100 themes challenge [4/100] / 54. Tower

A/N: First Year Kyoko and Third Year Hibari, both in high school.

"Hibari, a student like you could really go places if you just applied yourself," the homeroom teacher told him while reviewing his career path worksheet.
"So I've heard," Hibari yawned.

He was itching to get out of the counseling session. There was no point in even meeting to discuss his future, considering that he only had one career goal set for himself.

"You can't just put down 'Namimori Middle School Disciplinary Committee Chairman' for what title you see yourself having in ten years."

"Why not?"

"Well for starters, you're in high school!"

"This conversation is boring me," Hibari yawned again, getting up from his seat. "I meant what I wrote on that paper. Please don't question me about it again."
The glare on his face sent a shiver down his teacher's back. There were reasons why many school heads didn't cross paths with him—and that murderous gleam in his eye was definitely in the top three.

Hibari left his teacher's office and proceeded outside for his afternoon brooding time at Namimori Middle School. He left his high school and went back to his beloved secondary school every day during his lunch break to check up on how it was doing. Despite the fact that he didn't go there, he still remained the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee due to the fact that everyone was too scared to tell him he couldn't be.

On his way out, a girl he was familiar with brushed past him and her classmates gasped in fear for her—anyone who so much as touched Hibari was sure to get beaten no matter what gender or age they were. He glared down to see that it was First Year Kyoko Sasagawa whom he had never formed an opinion of.

"Ah, I'm sorry Hibari," she bowed her head to him. "I guess I didn't see where I was going."

He paused and gripped his tonfas and locked eyes with her. Everyone around her held their breath and whispered for her to look away from him, but Kyoko stood her ground. After a moment of silence, he yawned and continued on his way. There was no point in wasting energy on a girl as feeble as that, after all.

Kyoko smiled as she watched him leave and her friends crowded around her, shocked that Hibari let her get off so easily. When they asked her what she did to get him to stop him from abusing her, she looked up at the sky and saw a little yellow bird fly by. Kyoko smiled and said, "He's really not as vicious as you think."

Hibari had fallen asleep on his watch along the middle school's highest building. When he woke up he realized he had slept through the latter part of his classes. It didn't matter to him anyway, he had such high marks that absences didn't mean a thing to a student as well off as him.

He got up from his reclined position on the roof's shingles and hopped back over the railing to lean against it. There beneath him were middle school students hanging out in groups around the quad. Although seeing them in crowds disgusted him, he still envied the juniors; they had all of this freedom and time to think about their futures ahead of them, unlike him. High school was annoying enough for him, but his third year made him more miserable than ever, since every authority figure was trying to guide him on the right path to a successful future. He missed being at Namimori Middle, where he was officially feared by everyone as the official Disciplinary Head with all of his loyal subordinates he never actually cared for. Those were the days he would never get back, but coming back to the middle school every day allowed him to reminisce about his past, taking the pressure off of becoming an up-and-coming adult.

Hibird flew onto his shoulder and he glanced at his tiny pet. "Come to watch over Namimori with me too, little one?"

As soon as he finished his sentence, the roof door swung open. He flinched and gripped his tonfas, itching to fight whoever dared to trespass onto his territory. Much to his surprise (that he didn't show of course), the intruder was Kyoko Sasagawa.

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

"Sorry," she bowed to him. "I do my volunteer work at the middle school for community service during my free period. Normally I take my break on the grass, but it seemed crowded today and I wanted to find somewhere to be alone…but it looks like you're already here."

"Why do you do your service here when you can be doing anything anywhere else in Namimori?"

"I guess it's because…I like Namimori Middle School, that's all. But I can go if you'd like some time alone here."

Hibari paused and let his guard down, studying the girl before him. Her words peaked his interest, but there was still something confusing about her. Why wasn't she afraid of him like all of the others? And why didn't he feel like biting her to death as he did with everyone else?

"You may stay," he said coldly and turned his back on her.

She sat against the wall next to the door beside her and quietly ate her snack, glancing up to look at him every few minutes or so. When she finished eating, her eyes lingered on him. He looked so lonely all the time, making her wonder how he could be so content with being reclusive.

"Why are you staring at me, Sasagawa?" he asked without looking back at her.

"How did you know I was looking at you?" she asked back, getting up to join him at the railing.

"I could feel it."

He continued to gaze down at the school below him and she began to do the same. Although the silence was comfortable for him, Kyoko was dying to ask him more about himself—since he was the only one of Tsuna's acquaintances she never got the time to know. She opened her mouth to state her first question, but he had beaten her to it by asking:

"Why aren't you scared of me?"

