Chapter Text
In an industry where almost everything could be rehearsed, controlled, polished, and approved by three different teams before it ever reached the public, We Got Married remained one of the few programs capable of making idols visibly nervous.
That was probably why people loved it.
The premise had existed for years, changing slightly with every season but never losing its appeal.
Two celebrities from different parts of the entertainment industry were paired together and asked to live as a married couple for several months.
They received a house.
They were given missions.
They went grocery shopping, decorated bedrooms, cooked meals, attended each other's schedules, celebrated anniversaries invented by the production team, and occasionally found themselves standing in front of a small ceremonial altar while cameras captured every awkward second of their fictional wedding.
The house was fitted with cameras.
Not everywhere, of course. There were private spaces and filming hours, and both participants had clear boundaries written into their contracts.
But enough of their daily life was recorded that audiences inevitably began feeling as though they knew them.
That was where the danger started.
Because We Got Married had a strange habit of turning pretend relationships into national obsessions.
And this year, the production team had apparently decided that peace was overrated.
Their first couple announcement dropped at exactly eight in the morning.
HIBARI KYOYA OF VULTURE AND SAWADA TSUNAYOSHI OF SKYLNK CONFIRMED AS THE FIRST COUPLE OF WE GOT MARRIED: IDOL SEASON.
The internet stopped functioning normally for approximately four minutes.
Then it exploded.
SKYLNK had debuted four years earlier under Vongola Entertainment and had since become one of the biggest boy groups of their generation.
Five members, five completely different images, somehow fitting together beneath the same name.
Gokudera Hayato was the group's stormy rapper and producer, an alpha whose intensity followed him both onstage and off. He was notoriously protective of his members and, somehow, even more notoriously protective of Tsuna.
Yamamoto Takeshi, meanwhile, was their lead vocalist, dancer, and resident variety-show genius. A beta with an easygoing charm and natural warmth, he was universally adored by both fans and industry staff alike.
Then there was Rokudo Mukuro—alpha, main vocalist, visual, and the group's most reliable source of public-relations headaches. Beautiful, unpredictable, and far too entertained by his own reputation, Mukuro seemed to consider every scandal rumor an opportunity rather than a problem.
Lambo Bovino was the group's beta maknae and main dancer, the youngest member by a comfortable margin and, despite everyone's persistent denial, undoubtedly the most spoiled. None of the older members ever admitted to being responsible for it, which would have been considerably more convincing if they did not immediately give him whatever he asked for.
And then there was Sawada Tsunayoshi.
SKYLNK's leader.
Main dancer.
Omega.
And, perhaps more than anything else, the public's darling.
If Gokudera was intensity, Yamamoto was warmth, Mukuro was danger, and Lambo was chaos, then Tsuna was gentleness.
He had the kind of reputation entertainment journalists loved because the articles practically wrote themselves. Tsuna was unfailingly polite, painfully shy, and almost hopeless whenever variety shows forced him into flirting games.
Compliments made him visibly flustered, praise usually ended with him awkwardly trying to redirect attention toward someone else, and teasing from his members had reduced him to hiding behind Yamamoto more than once.
But it was not only his shyness that made people adore him.
Tsuna was the kind of idol who thanked backstage staff by name, remembered which dancers had birthdays coming up, and noticed when someone on the production crew looked exhausted before anyone else did.
His kindness never seemed calculated for cameras, either. More often than not, the moments that made fans fall for him were caught somewhere in the background, when Tsuna clearly did not realize anyone was watching.
Fans loved filming compilations of him becoming visibly flustered whenever someone called him pretty. Other idols often said that speaking to Tsuna felt strangely easy, even when meeting him for the first time.
His secondary gender had never been hidden.
Vongola Entertainment had built SKYLNK as a mixed-dynamic male group from the beginning.
Tsuna was their only omega.
Gokudera and Mukuro were alphas.
Yamamoto and Lambo were betas.
Their dynamic had been a topic of interest around debut, particularly because an omega had been chosen as leader over two alphas, but that conversation had disappeared remarkably quickly once people actually saw SKYLNK together.
No one who watched them for more than ten minutes questioned why Tsuna was their leader.
Gokudera followed him with almost militant devotion, the kind that had long since become a running joke among fans.
Yamamoto trusted him almost instinctively, rarely questioning Tsuna's judgment even when everyone else did.
Mukuro could turn nearly anything into a joke (or an opportunity to make Tsuna regret speaking to him) but the moment Tsuna's voice lost its usual softness and became genuinely serious, Mukuro listened.
Even Lambo, who treated rules less like rules and more like personal suggestions, usually surrendered when Tsuna finally resorted to what the members affectionately called his tired leader voice.
Somehow, despite how different they were, Tsuna had become the point they naturally gathered around.
Their fandom had stopped finding their secondary genders particularly remarkable years ago.
Gokudera and Mukuro were alphas, Yamamoto and Lambo were betas, and Tsuna was an omega, but after four years of watching SKYLNK live together, perform together, argue on camera, and practically raise Lambo as a collective unit, it had become little more than another fact fans already knew about them.
If anything, what fascinated people far more was that an omega as gentle and seemingly unassuming as Sawada Tsunayoshi had somehow ended up leading four of the most difficult men in the industry, and that every single one of them listened when he spoke.
The industry itself had changed too.
All-omega groups existed.
All-alpha groups were common.
Mixed-dynamic groups existed too.
There were even companies that specifically rejected the old expectation that idols should be marketed according to alpha, beta, or omega stereotypes.
Even so, certain combinations still attracted attention.
And a famously soft-spoken omega idol being paired with the leader of the most famous all-alpha male group in the industry was definitely one of them.
Because Hibari Kyoya was not exactly known for romance.
VULTURE was different from SKYLNK in almost every possible way.
Where SKYLNK's concept leaned emotional, elegant, and occasionally bright, VULTURE had built its reputation on precision.
VULTURE had built their reputation on intensity.
With sharp choreography, dark stage design, and live arrangements layered with strings, pounding drums, and aggressive percussion had become signatures of their performances. Nothing about them ever felt light or effortless.
Every movement was deliberate, every transition precise, every stage carefully constructed to feel as though something dangerous was being held just barely under control.
Watching VULTURE perform rarely felt like watching a concert. It felt more like witnessing controlled violence, perhaps that impression had something to do with the members themselves.
Five members. Five alphas.
Each of them commanding enough on their own to dominate a room, and somehow even more overwhelming when placed on the same stage.
The entertainment industry had initially treated that fact as VULTURE's greatest marketing point.
VULTURE themselves seemed mostly uninterested.
If anything, five powerful personalities trapped in one group had given their managers significantly more trouble than whatever glamorous image the public imagined.
Their fanbase adored them.
Music critics respected them.
Variety-show producers feared them.
All for very different reasons.
Fans loved the sheer force of their performances, critics praised the precision and ambition behind their music, and producers had learned—usually the hard way—that putting all five members in the same studio rarely resulted in anything resembling a normal recording.
With VULTURE, chaos was never accidental.
It simply came in five different forms.
Sasagawa Ryohei was the group's powerhouse rapper and resident source of impossible enthusiasm, capable of turning even the quietest interview into something EXTREME if no one stopped him quickly enough.
