Tsuna waited quietly as he and Kyouya stood outside the school, scanning the crowd for any signs of Dino. The man was always one of the last to arrive, because of university. Kyouya kept looking at Tsuna. Tsuna was getting uncomfortable.

"What?" he finally asked, mustering up the courage to stare the older boy in the eye. But it didn't last long. Kyou-Nii was a demon who would pounce when people met his gaze for too long, or so Tsuna believed. Tsuna was scared of this person. Very much. He was a demon. A little demon. A demon with cold, cold eyes and a colder presence…Kyouya raised a hand and smacked the younger child upside the head.

"OWIE!" Tsuna cried, clutching his head. "What did you do that for?"

"You're an eyesore." Kyouya harrumphed. He spotted Dino in the crowd and began to walk. "Let's go. The idiot is here."

Kyouya was intuitive. Or rather, he could be if he so chose. Tsuna had been far too quiet of late. Not that it was any of Kyouya's concern. He had just noted it and the possible causes before putting it away to the back of his mind, where it might one day prove to be useful…or entertaining. Kyouya's failsafe amusement when things got boring was this young lad here, with the poofy brown hair. He was such a cry-baby, and Kyouya was a bit of a sadist. Seeing people in pain was great entertainment.

Tsuna spotted Dino too and ran up to him. "Dino-Nii!" he cried happily.

Dino laughed as the child bumped into his leg and, bending down, he swooped him up. "Hey, Tsuna! Sorry, were you guys waiting long?"

Kyouya caught up to the two. He looked up at Dino for a moment. "Yes. Can I kill you? It would make me feel better."

"What? No you can't!" Dino groaned and put Tsuna down again. "Anyway, let's go home. I brought the car today."

Dino's car was a small red one of the Italian sports variety which attracted many admiring gazes on the street. There was barely any room at the back. Kyouya refused to go in the back so Tsuna was shoved there instead, to sit next to some of Dino's university files and bags, much to the child's dismay, but nobody listened to his pleas about wanting to sit up front.

By the time they got home, Dino sourly regretted bringing the car. It would have been faster walking; there was so much traffic at this time, but he'd gotten out of university late so he'd gone straight to school from there.

It wasn't any easier with the kids in the car than it was bringing them home by foot. Kyouya was content to stare out the window…until Tsuna singled out one strand of his hair and plucked it. Kyouya turned, usually blank blue-grey eyes now chilly. "What are you doing, herbivore?"

Tsuna looked away and made a pathetic attempt at whistling. "N-nothing."

Kyouya turned around in the seat and lobbed a punch at the younger child. Tsuna started bawling. Dino's hand went to the stereo and music began to play. Music that was loud enough to drown out Tsuna's cries. As if in challenge, Tsuna's wails soon became even louder.

Dino groaned and turned the music down. "Don't cry, Tsuna. We're almost home."

"B-but…It hurts!" Tsuna protested. "Kyou-Nii's a meanie!"

Kyouya almost smirked.

"It's your own fault for messing around." Dino said. "Don't do silly things."

"B-but…it's boring back here!"

"Deal with it. There's not much I can do for you at the moment. Ow! Hey, what're you doing, Tsuna?" the man leaned forward in his seat, to get his hair out of Tsuna's reach before the boy could pull another strand out. "That's annoying! Small wonder Kyouya hit you, right?"

Tsuna made a sad face. "Sorry."

Dino looked in the rear-view mirror. Tsuna was making the dreadful puppy dog eyes. Dino's annoyance melted away. "All right, all right, you're forgiven. Don't pull my hair though!"

Tsuna grinned.

When they got home, Kyouya hopped out before the vehicle came to a complete stop. Dino tutted, killed the engine, got out, and then helped Tsuna out too. Tsuna rushed after Kyouya, through the now open gate to their small front yard, and up to the front door. Dino got out his own things and followed more sedately. He let the children in.

Another evening of chaos lay before him. A few minutes was all it took for Tsuna to rush up, get changed into casual clothes, bring his favourite toys down, and make a mess by leaving them everywhere. The clean floors never lasted. Feeling sorry for himself, Dino went to put his things away in his room. Kyouya was in his own room, probably getting changed out of his uniform.

While Dino was busy, Kyouya emerged from his room and went downstairs. Tsuna was playing with his action figures. He was always like that, playing by himself. Kyouya walked up to him and stood there until the smaller child looked up. He tilted his head to the side. "Kyou-Nii?"

