asael

I don't usually write multi-part fics, but

nonartisan asked for kimono sex, and apparently I couldn't just write a drabble, and it grew from there... you know how it is. Anyway, at least this is good practice at writing long fics, which I really should learn to do.

This is an AU, so you have been warned. There'll be six parts - I write slow, so if it takes awhile to finish that's why, but if I seem to have forgotten, you have permission to smack me around a little.

In this chapter, there are kimonos but no sex.

Tsukimi (1/6)
Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Mukuro/Hibari (in this part)
one | two | three | four | five | six

The cherry trees were blooming, and Hibari hated it. He'd heard all the arguments in favor of cherry blossom trees, and he was still certain they were a pox on humanity. They were beautiful, yes, but if he had to pick another stray petal out of his hair, he was going to kill something. Conveniently, he'd brought his gun with him today.

It was his first week at his new job, and his first week in this city. Hibari was learning quickly, though, as his new partner was a local. They'd been assigned to a calm area of the city, good for a newly transferred cop to start off in. It seemed nearly crimeless - the most they'd had to do was issue a few speeding tickets and warn crosswalkers.

Hibari had known something about the city he was transferring into before he came, but the majority of the picture was still blank. He knew that the previous chief of police had been waging a war against the city's organized crime, which had resulted in a rather high fatality rate on the force – including, of course, the chief of police, neatly strangled in his bed one night.

The new chief was young and inexperienced, and had backed down from direct conflict in favor of rebuilding the force.

That was why Hibari was here. His disagreements with his superior at his previous post hadn't disqualified him, and it suited him perfectly to work alone for now.

He just wished it were a little less boring.

The area he patrolled was quiet enough to make someone suspicious – and Hibari was. At the beginning of the week, he had noted that one small apartment building seemed to have more comings and goings than would be expected. He'd kept an eye on it since then, and today he planned to find out why.

By marching right through the door.

It was absolutely not condoned by the police department, which was why he was doing it on his day off. But he was no fool, and so he had his gun with him. Concerns over things like 'safety' and 'not sparking another inner-city war' were not really Hibari's style.

The outside of the building was nondescript. It was about five stories high, and the front walk to the entrance was lined with the cherry trees that were currently the bane of Hibari's existence. The only thing strange about it was that all the shades on the front of the building were pulled shut, and there was a pale yellow circle painted on the door - a moon, maybe. The door wasn't locked, though, and before Hibari entered he ran a hand through his hair to dislodge any stray petals.

He wasn't entirely sure what he'd expected to find when he strode into the building. A drug den, maybe, despite the outwardly perfect appearance of the building. A criminal's squat wouldn't have surprised him either. Instead, the inside of the apartment building was, if anything, even nicer than the outside. The walls were wood-paneled and dark, and the carpet was a deep red. It was plush beneath his boots, which Hibari rather disliked.

There was a desk just inside the entrance, and that was about all there was. It was in a small room with a door in the back wall, clearly more of a reception area than anything else. Hibari's hand was on his gun, but the man at the desk looked uninterested and unafraid, his eyes behind fashionable glasses flickering over Hibari. He didn't move, and before Hibari could demand any answers, he spoke.

"You're that cop," he said, no trace of any particular interest in his voice. "The boss said he wanted to see you when you finally decided to come in. I'll give him a call."

Hibari scowled. "Who's your boss?" he demanded, resisting the instant urge to beat the information out of him. Obviously something was going on, and Hibari had no interest in walking into a trap.

The man gave him a look that was almost amused. "You don't know?" was all he said before he picked up the phone. "Yes, Mukuro-san? Your guest is here." He was silent for a moment. "All right."

He looked at Hibari again for a moment before perfunctorily dismissing him with a "Wait here."

Hibari gritted his teeth, but it seemed he had no other choice. This man was obviously unwilling to share any information, and seeing as how Hibari was definitely not on his own turf, beating it out of him had a high possibility of ending badly.

Luckily for everyone, Hibari did not have to wait long. After only a few minutes, the door next to the desk opened, and a scowling blond boy looked Hibari over. "Come on," he said, a sneer in his voice.

Hibari scowled right back, but followed.

They went through the door and down the hall, the surly blond boy not bothering to look back and make sure Hibari was following him. He glanced at the doors they passed, counting four on each side, every one shut tight. That only made Hibari more suspicious. If the doors were closed, there must be something hiding behind them.

He would find out what it was.