Kikyo, on the other hand, was the group's main dancer and perhaps the closest thing VULTURE had to damage control. Elegant, observant, and devastatingly competent, he had an uncanny ability to notice when a conversation was about to go wrong and redirect it just before disaster struck.
Unfortunately, disaster usually had a name.
Byakuran. Lead vocalist, visual, and professional menace.
He was the sort of idol who could smile sweetly while saying something guaranteed to become a headline within ten minutes.
Byakuran flirted shamelessly with cameras, hosts, his members, entire audiences, and, on particularly slow days, occasionally inanimate objects if he was bored enough. No one had ever successfully determined whether he enjoyed attention or simply enjoyed watching everyone else deal with the consequences.
Dino Cavallone was their lead dancer, naturally charming, ridiculously popular on variety programs, and one of the few people in the industry willing to annoy Hibari recreationally.
He possessed the kind of effortless friendliness that made hosts relax around him almost immediately, though this occasionally worked against him whenever he decided that provoking his leader on live television was worth whatever happened afterward.
And then there was Hibari Kyoya.
Leader.
Main vocalist.
Alpha.
A man who had once been asked during an interview, What is your ideal date?
Hibari had stared at the host for several seconds before answering,
"Going home."
The clip had thirteen million views anyways.
Hibari was not rude. At least, that was how his fans defended him.
He simply had very little interest in pretending to enjoy things he did not enjoy, speaking when he had nothing to say, or participating in the kind of idol behavior most people considered necessary for maintaining a public image.
Unfortunately for VULTURE's management team, honesty became significantly more dangerous when paired with Hibari Kyoya's complete lack of concern for how that honesty sounded on television.
He was simply impatient.
He disliked unnecessary physical contact.
He hated loud games.
He had walked out of a variety program once because twenty celebrities were told to scream simultaneously. (Ryohei had remained behind and screamed loudly enough for both of them.)
Hibari rarely attended idol social gatherings.
He didn't participate in dating rumors because there was rarely anyone close enough to him for rumors to begin.
His stage presence, however, was terrifying.
Hibari barely had to move before the audience started screaming. There was something about the stillness in him that made every movement look intentional. He could stand under one spotlight, black hair damp with sweat, microphone held loosely in one hand, and somehow make an arena feel smaller.
He was also infamously selective about schedules.
Which raised one obvious question.
How the hell had anyone convinced Hibari Kyoya to do We Got Married?
Tsuna discovered his marriage at the exact same time as the rest of SKYLNK.
Which, he would later insist, was cruel.
They were filming an episode of SKYLNK's reality show that morning—or at least that was what Tsuna thought when he noticed the cameras already set up inside one of Vongola Entertainment's practice rooms.
The five members were gathered around a low table, eating breakfast while the production staff explained that they would be reacting to some important entertainment news.
Tsuna probably should have been suspicious.
Instead, he was eating toast.
A staff member placed a tablet on the table in front of them.
"Please read the headline together."
Gokudera immediately leaned forward. Lambo nearly climbed onto the table trying to see the screen.
Mukuro smiled before anyone had even started reading, which usually meant he had already sensed that something terrible was about to happen.
Yamamoto was the first to read aloud.
"'Hibari Kyoya of VULTURE and Sawada Tsunayoshi of SKYLNK confirmed as—'"
Tsuna stopped chewing.
Gokudera's head turned toward him so slowly that Yamamoto did not even get the chance to finish the sentence.
Lambo's mouth dropped open.
Mukuro merely hummed, looking considerably less impressed than everyone else.
The camera immediately zoomed in on Tsuna.
Tsuna swallowed his toast. "…what?"
The staff behind the cameras started laughing. Which Tsuna personally thought was a little rude, considering no one seemed interested in explaining what was happening.
Gokudera snatched the tablet off the table. "What the hell does this mean?"
"Hayato-kun!"
"No. Something is wrong with this." He read the headline again, his expression grew increasingly offended with every word. "No fucking way."
"Hayato-kun!" Tsuna flinched at the swearing, though realistically it would probably be censored or edited out later anyway.
Mukuro leaned over Gokudera's shoulder. "Oh, how interesting."
"THERE IS NOTHING INTERESTING ABOUT THIS."
Lambo had already crawled halfway across the table. "Tsuna's getting married?!"
Tsuna stared at him in horror.
He was still trying to process the information himself because, as far as he knew, no one had told him anything about this. No one had mentioned that he would be participating in some kind of marriage program.
And yet somehow his name was already in a headline.
"I'm not actually getting married!"
"There's a wedding, they said." Lambo said cheerfully.
"It's a TV show!"
"Still counts."
"It absolutely does not!" Tsuna could already feel his ears burning.
Yamamoto finally managed to retrieve the tablet long enough to finish reading the article.
"Wow."
Tsuna looked at him desperately.
Yamamoto looked back. "...Is this true?"
The practice-room door opened. Their manager—Reborn—walked in dressed neatly in one of his usual suit, carried a thick stack of documents under one arm. He stopped just behind the cameras and answered with complete calm.
"Yes."
Tsuna immediately turned toward him. There were so many questions fighting to come out at once that for several seconds none of them managed to.
What was this? Who had agreed to this? And how come this happened?
Because Tsuna was fairly certain he had never signed a contract agreeing to marry Hibari Kyoya on television.
"Tsuna will be participating in We Got Married," Reborn said.
Everyone stared at him, including Tsuna.
Yamamoto was the first to recover. "Congratulations?"
"Don't congratulate me!"
Mukuro rested his chin against one hand. "Who would've thought that out of all of us, Tsuna would be the first one to get married?"
"It's not a real marriage!"
"A fascinating combination, if you ask me." Lambo said, still reading the article over Yamamoto's shoulder.
Mukuro's smile widened. "I wonder which one of them will kill the other first."
Tsuna looked increasingly distressed. Apparently no one in this room understood that he was experiencing an actual crisis. He dragged both hands through his hair. "Why is everyone acting like this is happening tomorrow?!"
A staff member slowly raised a card from behind one of the cameras.
Tsuna stared at it.
FIRST FILMING: TOMORROW.
Tsuna went completely still.
Everyone else exploded.
"Tomorrow?!" Tsuna repeated.
Lambo collapsed sideways onto the floor, laughing. Yamamoto covered his mouth, shoulders already shaking. Mukuro looked genuinely entertained now.
Gokudera shot to his feet. "I need to speak to management."
"Hayato-kun!"
"Immediately."
Tsuna grabbed the back of Gokudera's jacket before he could get anywhere."You are not threatening our company because I have a variety-show schedule!"
"No one is objecting to this," Reborn cut in calmly. "The company has already finalized the deal."
Gokudera immediately froze.
Reborn looked between all of them. "And this is already being filmed for the behind-the-scenes footage, so behave yourselves."
That shut everyone up. Because once Reborn used that tone, no one was stupid enough to argue.
The staff behind the cameras were openly laughing now as the entire group abruptly became silent.
Tsuna slowly covered his face.
"Oh my God." Tsuna voice came out muffled through his hands. "So it's actually real."
Mukuro tilted his head. "I thought you liked Hibari."
The room went silent as mukuro said that.
Tsuna slowly lowered his hands. "...Excuse me?"
Gokudera whipped around so fast Tsuna almost heard his neck crack. "Tsuna?"
"I don't like him!"
"You answered suspiciously quickly." Yamamoto observed.
"I answered at a completely normal speed!"