"What?"

Tsuna frowned. "What "what"?"

Kyouya mirrored the expression. "What?"

"What "what"?"

""What" what?"

""what, what" what?"

"What?"

Tsuna was befuddled. "Huh?"

Kyouya kicked him in the side. Tsuna cried out. "OW! Kyou-Nii, you meanie!" He started to bawl.

Kyouya looked to the doorway, through which he could see the banister of the stairs. No Dino yet. He turned back to the brown-haired boy and squatted before him. He stared a long while, until Tsuna stopped crying.

Sniffling, Tsuna stared back…for just a second before he looked away, fearing for his life. "Wh-what is it?"

Kyouya frowned and stood up. "Nothing. Herbivore."

"What're you guys doing?" Dino asked as he entered the room.

"Nothing." Kyouya repeated as he left. "I'm going out for a walk."

"Whoa, whoa!" Dino backtracked and took hold of the back of the child's collar. "On your own? I don't think so."

"Don't be a fool. Kids my age go out by themselves all the time." Kyouya said as he turned and kicked Dino's knee. This provoked the jerk reflex and Dino released the boy as his leg snapped out straight.

"Kyouya…!" Dino began in what he'd have called his best reprimanding tone, but the child was already out the door. Dino followed after him. Kyouya was only eight; surely he shouldn't be out by himself! "Kyouya!"

Kyouya wasn't listening. Dino couldn't leave Tsuna in the house alone. Who knew what stupid things he might do unsupervised? So Dino settled for a yell instead. "DON'T GO TOO FAR! AND DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID! I'M WATCHING YOU!"

In response, Kyouya bent to pick up a small stone from the roadside. He turned and flung it at the open doorway. Dino just about ducked.

Tsuna wasn't so lucky.

"Dino-Nii…? I felt something hit me just now…"

Dino turned. "WAH!"

Tsuna was a live fountain, a spray of red shooting up from his forehead. He tilted his head to the side. "Dino-Nii…?" He dropped to the floor.

"TSUNA!" Dino cried. He turned back to look outside. "KYOUYA, YOU LITTLE MURDERER!"

Kyouya didn't turn back.

His walk led him to the school…of course, that was where he'd wanted to be anyway. He had a small amount of authority here, because he didn't like people bossing him about. He went to patrol the corridors. It wasn't that he was expecting to find something. He wanted to think.

The herbivore had been too withdrawn lately. Not that it was bothering Kyouya. He just didn't like irregularities. He had to get to the bottom of this.

School was stupid.

This was Tsuna's thought as Dino left the two children at the school entrance. "Have fun, guys! And don't do anything stupid!" he called out as he waved.

Tsuna's heart sank as he watched his guardian leave. He didn't want Dino to leave. School was stupid and boring.

To his surprise, Kyouya didn't disappear the moment Dino did. Instead, he remained where he was, at Tsuna's side. Tsuna frowned but said nothing. He wouldn't get a response anyway. So he made his way inside and towards the preschool sector. Kyouya followed. Tsuna walked as fast as his little legs could take him, the straps of his bag clutched tight in both hands. He had no luck in trying to outpace the other boy. Kyouya easily kept up.

"Why are you following me?" the younger boy cried, thoroughly freaked out.

Kyouya made no response but kept after the small boy. Arriving at his classroom, Tsuna hurriedly went in, feeling somewhat relieved when Kyouya didn't follow. Instead, the black-haired child stopped by the open door and peered in. Loads of children turned to stare at him. He stared at each and every one of them before he turned and sauntered off.

The children in the room then turned to look at Tsuna. "Who's that guy, Tsuna?" one of the boys asked.

"He's my brother." Tsuna mumbled as he bowed his head and went to his seat at the end of the u-shape of desks in the middle of the room. A crowd of three formed around the front of his desk. He looked up.

"You brought the Kyouya Hibari here?" the lead boy sneered. "Were you trying to scare us?"

Tsuna gulped. "N-no…I don't know why he came. Sorry."

The fat boy was about to say more but the teacher came in and spoke before he could. "Children, settle in your seats please. I'll begin register shortly."

The boy glared at Tsuna before he and his cohorts turned and went to their own seats.

Outside in the corridor, Kyouya had come back to peer in through the window of the now-closed door. His grey-blue eyes narrowed. He turned around and walked off. Something was up.

