this chapter will be a special one, in the point of view of Hibari! I'll try my utmost best to not make him sound out of character, hehe.

Chapter 20: Into the Mind of the Skylark

"What do you think of me, Hibari? …What am I to you?"

Hibari knew something was up when the carnivore asked him that question, but he just passed it off as nothing of importance. He would demand for answers if he really got curious.

She was gone the next day.

Her residence was cleared out, a big FOR SALE sign on her front porch. He didn't understand how someone could disappear with such speed and lack of notice. So he suspected the baby carnivore. He was normally responsible for the strange events in his town, and he normally passed it off because the baby carnivore never let things get too chaotic in his territory and always cleaned up after himself.

But this irked him, annoyed him, made him want to bite someone to death.

So he waited outside the house next door to hers, the one the strange herbivore lived in. When the herbivore came running out, late to school as per usual, Hibari instantly took out his tonfas, glowering. "Where is she?"

Tsuna shrieked. "HIE! H-Hibari-san, who are you talking about?!"

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "The carnivore. Where is she?"

Tsuna shut his eyes in fear. "I-if you're talking about Nee-san she left for Italy yesterday!"

"When is she coming back?"

"S-she..!" Tsuna opened his eyes, and looked away. "She told me not to tell you anything else."

Hibari swung his tonfa into Tsuna's face, causing him to fall to the floor. Hibari was about to bite the herbivore to death when his tonfa was stopped by the spiky-haired herbivore, the one that she seemed close to.

Takeshi was frowning, an expression not commonly found on his face. "What are you doing, Hibari? Tsuna didn't do anything to you!"

Maybe he knows, Hibari thought. Hibari quickly switched his attention to the spiky haired herbivore. "When is she coming back?"

Takeshi narrowed his eyes at him, instantly knowing who he was talking about. "Why do you want to know?"

Hibari began to feel increasingly irked at the herbivore constantly questioning him. "She has duties. She's responsible for them."

Takeshi's grip on Hibari's tonfa tightened. "No, she's not. Not any longer."

"That's a decision the carnivore makes. You have five seconds to answer before I bite him to death." Hibari's eyes narrowed steely. "You'll be next."

Tsuna let out a painful groan, rubbing his sore cheek, and Takeshi, concerned for his friend, finally caved. "Nee-chan won't come back! That's the decision she made! So hurry up and forget about her! She's not just someone you can use as a sparring tool anymore!"

The last statement made Hibari especially annoyed. So he bit both of them to death, and strode off to NamiChu.

For some reason, Hibari continuously thought about the statement, getting irked the more he thought about it.

The carnivore? A sparring tool? He acknowledged her strength, which is why he was intrigued by her. She was someone who seemed like a herbivore yet had enormous potential. Once she unlocked it, he was determined to test his abilities against her. But then he began to become confused. A carnivore will never show their weakness, a carnivore always made their next decision to become more powerful, yet she did not act that way.

But she was a carnivore. Hibari acknowledged this, so she was strong.

So what was it that made her act differently? Why did she always show her emotions to him? Why was she able to act in such a way? Why did Hibari continuously refer to her as a carnivore, despite her very being going against what his ideals were?

Emotions are for herbivores.

Yet she showed them. Blatantly. Confidently. Unashamedly.

Hibari needed answers... he needed her.

But she wouldn't be back. Not until Hibari found a way.

His solution came in the form of the carnivore who was trying to convince him to join some battle.

He couldn't care less about the battle, he just wanted to battle him. But then he mentioned her name.

"Geez… It would've been nice if Izanami-chan had warned me about this prior…"

Immediately Hibari turned to Dino with interest. "You met the carnivore."

Dino blinked, and smiled to himself. "And here I thought you were uninterested in her. Judging from the vibe I got from her, it seemed that she didn't want to talk about you anymore-"

Hibari became annoyed at how much the carnivore talked. "Tell me where she is," he demanded.

Dino, sensing an opportunity, grinned. "If you become Tsuna's Cloud Guardian and manage to defeat me, I'll tell you."