He was lead to the small elevator at the end of the hall. Once they'd both entered, the boy hit the button for the top floor. Hibari glanced at the keypad, noting that there were five floors, and spent the rest of the ride fingering his gun and ignoring the dirty glances his guide was giving him.

The top floor was only slightly different, at least at first glance. The hallway was shorter, with one door on either side and one larger sliding shoji door at the end. Hibari followed his guide to the door, which was unceremoniously pushed opened. The blond boy yelled in, "Mukuro-san, your guest is here."

Hibari was not pleased by the tone in which 'guest' was said, and he was getting more and more impatient with all this nonsense. He pushed past the boy and entered the room, ignoring the angry squawking coming from behind him.

He was surprised to find a Japanese-style room in the middle of this otherwise very Western building, though perhaps he shouldn't have been, given the door - latticed paper, like one would find in the most traditional of homes. The floor was tatami, and to his own vague disgust he found himself slipping out of his shoes - ingrained habit, even if he had no desire to be respectful. The room was rather small, and it was clearly only part of a larger suite. The reception room, he supposed.

A low, laquered table sat in the middle of the room. On one side was a cushion embroidered with a pattern of chrysanthemums, clearly meant for Hibari - since on the other side sat a man.

From his relaxed posture and slight smile, Hibari felt he could comfortably assume that this was Mukuro. This man was fully, irritatingly aware that he had the upper hand, which only made Hibari want to punch him in the face. He resisted the urge and instead looked Mukuro over.

He wore an extremely expensive looking and flashy kimono, patterned with what looked like a phoenix and tied loosely in the front. Hibari's eyes narrowed. The man wasn't even Japanese.

Mukuro gestured at the cushion across from him, raising an eyebrow at Hibari. The smile - or rather, smirk - never faltered. "Won't you sit down? I've made tea."

"Who are you?" Hibari asked, in no mood for playing anyone's games. "What is this place?"

"Sit down, and we can have a little talk. It's rude to refuse an offer of hospitality," Mukuro said with a laugh. "I promise you won't be harmed."

"There's no reason for me to trust your promises," Hibari said, blunt. The way Mukuro's kimono was practically slipping off his shoulder, baring far too much collarbone, made him even more short-tempered.

Mukuro shrugged, adjusting his kimono a little, and Hibari looked back up at his face. "You haven't got much of a choice. You came all the way in here, after all." He leaned forward, lifting a small teapot to fill two delicate cups, and pushing one across the table towards Hibari. "If I don't want you to leave, you won't." The corners of his lips curved up again.

Hibari sat down with ill grace. It may be true, but he didn't have to like it. Still, he wanted answers from this man. Without thinking about it, he picked up the wistera-patterned teacup in front of him and sipped, scowling at the taste. It was made perfectly.

"My name is Rokudo Mukuro," Mukuro said, smiling even more - probably at Hibari's displeased expression. "I own this establishment. And you are Hibari Kyoya, the new officer on the force who obviously hasn't been told anything."

"Is that supposed to impress me? Anyone can find out a name." Hibari didn't like Mukuro's assumption that he knew nothing. It rankled particularly badly because it was true. "What is this place? There's something going on here."

"See, now, that's exactly what I mean. The force must be hurting if they don't even have time to get you up to speed." Mukuro looked at him measuringly. "Surely you know of the Millefiore?"

Hibari tensed at the name. The group that ruled the city's underworld - and reportedly much of the aboveboard business as well. The group whose leader had had the last police chief killed and the force decimated. "You're connected with the Millefiore?"

"No," Mukuro said, waving a hand casually, as if it were nothing. "I'm a free agent, though they do come here occasionally. I just wanted to make sure you weren't running completely blind. This is a brothel, Kyoya."

"I didn't give you permission to use my name," Hibari said, ignoring Mukuro's smirk. "You run a whorehouse..." Looking Mukuro over, it certainly made sense. The man looked born to sin. Hibari let his frown deepen - which scared most people, but apparently not Mukuro. "That's definitely illegal."

Mukuro poured Hibari more tea, in the process allowing his kimono to slip nearly off his shoulder entirely. "Oh, don't you worry. Your superiors know all about this place." He smiled brilliantly. "In fact, that cute little boss of yours was just here a few days ago."

Hibari tried not to think about the naive young new chief of police doing unmentionable things with Rokudo Mukuro. It was, sadly, all too easy to imagine. "If they know about you, they should shut you down."

"And lose the only source of fun in this city that's not Millefiore-controlled? Not likely," Mukuro said with a laugh.

