He had been meditating at the shrine, alone as always, when Kusakabe had come to him with his cell phone in hand. Normally, Hibari would have dismissed his assistant with a look, but the urgency on his second-in-command's face gave him pause. Without a word, the skylark received the proffered phone and pressed it to his ear. Out of habit, he made an attempt to rise from his position on the ground as he spoke on the phone, but a heavy hand kept him from rising. He shot a glare at his subordinate for preventing him leaving his position on the ground and attempted to fight his way to his feet.
He almost succeeded in forcing his way to a standing position, when the words that his boss was using to convey the news registered in his mind. He felt the strength that he had been using give out as a numbness filled him. He sat in silence as Tsuna, one of the few herbivores that he knew to have sharp teeth, told him about the young herbivore's death.
He knew how the world worked. All animals were born to die one day. Death was a part of life, and carnivores and herbivores alike could not evade its clutches. It was a part of life, and it was to be expected. Once either party had out-lived their usefulness, death would escort the party from the realm of the living to wherever their soul belonged. One's usefulness could expire at any time, and death did not have a preference beyond taking those who no longer had a use in the world of the living.
He knew that herbivores tended to struggle with evading death because of their carelessness and ignorance. He knew that it was more likely for an herbivore to die at a young age because young herbivores usually had yet to learn how to protect themselves from conniving carnivores. Yet, it was hard to believe that this specific herbivore would have fallen because of such a reason.
As the next Vongola boss began to describe the events surrounding the death, Hibari was surprised to find his eyes watering before quickly turning to tears. Watering eyes were meant to clear the tear ducts of debris. There had been many times where his eyes had watered when dirt had flown into his eyes, but he had very rarely known his eyes to collect tears and then allow them to fall. Tears served as a signal of pain and suffering for herbivores.
What use, as a carnivore, did he have for tears?
Herbivores had many different uses for tears. They used tears to signal discomfort of both the body and the spirit. Tears helped them to release negative emotions as well as to form bonds between themselves. They sometimes even used tears to display happiness. Tears were a tool for the weak and thus they had no purpose in a carnivore's life.
He knew all of this, and yet, he found himself shedding many tears when the news completely sank in.
His boss told him of the service that would be held the next day. It seemed that, even though the event had occurred within the past twenty-four hours, most of the plans had been made or were already in motion. Tsuna reassured his cloud guardian that they would be working tirelessly to find out who had taken such a young life from the Famiglia.
As Hibari hung up the phone, his tears quickly began to turn into a white hot rage that took over his whole being. Even though he knew how the rules of life and death worked, he did not believe that this was right. He knew that the herbivore knew how to protect themselves because he had helped to sharpen the herbivore's teeth personally. The herbivore was one with purpose and with so much left to give to the world. And worst of all: the herbivore was too young to die.
He rose from his knees and flung the phone in his assistant's direction. He violently turned on his heel and stalked away from the shrine. Why had the person who had done this not been found already? He knew that the Vongola was doing everything within its power to find the perpetrator, but even the Vongola seemed to have its own limitations.
However, as the drifting cloud that traveled where it chose, he had no limitations. He would find the person who had murdered the young herbivore. They would have no mercy when he found them and he would bring them to justice.
Preferably with his own two hands.
It took him less than a day to find the despicable creature that had once been a human being. It was such an easy task for Hibari because the monster falsely believed that he had covered his tracks so well that he would never be found out. Instead of worrying about being found, the man had lounged around at a local bar drinking with his fellow men.
When Hibari had walked into the bar, he had found the man sitting with his friends in an obvious state of intoxication. He seemed to not have a care in the world as he recounted the tale of his latest hit to the surrounding crowd. He even had the audacity to brag about bringing down the Vongola's most promising hitman down before they had come into their prime.
The cloud guardian could only stand so much.
Hibari wasted no time and sent the man flying from his seat. A malicious smile formed on his face as he heard the man's head make a satisfying loud crack as he landed against the opposite wall. Pandemonium filled the bar as many of the late-night patrons ran out. The man's friends immediately attempted to protect him from Hibari, but they quickly found themselves on their backs when they came within range of the angry man's tonfas. To the guardian the men seemed as insignificant as flies. He only cared about killing the man who was slumped on the floor. Kusakabe could take care of the rest of the group.
He stalked towards the man who was groaning and attempting to stand. Without any warning, he began to bite the man with his tonfas. Each calculated swing brought the man compounded pain. The man attempted to fight back, but he was only able to swing at Hibari a few times before he was no longer able to move. Before long his movements slowed completely.