"Hey, Tsuna, what happened here?" Dino asked, stopping the child before he could climb into the bath.

Tsuna stopped, one leg in the foamy water in the bath and the other out. "Huh?" He turned his head to look where Dino was pointing. There was a scrape just below his shoulder. It was quite deep and looked fairly fresh. Dino frowned and picked up Tsuna's white shirt from where the child had discarded it moments before. The fabric had frayed on the shoulder and there was a bit of blood. Dino looked back at Tsuna. "Why didn't you tell me you got hurt?" He'd not seen it earlier because Tsuna had been wearing his jacket.

Tsuna looked away and climbed into the bath. "I-it's…no big deal. I just fell."

How had the teachers not noticed this? The scrape wasn't bandaged. Hadn't they noticed? Maybe Tsuna had fallen on his way out? He sure was brave to keep the pain in, considering he was such a cry-baby. The man sighed and put the shirt down and stood up. "Okay. I'll go get you some fresh clothes. When you're done bathing, we'll get you a bandage, okay?" He left the child to splash around awhile as he crossed the hallway and went to Tsuna's room.

He picked out a pair of jeans and a red shirt with the words "I'm so Hot I Make the Sun Look Cold" across the front from the small wardrobe. He closed the door and then pulled out a pair of little sky blue boxers from the topper of the two drawers. He turned to the door but stopped short when he saw that someone was standing there.

Kyouya was leaning against the frame, his arms folded across his chest. Dino smiled as he walked up to him, "what's up, Kyouya? Did you finish your hot chocolate?"

The child didn't reply to that. Instead, he chose to regard Dino with narrowed eyes. "The herbivore…I don't suppose he told you?"

"Told me what?"

"That he's being bullied."

Dino shrugged, looking uncomfortable, "I know that already. He's always been bullied. He won't stand up for himself." It wasn't something Tsuna liked to talk about. Dino had mentioned it to the teachers but...Tsuna never gave any indication that he was being picked on so they couldn't look into it.

"It's getting physical."

"What?" he frowned. "What do you mean "physical"?"

"I saw it. The scrape on his shoulder, he got it because he was pushed."

Dino's jaw locked. He brushed past the child and went to the bathroom. Tsuna was playing, making what he thought were noises that a boat would make as he ran a little toy across the soapy water. He saw Dino stop at the doorway and grinned. It wasn't as bright as usual.

Dino tutted. Tsuna was hiding his pain. Why? He whined and moaned about things all the time but never about things that caused deeper distress. Why was he trying to be brave?

The man went to kneel before the bath and stuffed the garments in the top of the radiator. He helped Tsuna bathe and washed his hair for him. He contemplated saying something, to demand what was happening at school, but he didn't want to put the kid on the spot. Tsuna didn't do well under pressure. So Dino kept quiet and, as if sensing that something was wrong, the little boy stayed quiet too.

Usually, bath time was a fun and noisy affair but neither party was willing to talk today. Tsuna was out of the bath and getting dried off in a matter of minutes, without so much as a complaint about it being cold.

In the entrance of the bathroom, Kyouya watched them with disapproval. The easiest way of solving the problem was out. Dino was useless. Kyouya would have to take matters into his own hands, something he wasn't particularly looking forward to because he disliked intervening in others' affairs. If it was someone else's problem, then they should damn well sort it out themselves.

But this little herbivore couldn't stand up for himself to save his own life, the fool, so Kyouya was obliged to step in.

When Tsuna was in his classroom, Kyouya lingered. He never listened to the teachers when they told him to be on time for lessons. He didn't even have any use for those boring lessons; he could learn everything in his own time.

Up until break time, he remained outside the door, looking on inside, ignoring teachers and other students that came and always staying out of sight of the children within the room.

He'd never cared to realise before but Tsuna had no friends. Not a single one. When the teacher said that they would be doing group activities, all the children immediately rushed to their closest friends, hoping to be in the same group, but Tsuna loitered in his seat, looking from side to side with obvious awkwardness. The teacher would then choose a group for him.

Even then, he wasn't happy, and neither were his teammates. He was clumsy so he slowed everybody down. Nobody wanted to be grouped with him. When the teacher's back was turned and the children knew they could get away with it, they openly called him names, "useless Tsuna", "idiot Tsuna", "stupid Tsuna", and they laughed, spurred on by the hilarity that their peers obviously saw.

