Disclaimer: I do not own Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn!

How to Catch a Cloud

- A Watchful Gaze -

Sawada Tsunayoshiko was not a very popular girl in school; in fact she was so unpopular that her nickname all throughout middle school was Dame Tsuna. She was clumsy even when not participating in athletic events, always late to class despite setting her alarm and she was not very bright, she was lucky if she scored in the 30's on a test.

But even before he became her Cloud Guardian, she'd had a fascination with Hibari Kyouya. The Disciplinary Committee's leader was such a puzzle to her.

He would threaten to 'bite to death' everyone who broke the school rules but he was also extremely protective of the female students and even the animals on campus. Tsuna had seen him throw his jacket at a shivering female student in the cold and he had even nursed back to health the bird that the students mockingly called 'Hibird.'

Everyone on campus was scared of him, even the teachers, but when one of the students was being bullied, Hibari was the first one there to 'restore the peace.' He had his own way of doing it to be sure, and it was often violent make no mistake about that, but every move he made, he made with Namimori-chuu in mind.

According to the staff, after Hibari had become the Disciplinary Committee Leader, Namimori-chuu's rankings had risen so high that the school had to implement an entrance exam in order to handle the flood of incoming students. Students may have resented Hibari's restoring peace presence but the teachers and parents secretly reveled in his existence, which is probably why he had such a strong position of influence in the school. Rumor was that the school's head had allowed him to stay an extra two years, in fact even begged him to do so.

So despite what her fellow classmates thought, Tsuna had decided that he must not be a bad person. She would often make herself late to school on purpose so he would have to talk to her, even if it was merely "You're late to class herbivore. You'll be bitten to death in detention later." Hibari made it a rule to never strike a female but he had no qualms about threatening one.

So for a year she had merely watched him in fascination, never even dreaming that she would get to know him or even be able to work with him. But after Hibari had been made her cloud guardian Tsuna began to notice him staring at her.

He would wait by the school gate every morning to punish those late to school and when she passed by he would always switch his focus from whoever he was talking with to her. When they passed by each other in the hall he would smirk at her while greeting her with his customary "Herbivore" and continue walking.

Their relationship continued this way until they reached high school and he moved from being merely her cloud guardian to what she considered a friend, though she was sure he would scoff at such a label.

When Gokudera and Yamamoto weren't around her, which happened more often because Yamamoto had decided to devote more time to baseball and Gokudera was always getting in detention for being Gokudera, boys from her school would pester her with their crude sexual advances.

At the beginning, this was new to Tsuna as no one in middle school had thought she was attractive in any way. But after Gokudera admitted that her legs had gotten leaner, in Yamamoto's words "sexier", her features more defined and her chest more apparent, she realized she had changed from Dame Tsuna.

Now that she was half way through her first year though, Tsuna would just sigh and try to push past those idiotic males. She could always go Dying Will on them but she felt that was overkill for something not mafia related.

So despite Reborn's warning to 'Never let her guard down' she ignored the threat that these boys represented until they cornered her one day after school. Before she was aware of what happened she found herself being manhandled by three school delinquents tired of waiting for her to come to them.

She never wore her Vongola ring on her finger at school because she didn't want the kind of questions to arise that would cause trouble. Plus, she figured keeping it around her neck left it within easy enough reach.

But these delinquents held her arms behind her back and pushed her face first into the ground. She couldn't reach her ring and all she could think was that when Reborn found out about this he would train her ruthlessly for weeks for leaving herself an easy target.

As she tried pushing back against their hands to give herself room to scream, one of the boys was suddenly slammed into the wall quickly followed by his friends.

It was Hibari! He pulled her to her feet and demanded "Where are your lackeys Herbivore? Why aren't they with you?" Tsuna looked at him with tears in her eyes and collapsed against him crying into his neck.

She didn't care about the state she was in, all she knew was that she had almost been molested and she hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. She could handle Mafioso's attacking her and even killing people for the sake of her family but Reborn had never trained her for this sort of situation. None of his life-threatening situations had included an 'about to be raped' scenario, although if she told him that he would probably think it a good addition to her training regimen.

In her hysterics she didn't realize, until Hibari plopped her in his lap, that he had carried her to the school rooftop. After settling her in his lap and leaning against a wall he didn't touch her or talk to her. He just left her to herself and she found she was grateful for that. She realized that this was as close to affection, at the moment, as Hibari would get.

Tsuna dried her tears and left his lap with a quick peck to his cheek and a hushed "Thanks Kyouya-kun."

As she reached the door to the stairwell he said firmly "If I find you without your guardians again Sawada Tsunayoshiko, I'll bite you to death." Tsuna just nodded without turning around and so missed the lingering blush on Kyouya's face.