obsidian eyes glinted at her from between the book spines, waiting, measuring to see if she would take offense. How could she? All her peers would kill to be on a first-name basis with the handsome Hibari Kyoya. Swallowing thickly, she peered around the bookshelf at him.

“Y-yes, I suppose so.”

“You have something on your mind,” he remarked. Kyoko sunk her teeth into her bottom lip; how could read her so effortlessly? She fisted the fabric of her sundress nervously, but she was not the type to lie or avert conversation away from a blatant question.

“You left so suddenly last time. I was afraid that I offended you in some way.” He stepped away from the display stand without even choosing a book, which made her eyes fly wide open. Kyoya always selected a new story to read; it was almost sacred practice by now. The routine was crumbling before her, and the deviation unsettled her. She retreated within the towering bookshelves as he approached her, and he stopped to loom over her with an amused yet regretful grin. He slipped his hands into his pants pockets, and bored deep into her soul with those eyes like pure polished hematite.

“And how could you offend me in any way?” His baritone voice rumbled, not unlike the fat house cat’s purr. The vibration rattled in Kyoko’s cells, making her body pulse with an electric energy unlike any she had ever experienced. “I left for personal reasons.”

“P-personal reasons?”

“Indeed.”

That was the first time Kyoko had ever seen Kyoya Hibari smile.

It was so warm, the way he looked at her, like a fire blazing to life in a long-cold hearth. Its heat pulsed in the small space between them, filling her to the brim with simmering fondness. She whispered his name but had no conscious intention of doing so. He brushed her cheek with the backs of his knuckles, and she instinctually leaned into the caress, craving so much more of his touch. “For a moment, I fancied myself the bachelor banker… But I was afraid that I would not find my maid.”

“What do you think now?”

“Well, that depends, Kyoko. Tell me… what do you think about me?” Kyoko frowned as she considered how to formulate her genuine opinions of Kyoya. She knew he would not appreciate flowery words or placating lies, so she settled for brutal honesty.

“I think that you distance yourself from others because you are afraid that they won’t see you for what you truly are… and that saddens you. You come here to the bookstore to escape that sad reality, if only for a little while.” His face softened, and the hand caressing her cheekbone stilled to cup the entire side of her face.

“Astute observation, but it seems one minor detail escaped your notice.” When she blinked inquisitively at him, he smirked, “I come to the bookstore to visit the one person who does see me for who I really am.” Kyoko’s face burned with a fiery blush up to the tips of her ears, and the way her mouth wriggled unsurely made the stoic man chuckle softly. His hand dropped from her face to begin skipping along the book spines of the romance section.

“Are you… going to try a new kind of book today? You’ve never bought a romance novel before.”

“Indeed.” He smirked toothily at her. “I’m looking for a rather specific story, however. It’s one of a cold-hearted, mean disciplinary committee president who bared his heart to a bookstore attendant. Do you happen to know it?” Kyoko could not help but squeal, clap her hands on her cheeks, and whirl on her heel. Who knew Kyoya was such a smooth talker?! Oh, my heart is going to beat right out of my chest! “Kyoko.” She whirled back around with a very loud “hmm?!” to find Kyoya replacing a book to the shelf. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Do have the story in stock.” With a final, cocky smirk and a glint in those obsidian eyes, he promptly took his leave, forsaking Kyoko to short-circuit in the stacks. The little bell signaled his departure, tinkling a promise of short return.

“Oh my. Oh my!” Kyoko whispered under her breath as she paced violently in the two-foot-wide stretch of hallway between the bookshelves. In one turn of her frantic striding, she spied a strip of paper peeking out between two book spines where Kyoya had been messing around just a few minutes ago. She sank to her knees when she discovered his phone number written on it. “Oh my! Oh gosh! The other girls will kill me for this, but- ah!” she screamed and hugged the scrap of paper to her chest. The bulky, fluffy cat came sauntering up with his feathery tail swaying, rubbing his head against Kyoko’s bent knee.

“Can you believe it, big guy? I finally get my own love story!” she beamed and pulled the purring creature into her lap to happily rub his furry tummy.

A love story indeed, one not written within any leather book spine in the entirety of the world… One that was her own, and that was real.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

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