Timeline: Pre-series. First year of middle school for Hibari, last year of elementary for Tsuna.
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."
~Mahatma Gandhi
He had learned early on, if he messed with the little herbivore that the Fox called his brother then the Fox would not be pleased. So, Kyoya put up with the little herbivore for the sake of his spars with the Fox. It was trying at times since the little herbivore was a bit of a chatterbox and followed him around when he couldn't find the Fox to follow around.
It was also troublesome to defend the little herbivore from his many assailants by request of the Fox. Although he got to fight and defend his territory from herds of ruffians, the ones who flocked around the herbivore tended to be weak.
Like these ones.
He raised his tonfa's.
The group smirked and jeered unaware of their impending beatings.
"Another kid?"
"Whatcha goin' ta do ya brat?"
"Ya think you can take us?"
Only the littler herbivore recognized the threat. Likely from living with a carnivore himself.
"Hibari stop." The little herbivore was in front of him. "They're not worth it."
Back straight with arms thrown out, the little herbivores stood between him and his prey. Eyes burned with an unnatural glow, steady and focused on his own. Compelling him to listen. Compelling him to follow.
Something shifted within him.
Ah.
Not quite a herbivore then.
But, also not a carnivore.
A wicked grin made its way across his face as he shoved past him and continued to bite the crowding herbivores within an inch of their life, ignoring the not-herbivores cries of dissent. He stood to the side as the not-herbivore tried to tend to the wounds with his meager supplies of bandages, apologizing profusely despite he himself being bruised and scratched from his earlier tussle with the group.
He didn't know what the little not-herbivore saw in that particular group that he didn't see in his other assailants, but those very same herbivores would later make up his discipline committee, listening and following his every word with varying degrees of admiration and fear. They were useful for keeping the peace in his claimed territory. They were so useful in fact, he chose to ignore their obsessive admiration for the little not-herbivore.
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 was herbivores.
He learned from the Fox that there were other carnivores out there, some of whom could disguise themselves as herbivores.
It took him a long time to try to figure out where the little not-herbivore fit.
In the end, however, he didn't fit either category.
Unlike his carnivore brother who often hid his nature for reasons Kyoya couldn't comprehend, he was weak in every sense of the word.
Yet, every once in a while there was a flicker of a tiny flame that Kyoya couldn't ignore.
(It spoke of strength beyond Kyoya's current understanding and whispered stories of a vast open sky where all the elements danced in perfect harmony.)
Kyoya tilted his head up to the sky with a smirk.
What an interesting thought.
Grow stronger little omnivore and maybe I'll listen to you someday.
There you go! Part 2 of Hibari's pov. He's a difficult fellow, but I like him. I'm glad you guys liked my headcanon of his family. I'll probably have another up later today or tomorrow.