The little brat was fierce, Hikaru would give him that, and had probably been trained since the time he could toddle, but Hikaru hadn't spent the better part of six months being taught self-defense by an assassin that had been offered a place in the Vongola's Independent Assassination Squad- commonly referred to as the Varia- for show.
Of course, Hikaru was also a Sun Flame user, Inverted like his father but with more of a Soft Flame, which meant that he was incredibly empathetic through skin contact, if he directed his Flames to do so. So on a whim he did, and he was nearly overwhelmed as their blows connected, and Hikaru could feel the desperationpushpushpushneverenough- that broiled angrily under the child's skin.
In a startling moment of clarity that nearly cost him an injured rib, Hikaru realized that this kid had strength but no purpose. He was being pushed and prodded and was never good enough for whoever it was- his family, most likely- but for whatever reason he already knew that he'd never be who they wanted, so he'd given up while he was still fighting, it was a migraine inducing conundrum.
Still, as Hikaru gazed down at the form huddled in the corner of the hallway after the fight ended, teeth bared in warning, bruises forming where Hikaru had hit him a little harder than he'd intended, and a wounded look in his eyes, the older boy couldn't bring himself to simply walk away.
Walking a little closer and forcibly ignoring the stiffening of the boy's frame and the feral panic that was causing tears to form, Hikaru crouched down in front of the kid close enough to keep him from running, but far enough away to give him a little space, "Hey. I'm Nakamura Hikaru, it's nice to meet you."
The boy glared at Hikaru distrustfully, and it took several long, uncomfortable minutes during which Hikaru's legs began to go numb for the boy to uncoil enough to rub angrily at his eyes and deigned to respond, "Hibari Kyouya." He muttered.
Hikaru hummed lightly and sat back on his heels, "You're pretty good, Kyouya-kun."
"I didn't win!" the boy burst out suddenly, his previous composure all but shattered, "I didn't win and I'm the one that challenged you that means that I'm worthless, that I'm nothing-"
"Stop. Right. There." Hikaru's voice was unyielding, causing the boy to instantly comply, "Look, you called me a carnivore, right?"
The boy nodded hesitantly.
Hikaru winked cheekily at the younger boy, and reached out to ruffle Kyouya's hair, ignoring the kid's attempt at dodging, "Well, sometimes more experienced carnivores teach less experienced ones for a while, and even still others sometimes hunt together on occasion. Now, why was it so important that you fight me and win?"
"You've taken over the school and shown the herbivores their place, no one crowds you. I wanted to beat you so that I could take your place." Kyouya said matter-of-factly.
Hikaru took a minute to translate all of that, good thing that Dudley had gone through a whole 'I wanna be king of the jungle' phase, or he'd be completely lost. "So, you saw me putting the bullies in their places and you wanted to do that too?"
Kyouya blinked slowly, "Bullies?" he asked blandly.
Hikaru sighed and made himself more comfortable. This is going to take a while.
Hikaru leaned back in his desk chair and ran a critical eye over his cumulative essay for his reiki classes.
'The reiki mainspring is the place wherein the energies of the physical and the mental meet and are transformed into spiritual energy, which is referred to as reiki. The mainspring does not have an actual physical location, but when utilizing meditation a person will usually choose a personally significant area of their body to direct their flow of reiki towards to enhance the benefits that meditation can provide.
One of the most basic exercises taught to children is the active circulation of reiki throughout the body, this action becomes so ingrained that by the time we reach middle school it had become instinctive to perform at least twice a day- once in the morning and once at night, usually before bed, to assist in soothing any imbalances we might have incurred throughout the day.
It is important for one to keep their reiki balanced by engaging in both physical and mental pursuits, as unbalanced reiki can become sluggish and lethargic, eventually acting in a manner not unlike a slow-acting poison if left unchecked.
This is not to say that every person who is able to utilize reiki is a star athlete or a genius.
Two examples of physical pursuits would be an occasional walk while actively circulating one's reiki throughout the body or the arranging of a Moribana Upright Style Ikebana and circulating one's reiki while preparing the arrangement.
Two examples of mental pursuits would be playing a game of shôgi while actively circulating one's reiki throughout the body or reading a book slightly above one's grade level while circulating one's reiki throughout the body.
The reiki mainspring is depleted throughout the day by a person's body and mind becoming taxed and tired, so proper resting habits are essential to maintaining balance to one's inner energies, as are healthy eating habits, and general hygiene.
At the age of fifteen in Japan, a person may choose to bond with a conduit, usually these are family heirlooms such as swords or fans or the like.
In the West, wands are the most common form of conduit, and some Japanese choose to use them, but most Warding and Enchanting are done with items passed down through family lines or made by the person themselves under the instruction from a Shrine Master. Wands are generally only useful for spell casting, and most Japanese have a preference for technology, so while wands exist in Japan, they are not tracked or traced and are generally thought of in the same, bemused manner as enthusiastic tourists.
It should be noted, that the 'Unforgivable Three': the Avada Kedavra Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperious Curse, carry an instant death sentence, as the emotions required to cast those curses are so foul, and the reiki so shattered and unbalanced, that the Asiatic Ministries have Zero Tolerance for them. These curses can only be cast with a wand, and any person who enters the Asiatic Ministerial Authority with a wand signs a binding Magical Vow to this effect, which follows both the wand and the owner.