Many times, Kyouya contemplated just walking away, but he couldn't now. He'd taken it upon himself to bring an end to this idiocy so he would follow through with it until the offenders were hurt or a compromise of some sort was reached. He very much wished it was the former; he wouldn't mind beating up all these pathetic little fools…Tsuna included.

Why didn't the little fool stand up for himself? All he had to do was glare, push back when they pushed, or swear at them, or something, and the situation would be a little more bearable to watch, but he seemed a little too content playing a doormat and letting himself be walked all over.

When break time arrived, Kyouya went to a safe distance and followed the class outside, keeping out of sight. In the playground, he ducked into a bush so he could keep a better lookout without being spotted.

There was already someone in the bush…and it was a rather large bush. "OW! Hey…!" Dino straightened up just a little as Kyouya dived feet first into the bush. "Oh, Kyouya!"

Kyouya stared down at the man. "What are you doing? Stalking schoolchildren?"

Dino sat up and brushed off his jacket. "N-no! I was just…looking around."

"At what? The local wildlife?"

Dino flicked off a bug that was climbing up a strand of golden hair. He chuckled sheepishly but then stopped. He frowned at the little boy. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"And shouldn't you be in university?" Kyouya scoffed as he turned to nonchalantly watch Tsuna, wandering in a corner of the playground, all by himself.

Dino didn't reply. He watched Tsuna too, his gaze conflicted. "What's he doing…all alone?"

"What, you didn't know? Nobody likes him. Neither do I, to be honest." Kyouya said casually.

Dino shot him a disapproving glance. "Don't say that. He's your little brother."

"Not by blood and certainly not by choice."

The man once more frowned. "That reminds me, you never did tell me where you were before you were sent to me."

Like all other times when Dino had asked that question, Kyouya waved it away, "it's not important. Why are you here?"

Dino sighed. "I was worried after what you told me yesterday. He's been a little too quiet lately."

Kyouya was pissed off. So this fool had intended to do something after all. Kyouya had gotten involved for nothing. "Well, I'm off then." he said, but he didn't make a move to get up and his gaze didn't shift from the lonely little boy wandering on the outskirts of the playground. Dino didn't say anything.

As the two watched, a group of three boys cornered Tsuna and led him behind the slide, out of the direct field of vision of the teacher. The boys' backs were to Kyouya and Dino but they could guess that the bullies weren't saying friendly things. Tsuna looked scared.

The obvious leader, the one in the centre with close cut hair, snapped an arm out and shoved Tsuna off his feet. Tsuna cried out. He hit the side of his head on the ground and then started to bawl loudly.

Dino's hand was enclosed around a branch of the bush and it snapped in two. Kyouya cast a glance at the man and saw that an unusually pissed off expression adorned his face. Kyouya wasn't too pleased either. The teacher heard the cry and looked around. By then, though, the bullies were just pretending they were taking turns on the slide and had just happened to see Tsuna fall over. The teacher bought the story. After all, everyone knew Tsuna was a klutz. She went to help the bawling boy up and led him inside.

Kyouya departed shortly thereafter, saying that he needed to get back to class. Dino muttered an absent "yeah, see you later".

Kyouya's revenge was about to begin.

"…see his face?" Takano was the name of the lead bully of the group who liked to terrorise Tsuna. "He's stupid!" he hooted, tears in his eyes as he laughed and laughed, recalling the look on Tsuna's face when he'd been pushed to the ground.

His two lackeys, Ichinose and Kawamura, laughed along with him, though they were a little more hesitant about it. Takano had always been the one to decide what they did so they went along with him, even if they didn't like his ways.

They were one of the first ones out of the school building but, upon emerging out of the door, they stopped. Their path was barred. Before them stood a boy with black hair and cold blue-grey eyes. He wore the three-quarter white pants and the white shirt and blue blazer of the primary branch of the school. The pre-school sector didn't have a uniform so the ensemble was instantly recognisable. It was rare to see someone from the primary branch here.

The strange boy said nothing. Takano frowned. "You're Kyouya Hibari, right? What do you want?"

Kyouya cocked his head to the side. "What I want? Hn…let's see…I want to bite you all to death." He smiled. It was a creepy smile. It set the hair on the necks of the three younger boys on end. They slowly backed away. Even if they didn't understand what this boy meant, they could feel the deadly aura rolling off of him, smothering them. Self-preservation was the strongest instinct.

