He always sees her like that: walking to and from the school building, going to her classes or to the cafeteria—all by herself. He never saw her with anyone else, except maybe sometimes, or in P.E. class. She never gossip, or group with other girls, which is weird, he thinks. Never, in Hibari's entire life as Namimori High's Disciplinary Committee president, had he encountered such a 'well-behaved' student like her.
She speaks very little. Once, he heard her voice. It was so soft and haunting, not like any other girls' he'd heard. She was speaking on the phone, with her father perhaps, but then later on he'd learn that her father's already dead. She was having a problem or something, and her serene face was contorted with so much pain and sorrow, like one's face would be after failing an entrance test in a university. But then he'd doubt that she'll experience such a problem as failing a test. She was one of the top students in her class. She haven't got any failing grades and her classmates call her 'Ms A+', and she might just be well-aware of that fact. She's little miss perfect, as delinquents would call it, which is why so many mean girls hate her. They're jealous of her looks, her intellect, and her obliviousness to everything around her, her calm and quiet nature. Everything about her is just so . . . proper and nice. The boys were all around her. They stagger and trip when she's around, though she doesn't seem to care or even notices it at all.
She has long dark-brown, wavy hair that softly falls down to her shoulders, and contrasts her pale skin. Her sleepy-eyes under her perfectly-arched eyebrows are as dark as her hair and her thin, pink lips curves upward delicately whenever she smiles, which he rarely sees. Whatever he does, Hibari Kyouya can't help but keep her features perfectly intact on his mind, the reason why he hates himself more.
Oftentimes in the morning, on arriving at the school, Hibari would notice a few bruises on her. Sometimes, he would see her knee scraped, or wrapped up in a bandaged. Her wrists or arms would also be bandaged, and she would hurry herself into the school building not wanting to catch attention to this oddity. Hibari often wondered how she got those scrapes and bruises. So he ordered some of his men to get information about this girl, even follow her to her house if necessary, much to their surprise. Why would the Disciplinary Committee waste their time on a random girl such as her, anyway?
Hibari later on learns that her mother abuses her. She hits her a lot especially when she's irritated. Her father's long dead now, and after his death, nobody was left to protect her from such cruelty. She doesn't have anywhere else to go to. No relatives would want to get into their family problems. Apparently, her mother had gone pretty mad after her brother's death when she was younger. Her mother loved him so much that she nearly lost her sanity when he died. Worse, her mother blames her for everything, for reasons even Hibari can't understand. Even so, the girl doesn't want to leave her mother like that. Nobody else will stay with her, she says. And so every day she bears all the sufferings and cruelty she could take from her mom.
One time, she went to school late, much to Hibari's surprise. The second bell already rang by the time she arrived. The students were already up in their classes and nobody else had seen her arrive. Hibari clenched tightly on his tonfa, and smirked inwardly. Latecomers are to be punished, regardless of who they might be.
Hibari advances towards her and she halted as she saw Hibari right in front. She was still looking down, and she was holding her left arm with her right hand. She was too calm and self-composed to be someone in the presence of Kyouya Hibari and a late-comer particularly. Hibari looked down at her, and can't stop but feel bemused at her courage. Slowly, he walked nearer to her, until both of them were only inches apart. Still, she doesn't look up. At this, Hibari looks down and notices a bit of blood flowing down through her left hand, from the part where her right hand held. Hibari felt a momentary urge to know what had happened, and who have caused it to her, and a strange feeling of murdering that someone who did it, much to his bewilderment.
"What happened, Herbivore?" Hibari demanded—not like how he'd wanted it to be—in a soft manner.
For a moment, Hibari thought that she'd never look up, but when she did, there was a bit of shock written all over her face. He noticed there were tears welling up in her eyes, demanding to stream rapidly down to her pale face. She was hesitant, as she looks away and tries to avoid his gaze. She held her arm tighter this time, as she looks down once again, and that was the moment when a single drop of her tears fell to the ground.
At that time, all he ever thought of doing was to hold her hand and pull her closer to him. He wanted to just embrace her softly and stroke her hair, and tell her that everything is going to be alright. He felt a strong sense of protection, something he'd never felt before to anyone else. How can something as delicate and vulnerable as her be punished like this?
But then again, he was Hibari Kyouya after all. He'd never do such foolishness as to come in contact with any 'herbivore' in that way. He was just a cold, ruthless, tonfa-wielder 16-year old, Namimori High Disciplinary Committee's President and most feared student, and Vongola Family's Cloud Guardian, for heaven's sake. Why would he do that to a girl who'd just caught his attention and for some unknown reasons keep on roaming his mind for months?
However, he doesn't want to leave her like this. He doesn't want to see her cry and be tormented. What's this weird feeling inside of him and why was he even bothered this much? Why is he worrying about her and why are his emotions acting up like this? Hibari can't help but feel irritated; something's actually going on with his self and his feelings—he doesn't even want to call it like that—and he's not even sure if he understands it.
A few seconds passed and the girl stooped down lower and decided to leave. But then Hibari's hand reached out to her involuntarily and grabbed her right wrists. The girl looked up at him surprised and their eyes locked for one, ephemeral moment. One look into her eyes and Hibari could see the melancholy of her entire being. Likewise, she could already see his distressful feelings and conflicting emotions.
Their eyes served as the one safe link between them at that moment.
"I-I'm sorry," was all she said, breaking the trance between the two of them. "I didn't mean to be late. I'll never do it again.' And Hibari let go of her arm, though he knew full well that his mind forbids him to.
He watches her, as she runs away from where she once stood, as she enters the school building, and finally, as she fades from his view.
Hibari looked down at his hand, which was earlier locked around her wrists. He can still feel the coldness of her skin, and the slight tremble of her hand. He could still picture her face full of sorrow in his mind. The anguish and the sadness he saw from within her eyes.
Damn it. Why is he feeling this way? He never felt this way before, especially to a girl. He couldn't, and he wouldn't want to feel this. Emotions are for weak, pointless herbivores, so why?
Hibari just heaved a sigh, clutching his head as he proceeded to the reception room. All this thinking are giving him headaches.