"I don't know," she answered casually. "I'm not really scared of anyone. Can I ask you a question too?"

"You already did."

"Why do you like being alone?"

"Easy," he yawned. "Because I don't like anyone."

"That can't be true," she looked up at him. "How can you dislike everyone?"

"Because everyone is weak and annoying. Plus, caring for people makes you weaker as a person."

"Well, it makes you more vulnerable, not weaker."

"What's the difference?" he scoffed.

Kyoko paused for a moment. "Being vulnerable means you're likely to feel more empathetic for someone you care about in your life. So if they're happy, you're happy. And if they're sad, you're sad."
Hibari looked down at her, meeting her eyes like he did earlier when he ran into her. "And why would anyone want to do that?"

"I…I actually don't know how to answer that," she laughed. "I guess it just feels good." She looked back down at the ground below. "I understand why you like being up here though, Kyoya."
His eyes widened at the sound of his first name being used. The last time someone tried calling him that he beat them nearly to death—even though it was his own cousin who referred to him as that.

"Being so high above everyone makes you feel tall," she continued.

He paused, then flashed a rare, unseen smile to her before looking back down at everyone below him. "Yeah, something like that I guess."

For the rest of the week, Kyoko had joined him on his rooftop watches during her free period to take her breaks from her service. She had become much more familiar with him than before, making him feel a bit awkward, but strangely not annoyed. Listening to her rattle off about her friends, family, and life in general was a nice distraction from thinking about his own.

He laid down on the roof on Friday afternoon and waited for her to arrive, but she never came. For some confusing reason, he seemed to care about her absence—probably because he had gotten so used to her company and didn't like sudden changes like that. Instead of lounging about the middle school keeping watch of students that weren't his to oversee, he decided to go back to high school and actually go to classes. However, he wasn't able to focus on his studies due to his curiosity about where Kyoko had gone during her break.

After school he rode his motorcycle home, but was distracted by seeing someone on the Namimori Middle School roof when he drove by. He parked his bike and went up to his spot, ready to fight whoever the trespasser was. But when he got up there, he didn't find a trespasser: he instead found Kyoko, sobbing with her head between her legs.

She heard him and looked up, wiping the tears from her face. "K-Kyoya," she stammered. "I didn't come today at lunch because I wanted to be alone…I'm sorry you have to see me like this, I don't think I look very nice when I cry."

"Who did this to you?" he asked darkly. "I'll bite them to death."

"No one!" she shook her head, waving for him to put his weapons down. "It was just…a bad day, that's all."

"I see," he stepped over to where she was sitting and crouched down next to her. "I don't like seeing you cry like this. It makes me feel...hm, what's the word?"

"Sad?"

"Infuriated."

"Why are you angry?"

"Because you said it was a bad day that's making you feel this way. If it were a person that was distressing you, I could easily kill them to make things better. But I can't fix a bad day."

"No…but there is something else you can do," she looked up at him.

Without warning, Kyoko lunged and flung her arms around his body, burying her face in his chest so she could cry. Hibari flinched and stiffened up, gripping his tonfas as a reaction again, but relaxed when he realized she meant no harm. He hesitated at first, but soon wrapped his arms around her to hold her closer to him.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled away from him. "I really needed that."

"Needed what?"

"Needed…you."

Hibari felt himself blush a bit, and Hibird flew up to them. The little animal flew circles around them then perched itself on Kyoko's shoulder, cuddling up to her cheek. She smiled and stuck her finger out for it to sit on.

"I think I care about you, Kyoko," he said.

"That's good," she directed her bright grin at him. "I think I care about you too."

They stared at each other for a moment until Hibird flew up to nest on Hibari's head.

"So what now?" he asked.

Kyoko stood up from her spot and walked over to the railing to look down at the middle school she left below. He got up and joined her, and didn't flinch or pull away when she held his hand.

"If anyone ever makes you cry, I'll bite them to death," he said sternly.

"U-uh you really don't have to do that," she said awkwardly, then got on her tip toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "But I appreciate the gesture."

He felt his face get hot again and hid the involuntary grin on his face from her as he intertwined their fingers together. It didn't matter what his future had in store for him. As long as she was by his side in it, he thought he'd do just fine.

A/N: I'm a big 2795 fan, but the idea of Kyoko and Hibari just seems adorable to me. I don't know, it was a fun and quick little one-shot to do. Close to being 5% done with the 100 themes challenge, woo hoo!

Remember to review, ciao!