I don't own KHR.

Kyoya and Tsuna: First Meeting

Kyoya strode through the hallway that led to the main entrance, ignoring the nearby herbivore children and caretakers that either avoided him or scoffed at him. He didn't care, not that he ever cared, but especially not today.

Not when the orphanage had received a new child earlier that day.

A new Japanese child.

Kyoya felt his young heart jump in nostalgic glee as he couldn't help but smirk in anticipation. He noticed out of the corner of his gray eye that a passing girl had immediately shuddered and did the sign of the cross, like that could save her from his tonfas. But he paid her no mind because finally, after three years of living at this horribly runned orphanage, he was going to hear his mother tongue again.

And his ninth birthday happened just a few weeks ago too (he turned six shortly after he arrived here), so this could count at a belated birthday present! Needless to say, Kyoya was actually feeling pretty excited.

Even if the child turned out to be a cowardly herbivore with no sense of personal space, Kyoya wouldn't mind. As long as he got to hear his native language and got to hear how his homeland had been doing in the last three years, he would be just fine.

Happy even.

He really missed Japan.

Kyoya just has to find the boy...or was it a girl? He had been taking a nap when the Japanese child had arrived, so he honestly had no idea what the child looked like. He only knew that the orphanage had a new arrival thanks to some gossiping girls by the door that led to the rooftop. If he remembered correctly, one of them had used the male pronoun so the new child should be a boy.

The gossiping herbivores also had said that the Japanese boy was very small and a crybaby. They might have said more but Kyoya had lost all sense of patience at that point and opened the door and bit the girls to death for crowding, gossiping, and for waking him up from his nap.

Kyoya honestly wasn't looking forward to the crybaby bit if that was true, since he found excessively crying to be annoying, but for today, he would overlook it.

The child had just arrived at the orphanage today after all, meaning that he had just lost his parents very recently, perhaps even today. Kyoya had enough empathy to not bite the kid to death if he found him crying a whole lot.

It also helped that Kyoya needed the kid to be well enough, as well as not terrified, to be able to chat with him in Japanese.

Kyoya then reached the main entrance and with no hesitation, opened the doors and walked outside. His eyes narrowed a bit in the bright sunlight as he closed the doors behind him, though it didn't take him long to adjust to the sun's rays.

He looked to his right and when he saw no sign of a boy with olive skin, he couldn't help but frown a bit. Kyoya had checked the bedroom that all the boys shared (once they turned four anyway. The toddlers and babies had their own room) but the only kid he found there was a boy with greasy blond hair.

He then of course asked the boy, Ricky he believed his name was, if he knew where the new kid was (he forgot to ask the girls that before he bit them to death). Ricky, luckily for him, informed Kyoya that he saw the kid go outside.

But he neglected to say where outside. The front yard? One of the side yards? The back? At least the yards weren't that big, thanks to a tall, black iron fence that surrounded the building and its property. So Kyoya should find him. Eventually.

Forcing himself to be patient just a bit longer, Kyoya looked to his left and when he didn't see any Japanese boys, decided to go left while keeping an eye on the front yard, just in case he missed something.

"Oh my gosh, would you stop crying already?!" Kyoya stopped as his ears perked up while he turned his head to the corner of the building that was only a few feet in front of him.

"Yeah, you're clearly not the only one who lost their parents, and do you see us crying like a stupid baby?!" cried a different voice as Kyoya headed to the voices. When there was no reply, Kyoya heard something that suspiciously sounded like a fist hitting skin, quickly followed by a cry of pain. "Don't ignore me! Tell me, do you think you're special or something?!"

"Because you're not," a third voice added as Kyoya swiftly brought out his tonfas. "If anything...you're specially dumb."

Kyoya then reached the end of the building and with no break in his stride, turned the corner. However, as soon as he did, he stopped in his tracks as he stared at the scene in front of him.

Three boys around his age (Gabe, Nico, and Matteo) were crowded around a boy smaller than them so that the smaller boy was forced to sit on the ground with his back against the wall. This in of itself wasn't an unusual sight, since these three boys were known for being bullies and troublemakers.

What really caught Kyoya's attention though was the bullied victim. He had warm brown eyes that were red from crying and brown hair that was both unruly and fluffy. The boy, definitely a few years younger than him, also reminded Kyoya of a defenseless, yet cute bunny.

But most importantly, he was also clearly Japanese.

"You're right!" Gabe laughed cruelly, his blue eyes closed as he did so. "I mean, what other reason could he have for not talking to us?!"

Maybe because it's because he doesn't know Italian? That or it's because he already knows you herbivores are not worth his time.

"Yeah, he has to be really stupid or he is especially rude like that monster," Nico added as he scratched the back of his short light-brown hair. Kyoya smirked.

"I'm not rude." The three bullies all but shrieked as they practically jumped out of their skins, their faces full of fear as they turned towards Kyoya.

