Chapter 10

The Miseries of Mathematics

Disclaimer : I do not own KHR

Hibari glanced up as Kusakabe entered the room. Giving a curt nod in acknowledgement to the latter's bow, he waited for his Vice-Head to make his way towards him - a rather difficult feat considering the huge stack of files in his arms. As Kusakabe gently placed his burden on the table, Hibari eyed his work load wearily. Judging by its amount, he doubted he would have the luxury of retiring for the night. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he stretched his arms out to aid in the circulation of blood to his limbs. Though deskwork was not for him, ever since he had claimed the position as the Head of the Disciplinary Committee, Hibari had taken it upon himself to look through each and every student's progress card. He would not allow those herbivores to lower the academic standards of Namimori.

Reaching for the first file, he paused as his eyes darted to the set of files from the "Year 2s". However, the moment of curiosity quickly passed, replaced with irritation as Hibari clenched his fist. It had been nearly half a year since the baby had made his request and though Hibari was not a man for regrets, his decision had made him feel something akin to that emotion. That herbivore was too much of an annoyance, too much of an enigma. Her very existence was a bother. He had never realised just how many objects came in the same shade of gold as the herbivore's tresses until he found himself with the inability to concentrate due to said objects. Needless to say, those objects had promptly met their tragic end under the metallic end of his tonfas. Yet, the real cause of his problem could not be uprooted as easily as such. The skylark shook his head, glaring spitefully at nothing in particular. He must be exhausted. It was the only plausible reason why he would be dwelling on "hebivore" issues like these. Glancing at the amount of work he still had to do, Hibari sighed. If he wanted to complete his work by tonight, he would have to begin now.

After a couple of hours and a growing list of herbivores he needed to "encourage", Hibari had finally came to the one file he resented. The prefect growled in displeasure for no apparent reason. He briefly considered skipping her file altogether just to avoid learning more about the herbivore. He had gradually begun to realise that his intrigue towards the herbivore was like a bottomless pit. No, it was worse than that... The more he learnt about the herbivore, the more intrigued he was by her. It irritated him to no end, though he classified his interest as nothing different from the interest that he felt towards Tsunayoshi. To him, both were the same, a simple longing to uncover their true potential and then bite them to death.

Frowning, he flipped the file open. Hibari Kyouya did not back off from such silly methods. Cowardice would not be tolerated. Swiftly scanning through the contents, he paused as his gaze landed on her math score. Raising an eyebrow, he turned the paper over to read the comments of her various subject teachers, a childish voice mockingly whispering " IQ : 160". Hibari frowned, considering the possibilities of the baby lying to him. The baby was cunning, no doubt, but Hibari doubted he would say such an outright lie. He was more of the type to let his victim form their own conclusions and then twist his words for his own motives.

Fixing attention on the paper in his hand, he glanced through the review. Mochida? Immediately, he froze, reading the comment by the Sensei. Closing his eyes, he mentally rummaged through the data of the students of Namimori stored in his brain. He remembered this Mochida. He had been the one who had actually lost to Tsunayoshi in a kendo match, despite having rigged it. Hibari scoffed. What was Sensei thinking, sending someone like him to coach that herbivore? While it was true that Mochida was good at mathematics, the same could not be said about the rest of his subjects. Frowning, Hibari glanced at the pile of files before looking back at the paper in his hands. It only took mere seconds for him to come to his decision. He needed to talk to a certain Sensei.

Yuu slowly headed towards the classroom, feeling more than a tad apprehensive. Sensei had not been his usual stoic self. Instead, he seemed terribly frightened as he stammered and stuttered out a string of unintelligent words before leaving with a brisk walk that bordered on the edge of running. Yuu frowned, biting her bottom lip as she neared the door. It was obvious something was wrong. Apart from Sensei's strange behaviour the classroom was also right beside the prefecture room. While it was a generalisation to state that everyone in the school feared the notorious prefect that dwelled in said room, Yuu doubted anyone would possibly venture into this danger zone on their own well. This classroom was abandoned for a reason after all.