Lambo pointed at him. "His ears are red!"
"They are always red!"
"That's not true."
Tsuna looked around at all four of them in disbelief.
"WHY ARE YOU ALL LIKE THIS?"
VULTURE's reaction was calmer.
For approximately seven seconds, and mostly because Hibari did not react.
Their footage was filmed in a backstage waiting room after rehearsal.
Dino was stretched across one end of the couch, looking far too comfortable for someone who had spent the last two hours dancing.
Byakuran was stealing marshmallows from a catering bowl he had very specifically been told not to touch.
Kikyo sat nearby, quietly going through the revised stage schedule and making notes whenever he found something that needed correcting.
Ryohei, for reasons no one had bothered asking about, was standing in the middle of the room while loudly explaining how their rehearsal could have been even more extreme.
Hibari sat slightly apart from the rest of them, as usual, reading through a performance report with the unmistakable air of someone who had already decided everyone else in the room was too loud.
The door opened.
One of their managers stepped inside carrying a tablet.
"We have something to show you."
Byakuran looked up immediately, a marshmallow halfway to his mouth. "Is it a scandal?"
"No."
"Boring." His interest disappeared almost instantly.
Dino laughed from the couch.
"Give it five minutes. With us, it could still become one."
Kikyo sighed without looking up from the schedule. "Please don't encourage him."
"I'm not encouraging him."
"You usually are."
Ryohei finally stopped talking about rehearsal long enough to turn toward the manager. "What is it?”
The manager visibly reconsidered whatever decision had led them to this room.
"It's an announcement."
That got slightly more attention. Even Hibari lifted his eyes from the report.
Byakuran placed another marshmallow into his mouth. "Someone's dating?"
"No."
"Someone's leaving the group?"
"No."
"Someone secretly has a child?"
Dino sat up. "Why was that your third guess?"
"I like to keep my expectations up." Byakuran smiled.
The manager ignored him and held out the tablet. "This concerns Hibari."
Every head in the room turned.
Hibari's expression did not change.
Dino, however, immediately looked delighted. "Oh?"
"Now it's interesting." Byakuran leaned forward.
The manager placed the tablet on the table.
Dino reached for the tablet first, he read the headline once then sat up properly. "No way!"
That was enough to get Byakuran's attention. He leaned over Dino's shoulder, read the same line, and immediately smiled wider.
"Oh."
Kikyo finally looked up from the schedule. Ryohei stopped talking mid-sentence. Dino looked down at the announcement again, as if checking that he had not somehow misread it, then turned toward their leader.
"No way!"
Hibari turned another page of the performance report.
"Kyoya." Dino called.
No response.
"Kyoya."
Hibari finally looked up.
"What?"
Dino held up the tablet. "You're getting married."
"No."
The staff behind the cameras burst out laughing.
Ryohei immediately moved closer. "MARRIAGE?!"
"Stop shouting."
"But marriage is an EXTREME commitment!"
"It's a television program." Hibari said.
Ryohei stared at him. "THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT LESS EXTREME."
Byakuran, meanwhile, had already taken the tablet from Dino. "Who is it?"
Byakuran's eyes moved across the screen. Then stopped. His expression changed, not too dramatic, just enough for Kikyo to notice.
"Oh," Byakuran repeated, this time with considerably more interest.
Dino glanced over. "What?"
Byakuran turned the tablet around. "Sawada Tsunayoshi."
That finally got Hibari's attention.
He finally looked up, read the headline with his expression did not change.
They all waited for the response, even the production crew too.
Hibari looked back down at his report. "I know."
"You knew?" Dino stared.
"Hn."
"AND YOU AGREED?"
Hibari's eyes narrowed. "Why are you shouting?"
"Because you agreed to We Got Married!" Ryohei pointed at him.
"Stop saying that."
Byakuran was still reading through the article, completely ignoring the others as they continued questioning Hibari about how, exactly, he had agreed to this series in the first place.
"Tsunayoshi, huh."
Hibari's gaze flickered upward.It was brief, barely noticeable. Byakuran noticed anyway.
His smile sharpened. "He's sweet. Probably a sweetheart, actually. I still can't believe he agreed to marry Hibari."
Hibari's eyes narrowed, but he did not respond.
Ryohei did, "What’s wrong with marrying Hibari?"
"Nothing," Byakuran said easily. "He's just very shy."
And somehow, that seemed to delight him.
Dino looked over. "You know him?"
"We've met."
Of course, that was not particularly unusual.
Everyone in VULTURE had crossed paths with Tsuna—or SKYLNK as a whole—at some point. In an industry like theirs, idols from different groups constantly ran into one another at music shows, award ceremonies, festivals, backstage waiting areas, and year-end events.
"I did our comeback challenge with him last time," Byakuran added.
That made Dino blink. "You did?"
"You didn't watch it?" Byakuran looked offended.
"I watch our stages."
"How loyal."
Dance challenges between idols had become practically mandatory during comeback promotions, so no one had thought much of Byakuran disappearing for a few minutes backstage to film one.
Apparently, none of them had realized Tsuna had been the other idol.
Kikyo turned his attention toward Hibari. "Do you know him?"
Hibari was quiet for a moment. He still looked thoroughly uninterested in the entire situation, but he had not gone back to reading either. He had been listening to Byakuran the whole time.
"I know him."
Dino nearly fell off the couch. "You do?"
Hibari gave him a flat look. "We've met at music shows and awards. Of course I know him."
"That doesn't count!"
"Well," Byakuran said cheerfully, "You will have plenty of time to get to know him better after this."
Hibari ignored him.
Kikyo glanced down at the article before speaking again. "Sawada-san has a very good reputation."
"I know." Hibari turned another page.
Silence. This time, it was not only the members who went quiet. Even the production staff behind the cameras seemed momentarily too stunned to react.
Dino stared at him, "You know a surprising amount about your future husband."
Hibari closed the folder. The sound was quiet, everyone in VULTURE recognized it for what it was.
A warning.
Dino immediately raised both hands. "Fine."
Byakuran, unfortunately, did not possess the same survival instinct. "Do you think he's cute?"
Hibari looked at him.
Byakuran smiled.
"You have five seconds."
"How frightening, Leader-san."
"Four."
Kikyo calmly reached over and removed the bowl of marshmallows from Byakuran's reach. "Perhaps we should stay on topic."
"Kikyo-kun. Traitor." Byakuran looked genuinely betrayed.
Dino, apparently having learned absolutely nothing from the last thirty seconds, turned back to Hibari. "So?"
"What?"
"What do you think?" Dino raised his eyebrows, teasing their leader.
Hibari frowned. "About what?"
"Being paired with an omega."
The question was casual but everyone in the room understood why Dino had asked it.
For all the teasing, all the jokes, and all the obvious entertainment they were getting out of the situation, there was still one detail that made this pairing different.
VULTURE was an all-alpha group.
They had spent most of their career being subjected to questions about dominance, compatibility, hierarchy, competition, and every other stereotype reporters could attach to five alphas working together.
Now Hibari was being paired with one of the industry's most recognizable omega idols.
The public was going to talk.
A lot.
Hibari looked unimpressed. "What should I think?"
"The public will definitely make it a thing." Dino shrugged.
"They make everything a thing."
Byakuran rested his chin on his hand. "They're already calling it the alpha-omega marriage of the year."
