When Kyouya came home from school the next day, he was walking down the hallway in order to retire to his bedroom when he heard voices that shouldn't be here floating through the open door of Mukuro and Fran's bedroom. Narrowing his eyes, he stopped and turned back around so that he could stand in the doorway and glare at the unwelcome guests who were making his home more crowded than it already was.

"What are you three doing here?" Glaring at Tsunayoshi and his band of herbivores, Kyouya was about ready to walk in there and drag the younger three out himself - he stopped only as he noticed Fran curled up on the dark-haired teenager known as Takeshi, the boy's face damp with tears. "Leave. There are enough herbivores crowding my home without you lot adding to it."

"Hibari-san…" Though Tsuna was usually a push-over and greatly feared the skylark, for whatever reason, the brunet had put this behind him for this moment; now, he seemed adamant in staying where he was. "Hibari-san, I would leave if this were any other occasion, but right now I'm here for my friends; they're having a hard time and I want them to be okay. I'm sorry if we're crowding, but we were all going to leave soon to go and see a movie anyway."

"A movie?" Kyouya didn't quite understand this; why pay money to see a movie when you could stay home and watch one for free? "Why?"

"Because it's a nice thing to do with your friends every now and then." Tsuna offered a shy smile, his actions fitting his personality once more. "You can come with us if you want; we don't mind."

"…" Glancing over to Mukuro who was sitting so quietly, Kyouya sighed. He looked back to the brunet, his dark eyes staring intensely into brown ones. "You will let me organise seating. When does it start?"

"In an hour-and-a-half."

The skylark nodded. "Then I will meet you there." With that said, he left the room and continued on to his own, not entirely sure of why he had agreed; wouldn't it be so much easier to just stay home and do what he needed to?

Sighing, Kyouya closed his eyes as he ever-so-gently closed his door behind him; it wouldn't do to have any herbivores inviting themselves into his own space.

~~XX~~

"What is this movie about?" Kyouya was quiet as Tsuna and his group approached him, the Prefect having been standing away from everyone at the back of the cinema. He took his ticket from Mukuro, glad that he had been able to convince the cinema staff to sell out of the surrounding rows so that there was no one nearby them during the showing.

"It's meant to be an action movie," Mukuro explained, holding Fran's hand in his. "Fran had wanted to see it with Belphegor, but… So we decided to take him instead."

Kyouya crinkled his nose at the information, not entirely sure of whether or not he wanted to see an action movie – but then again, it could have been worse; it could have been a romance he had agreed to see.

Changing the subject, the skylark instead said, "The blond herbivore has issues."

"He is a good friend once you get to know him," Mukuro defended, feeling Fran squeeze his hand in distress. "He is one of the most loyal people I know; he just does not like strangers or people he does not know well."

"Yeah, he's pretty good with us," Tsuna agreed. "He's distant, but he has our backs if we need him."

"I still do not like him." Turning around, Kyouya left the group behind, going to their seats. He knew the younger ones were following him, but he didn't look back; they could look after themselves.

While the group talked amongst themselves as they waited for the showing to start, Kyouya never said a word; he simply sat where he was with his arms folded against his chest, looking at his lap; he was uncomfortable with where he was, but he didn't want to back out now and make himself look weak – not when there were so many people around to see him.

"Ne, Kyouya-senpai…?"

Kyouya looked down at the whisper next to him, finding Fran holding out a bucket of popcorn. The younger was avoiding eye contact as he looked to the side, his hands trembling as he waited for the other to take some popcorn.

The Prefect shook his head before he turned back to glaring at his lap, seeing the younger boy curl in on himself with a pained look on his face. Dark eyes glanced away at this, knowing he was the reason Fran was upset; the smaller student must have forced himself out of his comfort zone, and Kyouya's rejection only told him that he may as well have kept to himself.

With a sigh, the older male reached out and took a single kernel, really not hungry but knowing he didn't want to be the reason Fran found himself sad with everything that had already happened – why this was, even he wasn't sure.

Fran sent the teenager an appreciative look before he leant across his seat, resting heavily against Mukuro. As if he were so used to it he didn't even notice the weight, the blue-haired male continued talking to his friends, a more peaceful expression on his face than Kyouya had ever remembered seeing on it before.

"Hibari, you should come and do things with us more often." Takeshi sent the older male one of his charming smiles before he turned to Tsuna, adding on, "Shouldn't he, Tsuna?"

The brunet nodded, his own smile on his face as he looked to his silver-haired companion. Kyouya could see that whatever they were talking about was greatly intriguing to them all, and for the slightest of seconds, he wondered what it would be like to be included in such topics.

