Disclaimer: Don't own. Read at your own risk.
i. look up at the sky
Some people fight out of duty. Others fight for prestige. Still others fight for money.
Hibari Kyouya fights for pride.
"Do you wish to die in your seat?"
Hibari strode forward, slowly and purposefully, pieces of wood and shards of glass cracking beneath his feet.
"Kufufufu. What interesting things you say."
(he could feel him, the smirk that he will wipe off)
"I am sitting because there is no need for me to stand."
Coming to a stop, he squared his shoulders and lifted his weapon, like a jouster bracing for battle. His opponent remained a faceless shadow, just out of reach. It did not matter.
"No more talk."
(a laugh, the greeting from hell)
"Suit yourself. It's just that if-"
Jolt.
"-you don't talk now-"
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
"-you may never get the chance to do so again."
A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. His ears resounded with silence; adrenaline pumped blood through his veins. He told himself that it was due to anger and not fear.
(how dare he taunt how dare he and I'm not scared)
"You really are weak-"
The world promptly exploded, blinding him with a sky of brightest pink.
(Namimori does not need two orders, you see)
Hibari stared at the intricate black and silver ring with distaste.
''What is this?"
"It is one half of the Vongola Cloud ring," replied Iemitsu. "It is-"
"Jewellery is not permitted to be worn in Namimori Middle School."
They stared at each other.
Iemitsu finally broke the silence. "You have been chosen to be Tsuna's Cloud Guardian."
(the cloud, he who drifts, unchained and-)
"The question is-"
(- unfettered, powerful, but maybe, just maybe-)
"- will you fight?"
Later, as the ring glowed violet in the moonlight, he thinks of pretty, pink petals and lost pride, and fighting did not seem like such a bad idea.
(- it was his pride that would tangle him in scarlet string.)
He could hear the meaningless arguments of the (needlessly) enthusiastic trio. It was sickening.
Didn't they know he wasn't doing this for their beloved 'boss'? Hibari Kyouya is no herbivore, and he will not serve under one.
He is independent and he needs to fight, because he is strong.
Strong, unlike that underhanded coward.
(he remembered sleek,midnight-blue hair which caressed his cheek; why couldn't he just move-)
A surge of humiliation coursed through him. Suddenly, all he could see was his opponent-
"-battle!"
-and all he could hear was the rush of the wind as the Gola Mosca charged at him, blue light reflecting off the glassy lenses.
(he saw red)
A second later, the severed metal arm dropped silently beside the defeated machine.
As the crowd gaped, Hibari walked forward and dropped the Vongola half-ring into the open hand of one of the Cervello.
"I don't need this thing."
"Eh?"
(I need to fight, I need to win, I do not need to be chained by a ring)
Hibari Kyouya is not weak.
"Kufufu, not going to join the party?"
Hibari instantly spun around, swinging his right arm and pressing a tonfa against Mukuro's neck, pinning him against the wire fence.
"There's no need to be so violent, Kyouya-kun. "
(don'tcallmethatIwillcrushyou)
"Fight me."
"Not today, I'm afraid. You wouldn't want to hurt little, innocent Chrome-chan, right, Kyouya-kun?"
(DON'T CALL ME THAT)
Hibari loosened his grip and stowed his weapons away.
"That feels much better." Mukuro said, with a smug look on his face. "Now, back to the question, aren't you going to join the party?"
Hibari crossed over to the other side of the rooftop to face the courtyard, which was currently being reconstructed.
"I do not answer to Sawada Tsunayoshi. I participated in the battle because it looked interesting."
"Oya?"
Mukuro strolled leisurely to where Hibari was standing. Standing right behind him, he quickly captured both his wrists and held them together with surprising force, forcing Hibari to turn around to face him.
"What are you-"
"Shh." Mukuro gently placed a finger to the prefect's lips for a moment.
(disgusting omnivore get the fuck away from me)
"Then, Kyouya," He purred, his breath ghosting over the other's ear. "do you find me interesting too?"
The pressure on his wrists abruptly disappeared. Chrome's violet eyes gazed into his for a moment, before she quickly stepped backwards, nearly falling in surprise.