In conclusion, daily circulation of reiki throughout the body is important, and the balance of one's reiki is paramount, this includes taking care of your body's basic needs. Conduits are allowed and sometimes necessary, but should not be used as crutches. Lastly, the Unforgivable Curses should never be thought of if you wish to remain among the living as they are twisted, foul things that should be forever stricken from the pages of history and have no redeeming qualities.
Hikaru sighed and rolled his shoulders, deciding that the report was as good as it was going to get, mentally rather thankful that his handwriting had finally improved so his father had stopped making him rewrite every other assignment. It didn't matter that Hikaru had already handed some of them in by the time Reborn got around to reading the scanned copies that Hikaru sent him, those assignments he had to translate and write in French or Italian and rewrite.
Jerk. The nine-year-old thought fondly as he tidied up his desk, glancing at the clock quickly and mentally calculating how long he had before-
"I'm here for the Experienced Carnivore." Came a young voice from downstairs, and Hikaru didn't know whether to laugh or bang his head on a wall.
Since that day in November, Kyouya had stuck to him like glue, although their relationship was a strange one.
For one, Hikaru was forever 'Experienced Carnivore' despite his best efforts at getting the little brat to use his name. For another, Kyouya had a tendency to classify everyone as 'Carnivores' with a capital letter or 'herbivores', no capital letter needed. Hikaru had managed to get the boy to add a third category of 'Small Animal', after many, many, many hours of patient, painstaking explanation about how it was the Carnivores jobs to make sure that the Small Animals flourished by punishing the herbivores.
So, now the rule-breakers were referred to as herbivores. Kyouya now referred to everyone else as a Small Animal as long as they kept their heads down and followed the rules of the school and Hikaru, (because Kyouya acknowledged Hikaru and therefore allowed Hikaru to make the rules).
It wasn't the most well-adjust worldview, but it was a hell of a lot better than it had been a month and a half ago.
Hikaru had found out that Kyouya lived in a really big mansion in a rather secluded area of Namimori, but he didn't really think that Kyouya was all that close with his family. Whether it was a cultural difference or there was something strange going on in the Hibari household, he didn't know, but Hikaru was determined to do what he could for Kyouya.
Hikaru swept into the shop's backroom just as Kyouya's hated for crowds was about to reach its limit, said a quick goodbye to an amused Hinata-san and an equally amused Asuka-obaa-san, and got them both out of the shop.
The two boys had taken to learning parkour on top of everything else, because Hikaru had learned that Kyouya's hatred of crowds was a very real, very potent thing.
They were still falling and misjudging distances a lot, but Hikaru privately thought that the amount of times that they had to catch and help each other was doing more good for Kyouya than any words that he could come up with, so he simply kept pushing forward.
Christmas was celebrated in Japan; it just wasn't the huge deal that it was back in England.
Still, Hikaru hadn't expected Kyouya to shut down just because he'd gotten him a Christmas present.
"Look, Kyou-kun, it's fine. It's just a little thing, I grew up in England, remember? I didn't expect anything from you; I got you something because I wanted to, because Christmas is a thing to me. You're my first friend you know? The first person my age I've ever gotten a present for! Sheesh, brat, say something, will you?"
Kyouya was still staring transfixed at the brightly wrapped box in his small hands as if he wasn't sure if he was supposed to smash or if it would bite him.
It would be an entirely amusing expression for Hikaru to witness on the normally unflappable Hibari Kyouya if it was so incredibly sad.
"But." Kyouya's brows drew together in consternation, "I didn't do anything."
Hikaru smiled and he ran one of his hands through Kyouya's soft hair, "You go running with me, don't you? You help catch me when I don't quite make the jumps between roofs, and you help me patrol, you do lots of stuff for me, Kyou-kun!"
Kyouya looked up and Hikaru's heart ached to see the absolutely lost look in his friend's steel-grey eyes, "Those are all duties, you don't get present for doing your duties. They're expected of you."
Hikaru knelt down to be eye level with Kyouya, who was still in the latter stages of baby height, and looked the other directly in the eye, absently slipping his glasses up so that his eye were entirely unobstructed. "Kyouya-kun, they might be duties, they might be important, and they might be expected, but that doesn't make the fact that you do them with me any less appreciated. At any rate, those reasons are not why I got you something. I got you a present because I, personally, celebrate Christmas, and I wanted you, my friend, to know that you're important to me, alright?"
Kyouya sort of mechanically nodded and stiffly made his way towards the door, which didn't surprise Hikaru, even though it was technically quite rude.
Hikaru also wasn't particularly surprised to be woken up at five in the morning by a tap on his window, or by the subsequent demand that Hikaru stop lazing about and come running with Kyouya.
Hikaru never mentioned the fact that Kyouya was wearing Hikaru's Christmas present and Kyouya never brought it up.
January brought a new term, and between trying to make Kyouya see the world in somewhat human terms, and all of his other duties the months sped past. So, before he really had time to think about it, the end of term was upon them and with it exam season. When it was all said and done he and Kyouya had managed to be in the top five percent of their respective classes, and Kyouya had actually relaxed a little.
Not a lot, but a little.
Progress.
However, word about Nakamura Hikaru and his faithful shadow had spread and there were more than a few recently graduated bullies who wanted some payback, something that their new middle school associate were more than happy to assist with.
It really is a shame that they went for Kyouya, because if they had gone for Hikaru directly, things would have turned out much differently.
Hikaru would have gone much easier on them, if they hadn't targeted his friend.
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