The day was mostly uneventful.

Hibari lead Chrome to the places he felt were most important for a new student of Namimori Middle School. All the while, he felt quite irate at the girl's presence...Though he didn't look, Hibari knew she was always a healthy distance behind, carrying that bag with her.

Chrome had outright told him that her trident was inside the bag - A wise move, admittedly - So Hibari told her that if she carried it on school grounds without his permission, he'd bite her to death. He thought she'd simply brush it off...Unbeknownst to him, Chrome was dwelling on the statement quite a bit. Every time a bit of Hibari's anger at the situation leaked into his voice, Chrome flinched at the awful feeling it gave her; like he was ready to attack her at any moment.

Finally, as the end of the first day drew near, Hibari lead her to the library. Retrieving a slightly beaten copy of the school records and setting it down a bit harder than intended in front of the seated Chrome, he opened to the first of the pages showing Namimori Middle's alumni. For a moment, he stared over her shoulder; nose crinkled in great displeasure at the many vulgar comments written below pictures. As well as the few nice comments: Just weak herbivores too afraid to say something good or bad to a person, he surmised.

Walking over to the nearby window, Hibari looked outside at the Namimori Middle campus below. Listening for a minute or two at the periodic flipping of a page, Hibari began to contemplate...For a while, about such things as how he could stir more fervor for Namimori Middle School, or a group of vandals that he really had to track down and beat up; they didn't even have the guts to vandalize more than a small section of wall at a time, and never something too vulgar. Cowardly herbivores, of course.

Soon, Hibari began thinking about mafia-related matters. Ways in which he could use them for the advantage of Namimori Middle School. This brought him to thinking about his fellow Guardians...That idiot Gokudera had gotten into a fight; nothing new, but in his current irritation, Hibari felt like it would do himself some good to beat the fool up if another fight brewed. Yamamoto had started a baseball chant for good luck the other day, keeping Hibari from taking a nap for a while. The baseball freak would be on thin ice. Ryohei's constant prattling about the 'extreme' was enough to make Hibari want to pummel him; in Hibari's mind, that one disturbed the peace just by looking in the direction of his school, let alone having him there.

Even a week later, anger lingered at the thought that Lambo had gone unpunished for accidentally spilling cereal all over Hibari during a visit to make sure Tsuna didn't tarnish Namimori's name - ...Somehow... - Simply on the grounds that he was a child and it wouldn't do to beat him up. Really, the only reason that Hibari hadn't beaten him was that Lambo made an exceedingly rare apology; the Head of Namimori Middle's Disciplinary had been too stunned at this brief show of maturity from the idiot cow to attack, before Lambo was gone to play with some kind of new toy he just remembered.

Briefly, Tsuna crossed Hibari's mind...The cowardly herbivore showed quite a bit of potential, but Hibari was still insulted that anyone even considered him somehow, some way subordinate to the brat. It just didn't do...And Tsuna's inability to properly fight off bullies got said bullies riled up - Like sharks smelling blood. The delinquents repeatedly got uppity and started causing a ruckus, and that was not okay. Mulling over his previous thoughts, Hibari wondered why he got the feeling he was forgetting someone...Then, he realized who it was.

The Mist Puppet, he seethed mentally. She was the real threat to Namimori's peace, at the moment...Though Hibari didn't fully know the specifics, all he needed to know that she was nothing more than a vessel for that illusionist bastard. He could take over at any moment, putting the school and its student body in danger...And when he did, Hibari wouldn't let anything stop him from biting him to death.

Letting his thoughts wander, Hibari wondered what that bastard Rokudo even saw in his Puppet...All Hibari saw when he looked at her was a pitifully weak, timid creature. She flinched anytime Hibari showed the slightest signs of anger. She just let others push her around, and didn't even fight back. Well...Unless it was for the Vongola Famiglia. Her 'Boss', especially...What people see in that herbivore, I may never know, Hibari mused.

