He'd always found Hibari to be endearing - in his own little way, of course. Perhaps it was his solitary existence that earned him the slightest inklings of empathy but mostly instilled a desire to befriend him, or maybe it was his unrivaled loyalty to the school that not many others could claim to even understand, let alone possess. Or maybe, it was his strength and his unfaltering confidence in his own abilities. Or (on a completely different, but still related note) it could have been his boyish good looks.

But in any case, whatever the reason might be, Takeshi had always thought the head of the disciplinary committee seemed to have an almost magnetic presence about him, something that just seemed to pull him in. Though he'd never really made much of an effort before now to actually converse with him, he had to admit that it had been hard not to. Every time he'd see him strolling down the halls or carrying out punishment on some helpless person who happened to overstep a rule or two, he'd always wanted to wave to him and greet the frowning boy with his usual grin and maybe, if he was lucky, get him to smile just a little bit too.

But sadly, reality puts quite the damper on things.

If he had waved to him in the hall and casually said 'hi', Hibari would have no doubt paused only long enough to slam his head into a wall and then he'd have been on his way without a second glance. If he had strolled over and interrupted his work, Hibari would have directed the punishment at him and would have left him bruised up (but still smiling) and not have given it another thought. Either way, he'd have been injured and forgotten.

That was no way to talk to someone or to try to get to know them better, he knew that much. So, what was he suppose to do? Every instinct in Hibari's body seemed to tell him to react with physical violence first and ask questions later, so how was he suppose to get his attention before those quick as lightening reflexes got him? It was truly something to ponder over.

But in the end, for all his pondering, Takeshi had drawn one big blank.

So he'd done the next best thing any self sufficient kid his age could.

He'd asked his 'family' for advice.

"Why would you want to talk to that guy, anyway?" Hayato had snipped, obviously unimpressed by the situation. It was clear he hadn't fully understood where Takeshi had been coming from, but the flush on Tsuna's cheeks said he did.

"Well, maybe you should try doing something for him. Something that catches his attention long enough so he doesn't attack you and he'll listen to what you have to say." Tsuna had tried, his flustered demeanor and helpless floundering proving that he really wasn't one to give advice of this sort but the fact he was making an effort to help his friend was more then good enough. Takeshi had taken it and run with it.

And now, here he was, sitting next to Hibari and completely at a loss about what to do next. He'd gotten the boys attention, he hadn't been attacked (yet) and he was actually looking at the baseball player expectantly so Takeshi supposed all was going good so far. The only problem he could see in any of this was the fact that if he got caught in this ridiculously large lie, he'd be as good as dead.

Rules and regulations were one thing, but he got the distinct feeling that Hibari Kyoya did not like being lied to and if he got caught there would be one hell of a beating in his near future.

"Should I take you to the infirmary?"

Takeshi grinned at him, repeatedly reminding himself not to move his right leg in front of the dark haired boy. The cast was old from when he'd broken his leg in the sixth grade and it scratched uncomfortably (not to mention, it was a bit tight) but he forced it to remain still and act like it was broken. "Nah, I've been through worse. Thanks though, Hibari."

For all his friendliness and grinning, all he got in reply was a bland look of bored annoyance. He decided to try again.

"It really was nice of you to get those guys off my back. Could have handled them myself though. I'm not a princess for you to save, right?" Of course, 'those guys' had been a handful of unlucky students who just so happened to be close enough to him and were innocent in all this. Takeshi felt bad for getting them involved in this and in trouble with the head of the disciplinary committee, but it was for the greater good in the end. He was just lucky they hadn't taken a good look at him before shoving him out of their midsts or else it wouldn't have worked, because no one would knowingly shove the injured baseball star. He'd remember to pray for them when New Years came.

Hibari snorted in reply, crossing his arms over his chest. "I just couldn't have them harassing an injured student, stupid bastards." His tone darkened as he fixed the taller male with a serious expression. "Now, do you want to go to the infirmary or not, Yamamoto Takeshi? I have to finish my rounds."

Deciding that he was satisfied with the progress he'd made today (more out of not wanting to upset the volatile boy then actually being content with the proceedings), Takeshi waved him off. "Oh, go on ahead. Sorry to keep you. See you around,"

An almost questioning glance was the last thing he saw of Hibari before he turned on his heel and made his way down the hall. As he went, Takeshi couldn't help but eye his back side appreciatively. Damn, he really wished they could have talked longer. But it was the small things that counted and baby steps were needed when dealing with someone like Hibari. Besides ...

Hibari knew his name.

(XxXxX)

The next day when he showed up at school without his cast, more then a few worried and skeptical glances had been sent his way. He'd simply waved them all away, lightly explaining that it wasn't broken after all!, though no one seemed truly convinced. He handled it the way he handled everything else; with good natured smiles and light comments and eventually everyone slowly let it drop.

However, when he passed Hibari in the hall, he felt an almost foreboding feeling rising in his gut, but chose to ignore it. The thought of greeting him over ruled any feelings of doom, but they passed one another before he could act out on his desires. Seconds after the other boy was out of sight, Takeshi found his face being slammed into the nearest wall – an act that resulted in his nose and lip bleeding for a good while – and just like he'd thought, after the abuse, Hibari left without a backwards glance or another thought for him.

Man, he should have at least waved ...

(XxXxX)

FIN

La la la la, my first Reborn! fic yay! I'm still new to the series so I apologize deeply for anything that's incorrect or just plain stupid. I tried my best. I have to say though, Hibari X Takeshi is my favorite pairing of this series and I am sooooo glad I stumbled upon fanart of them because if I hadn't, I never would have known of it's beauty. Which is quite sad.

As odd as this is going to sound, the inspiration for this came partially from "Cherry Pie" by Poison (I think ...) and "Little Red Corvette" by Prince – so I'm sorry if this came off a bit fluffy. The two songs put together did something odd to my brain. XD

Please tell me what you think – also (though I feel uber stupid asking this) I was hoping someone could help me. There's a kid in this series with blond hair and he has a little crown on his head and a striped shirt, could someone tell me his name please? I can't seem to find anything about him anywhere. I've just been calling him UK (short for Unknown Kid) and it's really bothering me now.