This is a rewritten version of To the Lonely Skylark, focusing on an OC called Maya and her quest to open up one monster's heart. No yaoi. Okay? I have nothing against boys love personally, in fact I love it, but I just can't incorporate it here.
If you have questions, feel free to send me a PM. I read reviews, but I mostly ignore them. I do respond when I feel like it, but that's not often.
Hibari X OC
Slight AU
Disclaimer: KHR is by no means mine.
Hey, did you know? I kinda, sorta, you know…love you?
Kyoya Hibari.
He's like a cloud. Sometimes calm and peaceful, floating across the blue sky in wisps of white. Sometimes he's dark and heavy, filled with anger about to lash out on anyone in sight. Often, he's waiting in anticipation, ready to switch between the two at the slightest provocation. Always, he's far away.
Too far away.
Prologue
"Little Girl"
Maya Hibari was a strange kid. That was nothing special. Every single one of the Hibari children was strange in one way or another. But Maya was strange in that her strangeness stemmed from the fact that she was, by normal society's standards, not strange at all.
"She's so…average," her mother often commented in varying degrees of surprise and disgust. Her father, a quiet, unassuming man whom one wouldn't ever suspect of being a poison master—but that was exactly what he was—would simply shrug and smile. He was fond of his only daughter even when she showed no inclination to learning assassination at age three. She toddled and spoke fluently and even sang sweetly, but she was scared of knives and had no interest in herbal chemistry. He believed she was a late bloomer.
"She will grow. One day, she will be at the top of the world."
.
At age five, her mother sent Maya to study in the Main House. The Hibari's did not believe in the public education system—too herbivorous, they would say, children flocking like sheep for the slaughter—so they developed and maintained their own method of raising their young. They come in at age five and come out—if they survive—at age twelve, from which point they were sent out to face the world on their own.
It was a cruel, harsh curriculum where kids were encouraged to fight against one another in any way they could: physically, mentally and emotionally. It worked for centuries with the sole purpose of weeding out the 'inferior' from their ranks. The Hibari's are exceptionally gifted. Competition makes their talents bloom.
But Maya, poor Maya, wasn't like the rest of the Hibari's. She was beautiful, but weak of limb and painfully naïve. Average or not, her parents doted on her and she had never truly experienced hardship until she was sent to live amongst the wolves.
She had no hope of survival.
She was the laughingstock of her distant cousins. The girl who was not exceptional in any way. The girl who couldn't fight to save her life. The girl who had the brains of a mouse. The girl who was nice to look at but was good for nothing more.
She was a 'sheep'.
And she knew it, oh, how she knew it. She didn't belong. She was a Hibari, but she was also something else.
Something less.
.
She was six when she made contact with Kyoya Hibari.
She was aware of him, no one in their right mind wouldn't be. He was the Little Prince, the adults called him, son of the Hibari Patriarch. The children called him 'Akuma'. Demon. He was the strongest in their generation, even stronger than many of the adults. He was ruthless, they said, and fought to kill. Exactly the kind of person they sought to be. Kyoya Hibari was already that even at age eight.
Maya was scared of him. She was scared of everyone. But she was hopeful, too. She had seen him helping out a bullied kid once or twice, and she felt she had found the one person who could save her from her hell.
"Will you help me?"
"I'm not a hero, Little Girl," he had said. And she was so, so, disappointed, until he added, "But maybe I can help you help yourself."
.
"Everyone has something they're good at," her mother used to tell her. The instructors in the Main House said the same thing. And Maya believed them.
The children in the Main House were prime example. Shouyo was good at Kendo. Daiki was good at archery. Chouko was good at tracking. Arata was a genius in computers. He often said things that hurt Maya's head. Hibiki was good at discerning patterns and figuring out puzzles. Hiroshi was one of the best at hand to hand combat. Katsuo could lift boulders ten times his weight.
Every one of her cousins was good at one thing or another. Some were good at multiple things, like Kyoya and his brothers. But Maya didn't know what she was good at.
She was good at being quiet, which Kyoya seemed to appreciate, but her hand to feet coordination was 'horrendous'. Often, Kyoya would be irritated at how clumsy she was. She wasn't remotely suited for close range combat, Kyoya had sniped. She was more likely to hurt herself than her opponent as evidenced in their recent spar where she tripped on a small rock and managed to punch herself in the face before falling over the fall in a tangle of limbs.
Archery and guns were out of the question. Her nearsightedness made it impossible to hit targets that weren't immediately in her face.
"Maybe you're more suited for espionage," mused Kyoya. He looked over at the little girl who was trying hard to be a part of the wall. She tries so hard not to be noticed that she's so noticeable. Sighing, he wondered out loud, "What shall I do with you?"
.
Kyoya wasn't sure what it was about Maya that aroused his interest. As creatures went, she was on the absolute lower end of the food chain. She wasn't strong. It didn't matter that she was a girl and they were biologically softer than males. Hibari females had other ways to compensate for biology. He knew for a fact that his mother could go toe-to-toe with his father if it came down to it. And Maya's own mother was one of the Hibari's best soldiers.
He had a healthy respect for both women, and he thought at first that Maya would take after her mother especially when she so fearlessly approached him that day. As a consequence of his strength, the other children and even the adults were always hesitant to speak with him. And when they were face to face with him, none were capable of withstanding eye-to-eye contact for as long as Maya did.
But while he was aware that Maya had a strong will, he wasn't sure how to make it come out. So he did the one thing left to do.
He called his mother.
.
When Kushima Hibari first saw seven year old Maya, she was amused. Though it wasn't Maya she found entertaining. It was her son.
Kyoya was the youngest of three brothers and son to the 'head of the pack'. He had a lot to live up to, so very early on he persevered to be just as strong, and ultimately stronger than his father and brothers. The Hibari's valued strength above all else so, of course, her husband encouraged this. Kushima, for her part, was proud of her spawns, although she did wish she could have had at least one daughter whom she could mold into something aside from the un-cute strength hoarders her husband and sons were.
Strictly speaking, she only wanted a living doll.
And here was her favorite child, bringing her just what she so wanted.
"You're such a good boy, Kyoya," she said, ruffling the little raven's head, who glared at her in a way that's reminiscent of her husband.
She smiled. Such a good, good, boy.
.
"What do you think of my little project?" Kushima asked her husband that night.
He replied with grunt. "Hn. Do whatever you want."
Kushima's smile was as sweet as a blooming flower. "Don't you think she'll make a great wife for Kyoya?"
At this, her husband turned to look at her. What he saw in her face made him pause for a second and then sigh. "Do whatever you want."
.
"One day, you are going to be Kyoya's wife," the pretty woman told her.
Maya nodded because she felt it unwise to challenge this person, but she did wonder what she was talking about.
Wife, huh?
.
Maya thought being average was a curse. She so fervently wished to be special like the other Hibari. Like Kyoya.
.
She got her wish.
.
And she realized that being 'special' is just another curse disguised as a gift.
.
Oh, how naive she was.
Okay, so what do you guys think?