Hibari had no idea what could make anyone, even such a fragile, timid creature as Chrome Dokuro, respect Tsunayoshi Sawada...Then again, Hibari had no room to think of such a thing. Though he despised admitting it, Hibari could tell that Tsuna had a strong will when his friends were in danger - When he finally stepped up, he was not someone to trifle with. Tsuna's greatest weakness was that it was almost impossible to fight for his own sake...Though Hibari couldn't imagine how the fleeting thought emerged, he realized that his own desire to fight for his 'friends' was almost always eclipsed by his need to fight for himself.

Contemplating the Mist Puppet again, something bothered Hibari about her...Why was it that he felt so uneasy when she flinched and cowered from him? More precisely, why did he feel uneasy, exactly? Normally, he wouldn't care about someone's fear of him. Either that, or he'd be happy to see someone rightly identifying him as a threat - For a select few, he'd feel angry that they would be so fearful when they knew very well he wouldn't actually kill them. What reason was there to show fear to someone who had no reason, nor desire to hurt you, especially when they were restrained from doing so?

...Of course the girl knew Hibari wouldn't kill, nor even hurt her. She was a student at Namimori; for the time being, at least - He wouldn't allow himself to attack her until she truly crossed a line. As much as Hibari despised Rokudo Mukuro, that wasn't enough reason to attack Chrome until she made a move against Hibari or Namimori Middle School. Hibari didn't even want to hurt Chrome - He'd happily shred Mukuro to pieces on his fangs, but Chrome wasn't his target.

Hibari furrowed his brow...What am I trying to rationalize? Of course she knows I wouldn't hurt her. She's just a jumpy little herbivore - Like some mouse, afraid of everything that is or isn't a threat to itself. Suddenly, he realized how dim it was...Looking outside, he saw with disdain that the sun had set a while ago: Leaving only the faintest orange and pink tinge on the clouds at the horizon, swiftly succumbing to pale blue. He glanced up at the clock: "...7:38 - Feh. Thinking of these idiots has wasted far too much of my time." He turned, looking at the seat and table where he had left Chrome.

"...Hmph." Apparently, she really hadn't wanted to break Hibari out of his reveree, and had been tired as well. The girl had slumped forward onto the table, face buried into the crook of her arm...Luckily for her, Chrome hadn't damaged the records book in her sleep. Walking over, Hibari looked down at the book...Though it was a bit hard to see in the dim light, when Hibari's vision fully adjusted, it was easy to see what had caught Chrome's attention.

There, slightly above and to the left of the right page's center, was the picture of a certain alumnus...Kyoya Hibari. Around it were scribbled three messages. Hibari had to lean in to see, expecting some vulgar, cheap shots at him by those who were too afraid to step up to the man himself...However, he didn't know what to think about what he saw.

Namimori Middle Forever!

Keep biting, Hibari!

Good luck, Kyoya-san!

Unsure if his eyes were deceiving him, a soft murmur arose next to him...Hibari only had time to register that he was closer to Chrome than he had intended before the girl tensed up. She said in a frightened voice, "I-I-I'm so sorry, Cloud Person...Y-You looked like you didn't want to be bothered, I'm very sorry, I - " She flinched as Hibari set a hand on her shoulder.

Standing up straight, Hibari removed the book out from under Chrome. Closing it gently, he set it back to exactly where he had gotten it; showing surprising care in doing so. Looking at Chrome, he spoke in that same cold voice as before - "I'll escort you as far as the front gates. As soon as you get your locker tomorrow, make sure that trident stays there all day."

He headed for the door, but to Chrome's surprise, he stopped briefly - Was he waiting? For her? Immediately, Chrome got up, pushed the chair in, and picked up her bag; before following after Hibari. She said in her soft, faintly quavering voice, "Th-thank you, Cloud Person..."

No reply. Hibari began walking briskly, once again not checking behind himself to see whether or not Chrome was keeping up.

Bowing her head, Chrome followed after him...