Summary: Hibari Kyouya was not always the person people knew him to be. No, there was a time where he did not possess his bloodlust; when he was an innocent child, a child about to be broken by the world.
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own anything apart from the plot.
A/N: Holy shit. I'm back after like what, two years? And this is the first thing I post. Uhh...I'm sorry?
Well I've actually been working on this plot for a while. It just took me forever to write because I'm not used to writing action scenes. I was thinking about Hibari and what could've screwed him up so badly as a child to make him the bloodthirsty Cloud guardian we know today and this plot bunny just hit me.
Anyway. I'd like to dedicate this fic to a group of awesome surrogate sisters (and fellow fans) and two Pikachus who seemed hell bent on reviving the KHR feels which eventually led to the completing on this fic. Ahahah. Hope you enjoy it~
Warnings: Rated T for possibly graphic depiction of violence.
Unbeta'd
At the age of five, Kyouya's parents gave him a pet dog. Its name was Roll, because of its love for doing tricks to please the raven-haired boy.
Since Kyouya's parents were usually busy, they decided to get him a dog so that he would be less lonely when they couldn't be around. They regretted not being able to spend as much time with their son as they wanted to, but had no choice as their line of work kept them rather busy.
But whenever they returned, the elder male Hibari would pat his son on the head in greeting and his mother would pull him into a hug, both greeting him and apologising for having to leave him on his own. Kyouya would smile at his parents and greet them brightly, "Welcome back, Father and Mother!"
And on days when his parents were home, Kyouya would do his best to impress them by presenting them with a drawing he had made while they were away, or attempting to prepare a cup of tea for them in the afternoon.
His mother would smile at him and his father would chuckle and tell him, "I'm proud of you, Kyouya."
Indeed, those were happy days in the Hibari household, when Kyouya was deeply loved and treasured by his parents and even by Roll, who turned out to be fiercely loyal to Kyouya...
When the little Hibari was seven, two kidnappers attempted to take him away to spite his father, who was the chief of the police. They broke into the house in the early hours of the morning after Kyouya's parents had left for work, leaving their son alone. However, they had not expected to be greeted by a snarling Akita by Kyouya's side, neither had they expected to be bitten by the dog to the extent of forcing their pitiful retreat out the front gate. They were unable to fight back since they were unarmed. After all, they had believed that the kidnapping would be an easy task.
Needless to say, The Hibari family's appreciation of Roll increased tenfold (along with their security).
A few months after the attempted kidnapping, the elder Hibari brought home another man with him, the vice-chief of the police, as well as a boy who seemed to be of Kyouya's age. His name was Kusakabe Tetsuya and he immediately took a liking to Kyouya.
"Just like dad is loyal to your father, so will I be to you, Kyou-san! You can call me Tetsu!"
The younger Hibari smiled at Tetsuya's enthusiasm and decided to go along with it. He nodded briefly at Kusakabe before mimicking his father's serious tone and answering, "Very well. I accept, Tetsu. Follow me, I'll introduce you to Roll."
A strong friendship between one Hibari Kyouya and Kusakabe Tetsuya soon blossomed, including daily visits filled with idle chat as they watched clouds or laughter at Roll's excited antics. And there were more happy days in Hibari household…
But not for long.
It was only slightly over a year since Tetsuya and Kyouya had first met before the elder Kusakabe had rushed into the Hibari household in a panic one day to notify Kyouya and his mother about his father's sudden collapse at work. This would normally not have affected them as much, as Chief Hibari had a tendency to overwork himself to the brink of collapse. However, the most worrying fact this time was that the elder Hibari had been diagnosed with an advanced stage of lung cancer which would be extremely difficult – if not impossible – to treat. He'd been sent to the local hospital earlier and was now under the careful watch of the doctors.
Hence began Kyouya's daily trips to the hospital to visit his father, when he would tell his father all about his day in Namimori Elementary. This went on while Hibari's conditioned worsened day by day, his body weakening from the regular chemotherapy.
"…and sensei taught us about these things called carnivores who are really strong and eat the weaker herbivores! And there's also the omnivore who's like a mix of both– Father? Are you all right? I'll call the doctor!"
Kyouya hurried to the door in a panic at his father's limp form falling onto the hospital bed, shouting for the doctor or nurse or any form of assistance. Once the doctor arrived, Kyouya was made to leave the room so that they could attend to his father. He sat restlessly on the bench in the corridor before eventually nodding off.
