"Kyouya, do you know what a herbivore is?"
"What's that, Father?"
"It's an animal that only feeds on plants."
"Then what about those that eat only meat?"
"Well, those are called carnivores."
"Then, Father, you and I are carnivores. And Mother's a herbivore."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Oh, she heard," the man chuckled, ruffling his son's hair as his wife walked over to the engawa to sit on Kyouya's free side. She pulled the boy close, clicking her tongue at her husband.
"I'm definitely not a herbivore, Kyouya. I'm an omnivore."
Hibari Kyouya's eyes widened. "An omnivore…?"
Hibari was doing his usual patrol. The playground was as empty as could be, save for the sparrows flying around. Satisfied that he had rid the world of wrongdoers, he dusted his hands on his shorts and sat on a swing, waiting for his mother. He could've gone home by himself, of course. After all, he was seven years old! But his mother had insisted and he didn't have the heart to refuse her. One of the sparrows came close enough to touch and he slid off the slide slowly, holding out his hands.
"I won't hurt you," he whispered. The sparrow watched him, cocking its head to the side. Just a few steps more.
And then the moment was ruined by a loud sob.
The sparrow flew off to join its friends and Hibari turned around, irked. It wasn't difficult to pinpoint the source of the sound. He walked off the playground area and approached a large sakura tree, walking around it to see a mop of brown hair. It moved with each shudder than rocked its owner's body. Hibari frowned.
"Oi."
The boy looked up, large tears streaming down his rosy cheeks. His caramel-hued eyes were red and swollen from all the crying. He was curled up against the tree, arms tightly wrapped around his knees.
Hibari was at a loss.
The boy's lower lip trembled. "It hurts."
Nothing registered in Hibari's brain until he saw the large cut on the boy's leg, trickles of blood having run down his knees and stained his now-dirty socks.
"Where's your mother?" Hibari asked, kneeling down and reaching to check the boy's knee. The brunet flinched and Hibari had never seen such a likeliness to a small animal.
"Mama said she's coming for Tsu-kun soon."
A fresh wave of tears followed the statement and Hibari observed silently for a few minutes. When he got injured, his mother would give him an earful but help treat his cuts and bruises all the same. He didn't know how to help this snot-nosed child, though.
He stood up slowly. "What's your name?"
The boy's sniffling died down as he looked up at Hibari. "I-I'm Tsu-kun."
"Not that, your full name," Hibari sighed.
"Tsunayoshi," he managed after a while, pointing at the small tag on his uniform. Hibari recognised it; the Namimori-youchien uniform.
"Come with me, Tsunayoshi," Hibari held out his hand to the boy. "I'll show you something."
Tsunayoshi hesitantly grabbed a hold of Hibari's outstretched hand and the black-haired boy tightened his grip on the impossibly soft and chubby hand. He led Tsunayoshi to the playground and indicated to him to sit on the sandpit. Wiping away the stray tears with his hands, Tsunayoshi gingerly sat on the sand, one hand still wrapped around his injured knee. He watched with wide eyes as Hibari bent down next to him and moved towards the sparrows a little further ahead.
The brunet watched, fascinated, as Hibari managed to get a sparrow on his outstretched palm. Carefully, Hibari moved back and let the sparrow land on the sand in front of Tsunayoshi. Injury forgotten, the younger child leaned down, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"You're friends with them!"
Hibari plopped down next to Tsuna, watching the sparrow. "I'm not some herbivore."
The boy turned to him, eyebrows scrunched together. "Herbivore?"
"Weak," Hibari said by way of explanation. "And always crowding."
Tsunayoshi pondered this for a while. "So herbivores have friends?"
"That's crowding," Hibari insisted. "It's too noisy."
"Then," the boy blinked tears away, "Tsu-kun is not a herbivore."
Hibari blinked in surprise. "What?"
"Tsu-kun doesn't have friends," the boy sniffed, rubbing his eyes furiously. "Tsu-kun can't be a herbivore."
Hibari felt a strange tightness grasp his heart. "You can," he leaned forward.
Tsunayoshi turned a teary gaze on him. "Really?"
"I'm Hibari Kyouya," he introduced himself formally (well, as formally as one could get sitting at a sandpit). "Tsunayoshi, you'll be my herbivore."
The boy's expression changed into one of absolute amazement. "Your herbivore? S-So… that means, you'll be Tsu-kun's friend?"
"I didn't say that," Hibari pointed out.
Clearly not heeding anything he had said, the boy wobbled onto his feet and gave Hibari a tight hug. "Tsu-kun's friend!"
Hibari cleared his throat, pushing away the thought that he would have liked a younger sibling like that.
"Tsu-kun!"
He looked up, seeing a woman rushing up towards them. Her eyes were the same shade as Tsunayoshi's and even her hair was the same colour. It wasn't the difficult to see the resemblance.
"Mama!" Tsunayoshi whirled around, nearly tripping over in his haste and it was Hibari's quick reflexes that prevented his fall.
"I'm so sorry for taking so long, Tsu-kun," the lady apologised, picking up the boy and gasping when she noticed the wound on his leg. "What happened, Tsu-kun?" The boy shook his head, pointing delightedly at Hibari. "K-Kyou-chan! He's my friend, Mama!"
Tsunayoshi's mother gave Hibari a sunny smile. "Thank you for keeping Tsu-kun company. Are you waiting for your mother?"
Hibari nodded, standing up and bowing.
"Oh my, so polite! You don't have to do that," the lady laughed, ruffling his hair lightly.
"I'll be taking Tsu-kun home now. I hope your mother comes soon!"
Hibari nodded again, watching as the boy waved enthusiastically, shouting "See you!"
He slipped back onto the swing, watching Tsunayoshi and his mother fade into the distance. It wasn't long before his own mother arrived and he could tell she had rushed over to get him after her work had ended.
"I'm so sorry, Kyouya. I didn't think it'd take that long today."
"Don't worry, Mother. I can go home by myself next time"
The black-haired woman glanced at her son, surprised. "Did something happen?"
"No, it's… I met a herbivore at the playground."
She stared at him for a good few moments before bursting into peals of laughter.
"That's good, you've finally made a friend," she hugged him close. "I'll leave it to you then, my big boy."
Hibari lay in bed later that day, flipping through a picture book of animals. As he flipped to a picture of a warren of rabbits, the smallest of the lot caught his eye. Its ears were lowered and its eyes were round and large. He thought back to the herbivore he had met at the playground in the park.
Tsunayoshi.
He shifted to his side, clenching the hand that the boy had held. It wouldn't be too bad, he supposed, if he spent some time with the herbivore after he had finished his afternoon patrol around the park.
(At seven years, six months and nineteen days, Hibari Kyouya made his first friend.)
A/N: i may or may not have been drunk af (on nothing but lack of sleep) while writing this. imagine child!1827 holding hands, their chubby adorable hands and just klslakdjaldjsk save me from my fantasies