Chapter Four

AN: Carry on my wayward son(s, daughters, n/b children)

AN 2: I'll explain the title later.

AN 3: I'm a full-time student, full-time employee, and sick af. Sorry for the wait, life's been wildin. Also, Tumblr deleted my account because? It's a bitch? So I have started my recovery under the new username of Ryuu-From-the-Grave.

Corruption is the oldest song known to humanity. Insidious and dissonant, it twists through cracks in minds and clings to souls, a poisonous parasite. Wherever there is order there is politics, and wherever there are politics, there is corruption. It targets the weakest, the most innocent. It preys on the people it should protect.

Hibari Kyoya has little time for herbivores and none at all for parasites.

"At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst."

-Aristotle

Chapter Four: Syllogisms (2 + 2 = Death)

In a cheery urban home located somewhere in midst of the chaotic, hellish paradise known as Namimori, a phone begins to ring.

Nana Sawada blinks and turns to the phone in surprise, putting down her sewing and moving to pick up the phone. "Hello? This is the Sawada residence."

"Hello, is this Sawada Nana?" The voice on the other end is the kind of cliche usually heard on children's programs: high pitched and nasally, as though the other is suffering from constant allergies, with a certain tinniness to their voice that is caused by more than poor phone service.

"Yes, this is she."

"I'm calling to inform you that your son has been caught cheating on his history test. He only missed two questions and, considering his track record, we find that to be impossible. He is being summoned to the principal's office for discipline after school. We expect you will punish him accordingly once he returns home, as well."

With that, the voice hangs up, not even waiting to hear the mother's reply.

Sawada Nana frowns as she pulls the phone away and stares down at it, lost in contemplation. It's true that such a score would be incredibly unusual for her Useless Tsu-kun, but…

"Kaa-chan, the Edo period was actually really cool! Did you know that they had a bunch of samurai and art at the same time? And that there was a bunch of really cool new stuff-?!"

But it was the history test they said he cheated on, wasn't it? A history test over the Edo period, when just last night Tsu-kun had been unable to talk about anything but that same period… and he had known more than even she could remember… so it would make sense if he did well on that test, wouldn't it? And they had said that it was only based on the comparisons between this result and previous tests…

Sawada Nana's frown deepened as she set the phone back into the receiver, brow furrowed as she tapped her foot anxiously. Several more minutes passed, the only sounds the ticking of the clock and tapping of slippered feet as the Sawada matriarch stood in motionless thought.

All at once she stilled and straightened, eyes hard and clear as she abruptly turned and headed up the stairs. She had to get changed and ready before going to speak with Tsu-kun's teacher and principal.

It doesn't do to go to war without armor, after all.

A head of fluffy brunette hair was bowed, small hands on trembling knees as Tsuna sat in the hallway of the principal's office. His bag was on his chair behind him, phone hidden and buried already just in case they tried to take it from him for "evidence" of his cheating.

Tsuna knew better than to trust anyone, especially adults.

The teacher had sent him to the principal's office early, so there was still nearly an hour before school ended and the meeting actually began. The teacher had also told Tsuna that his kaa-san would be called during the transition period between classes.

It wasn't fair! He had finally managed to do well, to be more than no-good, and they were going to punish him for it! There hadn't been any evidence - of course, there hadn't been, seeing as Tsuna hadn't cheated. He had studied, he had remembered! All for nothing. They had called his kaa-san without even giving him a chance to explain, so she'd believe her fellow adults over her useless son. It wasn't fair.

It wasn't… it wasn't fair!

The young boy pulled his feet up on the chair and buried his face in his knees, trying futilely to stop from crying.

Why…? Why couldn't he do anything right? Why was he always no-good, no matter what he did?

If no one would ever believe him… what was even the point of trying?

Around the globe, a bone-chilling feeling rushed through every single follower of Sky_27. Something was wrong, and no one knew what.

In a lab far away, a green-haired scientist noted down his most recent observations as #Sky27 became a trending hashtag once again.

Hibari Kyoya frowned as he stalked through the hallways of his school, a scowl etched harshly across delicate features as his instincts warned him of something he would hate.

Coming to a sudden decision, the disciplinary prefect decided to head to the principal's office early. There was still 30 minutes before the appointment was scheduled, but if the herbivore knew the cause of this ominous feeling, Hibari saw no need to wait. And if not, then the foolish herbivore would be bitten to death for wasting his time and the young carnivore would seek new prey to bite.

