Kusakabe shows up, panting, as Kyoya signs a sheet to authorise the hiring of a new librarian.
"Hibari-san - fight in the courtyard " Kyoya is on his feet before Kusakabe has the chance to finish his sentence, and he almost misses the last few words. "- it's Sawada-kun and the new kid-"
Kyoya pauses in the doorway. "Get my cousin. The hawk one."
Then he's off, pelting towards the courtyard, one hand holding his gakuran jacket closed at the neck so that it didn't flutter away. It's not hard to find the fight - herbivores are already crowding together to watch. They're probably there more for the peculiarity of seeing Tsuna fight than because there is a fight. Namimori isn't Kokuyo, but there have been enough fights between the local Yakuza and Kyoya's own Disciplinary Committee recently that fights are almost boring the the herd of herbivores that pass them everyday on their way to and from school.
The sight of so many people so close together makes Kyoya's fingers itch, thinking how easy it would be to take them all out at once, and as he gets closer, the feel of so many people around him almost makes him twitch at how easy it would be for someone to stab and hide in the confusion.
Kyoya doesn't do anything as mundane as grit his teeth as he starts kicking the back of people's knees, but it's a close thing. Luckily, the herd doesn't seem too inclined to make a fuss today because after the first few people Kyoya knocks down of sends scrambling, they disperse to the edges of the courtyard in smaller groups, where they continue to mutter among themselves. He resists the urge to preen as he turns wary eyes the the two fighters circling each other in the center of the courtyard, and the three boys who hadn't moved off with the rest of the herd.
"Go Tsuna!" Yamamoto Takeshi cheers as Kyoya steps up beside him, Sasagawa Ryohei on his otherside acting as silent support.
The other foreigner - the one not currently fighting Tsuna - has his head in his hands, and is muttering about professional assassins and about how you can't become one if you're a wimp and also what happened to stealth? as the foreigner currently fighting Tsuna throws bombs like confetti at a parade. Kyoya appreciates these questions as they answer some of his own and raise others that he, too, would like the answer to.
Alas, while he's still deciding whether he should interfere with the fight (which seems to be bringing light into Tsuna's eyes) or turn to one of the track herbivores and shake them down for answers (which would allow more property damage to his precious school), a high voice pipes up from around waist level. "You shouldn't interfere with the fight."
Kyoya glances down, about to barge into the fight anyways, just to be contrary -
And stops. Twitches. Pointedly turns on his heel and marches towards Kusakabe as his second nervously escorts Hibari Taka across the courtyard.
"Hello, Kyoya-chan." Taka sounds amused as she pauses in from of him. "And how are you this afternoon?"
"Onee-san, I am well," Kyoya says, dipping his head slightly, "though your client is testing my patience."
He chances a glance back - and nope. Nope nope nope.
"There's one of Those People," he tells Taka, his eyes resolutely fixed on Kurokawa Hana as she approaches them with her friend Sasagawa Kyoko.
"Kyoya-chan, why are the monkeys fighting?" Hana asks as soon as she's in easy speaking range.
Kyoya strangles the noise that wants to come out of his throat as the pair stops close enough that they could be construed as a part of his group, and answers his other cousin's question clearly and concisely like a leading carnivore should. "I don't know. The cow foreigner said something about assassins."
He digs his fingers into Kusakabe's sleeve and inches back surreptitiously to make their gathering into two close but totally unrelated groups as his cousins look past him to the fight. He eyes the herbivores at the edges of the courtyard, and they eye him right back, looking speculatively over the two groups. He can practically feel the wheels in their head turning, and he stops caring about being mundane or surreptitious. He grits his teeth and drags Kusakabe further, sending his subordinate stumbling as he tried to -
"Wait!" Kyoya has to let go of Kusakabe as he absolutely does not leap into Taka's path. "There's one of Those People! You can't just-"
"Kyoya-chan. Having a grudge against Uncle Fon does not mean you can control who I talk to."
Taka steps around Kyoya. After a moment, Hana does too. She pats Kyoya on the head as she walks past him, and Sasagawa Kyoko gives him the smile that's dazzled the school as she follows her friend. Kyoya hunches his shoulders and grips Kusakabe's sleeve again, his knuckles white.
"Hibari-san?" Kyoya can see Kusakabe's eyes flickering back to the kid that is no doubt still standing near Yamamoto Takeshi.
Kyoya glances back, trying to keep the eyes up so he doesn't see The Person. He looks just long enough to be sure that his cousins aren't crowding with Tsuna's little pack before he turns away again.
"Do you you want me or some of the other members of the DC to stay and observe?" Kusakabe asks.
Kyoya's lips thin. No. He doesn't want to leave some of the DC to watch. For one, he would rather be out there himself, beating up rule breakers. And for two, the cow foreigner said something about assassins. Kyoya's not about to leave His People to assassins when he won't face them himself.
"No," Kyoya tells Kusakabe, releasing his sleeve. "And add a rule to the rule book. If the kid in the fedora is around, the fight is authorised, and no one is to interfere."
"Of course, Hibari-san. I'll spread the word right away." Kusakabe bows, smoothing his sleeve, then turns and makes his way towards the DC's room at a fast, but unhurried pace.
Kyoya watches him go, then turns vengeful eyes upon the herbivores at the edges of the courtyard, who though that his inattention meant that they could crowd together. He thoughtful weighs his tonfa as he calculates where to strike to forcibly thin the herd. Already, some of the herbivores have noticed the return of his attention and are making their hasty way out of the crowd, but most of the herd is still focused on the pops and banter behind him.
He spies an opening in the crowd, a spot near the middle where few people are.
Perfect.