"Idiotic."
"And Sawada-kun is known for being shy," Dino continued.
"Then don't crowd him."
The room went quiet. Dino blinked and Kikyo's gaze shifted briefly toward Hibari. Byakuran's entire expression transformed into something unbearably pleased.
Ryohei, meanwhile, nodded with complete seriousness. "GOOD. A HUSBAND SHOULD BE CONSIDERATE."
Hibari turned his head toward him. Ryohei took one look at his expression and wisely decided he had contributed enough to the conversation.
Dino's mouth slowly curved into a grin.
Beside him, Byakuran was practically glowing.
"What?"
"Nothing," Kikyo said smoothly.
"Absolutely nothing," Dino added, sounding far too innocent to be convincing.
Byakuran smiled. "I have many things to say, actually."
"Don't."
"But, Hibari-kun," Byakuran continued anyway, "You've already thought about how not to make him uncomfortable."
Hibari's eyes narrowed. "Byakuran."
"Fine."
Byakuran leaned back, still smiling. He did not look remotely sorry.
Unfortunately for Hibari, the cameras caught every second of it.
Once the cameras stopped rolling and the We Got Married production team finally left, the atmosphere in VULTURE's waiting room changed almost immediately.
The teasing did not stop, exactly.
It simply became considerably more serious.
Hibari Kyoya rarely appeared on variety programs.
That was not because CEDEF refused to give him individual schedules, despite what a surprisingly vocal portion of his fandom seemed determined to believe. Every few months, accusations of mistreatment would resurface online, usually accompanied by demands for fairer promotions, more solo appearances, and better treatment for Hibari.
The truth was considerably less dramatic.
Hibari simply did not want most of them.
Years ago, he had already made his preferences painfully clear to CEDEF. There were programs he would consider, programs he would tolerate under specific circumstances, and an extensive list of things he had absolutely no intention of doing.
Music programs were fine.
Award ceremonies were tolerable.
Interviews directly related to VULTURE's music were usually acceptable.
Occasional guest appearances could be negotiated.
Anything involving excessive games, forced reactions, unnecessary skinship, or strangers asking intrusive questions about his personal life tended to receive an immediate no.
Which was exactly why the fact that Hibari Kyoya had somehow agreed to appear on We Got Married was still difficult for everyone in the room to process.
Their manager, Kusakabe Tetsuya, stood near the table with the production documents spread out in front of him.
"This program specifically requested Hibari-san," he explained. "But while the series will focus primarily on him and Sawada-san, VULTURE will inevitably appear from time to time as well."
Byakuran had reclaimed his marshmallows.
Kikyo looked less enthusiastic about the information.
Ryohei was listening with the concentration of someone receiving instructions before a championship match.
Dino nodded slowly.
Kusakabe continued. "From the agency's perspective, this could also be beneficial for VULTURE's public image."
"Our image?" Kikyo looked up.
"Yes." There was a brief pause. Kusakabe seemed to consider how delicately he wanted to phrase his next sentence. "You are currently perceived as somewhat..."
He stopped.
Byakuran smiled. "Terrifying?"
"Intimidating." Kusakabe corrected.
"That's less fun." Byakuran pouted.
Kusakabe ignored him.
"VULTURE has a very strong performance image. Five alphas, aggressive stage concepts, intense choreography, and very little fan-oriented variety content outside scheduled promotions."
Dino leaned back against the couch. "So people think we're scary."
"Some audiences find the group difficult to approach."
Kikyo frowned. "We don't necessarily need to be approachable."
"Exactly!" Byakuran agreed cheerfully.
Kusakabe's expression suggested he had expected that response.
"Nevertheless, this program may help soften that perception. Hibari-san appearing in a domestic variety setting, particularly alongside someone with Sawada-san's public image, could allow viewers to see a different side of him."
And, indirectly, a different side of VULTURE.
Tsuna's reputation could hardly have been more different from theirs.
SKYLNK's gentle omega leader, beloved by staff, painfully shy on variety programs, and almost universally regarded as harmless.
Putting him beside Hibari Kyoya was—
Kikyo sighed. "An image strategy."
"Partially."
"We would've been fine without one," Kikyo muttered.
Dino laughed. "Still, maybe it'll be good for us."
Byakuran tilted his head, then his expression brightened. "Although I do have one question."
Kusakabe visibly braced himself.
"Why Hibari?"
Everyone looked at him.
Byakuran gestured vaguely toward the door the production staff had disappeared through. "If Sawada Tsunayoshi is the partner, I would've done it."
Hibari's gaze shifted toward him. Coldly.
Byakuran smiled back. "I would've been very cooperative."
"You wouldn't survive the first episode." Dino said.
"I think Tsunayoshi-kun and I would have excellent chemistry."
"Stop calling him that." Hibari said.
The room paused.
Byakuran's smile widened.
Interesting indeed.
Kusakabe pinched the bridge of his nose. "They requested Hibari-san."
"But why did he agree?" Dino asked.
Kusakabe lowered his hand.
Dino looked directly at Hibari now. "You agreed to this willingly?"
Hibari did not answer.
That, by itself, was suspicious.
Dino narrowed his eyes. "Kyoya?"
Kusakabe sighed, "Hibari-san initially refused." he continued before anyone could interrupt. "When I first brought the proposal to him, he rejected it immediately."
"Of course he did," Dino said.
That sounded considerably more like Hibari.
Kusakabe nodded. "The production team contacted us again afterward and provided additional details."
He glanced toward Hibari, including the proposed partner.
Dino's eyes slowly widened. Byakuran already looked like he knew exactly where this was going.
Kusakabe finished calmly. "After Hibari-san was informed that his partner would be Sawada Tsunayoshi, he agreed."
The room went quiet for whole 10 seconds. Then every head in the room turned toward Hibari.
Hibari looked back at them.
Dino's mouth fell open.
Ryohei looked genuinely stunned.
Kikyo, usually the most composed person in the room, blinked twice.
Byakuran looked as though someone had personally handed him the greatest gift of his life. "You—"
"Don't."
Dino pointed at him. "You said yes because it was Sawada-kun?"
"I said don't." Hibari's eyes narrowed.
Byakuran pressed both hands together in front of his mouth, visibly fighting for his life. It lasted approximately two seconds.
"So you—."
Hibari stood.
Byakuran immediately moved behind Kikyo. "I'm just saying—"
"Don't."
"You rejected marriage until they gave you the right husband." Dino folded forward, laughing.
Ryohei slapped both hands onto his knees. "THAT IS EXTREMELY ROMANTIC!"
"I hate all of you."
Dino was still laughing. "No, seriously, Kyoya—"
Hibari walked toward the door.
Byakuran called after him. "Should we start calling Sawada-san our future in-law?"
The door slammed shut.
The room erupted.
"I object to the marriage!"
The We Got Married crew had barely left before Reborn gathered all five members of SKYLNK for a short meeting regarding the series.
They had only just sat down and Gokudera was already furious.
"You can't object to the marriage." Reborn said with a sigh.
Because there is no marriage! Tsuna shrieked internally.
Across from him, Gokudera looked genuinely prepared to declare war on the entire entertainment industry.
Mukuro leaned back in his chair. "So we've been gathered here to discuss Tsunayoshi's marriage?"
"Shut up!" Tsuna immediately smacked Mukuro with the pen in his hand.