The sharp clacking of small shoes echoed through the hallway as the raven made his way up staircases and down hallways, ignoring the cowardly herbivores pressed against walls to distance themselves from him and even going so far as to duck into classrooms and hide behind trash cans.

Pathetic herbivores.

Several feet from the turn to the hallway where the principal's office was located, Hibari Kyoya paused. A weak sniffling reached his ears, but no other sounds were there. Must be a herbivore crying about getting caught and punished, then.

Kyoya nodded decisively to himself and rounded the corner, contemplating a pre-emptive biting to death for whatever unruly herbivore he finds when he froze.

There in the middle of the hallway, a familiar head of fluffy brown hair was buried into the tiny animal's legs with his arms wrapped around himself, as though seeking comfort from himself. Kyoya recognized him immediately as the little herbivore from just the other day that he had let in to get supplies… his kohai.

"Little animal." The words came out sharper and closer to a growl than necessarily intended, but the darkness inside of Hibari Kyoya is sharp and writhing and he will not temper it for anyone, not even this fluffy little herbivore.

Tsuna lifted his head, eyes red and cheeks tear-stained as he looked up at the black-clad demon before him. "Hibari-senpai?"

"Little animal, what are you doing here?"

Tsuna said nothing, brown eyes dull as he buried his face back into his legs. Hibari frowned and twitched for his tonfa. It was unusual for any herbivore to dare resist him, especially this submissive one.

Scowling, Hibari lifted Tsuna by the back of his shirt and grabbed the boy's backpack, ignoring the high pitched squeal of shock (but surprisingly little fear) from the small animal. The principal's door slammed open and hit the wall so hard it stuck in the crumbled plaster from the force of Hibari's kick.

The herbivore principal shot up from his desk, spilling coffee over both his papers and suit.

Pathetic.

Hibari plopped the fluffy animal into a chair before the principal's desk and dropped his backpack into the small lap as he stared down the fake-carnivore leader.

"Herbivore. Explain."

The principal stumbled from where he was trying to salvage his papers, immediately giving it up as a lost job to face the feared demon child of Namimori. "Hibari-san! This boy was caught cheating. If you wait just a couple of minutes, his teacher will be up to fully explain the situation. He is to be suspended for two weeks and given permanent marks on his record."

Tsuna whimpered and hid behind his backpack. Grey eyes sharpened into silver blades.

Without ceasing eye contact with the principal, Hibari pulled back a chair from the desk and settled down, kicking his feet up and watching the man's wince. Oh, he could demand that the teacher come up here and now, but it would be against policy and deprive the baby herbivores of valuable education time.

(It would deprive Hibari of more time to watch the grown man squirm before him, little more than fresh meat before a predator.)

Tsuna wasn't quite sure what was happening.

The tears had mostly stopped now, depression making way for confusion despite the still-present burn in his eyes and congestion in his nose and throat. He had expected to be bitten to death immediately by Hibari-senpai, yet the black haired boy appeared to be more eager to bite the principal than him.

Was… was the older boy on his side? The prefect had not asked for an explanation but already seemed to understand the situation. Tsuna shook his head and buried his face into the scratchy cloth of his backpack.

No, he shouldn't think like that. It would only hurt more later, Tsuna knew.

"Herbivore."

Both the principal and Tsuna jerked upright, turning to stare at the violent carnivore in their midst. Tsuna relaxed as he saw that Hibari still had his blank but somehow threatening gaze locked onto the adult.

"If I find that you have wasted my time and falsely accused the small animal… I will bite you to death."

The principal went white with fear even as Tsuna felt his cheeks heat with a blush as he went back to huddling behind his orange bag and dared to hope.

(Blazing purple bit and beat at a brown barrier, determined to reach the orange inferno trapped inside.)

Nezu-sensei was expecting many things when he walked up to the principal's office. The smug aura of the powerful, a crying boy, perhaps even an apologetic mother.

He was not expecting a door stuck to a spider web-cracked wall, a raven with feet kicked up on the principal's office like he owned the school (which he did in all but deed), and the bloodthirsty aura of the one and only Hibari Kyoya.

Distantly, the man acknowledged that he may have made a very large mistake.

