"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." – Hellen Keller

Namimori was ruled over by its founding family: the Hibari Clan. It was no secret that it was part of the yakuza, but no one said anything about it. They didn't want to be singled out. Besides, the Hibari Clan was their protector. No point in fighting against the ones protecting them.

Hibari had been raised to be the best there is from a very young age. He excelled in academics and was already attending Yumei Private High School at ten-years-old; his father took him to some meetings in Tokyo with other yakuza families where he quickly learned how to blackmail and intimidate; his mother drilled proper etiquette in his head until he couldn't pour any more tea from the strain in his arms; his aunt trained him since he could learn how to walk, and now he could beat men twice his size without breaking a sweat.

He was the perfect heir, and was content with his relatively quiet life. There were no obstacles—he'd plow through them anyway—or disturbances that threw him off. Just stability and a steady pace.

Until a volleyball soared over his house walls and plopped into the pond. Hibari's eye twitched as the ball bobbed up and down in the clear water. His aunt, who was the only other person in the house, laughed quietly behind her fan.

"It must be the neighborhood kids," she said in a light voice, amused. "Why don't you return it to them, Kyoya?"

Hibari glared at his laidback aunt. "It's their fault. They won't get it back."

Yume rolled her eyes. "How petty."

"—eshi, why did you throw it that far?" a voice said from outside the gates. "I'll never get it back!"

Someone else laughed. "Sorry, Tsuna! It was a cool pitch though!"

"It's not a baseball, Takeshi! You don't throw it like that! How will I get it back? This is Hibari-san's house!"

"Why don't we just ring the doorbell?"

"Because this is Hibari-san's house."

"So? What's the big deal?"

His friend sighed. "They basically own Namimori, Takeshi." He lowered his voice to a whisper but Hibari and his aunt knew what he was saying. They weren't deaf or stupid. "Everyone thinks they're yakuza and I think they are."

"Really? That's so cool!"

Yume snorted before snapping her fan close. "Kyoya"—She unexpectedly kicked him out of his spot. The boy didn't even spare a thought about her grace—"answer the door."

Hibari just glared at her, silently vowing to not hold back in their evening training sessions—he would break bones, which was impossible with his aunt, but he'd try—and stood up with as much grace as he could muster. He dusted off his gray kimono and headed towards the gates.

The chattering instantly stopped when he forcefully opened the door halfway. He scowled at the two boys in front of him. One was taller than he was with black hair and brown eyes, but that didn't deter him. Hibari could handle any herbivore. The other one was shorter than them both with strangely fluffy brown hair and big brown eyes. He reminded Hibari of a bunny rabbit.

"Oh, uh, Hibari-san!" the bunny said. "I didn't know you were home."

It was clear that the brunet was afraid of him, but there was a hint of admiration and curiosity in his eyes that disturbed Hibari. He was more used to being feared.

"Hi!" the tall boy said, waving with a friendly smile. "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi. I just moved here a few weeks ago."

Hibari didn't even bother with the formal introductions. His mother would castrate him but she wasn't here. Sue him. "What do you want, herbivore?"

Yamamoto blinked but still had that easy smile on his face. "Herbivore? I eat meat, too. Doesn't that make me an omnivore though?"

"Can we get my volleyball back, Hibari-san?" the bunny said timidly, fidgeting under his sharp gaze. "I'm so sorry but Takeshi threw it too far and we didn't realize that your house was right here and—"

"No."

The bunny wilted. His lips trembled as he looked down at his dirty sneakers. On the other hand, there was a slight shift in Yamamoto's demeanor; it was so subtle that for a second, Hibari thought he had misread the him. There was an underlying ferocity within the younger boy that he masked with bright smiles and an easygoing nature—like the perfect predator luring in unsuspecting prey.

Was that why he was hanging out with this bunny? Hibari thought quizzically. To ensnare him at the right moment? Or was it protecting him? Nonetheless, it intrigued him. He may have to keep an eye out for them.

"Did the ball hit anything?" Yamamoto said lightly.

"No," was Hibari's curt response. If it did, he wouldn't hesitate to bite them to death; then he would be bitten to death by his mother. She was an extremely materialistic person, and Hibari could recite all the price tags on their property without a second thought. If something broke, he'd have to break too, regardless of his innocence. Simple.

"Then why don't you just give it to us? Tsuna said he was sorry."

So, the bunny was Sawada Tsunayoshi. There was only one person in Namimori with that name and it wasn't hard to know who his mother was. She was practically revered for her past athleticism in…volleyball. Hibari slightly wrinkled his nose in distaste. He despised the sport.

Tsuna sighed. "It's okay, Takeshi. I think I have some extra allowance to buy another one."

