Wanna know why I LOVE writing this fic? Cuz all I have to do is drag my real life experiences, and torture Hibari Kyouya with them. ^^

I'm sorry Hibari fangirls out there, but you chose to read this, knowing the …horrible consequences it might bring on your sanity.

But whatever.

ON WITH THE TORTURE. (lightning strikes)

disclaimer: Nopesies, don't own Hibari OR Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Do not want to, either.

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Hibari Kyouya could barely suppress his grin.

Yes, yes YES! Finally, FREE from those abominations of freedom! FREE AT LAST!!! HAHAHA!

If he wasn't so Mister Cool Calm Collected and had a reputation to hold up, he might just have happily jumped into the air, waved his tonfas like party sticks, and point, while laughing maniacally at the yellowed pile of bandages on the floor, and shout "IN YOUR FACE, HERBIVORE! HAHAHAHA!"

Yes, it would also have been really OOC. And we all know that Hibari Kyouya, the head prefect of Namimori Middle School, is not capable of saying/doing anything Out Of Character.

Instead, he delighted himself with a small smile barely visible as he pretended to busy himself with adjusting his tie. Tsuna and Gokudera looked at him nervously. Stupid herbivores. Did they truly believe that someone like him could be freed of bandages and really, the first thing he thought of was his TIE?!

No wonder everyone seemed to think he was weird. Because weak herbivores all could not read the blatantly obvious actions of a carnivore. A predator. A smarter person.

"I appreciate your hospitality, Tsunayoshi. Now, I'll…" Hibari made to leave, and had said it quite hurriedly since he disliked thanking people or owing anyone everything (but hey, he joined Tsunayoshi's stupid mafia family thing, didn't he? Payment enough. After all, he had enough things to do apart from defend the idiot herbivore…), but suddenly a figure at the door stopped him.

"Oh, Hibari-san! You're already up and running!" Nana smiled warmly at the obviously uncomfortable teen.

"Yes…" Hibari started, and was about to explain while backing out inconspicuously that he, yes, indeed had a family to return to, and oh how they must be SO worried, and he really should be getting back soon, yes, because he had work to do, but Nana would not have anything to do with that.

"No, no. You must stay till you are completely better! After all, the school says that your parents are out of town.." At this, Hibari couldn't help but feel a little unfamiliar feeling in his …chest. Pain? No, only weak herbivores felt pain. It must have been bitterness. Out of town? If that were true…they were certainly out a long time. Likely never to return. Hibari's fist and heart clenched angrily together, but only Tsuna noticed it, as Gokudera went to lock the door, as earlier instructed by Nana, in case Hibari tried to escape. "..and thus we will assume full responsibility until you are perfectly normal and fine!" Normal? Hibari? Normal?! Does Mum even know who she's TALKING about?! thought Tsuna, as he shied away from Hibari's glare when the boy turned to go back to Tsuna's room.

When Hibari walked up the stairs, Tsuna decided that Hibari at least deserved a sort of break.

"Mum, later when you go to the supermarket, why not take Hibari-san out? I'm sure he would appreciate the fresh air!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Tsu-kun! I'll do that."

Tsuna smiled, thinking that he had done Hibari a favour, and maybe that would warrant less beatings for no rhyme or reason!

…he thought.

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Hibari. Was. Livid.

If it wasn't because of the kindness of Tsunayoshi's mother who had allowed him out of the house, he would have destroyed every living thing in the supermarket at that very instant.

Yes, even the eels swimming in the tank. Alive they were, dead they would be if he unleashed his fury. He glared at them. "Are you weak herbivores mocking me…"

"Ah, Hibari-san! Eels aren't herbivores! They eat little fish!"

Hibari turned slightly pink. When had she returned? Nana had told him to take care of the trolley next to the fresh-fish tank while she went to pick up vegetables, and he had leaned over the trolley in a desperate attempt to not look at the mass crowds of people around him. He hated crowding, and twice had two idiotic little children stepped on his foot, and one idiot old man had rolled a trolley over his foot. He had done nothing, because in truth he was rather tired from the walk to the supermarket, but he told himself he was just not bothered with weaklings.

"Come on, Hibari-san! Let's go to the bread section~!" Nana cheerfully said as she gently pulled the front of the trolley behind her and walked toward the bread section.

Hibari glowered once more at the eels before leaving them.

The eel swam in happy circles, free of the scary man's intense stare.

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"Oh, hello Akira-san!"

"Sawada-san! How nice to see you again!"

Oh no, it was another housewife who had stopped to talk to Tsunayoshi's mother. Hibari felt even more anger rising in him. He hated the crowding, the noise, the idiotic little children whose even more idiotic and stupid parents allowed to run amok in the already chaotic enough supermarket. Hibari had actually attempted to strangle one with long beans that Nana had dumped in the trolley, but stopped promptly when he saw Nana walking back to the trolley. He then kicked the blue-faced child behind a basket of peaches when he realized that he just kicked the poor brat into a small basket of imported durians.