It did absolutely nothing, Mukuro only laughed. Being hit by Tsuna had never paticularly bothered him. If anything, it seemed to encourage him, considering how much he enjoyed provoking Tsuna in the first place.
Yamamoto laughed from beside them. "So how did this even happen?"
That, at least, was a reasonable question.
Reborn placed the production documents on the table. "The offer came directly from the program. They specifically wanted Tsuna and Hibari as the pairing."
Gokudera crossed his arms, "Still sounds suspicious."
"Everything sounds suspicious to you." Reborn snorted.
"Because everything usually is!"
Reborn ignored him. "From the company's perspective, there are several reasons why this is worth doing."
Tsuna looked up. "Several?"
"VULTURE is currently expanding aggressively outside Japan."
That much was true.
SKYLNK was already one of the biggest groups of their generation domestically and had a strong international fanbase of their own, but VULTURE had debuted earlier. Their overseas promotions had also grown rapidly over the last few years, particularly after several of their songs performed unexpectedly well outside Japan.
Reborn tapped one finger against the documents. "A joint program like this creates crossover exposure. Their fans watch because of Hibari. Your fans watch because of you. Some of them stay for the other group afterward."
"So basically we steal their fans." Lambo nodded.
"We attract new audiences." Reborn corrected.
"Same thing."
"No."
Mukuro smiled. "I prefer Lambo's interpretation."
Tsuna ignored both of them.
He understood the business side. That was not what worried him.
Yamamoto seemed to notice. "But couldn't this backfire?"
The room quieted slightly. Reborn looked at him, and Yamamoto continued. "I mean, Tsuna's image is..." he hesitated.
"Exactly!" Gokudera had no such hesitation. "Tsuna's been careful about this for years. If he suddenly starts doing a fake-marriage show with an alpha idol, especially someone like Hibari, people could turn on him."
Tsuna's fingers tightened slightly around his pen.
That was it.
The thing he had been trying not to think about since the headline appeared.
Tsuna had built his public image carefully over the years, mostly because he had learned very early that being an omega in the idol industry meant even the smallest interaction could be interpreted differently.
He never wanted to seem distant, and he certainly did not dislike other idols, but he understood how quickly harmless moments could turn into speculation once cameras and fans were involved.
An alpha idol could sling an arm around another member's shoulders and people would call it friendship.
If an omega did the same thing, however, the reaction could change almost instantly.
A casual touch became a rumor, a friendly conversation turned into shipping discourse, and something as simple as laughing too comfortably with an alpha could invite accusations.
Flirting. Seeking attention. Deliberately using someone else's popularity.
Slut.
Tsuna had seen it happen often enough to know how ugly it could become, and after experiencing that kind of scrutiny himself more than once, he had learned to be careful.
He had learned that lesson early.
He interacted comfortably with his own members because the public had known their dynamic for years. Outside SKYLNK, though, he kept a certain distance from male alpha idols whenever cameras were around.
Friendly. Polite. Professional.
Never enough to give people something to twist.
"Wouldn't this hurt Tsuna's image?" Yamamoto asked.
"Exactly!" Gokudera repeated, immediately pointing at him as though Yamamoto had finally said something intelligent.
Tsuna stared down at the table.
Reborn noticed. "It's possible there'll be backlash," he said.
"Then why the hell would you agree?" Gokudera's expression darkened.
"Because avoiding it forever doesn't solve the problem."
Tsuna looked up. Reborn's expression had become more serious.
"Tsuna's spent years making himself smaller around certain people because he knows how quickly the public can turn an ordinary interaction into something ugly."
No one joked this time, even Mukuro's smile faded slightly.
Reborn continued. "That's worked so far. But it also means people have built an image of him that isn't completely fair."
Tsuna frowned. "What do you mean?"
"That you're fragile."
Tsuna blinked by the statement.
Reborn leaned back. "Sweet. Shy. Polite. Harmless. All true to some degree."
"Harmless is debatable." Mukuro hummed.
Tsuna kicked his ankle under the table. Mukuro laughed quietly.
"But," Reborn continued, "There's also a growing assumption that you can't handle being around dominant personalities. Especially alphas."
Tsuna's expression changed. That part he had seen too, fans joking that SKYLNK practically formed a wall around their omega leader.
Clips of Gokudera stepping between Tsuna and strangers.
Yamamoto redirecting uncomfortable questions.
Mukuro deliberately interrupting hosts when interviews became too personal.
Even Lambo, despite being younger, had learned when Tsuna wanted an escape from a conversation.
It was affectionate. Tsuna knew that. But from the outside it could look like Tsuna always needed protecting.
Gokudera frowned. "What's wrong with protecting him?"
"Nothing," Reborn said. "Until people start assuming he can't protect himself."
That shut him up for once.
Reborn looked directly at Tsuna. "This series gives you control over that narrative."
"How?" Tsuna hesitated.
"Because it's not a dating rumor." Reborn tapped the contract. "It's an official program. Everyone knows the premise. Every interaction happens within a clearly defined context."
That made Tsuna pause.
There was a difference. A large one.
If he was photographed having dinner with an alpha idol privately, people could invent whatever story they wanted.
If he was having dinner with Hibari because they were filming We Got Married, everyone already knew why.
"No secrecy," Reborn continued. "No guessing whether you're dating. No grainy photographs taken from across a parking lot. The public knows exactly why you're together."
Yamamoto slowly nodded. "So weirdly enough, it might actually be safer."
"Exactly."
"But Hibari?" Gokudera still looked unconvinced. His voice carried enough offense that Tsuna almost laughed. "Why does it have to be him?"
Lambo leaned forward. "I heard VULTURE's fans are kind of intense."
"Kind of?" Mukuro repeated.
"Some of them are terrifying."
"So helpful, thank you." Tsuna muttered.
Because that was another problem.
VULTURE's fandom was huge. And loyal. Very loyal.
Hibari's individual fanbase in particular had a reputation for being somewhat passionate. Tsuna had seen enough online arguments to know what could happen when people became too attached to the idea that their favorite idol belonged to no one.
"That's what I'm worried about." Tsuna admitted quietly. Everyone looked at him, he rubbed his thumb against the side of his pen. "What if they hate me?"
Gokudera immediately opened his mouth. "I'll—"
"No." Tsuna pointed at him without looking up. "You are not fighting VULTURE's fandom."
"I wasn't going to say that."
"You absolutely were."
Gokudera looked offended.
Tsuna sighed. "I just..." He paused. "I know them a little."
Not well but enough. Everyone in the industry crossed paths eventually, and VULTURE was no exception.
Tsuna had spoken to Dino backstage before. Ryohei was difficult not to notice whenever they were in the same building. Kikyo had always been polite whenever their schedules overlapped.
Mukuro and Byakuran seemed to find one another alarmingly entertaining.
And more recently, Tsuna had filmed a dance challenge with Byakuran during VULTURE's last comeback.
He listened to some of their music too, not obsessively just enough that several songs had ended up in his playlists.
Their public image was intimidating, sure. But from the few interactions Tsuna had personally experienced, none of them had ever been unpleasant to him.
And Hibari…
Tsuna's thoughts stalled for half a second.
Hibari cold-looking. Quiet. Difficult to read.
They had crossed paths backstage at music shows and award ceremonies more than once. Usually nothing more than a nod, greeting, a few words if circumstances required it.
