A/N: yoo /o/ I have an exam first thing tomorrow asdfg I should not have been writing this
Thank you to all who've left such nice comments .w.
For those wondering about other characters interacting with/seeing Tsuna, it's a big ass no. It makes Hibari's ability less special, and I personally only think he can see him because Hibari's closest to a wild animal a teenager's ever gonna get.
And to those wondering about Tsuna being 'gone' I haven't planned it yet lmao. This is just a drabble series, so it could - theoretically - go on forever. That being said, if Tsuna moves on, it was be happy-ish/bittersweet and full of humour and cuteness like the rest of this vile story.
Consciousness returned slowly to one Hibari Kyoya, and the prefect was content to lie in a lazy doze for a moment or two before slowly opening his eyes. The skylark immediately hissed, grabbing a nearby tonfa to swipe it through the face of whatever herbivore dared sneak up on him while he was asleep.
Through? Hibari blinked for a moment, mind still fuzzy from his slumber. The prefect never claimed to be a morning person.
"Herbivore." The raven haired boy sighed in recognition, relaxing slightly as he looked back towards one startled brunet ghost, who had jumped back at the attack, despite knowing it wouldn't have hurt him.
"H-Hibari." The ghost's shaky voice greeted him back, and Hiabri wished he could fall back into sleep. It was far too early for this.
"You stayed the night again." It wasn't a question, but Hibari nodded regardless. He didn't see it as a problem, unlike one Sawada Tsunayoshi did.
"Was there something you needed?" The prefect asked, bypassing another conversation about his living habits.
"Ah," Tsuna perked up. "It's almost when you wake up anyway, but I thought I should tell you that some students are already here and they, uh," the ghost fidgeted, saying the next part in a rush. "They're vandalising some classroom on the second floor."
Tsuna watched as comprehension slowly dawned on Hibari's face – which was easy enough to read once you got to know him – before pure righteous fury overtook his features, and the prefect grabbed his tonfa, disregarding any thought of further conversation until after he put those vandals in the hospital.
Tsuna sighed, looking towards Hibird as he did so. The bird had been his constant companion when she wasn't with Hibari, and the ghost had taken to talking out loud to her.
"It's really getting worrisome, Hibird. I wonder if there's anything else we can do?"
Tsuna cocked his head to the side in thought, immediately dismissing any notion of making the prefect something to eat. After last time, and even when given another chance, Tsuna didn't want to push his luck. Eventually, and idea came to him, and the ghost boy perked up in excitement. It could work.
"Hey Hibird, I have a great idea."
– x –
Hibari stalked the corridors during lunchtime, his mouth twisted in a frown for having to deal with more crowding than usual. He was partially paranoid about his school, having caught some imbeciles trying to sully it at a time, they assumed, he would not be around. The other reason he was out and about, rather than within the solitary confines of his disciplinary office, was small, dead, and brunet.
Tsuna had taken to mothering him recently, and Hibari honestly didn't know how to react. His own mother had never done anything of the sort (the prefect shuddered at the mere thought), and nobody else in his life had dared try to command him in such a way. Plus, it was rare enough that someone actually cared. Kusekabe was one example, but even he never tried to get Hibari to do anything, instead trying to appeal to the prefect's desires to entice him into doing things – such as by producing his favourite snacks or reasons (and not excuses, Hibari would need no excuse for his actions) the prefect could use to take a break from work and have a nap. Because Kusekabe was the closest, thus far, that anyone had ever gotten to mothering him, Hibari was entirely unaware over the appropriate response.
Quite honestly, he simply itched to bite anything that annoyed him – or had him, in any sense of the word, confused – to death, and be done with it. Unfortunately, Tsuna was already dead, and so far Hibari had yet to find out a means to kill the dead. Not that he particularly wanted to be rid of the brunet. It was simply the principle of the thing.