Inhaling deeply, Yuu closed her eyes, clearing her mind of such thoughts. Her utmost priority was to get her mathematics grade up. Sensei had warned her that should her mathematics grades continue to drop as such she would be forced to quit gymnastics. With a "click" that sounded deafening in the silent hallways, Yuu opened the door and peeked in. In an instant, her eyes widened in shock as she stared dumbly at the male in front of her. Hibari, in all his glory, was calmly sited at the teacher's table, as though oblivious to the girl entering (although Yuu was much too aware that he did).

It was only when Yuu failed to move for a minute or two that he tilted his face up, fixing his cool gaze on her. Noticing his stare, Yuu bowed deeply, muttering an apology as she began shuffling out of the room. She must have misinterpreted Sensei's words wrongly. There was no way Sensei could have gotten Hibari to agree to tutor her. Only one person could make Hibari actually listen to what he said (though agreeing was another matter). Yet, judging from the absence of the gleam of mischief in his beady black eyes when he had greeted her this morning, Yuu did not believe Reborn had any part in the matter. Hence, with that reasoning in mind, the only conclusion that she could draw was that it had been a mistake on her part in failing to accurately comprehend Sensei's words. However, before she could leave, the grating sound of the metal legs of a chair against the tiled floor could be heard. Yuu wheeled around just in time to avoid a tonfa that sliced through the air.

"Hibari-sensei, I'm really sorry for -"

"For contributing to Namimori's low academic score, I'll bite you to death."

With that the prefect lunged as Yuu jumped to the side, a tonfa grazing the skin on her arm. Throwing a quick glance to the door, she realised the reason why Hibari had given her ample time to react before he had made his first move. His warning had given her time to avoid his tonfa by throwing her body away from the only source of escape, allowing him to seal her in. Casting a desperate look around the room, she quickly shifted her posture to prevent Hibari from noticing the injuries she had suffered from this morning's training. While getting constantly beaten up had somehow trained her body to heal amazingly fast, it had been less than eight hours since her sparring lesson and she was till very much aware of her injuries.

As her eyes landed on the table, she suddenly realised that Hibari had been looking at a Year 2 mathematics book. Swinging her gaze to Hibari, she gaped in horror, failing to notice the tiny smirk on his face as he watched her expression. Then, the prefect stood up straight from his offensive stance and stretched languidly, paying no heed to the female, much to her annoyance. His tonfas disappeared from somewhere in his jacket and he headed to the teacher's desk. Picking up a marker, he began writing a complex equation on the board. Yuu watched him warily the whole time, flinching when he motioned for her to attempt the question. Grabbing the needed materials from her bag, Yuu quickly copied the equation. She did not miss the look in his eyes that promised anguish should she fail to complete the task set for her.

Yet, after staring blankly for some time at the equation, her brain came up with naught. Nervously biting her bottom lip, she wrote down random information that she could process from the question in vain hopes that they would aid her in "seeing the light".

"Herbivore."

Startled, Yuu cast a guilty look at Hibari as he snatched the paper from her desk. The girl watched timorously as his brows furrowed, his jaw tightening in obvious irritation. At once, his tonfas made themselves known, narrowly missing the top of her head as he aimed a half-hearted swipe at her. Turning, he moved towards the board. As though sensing that his student's mind was still in the midst of figuring out his next attack, he aimed a well-practised glare at the girl.

"If you fail to understand this concept when I'm done, I'll bite you to death."

Wow... Yuu could feel a smile of accomplishment emerging though she fought to wipe it off her face, not wishing to anger the man in front of her. For the first time in her short life, she had finally understood this subject. Writing the answer down, she looked for the prefect, her joy causing her to lose her fear of Hibari. She almost wanted to hug him in gratitude for allowing her to finally understand mathematics. Almost, if not for her self-preservation senses that reminded her of the two tonfas he kept somewhere in his jacket.

It was only then that she realised that he had fallen asleep; his upper half sprawled out on the desk, his papers beside him. Yuu sighed, glancing at the clock. It was her fault he had to stay back so late and she could not help feeling bad at the thought of inconveniencing him. He was probably already very busy with his duties as Head of the disciplinary committee as can be seen by the stack of paperwork he had to do beside him and here she was causing him trouble. Yuu shook her head. Putting her things back in her bag, she glanced at the prefect one more time as an idea began to germinate. If... if she could help him lessen his burden, maybe just a little...