Hibari narrowed his eyes, suspecting something was up, but in the end gave a smirk. "Don't regret your decision." Hibari can defeat this carnivore easily, and then he'll see her again. He'll demand for answers, finally piece together his confusion, get rid of the growing pain in his chest.

He underestimated the carnivore's strength, and he played right into Dino's trap.

Hibari had fulfilled part of his deal with Dino, yet one remained unfulfilled: he couldn't defeat him. Hibari refused to let the carnivore leave for Italy until he could do so, but eventually he left, and it left Hibari agitated.

Another solution gone, just like that. Because he was weak. Yes. Hibari had lost because he let his emotions get to him. He was no carnivore, he was turning into a herbivore! He had to get rid of his emotions, continue on like he always had-!

…Izanami.

He still thought about her. How did she manage to do it? Why did she continue to occupy his thoughts? Why did he still ponder about the reasons for her absence, why did she show that wounded expression when he told her he respected her strength? Just what... What was happening to him?

It was... her fault he was like this.

So when he appeared in a foreign area with someone to bite to death, he released his anger out on him. Afterwards, he was brought to a separate room where he met the strange herbivores that the baby carnivore took care of, who explained to him that he was ten years in the future.

And then he met her.

He sensed a stronger energy from her usual self, she was older too. She was taller than he was, donning a suit and her eyes permanently glowering red. Though her appearance was different, her aura was familiar, soothing and almost warm. When she spotted him, she immediately donned a fond smile. "Kyoya... I thought I had forgotten what you looked like, but it seems my heart still remembers."

Hibari frowned. What relation did this version of the carnivore have with his future self?

She laughed. "We weren't in any sort of relationship. I fled to Italy and never saw you again, at least not until now anyway. I don't know what happened with your adult self, but I guess he gave up on chasing after me. My younger self will arrive soon, so I guess I'll never get to see the adult version of you, huh?"

Hibari noted everyone had left the room. He narrowed his eyes. "You... why did you leave?"

She shrugged. "It was about time I left. My father was the boss of a mafia family, and it's not like I could ignore the blood in my veins. The mafia life chose me, and I couldn't run from it anymore."

Hibari's fists tightened, and he glowered. "Why did you leave me?"

She tilted her head playfully. "That's a question you can ask your Nami, Kyoya. She'll be here soon anyway, so why be impatient and ask lil' old me-"

BAM!

Hibari pushed her against the wall with his tonfa. "Answer me, herbivore."

Nami grinned. "Oho~ This doesn't affect me anymore, Kyoya~ I'm ten years too old for you to do stuff like this, you know. If you were older... maybe I'd consider it." She grabbed both his wrists and trapped him against the wall. "Unfortunately for me, that opportunity won't come anymore so might as well have some fun~"

Hibari despised being restrained. That was a fact well known, so he did all he could to get out of the herbivore's hold. He couldn't, despite his wishes.

Nami sighed. "Don't worry, Kyoya. Your Nami will be here soon, so you won't have to suffer for that long." He glowered. "Don't look at me like that! Okay, fine I feel bad so I'll tell you why my past self left, okay?" She let go of his wrists, and she tilted her head in thought. "Now that I think about it, it's kind of stupid... But isn't it your fault that you were never clear with your words? Her last words before she left were obviously a question where she wanted to know if you li- Oh, my time's up."

POOF!

Hibari's eyes widened. His… carnivore. She was right in front of him, on the ground as she coughed from the smoke around her. His...

"Izanami."

Her body instantly froze up in recognition to the voice, and she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Hibari? I... am I in Japan? Just what the fuck was that contraption, how did it get past security-?"

Hibari's teeth grit, remembering what the older version of her did to him, remembering what the girl in front of him did to him, remembering the way Kamiya Izanami played with him.

She was responsible for these emotions, for the spike of pain in his chest, for occupying his every thought.

"Tetsu," he called.

Immediately, the ten year older Kusakabe Tetsuya appeared at his side. "Yes, Kyo-san."

"Get her out."

He wanted her out of his sight.