In truth, Takeshi only finds out about Kyouya the day he wakes up, and only because the baseballer overhears two Disciplinary Committee commenting on it in hushed whispers around the corner from Takeshi. The baseballer wasn't spying on them, honest, but even if he was it would be understandable since he's been trying to find Kyouya for three days.
It's a bit of a scramble to get Ryohei and hurry to the hospital before closing time but they make it, the boxer bringing along Kyoko because the siblings were out trying cakes at the time Takeshi ran up to them. They head to the front desk and immediately get chased away by a stern nurse, the man muttering about nosy kids.
The three of them cluster near the corner of the waiting room, half hidden behind a rack of 'Get Well Soon' cards in front of the gift shop. They're half way through discussing the pros of kidnapping a DC and getting them to say which room Kyouya is in when a man walks by and heads for the small café. He has silver eyes, a predator's grace and very familiar features.
"Sir!" Takeshi cries, hurrying after the man. "Sir, are you Kyouya's new guardian?"
The man freezes and turns slowly, an odd expression on his face. Something like bemusement and wonder. "I… yes, I am Kyouya's guardian. May I help you?"
Ryohei and Kyoko slide up behind Takeshi and the three grin sweetly up at the adult. Fon reads their names and levels, in black instead of Fon's red since the teenagers haven't unlocked their flames. Their levels are higher than the usual teenager but they live in Namimori so he's hesitant to link them to organised crime.
"We're Kyouya's friends," Ryohei proclaims happily.
"Well, not exactly," Takeshi laughs. "He's never said that, he just calls us herbivores, but that's his way of showing affection!"
"Like when he hits us," Ryohei chimes in. "Or makes that sarcastic 'wao' sound when he's being mocking."
"That's sarcastic?" Takeshi blurts out in shock and disappointment, turning to Ryohei. "But he does that every time I get a judo throw correct."
"He's teaching you?" Fon asks. He knows they're fighters of course, that's easy to spot, but he didn't think they were close to Kyouya since they don't have the DC red armband. It explains the higher than average levels though, and he wonders if the map will show them as participating in the Hunt. "Well, I could bring you up to his room if you wanted."
"Yes please," Kyoko says. "My brother has been worried about Hibari-san."
Fon collects two cups of tea from the café and even buys the three of them soft drinks before they all make their way up to Kyouya's room. Fon steps in first and moves over to give the patient one of the styrofoam cups. No one else is in the room since Tetsuya went back to Namimori middle to keep the peace.
Kyouya catches sight of them and rolls his eyes.
"Kyo-chan!" Takeshi greets cheerfully and trots up to the bedside, flopping over the Chairman in a hug. Takeshi gets hot tea splashed in his face.
When Kyouya gets out of hospital his Disciplinary Committee are unbearably annoying. They hover like fretful herbivores and constantly ask if he's feeling okay. Within the first three hours of his release from hospital, no less than thirteen of them have walked up to Kyouya and pressed their foreheads against his to check for fever.
Kyouya finally tells them to back off via liberal use of blunt force trauma when one of them actually picks him up and carries him up a set of stairs. The pompadours settle down then but they still revolve around him, not enough to be noisy and just out of crowding range, but obvious enough that Kyouya knows he only has to call for them if he wants anything.
Even the boxer's sister takes great joy in collaborating with the pompadours and presenting Kyouya with food. It's delicious but Kyouya is perfectly capable of making his own lunch, so it's not at all necessary, just like Fon's hovering - although the man thankfully leaves soon, having filled up his monthly quota of parental duty.
The worrying is completely ridiculous because Kyouya is not a delicate being and he wasn't even injured, just put to sleep.
Kyouya needs a distraction.
Kensuke is walking down an empty hallway of Namimori middle, heading back to class after handing a stack of papers to the staff room. If this was a movie, the sky would be dark with stormy weather and the music would be building to a crescendo.
Unfortunately for Kensuke his life is not a movie. The weather is warm and slightly cloudy, the halls silent except for his footsteps and the faint murmurs of teachers when he passes the many classrooms still in session.
This means Kensuke has no warning at all when he turns the corner and finds Kyouya standing not two meters away from him. The kendo captain startles violently enough to make himself stumble backwards but he stops before instincts make him raise his hands in defence like Kyouya would just lunge for his carotid artery.
"I didn't tell anyone about you!" Kensuke blurts out.
Kyouya steps closer and tilts his head to the side as if a new angle would tell him more.
"I mean… I'm glad you're okay now?" Kensuke sounds out slowly.
"Mochida Kensuke," Kyouya says, rolling the name around his tongue. "Kendo captain, made it to nationals for Japan three times, repeated detentions, heavy contact with the Disciplinary Committee, one major incident away from expulsion. Troublemaker."
Kensuke tenses at the tone on the last one and takes an involuntary step back. Kyouya follows and soon enough the Chairman has him cornered against the wall.
"Why would you go out of your way to call for help?" Kyouya asks.
Kensuke straightens and sets his feet in preparation for a fight. "I go to the gym every morning. If I didn't get you to someone, the DC would have known."
Kyouya narrows his eyes. "I hear lies, herbivore. Would you like to try again?"
"What do you want to hear?" Kensuke snaps. "That I was worried about you?" he scoffs as if the very notion is ridiculous. "That I moved before I thought about it?"
"That's very kind of you," Kyouya hums. "But what I wanted to hear was that you did it for a reward."
Kensuke blinks.
"You've never quite made it to the winners circle, have you?" Kyouya murmurs. "You're good but not good enough, and so you cheat and lie and you're so close to just giving up, aren't you?"
Kensuke grits his teeth and shoves Kyouya away from him. "What do you want, Hibari?"
Kyouya rocks back with the shove and then pitches forward, slamming Kensuke back into the wall hard enough that the herbivore gasps in pain and the wall trembles. Kyouya makes a mental note to get it fixed, not seeing the cracks but very certain they're present.
"Let's make a bet," Kyouya offers with all the force of a command, his fingers digging into Kensuke's shoulders. "I get you first place in nationals and you train my herbivores."
Kensuke lets his head fall back against the wall and laughs without any true amusement. "What, are you going to threaten the judges?"
Kyouya pulls back and steps away. "I don't resort to cheating like you, herbivore. You'll win with the rules or you'll die trying."
"This isn't a simple matter," Kensuke sneers. "My opponents are the best in the nation, not a bunch of street punks like your prey."
Kyouya huffs out a laugh. "Herbivore, I've won the world championships for tonfa six years in a row. I think I can deal with nationals even if I have someone like you as a conduit."
Kensuke narrows his eyes but he can easily see Kyouya competing just so the Chairman can fight people. "Why do you need me to train someone? I've had tutors, why don't you just find one of them?"
"Adults tend to… cause more disturbances than a peer of the same age group," Kyouya explains. "As for why; there are a few people I have who show promise in swordsmanship, but that is not an area of expertise that I can claim," Kyouya admits. "Yet."
"Say it isn't so," Kensuke drawls in sarcastic shock. "So what do I get when you fail?"
Kyouya just raises and eyebrow.
"Deal," Kensuke eventually grits out.
.
A/N: I'm planning as I go so Mochida kind of crept in somehow and I don't know where I'm going with this.
That's a lie, I'm not planning at all.
Do you guys even like Mochida? If you do I can include him but if you'd rather not I can push this facet to the background.