Chapter One: the neighborhood daycare center

Tsuna first met Hibari when he was five years old. Tsuna's mother, Sawada Nana, had always been known as 'that poor woman whose husband was never home'. The other housewives always gossiped about her in the park, but due to her airheadedness, Nana herself never noticed. She continued on her own merry way, oblivious to the rumors surrounding her and her family. It was not until one sunny afternoon in June, that things began to change.

Nana had brought Tsuna along with her to do some grocery shopping that afternoon, as per usual. They had been walking home, hand in hand, when Tsuna had shyly asked his mother whether or not they could go to the park that afternoon. Nana had taken one look at her son's cute face and agreed.

There were a few other housewives milling about already, chatting boisterously amongst themselves while their children played with one another. Tsuna, for the most part, stuck with his mother, who happily set their groceries next to the swing to play with her adorable son. When Tsuna finally got the hang of pushing his feet to make the swing go upwards, Nana left him alone to watch him from afar.

Nana smiled pleasantly at the other housewives as she greeted them. In turn, they did the same to her.

"We were just talking about how the daycare centre, you know the one, might close down next week," one of the mothers said. Nana nodded along to show her she was listening. "We were discussing alternative daycares to send our children to. Most of us don't have the time to look after them ourselves because of our jobs."

Nana gave a small gasp, and her eyes softened at the news. "That's no good," she said with a shake of her heads. There were murmured agreements. "Well, in the mean time, what will happen?"

"I'm trying to get my sister to help, but she lives so far away, and I don't want to bother her too much," one of them replied, sighing. Nana gave her an encouraging smile, which she unfortunately didn't see.

"If you want, I can look over your son, Hitoshi-kun, right? Just until you find a new daycare. My Tsu-kun is about the same age as him, and I'm sure they'll get along just fine." Nana offered, much to the surprise of the other housewives.

"Oh, no, I don't want to trouble you!" Was the reply she got, but Nana insisted until finally, she relented. "Well, if you don't mind, I would be very grateful Sawada-san."

It was only a few months later that Nana became known as 'that lovely lady who was always willing to look over their sons and daughters.' What began as a small favor to the few mothers who could not take care of their children, most of them as a result of personal issues, became something larger than any of them could ever imagine.

The drastic change in Nana, from 'jobless housewife' to 'neighborhood daycare centre', left Tsuna feeling slightly disoriented. Day after day passed and more and more new children came pouring in, leaving Tsuna to go and seek solace in his bedroom on the second floor, too cowardly to do anything else. Nana would try to coax him to come downstairs to meet the new (and old) children, and to make friends with them, but Tsuna had always been naturally shy and so adamantly refused.

Tsuna had been five years old at the time, and he had yet to make a real friend. His classmates didn't count because most of the time they laughed at him and his mistakes. It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to make friends, anyway. When he first met the children his mother took in, they had, for the most part, ignored his very existence. Tsuna's mother had been busy cooking at the time and didn't notice him climbing down the stairs, otherwise she would have helped him talk to them. In the end, though, Tsuna gave up after his first try and swore never to try to make friends again. It wasn't like he needed them. It would be nice if it was just him and his mother like it used to be.

Tsuna knew he was being selfish when he thought such things, because he knew his mother was happier now than before. She liked taking care of children, and it wasn't like she loved Tsuna any less than before. In fact, it seemed to him that she doted on him more than she used to. But to Tsuna, it felt like he was being replaced. Like he wasn't a good enough son because he couldn't make his mother happy.

The brunette had thought about it for days debating whether or not he should tell his mothers. It was on one of these days that he was brought out in the middle of his musings by his bedroom window opening. Tsuna toppled out of his bed in surprise, the manga he was reading falling on the floor with a 'thud' right next to him. He grunted in pain, and closed his eyes.

"Sawada-san wants you downstairs for lunch," the figure said, tone menacing despite the childish lilt to it.

