DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KHR!

WARNINGS: Slight hints of yaoi. People who need anger management- wait, that's almost everyone in the manga.

... Oh well, enjoy. Please review!

Skylark

The real reason that Hibari wants nothing to do with Tsuna and the other Guardians has almost nothing to do with a dislike of 'crowding' or 'herbivores'. While he does look down on his- apparently- fellow Family members for their inherent weakness and lack of the predatory instinct that comes so naturally to him, he could almost overlook that.

Almost.

But when he looks at the boy who is to one day become Vongola Decimo, the heir to the most influential mafia organization in the world, he cannot keep his hands from clenching, his teeth from grinding against one another viciously. This pathetically weak, soft-hearted herbivore is getting everything handed to him on a silver platter- because even though Reborn is no soft teacher, he is still the best. Once, a long time ago (a lifetime ago), there were no teachers, no shortcuts, no easy ways out, only hard work and a will that was never broken.

Hibari hates the concept of 'Dying Will Bullets' and 'Hyper Dying Will Pills', and he especially hates the way that Tsunayoshi accepts them, uses them, and never stops to ask why. Why does it do this? How does it work? Can I make it stronger?

Or even: Could I use the Dying Will Flame without these?

A Sky flame was not the only thing he inherited from his ancestors, but the oblivious brunette goes on without realizing this, taking the gifts of his forefathers for granted. And Hibari snarls and paces, because even now Tsunayoshi does not understand, he is walking only with the crutches that he had to only be born to gain.

Inheritance.

And as he looks to the other Guardians, similarities mock him. The shape of the hair, a distinctive laugh, or a certain attitude. They're almost right, but only so much that the comparisons are easy, unconscious almost, to make. And then the differences set in, and loneliness drives him on, to fight, to kill.

An exception is made for Mukuro, who, despite his extremely different life, has somehow managed to turn out exactly the same. Which is the reason why Hibari cannot allow him to live, lest he repeats the mistakes of the past.

And if the ever-watchful Cloud sees the way that the Mist's eyes linger unnecessarily on Tsunayoshi's form, or the way that his eyes soften slightly when in the future Decimo's company, then he does not show it. Dae- Mukuro needs to die, not because of any encroachment on anything that could be considered his 'territory'- as if there was anything left that he could care about- but because there is nothing that can change who the former inmate is, and what he is doubtlessly going to do one day.

Hibari will bite him to death before he gets the chance.

But what is he protecting now? It is not Tsunayoshi, the poorly made copy of his Sky. Tsunayoshi who is weak, soft-hearted, useless, and generally an annoyance who coincidentally looks like the one who was once his boss. They are nothing alike- THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE!

So he fights, and sometimes he kills, his annoyances and memories fading away until all that he is is a beast, living for the thrill of battle, feeling blood rush through his veins and living.

The skylark hates the restrictions that are placed on him, he hates the weakness of his so-called boss and fellow Guardians, and he hates the feeling of helplessness whenever he sees Tsunayoshi, when that endless, agonizing memory of long ago of blood stained blond hair and blue eyes dimming that super-imposes itself over the herbivore.

He rails to the sky, screaming words in a language he's never learnt, demanding answers. They're nothing alike! He breaks both walls and bodies with tonfa, the satisfying crunch of bone calming him. I HATE HIM! He cries out to the empty sky. What he really means is 'I HATE THIS!'

No-one is there to hear him as he snarls out his frustration and rage, lying to himself in an effort to keep himself away, to keep himself from feeling the pain that would doubtless overwhelm him if he would allow it.

THEY'RE NOTHING ALIKE! He screams out to anyone who would listen, as if by doing so he can convince himself that it is true.

And even though he doesn't admit it, won't admit it even to himself, locks it in a box in the deepest part of his unconscious mind, but they're exactly the same.

And one day, just like Gio- that person, Tsunayoshi is going to look at him, and look at him, and he's going to know everything.

Just because that one person could want him, could care about him, doesn't mean anything, and if he can help it no-one else will ever get that close to him again. No matter how much he wants that intimacy.

So the skylark stays away, stays far, far away from the young Vongola-to-be.

Because all he has now is hatred, and if he doesn't have that, then what is he? Who is he?

Because what he hates most of all, what hurts whenever he looks at the group of friends out of the corner of his eye, is the fact that he is the only one who remembers. There is no room for an 'Alaude' in their world, differing circumstances and differing lives shaping them.

He's still the same. So painfully the same.

And they are still so similar, even as they are so different. He's been left behind. There's no place for him there. Nor anywhere.

And so he tells himself that he shouldn't care. He denies it, he lies to himself, he rejects all emotion.

But still he does.

And it hurts.

It hurts.

Authors note.

Aurla0: I can't help but feel that it's a bit disjointed and contradictory at some parts...

But I like how it turned out in the end!

PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME YOUR OPINIONS!