Hibari wiped the man's blood off onto a nearby table cloth. He had wanted to prolong the suffering of the monster who had taken the young herbivore from the world, but he did not have time to waste on such an insignificant being.
Besides, he had a schedule to keep.
With minutes to spare, Hibari arrived at the small funeral.
He was grateful that the herbivores were not crowding too badly today. Though, and he was loathe to admit it, a few more would have been allowable for this occasion. He stood apart from all, as he usually did, and listened to the stronger herbivore, the one who actually had teeth to protect himself, spoke and honored the dead. He spoke of how early the death had been. How bright of a future the deceased would have had in front of them. And, most of all, how dearly missed they would be by everyone in attendance.
Each herbivore spoke in turn of fond memories and shared wishes for the now non-existent future. Surprisingly, the short speech from the herbivore with horns cut through to his heart the most. Hibari attempted to hide the tears that formed in his eyes as the young man spoke. He spoke of how she had been his best friend and partner in crime ever since they had been young. How wonderful of a person she had been to all that had grown close to her. How he would miss her dearly every day. How much she had meant to him, personally.
How much he had loved her.
After the small ceremony, all of the herbivores comforted each other. He watched as a woman, known to all as a mother, comforted the young man with horns. A majority of the females in attendance comforted each other and spoke in whispers of memories that they had of their long-time friend. As usual, the herbivores knew to not approach him in large groups to offer him comfort. He didn't need it and it would be wasted effort on their parts when they needed so much of it to survive.
Hibari noticed as the herbivore with teeth made his way slowly, but surely through the group. The leader made sure to give comfort as well as he could as he moved. His intent, though, was not lost on the cloud guardian. Even though it appeared as though the man was attempting to make his way through the crowd, his actual intent was to make his way to where his guardian stood resting against a tree. It was almost surprising how quickly the herbivore was able to reach his destination. Before Hibari knew it, Tsuna was standing in front of him and speaking.
"I know this must be hard for you, Hibari." Hibari gave him a look as if to counter his words, but Tsuna didn't want to hear any of it. "She was your pupil and, even though you never let on, she meant a lot to you. Don't worry we'll find who did this." The guardian always found his boss' hyper intuition to be an annoyance. How could an herbivore pretend to know what a carnivore felt?
"There's no need. I've taken care of the problem. I would have taken more time about biting him to death, but I had a schedule to keep." Tsuna's eyes widened before he nodded solemnly and put a hand on his guardian's shoulder.
"We'll be out of here soon. Please, let me know if you need anything." Hibari grunted in an assenting manner as Tsuna squeezed his shoulder once as his eyes softened. "Please remember that it wasn't your fault. You did everything that you could to teach her. Don't take any of the blame on yourself, alright?" Tsuna did not wait for another response, but instead walked back towards the main group. He refused to look at any of the "kind", "caring", and "concerned" looks that followed Tsuna's departure. No matter what you called their emotions, they all carried pity in their hearts for him that he did not want.
It was some time later, after the group had left, that he pushed off from the tree he had been leaning against and approached the grave. It was simple and the gravestone reflected her rather well. The herbivores had chosen well. He knelt before the grave and considered making a small speech to her in order to honor his student, but was there a point to that? She couldn't hear his words anymore, and he did not need to hear himself speak.
Instead, he retrieved a pink ribbon from his pocket and secured it to the stone. He knew that the ribbon would more than likely not last for very long in the outdoors, but that did not take away the meaning behind the gesture. The ribbon had been affixed to the first gift that he had received from someone who had no other ulterior motives. It had meant a lot more to him than what he would ever have admitted. He had held onto it for years as a sign to himself that he could allow others into his life besides allies and subordinates. Even though he wished to hold onto it for much longer, he wished to return the gesture in hopes that, wherever she was now, she would find others who cared for her as much as those within her Famiglia who she had left behind.
As he rose and started to walk away he felt compelled, even though he knew that she couldn't hear him anymore, to say something to her. He knew that she would not hear him, but a small part of himself wished for just that. Wished for her to forgive him. So, before he could stop himself, he turned around to her grave and spoke quietly the words that he wished she could hear:
"I'm sorry, I-Pin."
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I have a few other KHR one-shots that I've written and I hope to start uploading them in the next month. So, please, if you have any feedback on this, I would really appreciate reading it!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own KHR.