"Ah, Cloud-san! I… Mukuro-sama…" she stammered. Hibari ignored her, walking rapidly towards the exit. He could swear that he could still hear the other snickering at him.
"Bastard." He hissed. He would kill him.
ii. like birds up there, I will fly
Tsuna played absentmindedly with the hem of his yukata. Hibari sipped delicately at his green tea.
"You will be joining Chrome in France."
Clack. "… Oh?"
"She has already located the target. You know the drill: get the relevant information out of him, and make sure this doesn't happen again."
Slowly, as if deep in thought, Hibari again brought the pearl porcelain cup to his lips. Tsuna's eyes hardened.
"Traitors-"
(he thinks of the despicable rule breakers of Namimori)
"- will not be tolerated," he said softly.
"I don't need you to tell me, herbivore."
After years of coercing out information, he knows that the best method of gaining what he wants is not entirely based on violence.
"I'll never… give you what you want." The man spat. "Never."
"Such big words." Hibari jeered, removing a single photograph from the inner pocket of his coat. "Perhaps, you want her to end up like you?"
The man's eyes widened as he caught sight of the photograph. It was of a pretty woman, not outstanding but not plain, with shoulder-length blond tresses. She was smiling sweetly at the camera.
Hibari knew the other was defeated.
(he still remembers that thrice-damned Kokuyo Land after all, that was how he knows it will hurt)
"Amelia… no, please, you can't…" The man croaked from his position on the floor.
"And why can't I?"
"Because… just don't, I beg you, she knows nothing." The fire in the man's eyes dimmed. He whispered, "It was the Constable."
"Thank you." A tonfa was swiftly brought down on the back of the man's neck, breaking it.
The French police never tried to infiltrate the Vongola again.
The first thing he saw when he entered the hotel room was Mukuro flipping through the hotel catalogue. The pages snapped shut as he closed the door.
Hibari threw his blood-stained coat into a waiting trash bag.
"Off doing bad deeds again, aren't we?"
"I learned from the best."
Mukuro chuckled. "Why, thank you. I must say, your ability to break minds is phenomenal, considering that you can't use illusions."
(somewhere at the back of his mind, a voice childishly disagrees)
Hibari did not reply.
"Don't be like that, Kyouya." A pair of slender, pale arms wrapped around his waist. "I love you, Kyouya."
(don't say that, damn you)
"Stay with me tonight, won't you?"
It was cold, Hibari concluded, when he woke up to the Namimori Middle School anthem.
A little irritably, he flipped the phone open.
"Yes?"
"Hibari-san," Kusakabe's voice came through the speaker. "I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but Sawada-san wishes to speak to you urgently."
(for all his supposed 'dame-ness',he was the only one who had any idea)
"Tell him I'll meet him in the tea room in five minutes."
"Understood."
"Good morning," Tsuna greeted, pinching the bridge of his nose as if to stave off a headache. Hibari knew that this would be serious.
"Do you need something to drink?" he asked, and he knew he caught the underlying meaning.
"No, it's fine. I just need to tell you something." Tsuna closed his eyes, then sighed.
"You are going to go on a mission, Hibari. No time limit."
"Just tell me what you want, herbivore."
Tsuna looked at him, almost pityingly. Hibari's guts twisted and tightened.
(confusion bad feeling what don't I know)
"Yesterday," he began, "Our alliances with at least ten other families have been cut off."
"Forming and keeping alliances has always been a job for Yamamoto or Sasagawa."
Tsuna continued, not acknowledging the interruption. "A member of the Vongola has brutally attacked all of them, prompting this cut-off."
(I absolutely despise the mafia, he said, I will destroy them)
(oh shit no-)
"Your mission is to kill Rokudo Mukuro."
(traitors will not be tolerated)
He was the unfettered cloud. He fights for pride.
Feelings were irrelevant.
iii. and I will be-
-free.
(traitor, I love you, prepare to fight)
"I'll bite you to death."
- owari –
Note: Haha, originally inspired by a haiku I wrote on a prompt.
/ look up at the sky
like birds up there, I will fly
And I will be free. /
The alternate title is 'Initial Prejudices'.