He had then pushed the trolley away, pretending to know nothing of the child's demise of being speared by the King of Fruits.

So now he stared boredly and a bit pissed at Nana and the other woman, who were chatting incessantly. He desired the quiet rooftops of Namimori school, and the company of Hibird…and a nice hamburger or two, made from REAL meat, and not fish, which was a fake weak imitation of meat…

..and stopped thinking these thoughts because he was beginning to feel hungry. Damn this diet.

The other lady turned to look at Hibari. "Oh, Sawada-san! Is that your son? My, has he grown to be a fine, young, handsome man!" Hibari turned a bit pink, but controlled himself. Illness had made him weak and soft. He needed to pound up more idiots sometime soon.

Nana laughed. "Nono, Akira-san! This is my son's friend, whom we're taking care of while his parents are out of town!"

Out of town… Hibari nearly laughed aloud at that, spitefully.

Unbidden images flashed before his eyes. A mother who was never a mother, nothing but a stupid woman who wasted her life…

Wasted on narcotics, on a life of uselessness and weakness.

Wasted, lying on the sofa, giggling mindlessly.

Wasted was her life, and Hibari had sworn never to fall to that path.

In the past, before he became the carnivore, he may have felt grief, fear, sadness…but now he only felt disgust. A small part of him still cried in a dark, dark corner of his soul. Aching for the love he never knew.

He nearly spat at the thought. He saw.

He saw him.

He saw the little boy, with overgrown black hair covering his narrow eyes, sobbing in a corner. Disgusting, he told himself, ignoring the heat of tears and sorrow suppressed through the years of seclusion.

And his father? Ha! Nothing but a stupid …stupid…

Hibari pushed the images out of his mind. When they had left, he was glad. He cried at first, but for a few seconds, barely. He knew what he had to do. He had seen the results of being a herbivore.

The only way to survive was to be..

…a carnivore.

When his mother had been on her better days, she had once read to him a story…

"Kyo-chan, see the cat chase the mouse?"

"Why? Why would the cat do that?"

"Because the cat is a carnivore, a predator. The mouse is a weak herbivore that is its prey."

"Carnivore?"

"Strong…meat-eaters…" For some reason, the woman's bangs suddenly covered her eyes, and her smile grew more thin.

Little Kyouya had seen. He should have run. But he was still pondering on the words she had uttered.

Never would he forget the strength of a true carnivore. Never forget the pain she inflicted seconds after she lovingly called him "Kyo-chan"…

He never went near her…ever again.

"No." Nana and the lady turned, questioningly at Hibari. He snapped out of his recollections and looked at the two ladies.

"I'm sorry..I was thinking to myself…"

The other lady smiled warmly. "Ah, I'm sure you'd be a fine man! Now, Sawada-san, I have to go now! Byee~!"

Nana smiled and waved. Then she turned to Hibari. "You don't look well. Should we hurry back?"

Just then, a little fat boy ran right over Hibari's foot.

Perfect.

Hibari grabbed the throat of the fat boy, and swung him at his friend who was running full speed after his fat companion.

"Hibari-san!" Nana cried out, surprised, as both boys were sent into the earlier mentioned basket of durians.

Hibari smiled.

This was how he had coped with the pain.

By passing it on.

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"Tsu-kun! Gokudera-kun! We're back!"

Tsuna and Gokudera had been working on a science project they and Yamamoto had been assigned to do, but Yamamoto was busy with baseball practice and planned to come over an hour later.

As Gokudera and Tsuna rose to help Nana keep the groceries, Hibari grabbed Tsuna's arm, and silenced Tsuna's unspoken cry of surprise with a glare.

"Be nice to your mother, because she is…nice." Hibari came up with it lamely, but felt it necessary to impart.

Tsuna looked confused, and went to help his mother keep the vegetables.

Hibari would have loved to continue, but the weak herbivore had not earned the right to know his past.

"Be nice to your mother, because she is way better than my own mother. Your mother, Sawada Tsunayoshi, could have been the mother I never had."

If Hibari had remembered how to cry, he probably would have wept like the five year old Hibari Kyouya in that dark, dark corner of his soul.

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that was long, emo, and totally uncalled for.

It was supposed to be FUNNY, and it was at the beginning, but…ARGH.

I think I'm emoing…somewhere in a dark unlit corner of my soul.

Science Investigative Reports do that to you.

Woah. 1700+ words. Longest so far.

And to think, I can barely come up with anything to write for my report.

now REVIEW.

Last I did any angst, it was met with badly. Have I improved?