Timeline: Before canon. Kyoya and Kurama are 5/6.
"A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep."
~Vernon Howard
His mother had told him that there were only two types of people in the world. Those that were strong and those that were weak. She told him that there was no in-between. A carnivore will always be a carnivore and a herbivore will always be a herbivore. The Hibari were strong and everyone else was weak. They were carnivores. Everyone else were herbivores.
That was the truth he lived by.
He was strong.
He was a carnivore surrounded by weak herbivores.
He cast a glare at the foolhardy herbivore who tried to get close to him. The other child scrambled away with wide eyes. He felt nothing for the child. His mother had told him not to concern himself with weaklings. He turned back to the window staring blankly at the trees. The class would start soon, yet all the herbivores were not in their proper places. Some were still clutching at their mother's skirts, while others ran around the room screaming and laughing.
His eye twitched.
But he didn't move.
His mother told him to that irritation was beneath him. She said to simply ignore the weaklings and concentrate on his studies.
Hibari's were strong and also smart.
He was expected to make perfect grades.
He was expected to show how much better Hibari's were in comparison to the weak herbivores.
A flash of red hair obscured his view of the trees outside as another herbivore sat in the seat to his left, right by the window. He frowned, eyeing the bright red locks. Brightly dyed hair was against the rules. His eye twitched. The herbivore turned slightly to meet his glare with vivid green eyes.
Perhaps not dyed then.
Perhaps just a foreign herbivore.
The herbivore looked at him silently for a moment, before smirking and turning away. Kyoya's hands twitched, but the teacher call the class to attention and he was forced to let the offense slide for the time being.
He turned his gaze to the teacher. He would crush this herbivore for daring to dismiss him as though he wasn't a Hibari, a carnivore. His mother said to ignore the weaklings, but his father said to crush anyone who dared insult him. Show his strength so that they would never look down on him again.
That was the Hibari way.
He cast one last look at the herbivores name tag taped to his desk.
Sawada Shuichi.
Herbivore, I will crush you.
That turned out to be easier said than done. The herbivore avoided him at every turn. If Kyoya arrived early, the herbivore would slip in before the bell. If Kyoya arrived later, the herbivore would already be in the classroom. When he tried to tail him after class, the herbivore managed to disappear from his sight, lost in the crowds of students. If Kyoya tried to accost him during lunch or on the playground, the herbivore would always be in the presence of an adult.
It wouldn't have been as insulting if the herbivore didn't smirk and laugh at him at every turn.
He had become so desperate he asked his father for instructions on stalking ones prey. The lesson was brutal, as most lessons from his father were, but he was able to follow the herbivore out of the school yard and onto the much less crowded neighborhood streets.
He approached with a grin when the herbivore turned on a completely empty street and beat him to the ground just like he had been taught.
Looking back on that day, Kyoya sometimes wondered if he had turned back and looked at him would he have seen a smirk? Would he had seen that the injuries he had thought he left weren't all that severe at all?
He didn't look back that day, however. He walked away, back straight and blood humming with what he thought was a successful fight.
It wasn't until years later when he watched vivid green eyes flash with rage and flaming red hair dance in the wind, its color deepened by the blood of the monster that had dare step in the carnivore's path.
A blade of grass turned into a sword with a flick of thin fingers and the fight was over in an instant.
His mother had told him that there were only two types of people in the world. Those that were strong and those that were weak. She told him that there was no in-between. A carnivore will always be a carnivore and a herbivore will always be a herbivore. The Hibari were strong and everyone else was weak. They were carnivores. Everyone else were herbivores.
That was the truth he lived by...
...Until that day.
That day he learned that there were other carnivores out there.
He learned that they could lurk behind the façade of an herbivore.
Despite the bruises, cuts, and likely broken wrist he couldn't help but grin.
I'm hoping writing from Hibari's pov will help me write Hibari from Kurama's pov. lol. Also, I was given nothing on Hibari's past from canon so, much like Nana's past, I improvised. I imagine him being from a very old family/clan that is extremely strict and focuses heavily on strength. They may have once been samurai, but most members now go into the police force to sate their blood lust in a more legal way. (Which sates my love of irony since Kyoya goes into the mafia. lol)