That was obviously not the only reason. Hibari still knew very little about the politics of the city, but if an establishment like this was allowed to stay in business, there must be other reasons. He assumed Mukuro must have blackmail material on most of the powerful men in the city.

"If you're so secure, then why am I here?" Hibari asked, looking directly at Mukuro - and definitely not at his pale bare shoulder.

"Because I want to make a deal." Mukuro met his eyes, dropping the smile and looking completely businesslike. "You've been assigned to this area. Most of our business takes place in this building, but not all of it, and not all of my employees live here. I want the assurance that if something happens, here or outside, and we need you to help, you won't decide that we don't deserve it because we're just whores." Mukuro's voice was even, but his eyes didn't waver and there was a hint of anger behind everything that Hibari couldn't ignore. "And don't bother insisting that you'd never do that, you'll treat everyone the same because you're good and righteous. That means nothing in a place like this."

Hibari suppressed his initial flash of anger. He didn't generally care about viewing a situation from both sides, but he understood that (at least this time), Mukuro hadn't meant to offend him. The other man lived in a world Hibari recognized, a world where no one would do anything for free.

Mukuro smiled again, though the chill wasn't completely gone from his eyes. "Of course, I'm not asking for protection. We can do that ourselves. This assurance would only be for extraordinary circumstances. The rest of the time, all I ask is that you let us be and don't interfere."

Hibari looked at him for a long time before he spoke. "And if I say no?"

"Then you'll be gone," Mukuro said, and left it at that.

Gone from this area, this city, or this life? Hibari didn't ask, but if what Mukuro had said was true, any of them were possible. If this place wasn't under Millefiore control yet, it was because Mukuro had enough strength to keep it free, and if he could do that, he could get rid of one police officer without wasting any effort. Hibari wasn't afraid of this man, but he also had no reason to refuse the deal. So far. "What's the rest?"

"What's in it for you, you mean?" Mukuro relaxed, on familiar ground, and looked Hibari over. "Well, besides the right to live happily in your old hometown, what do you expect?"

Hibari's back stiffened. It wasn't the offer, but rather the implication in the rest of the words that bothered him. His old hometown? How did Mukuro know that? Hibari's family had moved from the city before he started junior high, and he hadn't been back since.

He didn't have long to think about it, though, because Mukuro moved from his side of the table, settling next to Hibari fluidly. He made hardly a sound beyond the rustling of garments. Now he was much too close, close enough that Hibari could feel the warmth of his skin and smell the scent of whatever soap he used - Hibari tried not to think that it smelled rather good.

It was extremely distracting, as was the way Hibari couldn't quite tear his eyes away from the curve of Mukuro's neck, the fall of his long hair.

"Now," Mukuro spoke, soft and intimate, "you could have any of my employees. And I rarely take clients personally these days... but I'm willing to make an exception for you."

Hibari wanted to ask why, but then Mukuro's lips brushed against his throat and he couldn't breathe anymore. Some inner voice was berating him, telling him to push Mukuro away and leave - he didn't even like this man!

He ignored it. It was true, he didn't like Mukuro. The man was superior, irritating, and a criminal. Hibari didn't like him at all.

But he'd known from the moment he walked in and laid eyes on Mukuro that he wanted him. He wanted to push Mukuro down, make him beg, find something more useful for that annoying perfect mouth to do.

Without realizing it, Hibari found himself with one hand tangled in Mukuro's hair, pulling the other man roughly into a proper kiss. His lips were soft and he tasted like tea, and Hibari was about to get in way over his head when he felt the cell phone at his side vibrating.

It was the station, of course. Only his work had this number. All Hibari wanted to do for a moment was turn the phone off and continue, and that was what really shocked him to his senses.

He pushed Mukuro away, not very gently, and stood. Appearing unaffected, Mukuro rose to his feet as well and smiled at Hibari. Hibari couldn't help noticing his flushed cheeks and disarranged hair, and had to concentrate hard to ignore his own body's demands.

"Duty calls, I see. Well, I won't stop you." Mukuro stepped closer. "You know where to find me, Kyoya. I'll see you later."

Hibari was irritated to realize that Mukuro was taller than he was, and then Mukuro kissed him again. He wouldn't allow it to distract him this time, but he wouldn't deny himself all pleasure either - this time, he kissed Mukuro and bit his lip hard before pulling away.

He glanced back only once as he was leaving, long enough to see Mukuro lick the blood off his lip and smile, a smile full of pleasure and desire.

Hibari could think of nothing else for the rest of the day.

next part