Yuu frowned, quietly placing her bag on the floor once more. She would probably get horribly punished for this but for now, she just wanted to return his favour. Silently moving towards the table, Yuu picked the stack of paper up. In a flash, she was back at her desk, letting out a shaky breath as she assured herself that the prefect was still in his peaceful slumber. Reading through the papers, she stifled a yawn. She had better hurry before the prefect woke up.

Hibari stared at the herbivore through semi-lidded eyes as she moved back to her desk. She was a fool if she thought he was still asleep after she had taken the papers from his table. If it had been anyone else, he would have probably promptly snapped their necks. Yet, he was curious as to what the herbivore was planning to do. She had always been strange, one of those few who were quite unpredictable though her actions were still completely herbivore-like. Now, the herbivore was writing down stuff on her paper. She had let her guard down too easily, he mused. Hiding a frown, his stares changed into glares as the thought of her copying his paperwork for whatever reason surfaced. Letting his face melt into a scowl, he straightened, noting with relish as the herbivore jerked her head towards him, her fear clearly visible.

"Herbivore. Hand me the paper…"

Hibari watched as the herbivore nodded. Snatching the paper from her fingers, his eyes swiftly scanned through its contents - a summary of the paper work.

"These are confidential materials. Does who threaten the security of Namimori will be bitten -"

"Huh?"

Hibari frowned. Was she trying to act clueless? Tightening his grip on his tonfas, he growled. He was going to bite -

"I was only trying to help, Hibari-sensei."

Help? Hibari's eyes flashed, his irritation surging. He did not need help. Especially not from a herbivore. Aiming a glare at the herbivore, he tore the paper into two, taking care to throw it into the trashcan.

"I don't need your help."

With that, Hibari turned to head out of the door when a voice made him pause.

" You're angry.."

Hibari glared at the door, silently fuming. Was that girl mentally challenged?

" I'm sorry. I was only trying to lessen your bur ... I wasn't just helping you by doing that."

Hibari raised his eyebrow. A part of him briefly thought of walking out and leaving the herbivore to her ranting. Yet, he was curious to hear the rest of her reasoning. He wanted to see how far she could carry that lie of hers.

"I was feeling bad, that was all. I only did that to make myself feel better."

The prefect's eyes flashed. Was she trying to use reverse pyschology on him?

"I didn't want to owe you any favours."

With that, Hibari froze. He knew what she was doing. She had intended to make him empathise with her. Yet, what had made him pause was the fact that he could empathise. That thought made him stop. Silence filled the air for a moment. Then, Hibari frowned. He knew what was wrong. He needed to end this, whatever it was, now.

Reborn regarded the male thoughtfully. He had not expected this. From his sources, the two had been getting closer, very much like he hoped for. He had known that given Hibari's personality, the cloud guardian would have attempted to distance himself. Yet, it was unexpected that he had suddenly chosen to back out of their agreement. To Hibari's pride, backing out was a sign of cowardice. For him to resort to something like that, meant that there had been something he was unaware of that had happened between the two.

"I did not come here to persuade you. I was informing you."

The acrobaleno frowned, watching Hibari leave. He thought of stopping him but decided against it. For now, he needed to find the reason behind Hibari's reason.

Firstly, to avoid confusion, Yuu does have an IQ of 160. I apologise for the uncertainty it might have evoked. There are nine different types of intelligence and Yuu is just not a logical-mathematics type. Secondly, I have a few questions to ask. 1. Should Hibari and Yuu have a relationship in the past (meaning that they were friends when young)? 2. What should Hibari wear out (other than his school uniform for reasons that will be revealed to you later) ? I hope those who are reading my story will answer so that I will be able to churn out a story to your liking. If there are any differences in the replies, I will be going by a majority to decided which should be placed in my story :)

I apologise for any grammatical or spelling errors. I really appreciate MikaUchiha666, Gwenny-Dear and Chocolate Ribbons for commenting. Please comment and review.