Kyouya took two slow steps forward. The trio moved back three. Kyouya moved forward again. They moved back by twice as much, until they were in the school building again. Kyouya still came closer, though, driving them back until they'd retraced their steps to their classroom.

More students were coming out, saw Kyouya, and turned the other way. Even teachers wouldn't want to mess with this strange child.

"Wh-what do you want?" Takano repeated, sweat rolling down his face.

Kyouya wouldn't have replied anyway but before he'd even had a chance to think, a new voice called out. "Kyou-Nii?" He looked further down the corridor and saw Tsuna running up to them. He stopped short when he saw the bullies though.

Tsuna was usually one of the last students to leave the classroom. Today was no exception. The corridor was now clear. Kyouya smiled again. He didn't bother taking leisurely steps towards the terrified trio now. He ran. When he approached them, he lifted one leg off the ground and it arced around to hit Takano in the side of the head. They all cried out, including Tsuna. Ichinose and Kawamura wet their pants as they fell on their rears. Takano lay unmoving some ways behind them, driven back by the force of the kick.

Kyouya was not happy. Just one kick and the victim…er, opponent was down? How pathetic. So he set his sights on the next one. Ichinose was a blond kid with his hair falling in his eyes, which might have accounted for the tendency he had of randomly bumping into things but, right now, he could very clearly see his doom, fringe or no fringe.

"Kyou-Nii! Please stop!" Tsuna cried, managing to sum up just that bit of bravery despite his shaking legs. He'd always known Kyouya was a demon. This was proof! Demon!

Kyouya didn't pay him any attention as he advanced towards Ichinose, who seemed like he was stuck to the floor.

"Kyou-Nii!" Tsuna yelled, forcing his jelly legs on. "Please don't hurt them!"

Kyouya still advanced.

"Rugby tackle!" Tsuna hollered as he jumped, arms stretched out before him. He fell into Kyouya and knocked him off his feet.

"Herbivore," Kyouya said slowly, sitting up and pushing the smaller child away rather mercilessly, "what was that for?" Cold, cold, grey-blue eyes that suggested they would cook and eat the little tuna if a proper explanation wasn't given. Tsuna gulped and looked around. "U-um…well…Rugby!" he forced out. "I-I was practicing to tackle!"

Kyouya stood up, gaze growing even colder. "Do you want me to show you a tackle? I'll make my foot tackle your face. We'll see how much you like rugby then, little herbivore."

It took everything Tsuna had not to get up and tear down the hallway like a madman…mad child. He was in the presence of a true demon! Kyouya lifted one foot and his leg was raised high up, alarmingly almost one-hundred-and-eighty degrees from his other one. He was about to bring his foot down on Tsuna's large head, though it was more for the sudden fascination he had to see whether it would actually hurt the boy with that thick fluffy hair of his, but he was interrupted.

"KYOUYA!"

Urgh, he'd know that voice anywhere. It was so annoying and so loud. He turned to look, foot halfway to Tsuna's head while the boy cowered. Dino was running down the hallway towards them. The other two conscious boys had fled, wet pants and all. They wouldn't be associating with Takano anytime soon. Takano himself lay groaning some feet away, so he was still alive.

Dino went to help Tsuna up. "What are you doing?" he demanded, glancing at Kyouya quickly before checking to see whether Tsuna was all right. Tsuna gave him a shaky smile.

Kyouya sighed a sigh of the suffering and turned back the way he'd come. "When we get home, I want a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies." he said. "And then some ice cream and maybe some pie. And dango. In that order."

"What? What do you think I am, some sort of vendor?" Dino huffed. Kyouya wasn't listening. Dino took Tsuna's hand and led him back outside. Kyouya was already well ahead. The man sighed.

"Dino-Nii?"

He smiled automatically as he looked down at the child. "What is it, Tsuna?"

"I want some hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies too, and ice cream and some pie." Tsuna grinned. "Oh, and dango."

Dino blinked like an owl. And then laughed. "You kids are impossible." Everything seemed back to normal.

Just to make sure, though, the next day, he went to spy on Tsuna at break time again – making up some excuse about one of his little brothers being in hospital to get out of university. Tsuna was still walking around alone, but he wasn't being bullied by those three anymore.

Wao...so, is anyone actually reading this? It's been ages! I do apologise but...this is a project I undertook to alleviate my boredom and there's no guarantee when the next chapter will be up by, but I hope you all enjoy reading anyway ^_^