A feral smile crawled across Hibari's face as the stench of fear flooded the office. He leaned back, tilting the chair using the leverage from his legs on the desk so that he could tilt his head back and upside down to size up the newest arrival.

"Finally, the last herbivore arrives."

The smile only grew and twisted as the man audibly gulped. Cowardly herbivores, the lot of them.

The young boy kicked off from the desk, his chair slamming down with a thunk that caused both adults in the room to flinch. Nezu quickly walked over to the principal, feeling somewhat braver with the authority beside him and the desk between him and the demon.

(Nezu never was a terribly intelligent man.)

(...Or even just a little bit smart, really.)

"Herbivore, you have wasted enough of my time. Explain."

The man instinctively scowled, biting back a retort at the rudeness of the other before paling. While he may have thought that the other should have some manners beaten into him, Nezu also knew he'd be bitten to death if he even completed the thought in the younger's presence.

"Of course, Hibari-san. Da- I mean, Sawada-kun has always had horrible grades. He regularly scores in the tens and twenties, and occasionally below. However, on his last test, he received a 93, only missing two questions. As such, he must be punished for cheating."

Hibari paused, rewound, and repeated the words in his head. ...Yes, the herbivore was definitely being bitten to death once all this was over.

"Evidence." A demand.

Nezu blinked at the younger boy's impassive face and felt the room grow tenser.

"What do you mean, Hibari-san? It's obvious that the boy could not have gotten such a grade without cheating."

"Conjecture. Evidence."

The haze of bloodlust was peaking as Hibari's fingers twitched, the itch for his tonfa become nearly unbearable. If the herbivores had wasted his time, made the small animal cry, broken the sanctity of his territory just because of their own patheticness -

Perhaps it was time to cull the herd.

"W-Well, Sawada-kun couldn't have studied for the test! He left his bag and material in the room when he ran out of class yesterday."

The man seemed very smug at his so-called evidence. Hibari was quick to cut him back down to size.

"I let the small animal into class yesterday after school in order to retrieve his supplies. Additionally, you were supposed to stay after school for an hour yesterday as a mandatory tutoring time, correct?"

Nezu paled and felt the cold hand of death (also known as Hibari Kyoya) grip his heart.

"W-Well even so, he had to have cheated!"

Hibari scowled and tuned out the herbivores stammering explanation.

"Oh. You're just an idiot."

"Why you-!" Nezu paled as he realized who exactly he just yelled at. The principal's eyes showed that he already knew and was resigned to his fate.

"For the crime of falsely accusing a small animal and wasting my time, I will bite you both to death."

With that, Hibari attacked.

Tsuna sat against the wall of the hallway, watching the Disciplinary Committee members cart out the two unconscious adults and begin cleaning up the office. Hibari was perched on the one remaining chair much like a smug cat, smirking as he surveyed the destruction he had caused and ate the hamburger steak bento Kusakabe has delivered for him.

"Tsu-kun!"

The brunette blinked in surprise as his kaa-san entered the hallway, led by a pompadour. The small boy stiffened as two thin but warm arms wrapped around him and picked him up, backpack and all.

"Kaa-san?"

The woman smiled down at her son and bopped him on the nose, making him giggle slightly in relief. She didn't seem to be upset…

Nana turned to the so-called demon of Namimori, giving a shallow bow as she did. "Thank you for defending my son, Hibari-san. Your committee filled me in on what happened."

The boy tilted his head to observe her curiously, taking in the determined set of her eyes and calculating distance and travel times in his head.

Ah, so the herbivore had come to defend her cub after all.

Hibari simply "hn"ed and returned to his meal, though the herbivore's mother must have gotten the message, based on her commiserating look with Kusakabe.

With a final nod of acknowledgment, Sawada Nana strolled out of the building, her son in her arms and a wider understanding of the world.

She had a long way to go, but she was on her way.

Tsuna looked over his mother's shoulder and waved goodbye to the dark figure in the window.

AN: Here's your title explanation. Syllogisms were created by Aristotle (the source of this chapter's quote). They are defined as: "a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true." In this case: "2+2 = Death." 2+2 = 4, we know this. However, 4 is considered the "number of death" in some Eastern countries, especially China and sometimes Japan. Hence, 2+2 = 4 and 4 = Death so 2 + 2 = Death (which = Hibari Kyoya).