However he couldn't bite the ghost to death, so for once in his life, Hibari Kyoya was lost as what to do. He tried being mad at the other boy's disastrous cooking attempts, but Hibari was fond of little animals, and right then, Tsuna looked like an injured animal he'd just kicked when it was already down. If Hibari was anything, he was not a person who kicked small animals (humans, definitely, he'd break their bones with a smile – but not little animals) and so getting mad was out. Teaching the little ghost to cook took up far more time than he had – especially considering that the brunet was cooking for him because the prefect was so busy anyway (and Hibari couldn't quite place the odd warm feeling he got whenever Tsuna tried to care for him; it was foreign and weird and he didn't know whether he loved or hated it. Sadly enough it also couldn't be bitten to death).
Alas, Hibari's inner conflict seemed to have no resolve, even as he came across what could only be the latest in one of Tsuna's schemes to take care of his health. Hibari blanked, staring at the light pink, heart shaped post-it note as if it had just reared up and attacked him. The words, 'don't forget to have a drink Hibari!' were scrawled upon the offending piece of paper, and Hibari was immensely relieved that it wasn't in glitter pen at least. Below the note was a small can of green tea (that Tsuna presumably had taken from the nearby vending machine), slightly dented, and also stuck to the wall with a mass of sellotape.
The first thing that crossed through the prefect's head was a resounding 'what'.
Then his brain kick-started into gear, and Hibari plucked the note from the wall and placed it in his pocket. Then, with a quick swipe of a small blade – something not many people would think he'd carry around, but it was turned out be very convenient in situations such as these – Hibari dislodged the drink, and took it down as well. No doubt his name on the note had scared off any potential poachers looking for a free drink, but the prefect wasn't going to risk leaving it there. For all he knew, someone might try to poison it instead. He really hoped that the heart shape of the paper was more out of necessity than preference – it wasn't as if Tsuna could go pick and buy them himself, so he must have nabbed them from somewhere. Hibari didn't exactly mind that Tsuna simply took things. After all, the ghost boy wasn't some petty thief, he had no need for anything of monetary value, and it wasn't often than he did so anyway. Hibari had likened it to a small animal foraging for things, and the image it had brought to mind had a smile quirked on his face.
That wasn't, by far, the last post-it note that Hibari came across in the following days. Small reminders to take care of himself, stay motivated or take a nap could be found along the corridors, stuck to walls, windows, notice boards and even once, the middle of the floor. It had been amusing to see the regular herbivores keep at least a metre's distance from the note while walking – as if afraid to anger the prefect by trampling it. Every once in a while a snack was left too – simple things like the tea, or a rice ball, which Hibari could enjoy. The prefect hadn't wanted any rumours to start about missing food – and given that he was the one eating it, he certainly didn't want to be accused of petty theft – so he'd taken to leaving some change on his desk, noticing in satisfaction that it was gone a while later with a note in its place.
What had been even more amusing were the rumours that did make it around. Speculation ran rampant among the students, wondering which suicidal girl – for they assumed it was a female with a crush on him, to which Hibari had made a sound suspiciously like a snort – would be so bold to confront the prefect in such a manner. Students had been even more shocked when, instead of ripping the notes down and burning then, before going on a rampage to find the offender, Hibari always gently plucked the notes and put them in his pocket. One student swore he'd seen Hibari smiling.
The result of this was that many of the rule breakers in the school had become scared – or paranoid at the very least – of the female population. The notes were everywhere, and whoever did it never got caught, so each student would never be able to tell if the perpetrator was hiding amongst the masses, watching their wrongdoings to report it – somehow – back to Hibari. They weren't far off the mark, although they should have been more wary of an invisible brunet ghost instead.
Hibari had watched it all develop with growing amusement, content to let things play out. Although Tsuna was busier scurrying around to place notes, the result was pleasing enough that the prefect didn't mind. The students were behaving better than before, although the paranoid mentality couldn't be good for their mental health – something that Hibari happily didn't care about. Plus, as Hibari watched the little ghost and his bird companion trying to sneak around – as if he didn't know who was the one placing the notes everywhere – with something akin to affection, he didn't quite want to ruin Tsuna's fun yet.