Hibari never went out of his way to speak to him. But he had also never been rude.
Not to Tsuna, at least.
Tsuna looked down again. "I don't think Hibari-san is a bad person."
Mukuro immediately smiled.
Tsuna pointed the pen at him. "Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was merely appreciating your opinion."
"You're annoying!"
Reborn continued before Mukuro could make things worse. "Hibari's actually one of the reasons the network believes the pairing will work."
"Why?" Tsuna looked at him.
"Because neither of you has the image of someone who'll overplay the romance."
That made everyone pause.
"That's true." Yamamoto laughed first.
Reborn nodded. "If they paired you with someone overly flirtatious, viewers might assume the entire show was scripted from beginning to end. Hibari doesn't perform affection for cameras. Neither do you."
Tsuna imagined Hibari being instructed to act lovestruck for a variety show. The mental image was so absurd he almost smiled.
"People will believe the awkwardness." Lambo said.
Tsuna looked offended. "Thank you?"
"They definitely will."
"And," Reborn added, "Hibari has a strong reputation for drawing boundaries. That's useful."
Gokudera finally looked slightly less murderous.
Reborn noticed. "He won't intentionally put Tsuna in a compromising situation just because producers think it'll make good television."
Tsuna thought back to every brief interaction he had ever had with Hibari.
Hibari was blunt and distant, but never invasive. He kept people at arm's length without making them feel cornered.
For Tsuna, that distinction mattered more than he expected. Remembering that made the idea of working with him feel just a little less intimidating.
"A lot of the concern you're having now is exactly why production wanted this pairing." Reborn said.
Tsuna frowned. "Because I'm scared?"
"Because the public expects you to be."
Tsuna went still.
"They expect Hibari to be intimidating." Reborn's eyes remained on him. "They expect you to be overwhelmed by him." Another. "And if you're not?"
Tsuna slowly understood.
Yamamoto smiled. "Then people get to see something different."
Reborn nodded. "And if Hibari treats you well, VULTURE's fans get to see that too."
Gokudera muttered something under his breath. Tsuna did not catch all of it, but it sounded suspiciously like he'd better.
Reborn ignored him. "No one can guarantee that you'll get zero hate. You won't."
Tsuna's stomach tightened slightly.
"But the company will monitor it. The program has agreed on boundaries. You can reject any filming concept that genuinely makes you uncomfortable."
That surprised him. "I can?"
"Yes."
"And if Hibari doesn't like something?"
"He can reject it too."
Tsuna blinked.
That… actually helped. A lot.
Reborn closed the folder. "This isn't about throwing you into a romantic program and hoping for good ratings."
"Although good ratings would be appreciated." Mukuro tilted his head.
"Obviously."
Tsuna groaned. Reborn's mouth twitched. "But it's also an opportunity."
"For what?" Tsuna asked.
"To let people see that being an omega doesn't mean you need to avoid half the industry."
Tsuna fell quiet, no one teased him this time.
Yamamoto leaned back in his chair. "Maybe it won't be that bad."
"Don't say that." Gokudera immediately looked at him.
"I'm trying to help."
"You're jinxing it."
Lambo grinned. "I think it will be funny."
"It is not supposed to be funny!"
"It's a variety show, Tsuna."
Tsuna opened his mouth. Closed it. Technically, Lambo had a point.
Mukuro rested his chin on one hand. "And if Hibari mistreats you, I'm sure Gokudera will personally start an international incident."
"I will."
"Hayato-kun!"
"What? I'm being supportive."
Tsuna dropped his forehead onto the table.
Tomorrow.
He was meeting Hibari tomorrow.
He was apparently going to become Hibari Kyoya's television husband tomorrow.
And somehow this had become a discussion about international fandom expansion, omega representation, public image strategy, and whether Gokudera could be legally prevented from threatening another idol group.
Tsuna closed his eyes.
"This is going to be a disaster."
Reborn stood. "Probably."
Tsuna's head snapped up.
"REBORN!"
By noon, HIBATSUNA WGM was trending number one worldwide.
Apparently, the ship name had existed long before either participant knew anything about it.
Tsuna learned that against his will.
The announcement had not only destroyed what little peace of mind he had left that morning; it had apparently broken the internet along with it. We Got Married was already one of the most popular variety franchises on television, but this season came with another first: never before had the program paired two currently active idols from different groups.
And somehow, for their first attempt, the producers had chosen Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hibari Kyoya.
Two people the internet had collectively agreed no one would have thought to put together.
Tsuna understood the strategy now. If the production team had wanted attention, they had certainly succeeded.
He was sitting in the back of SKYLNK's van with his hood pulled halfway over his head, scrolling through Twitter despite Gokudera having told him at least four separate times not to do exactly that.
This was mistake number one.
The first post he saw already had more than ninety thousand likes.
@cloudysky27
THEY PUT THE SHYEST OMEGA IN THE JPOP INDUSTRY WITH THE LEAST PATIENT ALPHA ALIVE. THIS IS NOT A MARRIAGE SHOW. THIS IS A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT
Tsuna pressed his lips together. That was unfortunately fair.
He kept scrolling.
@SKYLNKarchive
you guys don't understand. tsuna gets embarrassed when his OWN MEMBERS hug him unexpectedly and now you're telling me he's supposed to LIVE WITH HIBARI KYOYA???
Attached was a compilation of Tsuna getting flustered during variety appearances, including one particularly humiliating clip of him hiding behind Yamamoto after a host attempted to flirt with him.
"Why do people keep these things?" Tsuna stared at it.
Yamamoto leaned over the seat to look. "That's a cute compilation."
Tsuna immediately turned his phone away. "Don't encourage them."
There were hundreds of posts expressing more or less the same disbelief. Not because Hibari and Tsuna had some famous rivalry, that would have required them to interact in the first place.
They simply... didn't.
Someone had apparently gone through four years of public footage trying to find evidence of the two of them speaking to each other and had produced a forty-three-second video.
Forty-three seconds.
Across four years.
@hibatsunafiles
since everyone is suddenly asking for their "history" here is literally EVERY public hibari/tsuna interaction we have
- bowed at each other at music play
- tsuna said "thank you" when hibari held a door
- stood six people apart during an award ending stage
- hibari moved so tsuna could walk past backstage
- MAYBE made eye contact at vongola festival 2025
THAT'S IT. THAT'S THE MARRIED COUPLE.
Tsuna blinked. He didn't even remember number five.
Another account replied:
@cloudbite
the editors of we got married really said "chemistry? we'll build it ourselves"
@skyberry
they have less predebut lore than two coworkers from different departments 😭
@vulturehour
hibari has spoken more words to a microphone stand than he has to sawada tsunayoshi and tomorrow they're HUSBANDS
Tsuna covered his mouth, laugh escaped anyway.
Gokudera looked over suspiciously. "What are you reading?"
"Nothing."
"Give me the phone."
"No." Tsuna turned toward the window and continued scrolling before Gokudera could reach him.
The jokes only got worse.
@vulturefiles
hibari marriage prediction:
day 1: stop crowding
day 2: don't touch my things
day 3: sawada why are there six decorative pillows
day 4: homicide
Tsuna laughed again before he could stop himself. Then immediately felt guilty about it.
He scrolled farther.