"That was your first volleyball though."

Tsuna raised his hands to placate his friend. "I could always get another one. Don't worry about it!" He looked at Hibari with sad eyes. Hibari denied any disappointment on making him unhappy. It was his friend's fault anyway. "I'm really sorry, Hibari-san. I hope nothing got damaged." He bowed his head. "Have a good day. Come on, Takeshi. Let's go get my wallet."

Hibari closed the door with more force than necessary. He glanced at the floating volleyball with utter hatred. Despite being wet, it was clearly worn and had been used a lot. He picked it up and chucked it at his aunt. Yume caught it easily with a giggle.

"My, my, Kyoya," she said. "How rude of you. They seemed like nice boys. Tsunayoshi is quite an adorable child too." She tapped her fan lightly on her pink lips. "Doesn't he remind you of, I don't know, a baby bunny?" Her lips quirked up in a sly smile. "Don't you like bunnies?"

"Shut up, carnivore," Hibari said, sitting back down on his usual spot.

"This is why you'll be forever alone," Yume said dramatically. "You do know that your mother wants grandchildren, right? And stop scowling. You're going to get premature wrinkles."

Hibari glared at her, but she wasn't fazed. He looked at the volleyball in her hand with disgust. "Throw that away."

Yume raised a brow and threw it back at him. "It's not my problem. You do it."

Hibari clenched the ball tightly in his hands, his fingertips turning white from the pressure. Volleyball was beneath the Hibari family. It took his older cousin, Fon, away from home. They had grown up together when Hibari was born. He was a worthy carnivore in his own right, but more of an omnivore. Fon was (frustratingly) a pacifist and wasn't fond of fighting like Hibari was, despite his tremendous talent. Instead, he got into volleyball of all things when he went abroad to visit a pen pal. Then, he left to pursue it.

It was petty of Hibari to hate something so much irrationally. No, it was rational. Volleyball took the only tolerant person in his life away from him, someone he considered his rival. If there was one thing Fon was good at, it was being better than him in everything, including temperament. So, what if Hibari was a bit too bloodthirsty at a young age? It was kill or be killed in the world, he thought bitterly.

"You miss him, don't you?" Yume's soft voice drifted in the air.

Hibari tensed but didn't give his aunt the satisfaction of looking at his face. He was done with her teasing today. He wasn't willing to have his pride stripped down even further.

"He's very happy, Kyoya," Yume continued, as if she was talking about the weather. "He's doing what he wants to do."

"He's not worthy of being the heir," Hibari spat.

"That's why we have you." Yume regarded him with unreadable eyes. "Is there something you'd like to tell me, Kyoya?"

Hibari pursed his lips, not granting her with a response. He left his aunt without looking back, walking towards his room, which was in the more secluded east wing. On the way, he dumped the volleyball in the trash.

He wanted Fon to come back so he could bite him to death for leaving. What about me? a small part of him whispered, as he shifted through some small business deals. Hibari gritted his teeth. No, he was a carnivore. There was no room for any weakness. If there was one thing Fon's departure had taught him, it was that there was no one to look out for you except yourself.

And Hibari was more than capable of doing that.

A/N Gah, I'm so sorry this took a while to update! Here's a slightly longer chapter as an apology, haha.

It's not really Hibari bonding with Tsuna, but more of a brief meeting and establishing his character. I feel he'll be one of the more difficult characters to get involved in the future and having him easily join Tsuna's growing team would be unrealistic. Additionally, Tsuna's team isn't even concrete yet at this point. All the characters so far either has different priorities (Yamamoto with baseball and Ryohei with boxing) or avoids it in Hibari's case. I did have fun incorporating Fon in his life though. Guess who he's abroad with and where, hehe.

Also, I know that there's no such thing as Yumei Private High School in canon, but there is a middle school with the same name that Shoichi attends. Let's just pretend there's also a high school version, haha.

I have a tendency of giving Hibari an aunt in my stories, haha. To clear things up, Yume is Fon's mother and the eldest sister of the current Hibari boss, who is Hibari's father. Despite her older age, Yume is a woman so the title of boss falls to Hibari's father, the first son. Fon was originally the heir since he is the next eldest male in line, but relinquishes the title to have fun abroad, haha. So, now it falls to Hibari.

A bit of shameless advertising here again but I put up a fun fic of drabbles/one-shots with various Tsuna pairings based on some songs that hit me with inspiration (requests will also be taken!). If you'd like, check it out!

Please let me know your thoughts about the story! It'd be great to get more feedback on how it is so far. I'll try to answer questions as soon as I can!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope to see you again in the next chapter.

Have a lovely day~

Little Miss Bunny