Tangled Up

When he awoke, Hibari immediately reached for his tonfas, hoping yesterday night had been some sort of dream and promising himself to bite the not-herbivore to death for causing it. Unfortunately, his hand didn't leave his side.

"Oh, I see you're up," said a cheerful voice, something he had not yet heard from the not-herbivore. His gazed turned darker than black as he glared at her. "Um, sorry about the duct tape, but you really didn't give me a choice This is the only way to have a conversation without you attacking me."

"Release me," he growled. The not-herbivore shook her head and put something beside him.

"Here," she said. Her large brown eyes took in his glare. He checked his restraints, but they were unyielding. She gave him a slight bow even though she made sure to keep a safe distance. "I apologize. I should never have taken these."

At those words, he narrowed his attention to the items she had placed next to him. Hibari mentally scoffed at her idiocy at returning his weapons to him and buried the relief and surprise at seeing his tonfas back and carefully polished. He made continued subtle attempts at finding the weakness in his bindings.

"I'll be right back," the not-completely-a-herbivore said, leaving the room. He immediately started to struggle with all his strength against the bindings, twisting and turning in ways that would have those mindless herbivores in his Namimori Middle gaping like stupid sheep. Not that he cared what those herbivores thought.

"You won't get out, you know," she said, and Hibari admired her stealth for an instant before noticing she was making no move to stop him and so he continued to wrestle against the bindings. She winced as he twisted his arm in an unnatural fashion. "I've been learning how to restrain men twice your size since I was seven, and I have a ruthless teacher."

Filing the strange info mentally, he continued to try the restraints and ignore the pain that snuck up various places in his arms and legs. The not-herbivore merely sat down to watch and set a box she had brought with her on the floor. He was too overly familiar with the shape to not know that it was undoubtedly one of her bentos. A sudden cry interrupted his conversation as a small child ran into the room and straight to the herbivore.

"Come back, I-Pin!" came another voice, and a fuzzy black blob ran in after the small child.

"What did you do, Lambo?" asked the not-herbivore, making space on her lap for the small child while glaring at the black blob.

"Lambo didn't do anything!" yelled the black blob which was apparently another child. The first child chattered something in Chine…his eyes widened.

"…and he pushed me!" said the first child in high-pitched Chinese.

"Lambo, why did you push I-pin?" asked Tsuna.

"I-Pin took my candy!"

"That is no reason to hit someone," said Tsuna harshly, making the black blob child take a step back. "And that candy was I-Pin's, not yours. How many times have told you not to take other peoples food?"

"B-but Lambo-sama…I….I-pin's lying!" the child yelled, making entirely too much noise.

"Quiet or I'll bite you to death," Hibari warned. The child's noise was interrupting his concentration and attempts to escape.

"Huh? Who are you? Do you want to be the great Lambo-sama's subordinate?" asked the child, even more noisily. Hibari glared, and the child quivered and shook. Giving another cry, the black blob quickly hid behind the not-herbivore. She matched his glare with one of her own.

"Don't distract him," she said in the same tone she had used on the child. "It's hard enough to get Lambo to listen without distractions. And there will be not biting to death in my house."

"I will do what I want," Hibari said, his eyes narrowing. He was not a child.

"And that's the problem," she said, rolling her eyes. She turned back to the black blob child. "With both of you. We'll finish this outside."

She stood up and placed the box next to his tonfas and spread it. Several plain rice balls inside it. In a few quick movements, she had untwisted Hibari's limbs and had him, still bound, in a seated position with his hands in front of him.

"Please eat these," she said. "I don't want you to starve. I'll be right back."

He stared at the bento and his hands for an instant, before shifting his gaze as indifferently as possible to a corner of the fairly empty room. If he hadn't fought her, he would have thought her a complete herbivore. She had bound him, yes, but she had returned his weapons and was offering him nourishment. When she left the room, he scoffed quietly, rolled over to his tonfas, and set to work on releasing himself. He would test and see exactly what this not-herbivore was.

The duct tape lay in clumps, and Hibari sat unbound in front of an empty bento. Tsuna blinked. No, the steel-eyed teen still sat there, and the bento was still empty. She wasn't sure which fact was stranger.

"Your bindings didn't work," said the prefect, surprising her further.

"I knew you would get out of them," she explained. "I left your tonfas next to you so that you could get out. You're not my enemy."

"I am your opponent."

"I don't want to fight you, I already said that," she said with a sigh. She sat carefully in front of him, watching for any sudden movements.

"You sound like a herbivore."

"Most herbivores don't talk. And technically, I'm an omnivore."

Silence filled the air, and Tsuna had to use all her training not to fidget. Hibari's gaze wasn't intense, but it was fairly unreadable. Even Reborn's eyes never looked that blank. She almost wished she had brought up tea, if only to have something to do besides stare at each other.

"Why are you still here?" asked Tsuna, hoping to draw some reaction for the prefect.

"I can hold a conversation without being bound," he said, a hardness overcoming his features. "And I am not a child."

Tsuna bit her lip to keep from laughing or making some sarcastic Reborn-like retort. This is not what she would call a conversation, and he looked more like a child now that she could perceive that the prefect was sulking. Well, she should probably use this opportunity to find out why he had gone so berserk.

"Why are those tonfas so important to you?"

"That's none of your concern."

"Hibari-san, a conversation goes both ways, and really that's all I wanted to know. I didn't mean to anger you when I took them. I just wanted to disarm you."

Hibari glared at her, but she ignored the glare and put on her patient face. Either he would tell her or he wouldn't, but she was not going to change the topic. He would have to do that. His gaze drifted back to the corner he had inspected earlier.

"My father gave them to me," he said flatly.

"Oh," she said, hearing everything the prefect didn't say. "He had good taste in weapons. I've seen many, many weapon thanks to my demon tutor, so I can tell those are well made, much better than the tonfas I see at home."

"You are from Italy."

"I am from Japan originally," she corrected. She didn't want to tell him the next part, but it was only fair. "I moved to Italy after my parents died in a…in an accident."

No matter how many times she said it, Tsuna hated that word. No accident had claimed her parent's lives. They had died at the hands of the mafia's second best hitman. If Reborn hadn't come along when he did, she would have also died.

"You're no herbivore."

The words broke through what Reborn affectionately (or as close as it got with him) her it-wasn't-an-accident fog. Hibari had strange look on his face, or maybe she had spent too much time with the prefect. His blank face had a slight look of confusion and maybe, just maybe, concern.

"I already told you I am not an herbivore," said Tsuna. "I am Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said with a nod. He stood and whipped out his tonfas. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, fight me."

"The answers is still no," she said with a hint of exasperation. Why did all the males she knew have such thick heads? As suddenly as they appeared, the tonfas disappeared. Hibari headed towards the door but looked at her once more before exiting.

"I will be watching you closely, Sawada Tsunayoshi. If you disturb Namimori, I will bite you to death."

And so he left. Tsuna stared at the door before shaking her head and sighing. Hibari Kyoya was turning out to be more difficult to figure out than Reborn.