He woke up hours later with his head on his mother's lap as she smiled and ran her hand reassuringly through his hair to soothe him, despite the fact that her eyes clearly gave away her anxiousness and fear. It seemed as if the doctors would never appear to report back on his father's condition and this worried him. Why were the doctors taking so long? What if they weren't able to cure his father – no. He couldn't think that way. His father was strong like a carnivore and would be able to defeat the illness.
Many more hours passed before a doctor stepped out of the room to greet him and his mother. Kyouya looked up expectantly, but with every word that left the doctor's mouth, his fears seemed less and less unfounded until he heard the phrase which he dreaded most.
"I'm sorry."
And Kyouya's world began to crash down.
Fortunately, he still had his mother, Tetsuya and Roll to keep him company and cheer him up, although the house seemed emptier without his father around.
Yet Kyouya continued on with his life as normal, developing an interest in self-defence and martial arts at the age of nine.
When he turned ten, his mother and Roll faced an unfortunate fate.
The day had started out innocently enough. Kyouya's mother had accompanied him as he brought Roll out for a walk. But things took a turn for the worse when they ran into members of a local gang who harboured hatred against Kyouya's father (which then extended to the Hibari family). They were cornered into an alley where no one else would be able to help them as the gang members drew their weapons.
"Don't worry," one of the men sneered, "We'll make this look like nothing more than a little accident. Though, I can't guarantee that your deaths will be painless."
Roll growled in response at the bald man before pouncing on him and clamping his jaw down firmly on the man's arm. Kyouya also jumped into action by retaliating against another man in shades with his knowledge of jujutsu. However, Roll was quickly shaken off with a curse of "stupid mutt" and Hibari pushed back just as easily due to his smaller size in comparison to the man.
The boy refused to give up nonetheless and picked himself back up, positioning himself in front of his mother, who had frozen in shock. He would protect his mother.
"Oh? It seems that your son is intent on protecting you, lady Hibari," came the mocking voice of Baldy followed by raucous laughter of the other gang members that loitered by the alley entrance. "In that case, perhaps I shall get rid of you first and see the boy break."
And with that, he shoved Kyouya against the wall for the man in shades to deal with and lunged at his mother.
There was a sickening thud as Kyouya's skull collided with the cement wall and a terrified scream seconds after. Yet try as he might, he could not muster the strength to open his eyes nor to get up and go to his mother's aid. He simply lay there, regretfully taking in the sounds of Roll viciously trying to keep the gang members away from his semi-conscious self and the nauseating sounds of his mother being kicked over and over.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kyouya finally forced his eyes open before sharply drawing a breath. To his right was Roll, whining pitifully and looking terribly beaten up, but still standing in front of Kyouya and loyally protecting him until the end.
And to his right was a group of men crowding around the limp form of his mother's body, continuously kicking at the body despite having already killed her with a sharp blow to the head.
A tattooed man looked in his direction and snickered. "Heh. The boy's awake. What should we do with him?"
"Let's leave him here to die. The kid's half-dead anyway. What better way than to die alongside his mother and his dog? Such a picture perfect ending," cooed a sickeningly sweet mocking voice.
More laughter followed that comment as Baldy placed one last kick on Kyouya's side before the gang disappeared from the alley.
I…failed. I couldn't protect Mother. I couldn't protect Roll. And now I'm going to die in this pathetic manner…
But I can't die like this. I need to get stronger.
I need more power.
I need to become a carnivore.
I'll protect this town that Mother and Father loved.
I will bite all of these cowardly herbivores to death.
"Kyou-san!"
And his world faded to black.
"Very well. Our lessons will begin next week, Hibari-kun."
Kyouya nodded and headed for the rear exit. He had approached one of his father's friends for further training in offensive strikes. Knowing self-defence was helpful, but he would rather have the ability to strike first and gain the upper hand. The elder Kusakabe handing him a pair of metal tonfas his father had once used also contributed to his decision to pick up offensive fighting skills.
He stepped out into an empty back street and made his way back home. Kyouya was grateful for the barrenness of the street. Crowds disgusted him. They reminded him of the crowd of men hovering over his mother's dead body.
Kyouya snarled as the memory resurfaced.
One day he would find those herbivores that disturbed the peace of Namimori; disturbed the peace of his life with his mother and Roll. One day he would hunt those disgusting beings down and bite them to death for desecrating his mother's body.
But for now, he needed to get stronger, so that he would be able to uphold the Hibari name and protect his parents' beloved town from herbivores and their cowardly acts against others.
And perhaps he'll be able to see his mother's smile and his father's approving eyes once again, to be pat on the head and hear those precious words,
"I'm proud of you, Kyouya."