"W-who," was the stuttered reply. Slowly Tsuna opened his eyes, only to come face to face with a dark figure, looming over his small form. He opened his mouth to let out a scream, but the figure covered it with his right hand before he could.

"Be quiet," the dark figure threatened. Tsuna nodded his head fearfully, eyes wide. He was on the brink of crying, and he felt like such a coward. The figure moved away, then, and pulled him up by the scruff of his shirt. "Hurry up."

Tsuna followed the scary boy downstairs (because that was what he was, just a scary boy) to the dining room table. It was already filled with a handful of other kids, all chatting with each other happily. The scary boy let out a small, 'tsk', barely audible but Tsuna heard him anyway. It was then Tsuna's mother made an appearance, her head appearing from behind the kitchen door.

"Tsu-kun, lunch!" She said, unnecessarily. There was a bright smile on her face, and a plate of sandwiches in her hands. "Thank you for bringing him downstairs, Kyo-chan." She said, beaming at the scary boy in front of Tsuna.

"Hn," he said. Tsuna skirted around the taller boy and towards his mother, who was laying down the large plate filled with food onto the dining table. The other children immediately began grabbing at the sandwich nearest to them, and Tsuna felt too intimidated to even attempt grabbing one for himself. Nana had already returned back into the kitchen, presumably to make drinks to go along with their lunch.

In the end, all that was left ware the cheese sandwiches, that only had cheese, lettuce and tomatoes in them. The ham, beef and chicken sandwiches had already been taken, and the children that took them were long gone by now. Tsuna hesitantly began reaching for one of the cheese sandwiches, but was stopped by the scary boy (Kyo-chan, his mother had called him).

"You can just ask Sawada-san to make more," he said, eyeing the leftover sandwiches distastefully.

Tsuna shook his head. He didn't want to cause more trouble for his mother, he knew she was already working very hard even without his help. "N-no need," he mumbled, looking down at his feet. "I-I like these. They're my favourite."

It wasn't a lie - everything that his mother made tasted good, even if it was just boring cheese sandwiches. Kyo-chan didn't seem to believe him, though, and looked at him disbelievingly. After a short pause, the dark haired boy scoffed, grabbed one of the sandwiches and bit into it. He swallowed, then licked his lips. "There's no meat." He stated.

"I-it's just cheese and v-vegetables."

"They're your favourite?" Kyo-chan questioned, his gaze scrutinising.

"Y-yeah," Tsuna said self-consciously.

There was another pause, before Kyo-chan finally replied. "Herbivore."

"What?"

"You. People who don't eat meat. They're herbivores. That's why you're so weak."

Tsuna felt himself flush. "I-I'm not-" he began, feeling brave all of a sudden.

"You are." Kyo-chan cut in, eyes narrowing dangerously. Tsuna wisely shut his mouth. The older boy stared darkly at Tsuna for a few moments, before looking away. "I will ask Sawada-san to make more sandwiches. Stay here. Do not move."

And with that, the dark haired boy turned on his heel and left, leaving behind a flustered and confused Tsuna. The brunette wanted to open his mouth, to say something, a thank you maybe, but in the end he merely stood there, wondering to himself why his heart was beating so fast.

Tsuna was five when he first met Hibari. The day he did was also the day he made his very first friend. And though Kyo-chan was only placed under the care of the Sawada household for three months before his family had to move away, he had still managed to make a lasting impression on the young Sawada's mind.

It wasn't until ten years later that they finally met again, and not until Tsuna himself was 25 that he finally made the connection between the ruthless business man Hibari Kyouya with his childhood friend Kyo-chan.

a/n gosh these 2 are way too cute
why am i starting a new story. why am i not updating my other stories.
im sorry. i m. sorry. gomen. gomenesai. i have no excuses.
i wanted to write a no-mafia au with babysitter tsuna and businessman hibari
i have no other excuses. that is it.

if you have time, please review, thank you!
i have the basic outline of this story down (for once), and it's just a matter of my actually... typing it all out...