Chapter Text
Hibari Kyouya stands in front of the Himura household. From inside the house, he hears faint, hesitant footsteps. Someone must have spotted Hibari from one of the windows; Hibari had not exactly made his arrival a secret, had been excited for the excuse to bite crowding herbivores (journalists) to death.
But the Himuras had moved to the seaside (closer to Namimori) less than a week ago, and the crowding herbivores had not yet caught onto their whereabouts.
Todoroki Rei brought her children there, evidenced by the sighting of her youngest, Shouto, in a local park from security camera footage. His mother had done a good job hiding his hair with a thick woolen hat, but Hibari had recognized the slant of his big eyes—had seen it several times in Fon, and could probably find them in his own childhood photos, wherever his father had decided to store them after Hibari Ryuko’s death.
Rather than ringing the doorbell, Hibari knocks twice firmly. It’s loud enough that the footsteps from inside go completely quiet. Then there’s shuffling, hasty whispers, and then a grey-haired woman with grey eyes opens the door.
“Kyouya-kun,” the woman says. “Hello.”
“Herbivore,” Hibari greets, and the old woman’s brow furrows.
“You haven’t changed a bit.” A shake of her head. “No, you’ve gotten much taller. You look just like Ryuko-sama.”
“Hm.”
“How is my brother?”
Hibari’s eyes flit to the tiny shadows hiding behind his aunt. “There is no use in hiding,” he says, and the shadows twitch. “Herbivore, let us talk inside.”
“O-of course.”
Hibari steps into the dim hallway as his aunt closes the door shut. He hears a lock click in place, and then another, and another.
Without bothering to look behind him, Hibari continues walking forward, and says, “Bring the little animals into the living room.”
Four sets of eyes (two sets nervous, one set curious, and the last set scrutinizing and suspicious) stare up at Hibari from their seat around the kotatsu. “Where is their mother?”
“She stepped out for a bit to buy some groceries,” his aunt says. At Hibari’s steady stare, she hastily continues, “No one will recognize her. These parts don’t know too much about heroes and their families like the city does.”
“Hm.”
His aunt turns towards the four children. “Kids, this is my brother’s son, Hibari Kyouya. He’s your mom’s cousin. Say hello.”
Unsurprisingly, the one who speaks up first is the mousy little girl. “H-hello, Hibari-san. I’m Fuyumi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Natsuo,” the small boy next to her says. He pats the arm of the even smaller animal sitting in his lap. “This is Shouto.”
The three siblings turn expectantly at the eldest.
The white-haired pre-teen grunts. “Touya.”
Hibari appraises them. Behind the nervousness, the trepidation, the curiosity and the bitterness, there is—
“They will do,” Hibari says. He turns to his aunt. “I will speak to their mother. We will make arrangements.”
“A-arrangements?”
“What the hell do you plan on doing with us?” Touya snaps, and Hibari hides a razor-sharp grin. He can smell the desire for strength. His rage, just a molecule away from a wildfire.
“Those leech herbivores will find them here eventually,” Hibari says, looking at his aunt. “And no matter where you run, one day, wannabe carnivores will find them too.” He turns his gaze towards each of the children, remembering Todorki Rei’s words. “Or maybe you will burn up all on your own.”
Fuyumi and Natsuo flinch, Shouto blinks in confusion, and Touya snarls at him.
Hibari stands, moving next to the windows. If he opens the latch, and stays still by the ledge for a few hours, Hibird could find him and land on his shoulder. “You cannot stay here,” he continues, steely grey eyes flitting across the walls of the pristine room disdainfully.
“You little animals will come back to Namimori with me."