Kensuke Mochida is twenty-one and working a dead-end job when he realizes that he's probably one of those people.

The kind who die at twenty-five, but aren't buried until they're seventy-five.

If you were to ask him how exactly his life had turned into such a fucking mess, he wouldn't, for the life of him, be able to answer you.

All he knows is that, between bullying his peers and protecting his siblings from their abusive father, between coasting through high school and always getting himself dead drunk, between flunking out of college and working three part-time jobs to support himself and his siblings, he'd somehow lost the path to the bright future he'd been promised since he was a child.

And he's pissed.

And bitter.

But mostly he's just exhausted.

Exhausted at a life that, at this point, is just plain tedious.

If it weren't for the ten- and twelve-year-olds he is working so hard to support, who still miraculously see wonder in this horrid world, he would probably just waste away to nothing.

Then one night, as he's working the graveyard shift at one of his places of employment, a youth comes in, piss-drunk and mumbling incoherently to himself.

He collapses at the first table he comes across, and fumbles with his phone for a few moments (without success, it seems) before finally giving up and dropping his head into his arms with a huge sigh.

There aren't any customers there at the moment, so Kensuke is free to study the young man who seems so painfully, painfully familiar.

He's wearing a rumpled red dress shirt over a pair of black slacks and shiny black dress shoes.

He has three rings adorning each of his hands, and both his ears are pierced multiple times.

And in the end, it's his hair – messy silver locks tangling and tumbling over each other and hiding his face from view – that provide the essential clue to decoding his identity.

Kensuke can't exactly say he's surprised, that Gokudera Hayato has turned into such a useless bum, but it does make him feel a bit better about his own station in life.

He doesn't notice (or perhaps he doesn't want to notice) the quality of the "useless bum's" clothes.

Kensuke, not wanting anything to do with the man, decides to ignore him.

But when Gokudera is still sitting at the same table, still with his head resting in his arms, an hour later, Kensuke decides that, maybe, he should do something.

Getting out from behind the counter (the restaurant is still completely empty), he begins to approach the drunkard sleeping at the table.

He stops short however, two feet from the table, by the atmosphere surrounding his former schoolmate.

The air around him is charged with something Kensuke can't quite describe, like the calm, the anticipation before the storm.

There are flashes of red arcing off him every once in a while, his hair stirring the slightest bit, as if being lifted by the slightest breeze.

And Kensuke knows, immediately, that it would be unwise to approach the younger male silently.

So he announces his presence in an obnoxiously loud voice, saying, "Oi. Gokudera Hayato."

The delinquent looks up through bleary eyes.

"And what the fuck do you want, asshole?" he demands, and Kensuke raises an eyebrow.

Once upon a time, he would have blown up at the younger male, but he's grown and learned, and right now, he really doesn't give enough of a damn to quarrel with a drunkard.

"If you're not going to buy anything from here, I would appreciate it if you'd leave. You're disrupting business."

Gokudera stares at him for a moment, then takes a very slow, deliberate glance around the restaurant.

"What business?" he then asks, an eyebrow raised.

Growling under his breath, Kensuke crosses his arms.

"If you don't leave right this moment, I'll call the Foundation on you."

When the fearsome Hibari Kyoya had graduated high school and gone on to "the real world", all of Namimori had let out a sigh of relief, thinking that his fearful reign over the small community was finally over.

But no such luck. In fact, he had gone on to form the Foundation, which is now feared as the number one form of law enforcement in their town.

Mochida is just relieved that, over the past years, the fearful skylark has mellowed out some, and become far fairer than he had been in his school days.

Namimori is actually quite a pleasant place to live in these days, so long as you aren't a troublemaker. Like the person in front of him right now.

Instead of looking scared however, Gokudera just smirks.

"Go right ahead," he says, lounging back in his chair like a king.

Before Kensuke can make a move towards a phone though, the door to the restaurant opens with a bright chime.

And in walks Hibari Kyoya himself, wearing an expression that promises nothing good for anyone.

Swallowing down the sudden fear that rises up in him, and not even stopping to wonder how the skylark had chosen the exact right moment to make his entrance, Kensuke backs up a few steps, not wanting to get in the way of the carnage that is about to take place.

Gokudera, not seeming to understand the danger he is in, lifts a hand in greeting.

"'Sup Kyoya. Took you long enough."

Hibari, not looking the least bit impressed, comes to a stop in front of Gokudera's table, looming over him menacingly.

"You were expected back in Italy two hours ago, herbivore."

Gokudera just shrugs. "I didn't think Juudaime would appreciate seeing his right-hand man like...this. So I called to tell him I was held up."

Hibari raises an eyebrow.

"That was five hours ago."

Gokudera shrugs.

"I tried to send him a text earlier, but that didn't quite work out. I assumed you would be able to give him a progress report though?"

Gokudera says 'progress report' with as much sarcasm as humanly possible.

"You know, considering you've had two men tailing me all night."

Hibari doesn't even bother to deny the accusation.

"I have informed the herbivore of your inebriated state," informs Hibari, and Gokudera's eyes widen in panic.

"You WHAT?" he demands.

Hibari smirks.

"The omnivore will be arriving in eleven hours."

"You fucking..." growls Gokudera, stumbling slightly as he gets up from his table. "Why the hell did you do that? You know he was already worried enough! You didn't have to go and add fuel to the fire!"

Hibari shrugs.

"You were causing trouble in my town."

"So you disrupted Juudaime's busy schedule and had him come to Japan just for that? Fucking wonderful!"

And with that, Gokudera stomps out of the restaurant, presumably to go and sober up.

Hibari follows silently after him, and Kensuke thinks for a moment that it almost looks like Hibari is watching out for him.

SkyGem: Well guys, I hope you liked this chapter! Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, yes? This short two-shot is for Bleach-ed-Na-tsu, just because she adores Mochida so much

XD I'll be, hopefully, updating Bleeding Heart later tonight, so look forward to it!