@peachsky
WAIT WAIT WAIT
am i crazy or is tsuna actually perfect for hibari??? hes quiet, sweet, doesnt push people, and hibari has always been calmer around gentle people. IM SEATED.
@SKYLNKhour
tsuna will cook breakfast and leave tiny notes around the house because that's the kind of person he is and hibari will pretend he doesn't care while KEEPING EVERY SINGLE NOTE. bookmark this.
Tsuna's ears warmed. That was an alarming amount of confidence for something that had not happened.
@vulturemoon
everyone's imagining hibari fighting the production crew but i'm imagining him silently fixing something broken in their house while tsuna follows him around saying thank you and hibari goes "hm." i see the vision.
Tsuna did not see the vision. He actively refused to see the vision.
There were also people who seemed less interested in predicting domestic life and considerably more interested in the sheer absurdity of the casting.
@popcornidol
whoever was in the casting meeting and said "hibari kyoya x sawada tsunayoshi" deserves a raise because WHAT possessed you
@orbitingcloud
this is either going to be painfully awkward or the greatest variety television japan has produced in a decade. no middle ground.
@marshmallowz
hibari: hates variety shows
tsuna: hates romantic situations
wgm: marriage ❤️looking forward to episode one!
@dailyidol
later we're either witnessing the birth of a legendary pairing or forty uninterrupted minutes of sawada apologizing and hibari staring at furniture. either way i'm watching.
That one made Tsuna laugh hard enough that Yamamoto turned around.
"Found something funny?"
"No."
"You laughed."
"It wasn't about me."
It was absolutely about him.
Then, somewhere between the jokes and speculation, another strange phenomenon had started happening.
SKYLNK and VULTURE's fandoms were meeting each other.
For years, they had existed in overlapping but largely separate corners of the idol world. There were fans who liked both groups, of course, but their core fandoms rarely had any reason to interact directly.
Now they suddenly had a marriage to discuss.
@SKYLNKplanet
hello vulture fans apparently we're family now 😭 please tell us anything important we need to know about hibari before tomorrow
A VULTURE fan responded almost immediately.
@vulturecentral
hello 😭 important information:
-
he looks angry even when he's fine
-
if he says "hm" that's basically a full sentence
-
do NOT expect cute act
-
he bite (attack //lovingly//) his own members
-
good luck to tsuna
Another SKYLNK account joined in.
@SKYLNKarchive
thank you. in exchange here is your tsuna starter pack:
- apologizes to tables after bumping into them
- stress-cooks
- cannot survive direct compliments
- will adopt anything younger than him
- if hibari makes him cry we're coming over
> @vulturecentral
understood. if hibari makes him cry we'll help you.
> @cloudysky27
international diplomacy achieved through fake marriage
Soon, fans were exchanging clips.
SKYLNK fans posted compilations of Tsuna cooking for his members, getting bullied affectionately by Mukuro, and falling asleep on Yamamoto's shoulder during long schedules.
VULTURE fans retaliated with footage of Hibari quietly handing Ryohei a water bottle after a concert, fixing Byakuran's in-ear monitor without saying a word, and standing behind Dino with an umbrella during a rainy outdoor shoot while insisting he was only there because Dino was "in the way."
It was bizarrely wholesome.
Tsuna almost forgot why he had been nervous.
Almost.
Because there were less kind reactions too.
There always were.
@alphaonly99
Couldn't they pair Hibari with someone who actually matches him? Tsunayoshi looks like he'd cry if Hibari raised his voice.
Tsuna's thumb stopped.
He scrolled again despite knowing he shouldn't.
@idoltruth
obviously they picked an omega because the producers want cheap alpha/omega chemistry bait lol
Another.
@vvulture
Sawada is too boring for this. Hibari will carry the whole show.
And another.
@skyfalling
i don't like this pairing at all. tsuna acts innocent on camera and fans eat it up. hibari deserves someone less fake.
Tsuna stared at the screen longer than he meant to.
His chest tightened.
He knew better than this.
Four years in the industry had taught him never to read comments immediately after a major announcement, especially one involving another popular idol.
Unfortunately, those same four years had apparently failed to teach him how to stop.
His finger hovered over the screen.
Then a shadow fell across his phone.
Gokudera took it straight out of his hand.
"Hayato-kun!"
"No."
"I was reading that."
"I’m aware."
"Give it back."
"No."
"Hayato-kun."
Gokudera glanced at the screen. His expression darkened almost instantly. "Who is @skyfalling?"
"No one!" Tsuna lunged for the phone.
"I'm finding them."
"You absolutely are not!"
Yamamoto reached across the seat and calmly removed the phone from both of them before the situation could escalate.
"Maybe Tsuna shouldn't read comments today."
Tsuna slumped back against his seat. "I'm fine."
The silence that followed made it painfully obvious that none of them believed him.
Lambo twisted around from the front passenger seat. "For what it's worth, I think you'll be funny."
"Funny?" Tsuna looked offended.
"You'll panic."
"Thank you."
"Hibari will get annoyed."
"Wonderful."
"Then you'll try to make him not annoyed."
Tsuna stared at him.
Lambo smiled brightly. "That's basically marriage."
Mukuro, who had been half-asleep against the window, opened one eye. "Remarkably insightful."
"See?" Lambo grinned.
Tsuna pulled his hood farther over his face. "I hate all of you."
Yamamoto eventually handed his phone back. "Don't search your name."
"I won't."
"You will."
"...I won't."
Gokudera leaned forward. "Tsuna."
"I won't!"
He lasted six minutes.
This time, however, Tsuna avoided his own name.
Instead, he searched for Hibari.
He wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe self-preservation, or maybe some irrational attempt to understand the man he was apparently going to be fake-married to on national television.
Most of what appeared was exactly what Tsuna expected.
Clips of Hibari walking away from variety-game segments after deciding he had participated enough.
Hibari staring at interviewers until they nervously moved on to another question.
Hibari refusing every attempt to make him perform cute fan-service.
Hibari telling Dino, completely deadpan on live television, "Stop talking."
Tsuna nearly smiled.
Then he found something he had never seen before. It was a fan recording from an awards ceremony two years earlier.
SKYLNK had won the Grand Prize for Album of the Year that night.
Tsuna remembered it vividly.
The announcement had barely finished before Gokudera started crying. Yamamoto had pulled all of them into a hug on their way to the stage, Lambo had nearly tripped over the stairs because he was jumping around too much, and even Mukuro had looked genuinely stunned for several seconds before recovering enough to tease everyone.
Tsuna himself had made it approximately three sentences into his acceptance speech before his voice broke.
The official broadcast had focused on SKYLNK.
This video hadn't. The fan recording was focused entirely on VULTURE's table.
The moment SKYLNK's name was announced, Dino shot to his feet and applauded. Ryohei stood beside him with so much enthusiasm that he knocked over a bottle of water, forcing Kikyo to catch it before it spilled across the table. Byakuran was grinning as he watched SKYLNK stumble toward the stage.
Hibari remained seated.
For a moment, Tsuna thought that was all there was to the clip.
Then the video skipped forward to his acceptance speech.
Onstage, Tsuna was clutching the award with both hands, visibly trying to keep himself together.
"Two years ago, the five of us didn't know whether anyone would listen to our music," his younger self said, voice already trembling. "So being able to stand here now..."
He paused to breathe.
The audience laughed softly when Gokudera reached over to rub his back.