Deciding it wasn't worth the hassle today as he had already gone far from his comfort zone, Kyouya instead turned to look at the screen now that the previews had started.

It wasn't often that Kyouya watched TV as he had always preferred a good book, but for whatever reason, he found it wasn't bad to sit here and listen to what the younger males had to whisper to each other at random intervals; it instead gave him a sense of belonging that he had never felt before when he was included in on their jokes and opinions.

Though Kyouya would refuse to make this a habit, he wouldn't be against doing this again sometime in the far future.

~~XX~~

"We will be going to the hospital now." Mukuro spoke in a tone softer than usual as he addressed his group of friends, Fran's hand held firmly in his. He tried to disguise his flinch when Tsuna approached him, but Kyouya saw through it; so Mukuro didn't like touch because he was afraid of people?

Hesitantly returning the embrace the brunet gave him, Mukuro then stepped back, clearing his throat. "We will see you another time, Tsunayoshi."

Fran seemed much more open to his friends giving him hugs as he was the one who initiated the contact with Tsuna and Takeshi, telling Kyouya that the teal-haired boy was also reluctant on whom he would allow to touch him so freely; he must trust the older students tremendously as the skylark couldn't imagine he would want anyone touching him if he had been in the kind of 'care' the smaller male had when he was younger.

"Ah, Hibari-san." Tsuna smiled at the Prefect, stepping closer to his two friends. "We were going to have lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"…" Knowing that a cup of tea did indeed sound nice right now, Kyouya wasn't sure he wanted to be crowded just to have one; cafes were always busy, and busy was what he hated – he may as well go back to his home and have one in the serenity of his bedroom.

But… If those herbivores knew of a quieter place…

"Crowd me, and I will bite you to death…" With that said, Kyouya allowed himself to follow behind the younger three, just wanting his cup of tea already.

~~XX~~

When at last Kyouya returned to his home, it was to find Fon sitting on the couch with a book open in his lap, no sign of anyone else in the house. "Where is your girlfriend?"

"She went to check on Squalo." Fon offered a smile to his nephew, closing his book tenderly before placing it on the coffee table. "You went out with Fran and Mukuro, didn't you?"

The younger nodded as he shrugged his black jacket from his shoulders. He folded it into a neat square as he said, "With those other herbivores, too."

"I'm really happy." Fon was honest as he spoke, threading his fingers through his soft hair. "I bet they enjoyed your company."

Kyouya nodded again, making no effort to move from where he was standing. "It felt... weird, to be around so many people."

"But it's nice, isn't it? Being around other people is the best thing to be doing."

"...I will not do it again so soon; I value my alone time, uncle." With that said, Kyouya started heading towards his own room. "They are lucky I stayed with them for as long as I did, and they had better appreciate that."

"I know they will," Fon promised. "They're better friends than you are giving them credit for."

"..." Ducking his head, Kyouya left, not wanting to admit that maybe... just maybe... he had seen a whole other side to the group he had had it out for the most at Namimori Middle.

~~XX~~

That night, Kyouya had gone to bed early after dealing with his homework. While he knew that Mukuro wasn't going to be home tonight as he had said earlier he was going to spend the night at Tsuna's home, he wasn't sure if Fran was going with him or not - it made sense to assume the youngest would as he and Mukuro were near-inseparable, but still; Fran was warier of people than Mukuro was.

Just about on the verge of sleep, Kyouya's eyes snapped open as he heard someone open his door. He sat up, ready to get into whoever had dared disturb his rest, only to remain silent as he found Fran standing in the threshold, trembling as he fumbled with his hands.

"Can I sleep with you tonight...?" Fran looked to his feet, almost as if he didn't want to hear the answer. "Master isn't home, and nee-san is still with Squalo..."

Staring at the smaller male in silence, Kyouya relaxed after a few seconds before he pointed to the ground, his eyes closing in resignation. "You may sleep on the floor. Do not disturb me or I will bite you to death."

Fran nodded, returning to the room he shared with Mukuro so that he could get his pillows and blanket. He curled up close to Kyouya's bed, soothed by the other's presence, knowing that he was going to have to start trusting the skylark more if they were to live together.

Kyouya, likewise, was agitated when, hours later, he was awoken once more by the boy's whimpers and sobs as nightmares plagued him, but he let it go for now; Fran hadn't done it on purpose, and he had been through enough as it was.

Closing his eyes again, the Prefect allowed himself to fall back asleep, knowing that for now, he could deal with their new living arrangements; they just had to get used to each other and learn to co-exist, as much as he didn't want to.

Kyouya had always been a realist; sometimes he just didn't like the things he had no choice but to accept.