"I won't get to see your big day," she smiled through the tears. "I wanted to see the person that my baby boy chose."
Hibari gripped his mother's hand, pale and wordless.
"Don't leave, Mother."
"I'm always going to be here, Kyouya." She lifted her arm, pressing her palm weakly against his heart. "Always."
"But you won't," Hibari whispered. A strange emotion bubbled up within, choking up his words. His throat burned. A few stray tears slid down his cheeks.
"Kyouya," she whispered, wrapping her frail arms around him. Her grip had become so weak she could barely hold on. Hibari hugged her firmly, etching her embrace somewhere deep within.
Two days later, they held the funeral.
Hibari's father pulled him close and squeezed his shoulders.
"We have to be brave, Kyouya. For your mother. For us."
It was Graduation Day.
Hibari fingered his leather-encased elementary school diploma before passing it to his father.
"I'm going to make a round before we leave."
His father smiled, nodding. "I'll go talk to you teachers. Come find me when you're done."
"Mn." The twelve-year-old whipped out his tonfas, walking past the groups of sobbing students. The school was more crowded than usual with all the parents present. He heard occasional chatter about how relieved the students were to be moving on to Namimori Middle (Nami-chuu) together. They were too absorbed to be paying him attention and he had other things on his mind than disciplining the crowding herbivores.
His gaze lingered for a few seconds on the proud mothers, all dressed up.
"Kyouya, I can't wait for your graduation! I've already decided what dress I'm going to wear."
"Mother… Isn't that a little excessive?"
He strode to into the school building, up the stairs and down the hallways he had patrolled uncountable times. He pushed open the door to the rooftop and relished the blast of wind that embraced him the moment he stepped out.
"Kyou-chan!"
Hibari's eyes snapped open.
"Tsunayoshi?"
"Congratulations!" the brown-haired boy beamed. "I waited here 'cause I knew you'd definitely come."
The corner of Hibari's mouth quirked up. The boy's trusting and gentle nature hadn't changed much over the course of the five years that they had known each other. "And you also know that you're breaking a rule?"
"Ah!" Brown eyes widened. "I forgot!"
Hibari walked over to the ten-year old, pulling his cheek. "I'm no longer part of this school, herbivore."
Tsunayoshi pouted, his eyes drooping. "I'll miss playing with you, Kyou-chan. But in another two years, I'll graduate too! And then I'll come find you in Nami-chuu for sure."
"Stay away from the herbivores who break rules. You attract enough trouble as it is."
"I don't attract trouble!" Tsuna protested, puffing his cheeks. "Oh," he paused, reaching out to touch Hibari. "Your tie is crooked."
As his fingers grazed the purple tie, Hibari found himself frozen in place.
"Oh no, not again, Kyouya. Your tie is crooked!"
"Kyou-chan," he felt small hands on his cheeks. "It's okay."
With a start, Hibari felt the wetness on his cheeks and the stray tear that escaped as his chest tightened.
He was Hibari Kyouya. He was strong, he did not-
"Cry," Tsunayoshi whispered. "It's okay to cry, Kyou-chan!" Hibari looked into the boy's glassy eyes. "You'll still be the Kyou-chan I admire, you know?"
Hibari clenched his fists, his shoulders shaking as he looked down. Soundless sobs wracked his body and it was if the entire world had stilled. His mind was blank, like an unending stretch of white hospital walls.
The soft touch of fabric had him opening his reddened eyes. Tsunayoshi was dabbing at his tears with an orange handkerchief that had small rabbits adorning the edges. The younger boy himself was sniffing as he did so, one hand clutched against his heart.
"Why? Hibari rasped.
"Because it hurts," Tsuna whimpered. "I can't imagine a world without Mama. It hurts too much. So Kyou-chan, you must be hurting. But you never cried. Mama told me you shouldn't hold the pain in." At this, the boy paused and took Kyouya's hands in his own. "She said if you let the tears go, someone will definitely hear you. Someone will listen to you and help the pain go away. I… I wanted to tell you that. It's going to be okay, Kyou-chan."
Hibari was, in all sense of the word, overwhelmed. He fell back on giving the boy's hands a tight squeeze before pulling away.
"I never believed otherwise, Tsunayoshi."
Tsuna smiled through his tears. "Of course."
"I'll see you in two years," Hibari added. He turned around and left the rooftop as Tsunayoshi waved, the very picture of exuberance.
A/N: Well, since we don't know much about Hibari's family. I hurt this poor bby ughh slay mee ;;