Thank you for all the follows/reviews/favourites! It's quite humbling to know that there are this many people following this story, and I hope I can continue to interest you with my future chapters and have your support!

Disclaimer: FANfiction. I only own the OC. Any changes to the original canon story is due to the fact that this is fanfiction.

Warning: May contain coarse language.

Riko didn't quite know why she was still at Hibari's side when they reached the hospital. Multiple explanations crossed her mind, and she tested them out with herself as they entered the multi-levelled concrete building.

It wasn't because his hand was still attached to her collar — he had released his grip on her a few blocks ago.

Fear of him hunting her down? No, it was definitely not that. She wasn't afraid of being hunted down by Hibari anymore — he had done it so many times that she had already lost count.

Did she feel like it was her responsibility to stay with him while he went through what seemed like a hard situation for him? Not at all. It felt more like she wanted to, rather than an obligation.

The conclusion she arrived at surprised her. She genuinely wanted to stay with Hibari, even if that meant dealing with possible tantrums later on, and having to receive the brunt of them.

Why?

Her gaze slid askance to assess the cloud guardian's emotional state. Or rather, the lack thereof. His face was still stony, and seemingly unfeeling. He had not uttered a word since Riko had discovered that it was Kusakabe that was in the hospital.

Seeing the reception desk, Riko started to deviate towards where a nurse sat, but was stopped as Hibari grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her along with him again. Riko yelped in surprise when she felt her body being yanked back against her will, and looked up to see Hibari say to a passing nurse, "Kusakabe Tetsuya."

The nurse had a nervous expression on her face, but it seemed as if she was familiar with Hibari and his methods, as she stuttered, "R-Room thirteen in the east wing."

Hibari's pace was quick, and Riko caught up with him much more easily than she had been able to half an hour ago. They passed many closed doors, as well as medical personnel, most of which blanched when they saw the Namimori High prefect's stormy expression.

Riko found herself vaguely wondering what Hibari had done to rise to such infamy in a hospital, but smug suspicion which she chose to ignore rested in the back of her mind.

She felt his grip loosen, and realised that he had stopped in front of a closed door. Room 13. A slip of paper with Japanese characters written on had been slotted into the mount on the door. Hibari easily read the foreign characters, and opened the door without knocking.

"Wow, you look like shit," was the first thing that thoughtlessly left Riko's mouth when she saw Kusakabe lying on the bed.

She wasn't wrong. And Hibari seemed to agree, too. He stopped at his righthand man's bedside, and glared down at him as Kusakabe slowly opened his eyes with evident confusion. One leg was elevated and encased in white plaster, while his right arm was wrapped in bandages. His face seemed to be where most of the damage was, with a bruised cheek, both eyes black and multiple cuts on his eyebrows and lips.

"Hibari-san?" he slowly shifted himself to sit up, and confusedly shifted his gaze between Hibari and Riko, who was awkwardly hovering behind Hibari. "Yang?"

Hibari's face was cold as he spoke. "Who did this?"

Kusakabe winced at his question. "Nobo-" he stopped when a familiar steel rod stopped inches away from his face.

Hibari's eyes gleamed with cold fury. "Let me repeat myself again: who did this?"

"S-Setsuna South High…"

Without another word, Hibari left the room, leaving the wounded male alone with the Varia acrobat.

"You done got beat up good," Riko commented dryly as she gingerly sat at the edge of his bed. It was an odd situation for her to be in. She barely knew him, and here she was, making a hospital visit as if they were friends. Should she have stopped to buy some flowers from the gift shop?

"That's none of your business, Yang," Kusakabe growled, making Riko glad that she hadn't stopped to buy a get-well gift after all. He clearly wasn't too happy to see her. "And on that note, how on Earth did-"

"How did Kyoya find out that you were beaten to a bloody pulp?" Riko lifted an eyebrow; her tone sardonic, "You can't possibly expect anything to happen without the-all-knowing Kyoya finding out, can you?"

He seemed ready to say something, but closed his mouth before he did. Kusakabe's reluctant gaze never left Riko. "Why are you here?"

"Good question," Riko shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't really know myself, except Kyoya was just about ready to kill me when one of his lackeys came running with the news that you were in the hospital nursing your wounds. Speaking of which, why were you beat up?"

He winced at her question, as if he were reliving the physical damage that had been dealt to him earlier. "It's not easy being Hibari-san's righthand man, and it's not the first time I've been put in the hospital because of it. And you of all people know that Hibari-san isn't the kind of person with many friends."

"Don't I know it?" Riko affirmed dryly, "So they're targeted you because you're his best friend?"