Tsuna continued, thanking their staff, their producers, their families, and finally their fans.
When the camera in the fan recording shifted back toward VULTURE's table, Hibari was no longer looking anywhere else.
He was watching the stage.
Watching Tsuna.
And when Tsuna's voice cracked again as he thanked SKYLNK's members for staying beside him, something in Hibari's expression softened.
Then Tsuna finished his speech and bowed deeply beneath the falling confetti.
Hibari smiled.
It was barely there. A tiny lift at the corner of his mouth that disappeared almost immediately before he began applauding with everyone else.
Tsuna stared at his screen.
The caption underneath read:
@hibaricloud
never forgetting hibari smiling during tsuna's album of the year speech btw. hibatsuna nation we had CRUMBS and didn't even know it.
The replies had exploded since the morning announcement.
> @skyberry
YOU'RE TELLING ME THIS CLIP HAS BEEN HERE FOR TWO YEARS???
> @vulturemoon
HIBARI KYOYA smiled at another human being and nobody informed me???
> @1827detective
we spent YEARS saying they had zero interactions while this man was watching tsuna accept his grand prize like that HELLO???
> @SKYLNKhour
not saying this means anything but i'm also not saying it means NOTHING.
> @cloudbite
hibari when anyone else gives a ten-minute speech: 😐
hibari when tsuna cries during his speech: 🙂> @popcornidol
WGM producers found this clip and saw their retirement fund
Tsuna bit the inside of his cheek. His heart did something strange.
That didn't mean anything.
Obviously.
Hibari had probably just been happy that SKYLNK won. They were colleagues.
Barely even that, really.
They had spoken perhaps four times in their entire careers. Five, if Tsuna counted the time he had said excuse me while passing Hibari in a backstage hallway.
Still, he watched the clip again.
Then once more.
On the third replay, he paid less attention to himself and more attention to Hibari.
The applause after his speech.
That tiny smile.
The way Hibari had been looking directly toward the stage even before Tsuna finished speaking.
"Tsuna."
He locked his phone so quickly that he nearly dropped it. Yamamoto was watching him from the seat beside him.
"What?"
"You're smiling."
"No, I'm not."
"You were."
Tsuna turned toward the window. "I'm nervous."
That, at least, was true.
Tomorrow he would meet Hibari as his husband for the first time.
His television husband. His fake husband. His coworker, technically.
A coworker he would apparently share a house with in front of cameras, complete missions with, visit schedules for, and eventually stand opposite during whatever staged wedding ceremony the production team had planned.
A man he had barely spoken to before today, while thousands—possibly millions—of strangers were already debating whether they were destined for each other or would kill each other before the first episode ended.
Tsuna swallowed.
His phone buzzed again.
This time, the notification came from the official program account.
WE GOT MARRIED — IDOL SEASON
Tomorrow, our first married couple finally meets.
What happens when SKYLNK's famously shy omega leader meets VULTURE's famously independent alpha leader?
Please look forward to Hibari Kyoya and Sawada Tsunayoshi's first day together.
Attached beneath the caption were two separate promotional photographs.
Tsuna wore soft soft orange-colored knitwear, smiling nervously toward the camera.
Hibari was dressed in purple shirt, his expression unreadable.
Between their photographs, the graphic designer had placed a tiny pink heart.
Tsuna stared at it.
Then at Hibari.
Then back at the heart.
The replies were already multiplying.
@marshmallowz
THE PURPLE AND ORANGE??? PRODUCTION TEAM YOU'RE SICK
@cloudysky27
they haven't even met as a married couple yet and the color coordination is already doing psychological damage to me
@vulturecentral
SKYLNK fandom hello again. apparently were meeting at the wedding tomorrow.
> @SKYLNKplanet
hello in-laws 😭 please control your leader
> @vulturecentral
we have never successfully controlled him in eight years.
> @SKYLNKplanet
oh..............
> @vulturecentral
good luck.
From the front seat, Lambo suddenly yelled, "Tsuna!"
"What?" Tsuna jumped.
"Your wedding hashtag has two hundred thousand posts!"
Tsuna slowly closed his eyes.
Tomorrow.
He only had to survive tomorrow.
Across the city, Hibari Kyoya was looking at the exact same promotional image.
Unlike Tsuna, however, Hibari had no idea that the rest of VULTURE had collectively decided his upcoming marriage was now the most entertaining thing to happen to them all week.
Dino had spent the last ten minutes asking whether Hibari thought Tsuna looked cute.
Byakuran had made the situation approximately twelve times worse by zooming in on Tsuna's promotional photograph until his face filled the entire screen, then holding the phone directly in front of Hibari as though closer inspection might somehow force an answer out of him.
Ryohei had already announced that he intended to support their marriage to the extreme, which had immediately resulted in Kikyo reminding him that there was, technically, no real marriage to support.
None of it seemed to bother Hibari enough to make him leave.
That, more than anything else, was what Kikyo quietly found interesting.
Normally, Hibari had little patience for conversations he considered pointless. If Dino pushed too far, he told him to shut up. If Byakuran became irritating, he threatened him. If the rest of them became too loud, Hibari simply got up and removed himself from the situation altogether.
This time, he did none of those things.
He remained where he was, phone resting loosely in one hand while the others continued talking around him.
Dino was still amused. "I still can't believe they put the heart between you."
"It's cute." Byakuran leaned over his shoulder.
"It's unnecessary." Hibari said.
"Oh, so you were looking."
Hibari gave him a flat stare. Byakuran smiled brightly.
On Hibari's screen, the promotional image remained open. Tsunayoshi was dressed in cream beside him, smiling at the camera with the particular nervous softness that seemed to follow him into almost every official photograph.
Dino noticed where Hibari's attention had settled and immediately grinned again.
"So, are you nervous?"
"No." The answer came without hesitation.
Dino looked almost disappointed.
Then Hibari's gaze returned to Tsunayoshi's photograph. For several quiet seconds, he said nothing.
When he finally spoke, his tone remained as matter-of-fact as ever. "He's the nervous one."
The room went strangely quiet.
Byakuran's smile widened.
Dino stared at Hibari as if he had just been handed another piece of evidence for a case no one else had realized he was building.
Ryohei nodded solemnly. "THEN YOU SHOULD MAKE HIM FEEL COMFORTABLE!"
Hibari looked at him.
Ryohei lowered his voice, "...to the extreme."
Kikyo covered what might have been a smile with one hand.
Byakuran opened his mouth. Hibari did not even bother warning him this time, perhaps because he already knew whatever Byakuran was about to say would be irritating.
Or perhaps because arguing would only encourage them.
Or perhaps, Kikyo thought, because Hibari genuinely did not care enough to deny anything.
So he simply let them talk.
Dino continued speculating about tomorrow's filming. Ryohei started discussing what apparently constituted proper behavior for a television husband. Byakuran contributed increasingly unhelpful suggestions, most of which seemed designed solely to test how much Hibari would tolerate before threatening him.
Hibari ignored all of it.
His eyes dropped once more to the screen.
His photograph stood beside Tsunayoshi's, black against cream, separated only by the ridiculous little pink heart production had placed between them.
He looked at Tsunayoshi for another moment.
Then Hibari gave the faintest hum, locked his phone, and slipped it into his pocket.
Tomorrow would come soon enough.
…