"I'm not Hibari-san's best friend."

"The fuck you aren't."

"I really am not."

"Fuck you! That's bullshit."

"If he was, I would call him by his first name."

"What is with that, anyway? In Europe, we avoid the confusion by using first names. It's so much easier that way."

"Well, not everyone's as disrespectful as you, Yang."

"Who're you calling disrespectful, Revolta!?"

"My name is Kusakabe Tetsuya, and I rest my case."

"What's the big deal, anyway? You're still his best friend, aren't you? If you weren't, he wouldn't give two fucks that you're in the hospital."

Kusakabe had no response for Riko's words. He averted his gaze to his bandaged hands, avoiding making eye contact with the acrobat.

xxxx

"Kyoya."

"Kyooooooooya."

"Kyoyaaaaa."

"Hibari fucking Kyoya!"

Steely eyes pulled away from the texted paper on the wooden desk. "What do you want, herbivore?" His eyes narrowed as he added, "And use that chair properly."

Pleased that she had finally gotten Hibari to acknowledge her presence, Riko pulled her feet off the arms of the chair she was perched on, and sat back on it with a cheery grin. "I have some questions for you."

Hibari pulled another sheet of paper from the pile next to him, placing it on top of the one he had been previously reading. "What are they?"

"One: did you really beat up an entire gang of delinquents? If not, won't the remaining people jump someone else you care about again? And two: Revolta is your best friend, am I right?"

With a scoff, the prefect picked up a pen and started writing on the blank spaces of the black-printed paper. "I administered punishment accordingly, but yes, a few herbivores managed to escape while my attention was occupied. They won't be 'jumping' anyone I care about again simply because I never had any people I cared about to begin with. And no, Kusakabe Tetsuya is not my best friend. I have no friends."

Riko raised a questioning eyebrow. "You're a fucking liar."

"I never lie."

"Yeah right you don't. You're a fucking liar and denial isn't just a river in Egypt."

Hibari narrowed his eyes. "I am not in denial."

"Yes, you are. And why is it so hard to admit that you have a friend, anyway, let alone a best friend?" Riko rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Honestly, some people are so unnecessarily uptight about these kinds of things. Bel's my best friend, and I'm not shy in admitting that fact. What's so hard about it? You care about him to a certain depth. Congratulations, you have a heart after all."

"You talk too much, herbivore," Hibari said after a very long pause. His eyes flickered towards Riko for a moment, before returning to his paperwork. "I don't see why my personal matters have to concern you."

"If you're all up in my business, it's only fair that I'm all up in yours!" Riko flushed when Hibari cocked an eyebrow at the hidden connotation in her statement, and she adamantly sputtered, "O-Of course I meant the platonic kind of business, ya nasty!"

"I don't quite understand what you're trying to get at, herbivore," Hibari masked the smirk that threatened to show on his face, "Leave now, before I lose my temper."

He didn't quite mean what he had said, but no doubt it had the desired effect on the girl. Riko hissed at him before quickly running to the door and disappeared down the hallway. Heaving the tiniest of sighs, Hibari placed his pen down again, and leaned back in his office chair.

What was that herbivore trying to do, messing with the order of things? He was the alpha, and Kusakabe Tetsuya was, no doubt, the beta. This little herbivore was hovering between being a gamma and an omega, and yet was attempting to prod a stick at the ecosystem like she was some sort of omnipotent being that could change the natural progression of life just because she wanted to.

Friends. Friendship. What was the use of either of those things? The very idea of friendship repulsed the antisocial cloud guardian, because it was basically synonymous to crowding, and he hated crowds. Friends were pointless, because they really were just weaknesses that people would target time and again, just like how Sawada Tsunayoshi's friends had been targeted.

However...

Sawada Tsunayoshi was strong. That was something Hibari had come to admit in the past few years since the little herbivore had scurried onto his radar with his explosive growth of power. He was strong, and yet had many friends. How did that work? What was a friend, anyway? In what way could a person be considered a friend?

For the first time in a long time, Hibari Kyoya found himself wondering just what it meant to be a friend.

Bit of a risky chapter to write, but I decided to take that plunge and let it lead me wherever this story chooses to go! In the first chapter, I mentioned that this story would explore the organic development of a relationship between Hibari and Riko, and it was implied with that statement that it meant that I would be attempting to do character development with Hibari as well. Let's face it, Hibari and Kusakabe definitely went through some bro-bonding stuff in the ten years before the TYL! arc to reach the point where they're comfortable enough to call each other by shortened nicknames.

Anyways, I've rambled on enough already! Let me know how you liked or disliked this chapter, or if you have any questions! Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Delphoxi