"I just bite herbivores who crowd and bully smaller herbivores to death. Like you." And with that, Kyoya rushed forward and started the fight. Well, fight might be an exaggeration since the three boys couldn't even land a single hit on him.

Not even a minute later, the bullies were all on the ground, groaning in pain as new bruises began to develop on their bodies. Kyoya smirked once more as he inspected his tonfas. When he saw that there were a few specks of blood on the silver metal, Kyoya carefully wiped the red liquid off.

These tonfas were his father's. They were the only possessions that Kyoya had absolutely refused to be taken away from him, even though the caretakers certainly tried, so many times. They were the only things that he had left that reminded him of his parents (his mother was the one who gifted the weapons to his father), other than his memories.

He had to take care of them.

When the tonfas were cleaned to his satisfaction and put away, Kyoya turned around to face the Japanese child.

The Japanese child was quiet as he stared up at Kyoya, his tears slowing down as he continued to sit motionless on the ground. Kyoya frowned a bit as he looked at the small purple bruise starting to form on the right side of the boy's face before looking into the child's brown eyes.

He couldn't see any fear in them but that didn't mean there wasn't going to be any fear. Every time that he has saved a child from being bullied, they have either run away screaming 'monster' or begged for him to not bite them to death too.

And while Kyoya wasn't truly bothered by that, he didn't want this child to run away from him, at least not today.

At least not until he heard him speak to him in his native tongue.

Then suddenly, the boy smiled.

Widely and without fear.

KHR

Someone saved him...someone had saved him!

It had been about a few hours since the lady in the black pantsuit had picked him up at the hospital and had dropped him off here (he wasn't sure what exactly her job was, probably some government worker) and...he was miserable. No one could understand him, and he couldn't understand them other than a word here or there. He was alone, and it was clear by everyone's attitude towards him that they didn't like him.

And he...he missed his parents. It hasn't even been a full day since they died and already his heart ached like someone had driven an arrow through his heart only to pull it back out roughly. Maybe feeling like this was normal after losing not one, but two people but...it hurt. Tsuna's heart was in pain and the knowledge that he could never see his loving parents again, that he was now all alone...made it even worse.

So even though the six-year-old knew that he was annoying the others in his...new home despite not knowing what they were saying, Tsuna couldn't stop his tears.

He just wanted his parents back.

However, he felt self-conscious and considerate enough to leave the boys' room (even though there was only one other boy in there at the time) and go outside, hoping that he could find some small, private place to cry all his tears out.

Unfortunately, not very long after he left through the front door, three boys ganged up on him and practically forced him against the wall. They spouted angry-sounding words at him and when he didn't answer, couldn't answer, one of them hit him in the face.

This made his tears fall even faster as one of the boys let out a very mean-sounding laugh. He had been afraid, he really didn't want to be beaten up on top of having a broken heart.

But who was gonna help him?

Then suddenly, just when Tsuna was about to accept his fate as a punching bag, a boy with dark hair and grey eyes arrived at the scene. He carried two metal sticks in his hands and if this situation had been any different, he would have kept a wary eye on the weapons. Instead, his attention was focused on the boy himself.

His looks...screamed Japanese.

Then after muttering some Italian, the boy rushed forward and defeated the boys with such efficiency and ruthlessness that Tsuna was honestly a bit alarmed and maybe a bit frightened as well. But then the boy turned his attention towards him and when he made no moves that he was going to attack him as well, Tsuna's alarm flew away.

Tsuna kept quiet as he looked into the older boy's gray eyes. No matter how much he searched, he couldn't find any traces of annoyance, anger, or scorn in them, unlike everyone else he has met in this orphanage. In fact, if anything, the older child seemed...kind of nervous actually.

So Tsuna let himself feel relieved as his lips formed into the first smile since his parents died.

"You...you saved me!" Tsuna exclaimed finally. "Th...Thank you!"

His savior's eyes suddenly grew wide, making Tsuna quickly wonder and fear that he had made a wrong assumption, that the boy wasn't actually Japanese at all.

But, before he could panic, the boy smiled.

"Finally...it's been so long..." the boy muttered in perfect Japanese, causing Tsuna to sigh in relief, even though he was curious what the boy meant by that. However, before Tsuna could ask him, the older boy shook his head and continued.

"It's no problem little herbivore. My name is Hibari Kyoya, what is your name?"

Tsuna smiled. Finally, someone that he could talk to!

"Tsuna! Sawada Tsunayoshi!" Kyoya nodded, still smiling as he sat down in front of him indian-style.

"What a good Japanese name," Kyoya complimented in what almost sounded like a purr.

"Uh...oh...thank you," Tsuna replied with a tilt of his head. He always liked his name, but he had never thought it was anything special. Maybe it was? "I like your name too!"

Kyoya's eyes widened again but this time Tsuna was able to read the surprise in his face before he recovered himself.

Maybe he wasn't used to someone saying that they liked his name either?

"Thank you Tsunayoshi," Kyoya accepted with a warm smile.

"Oh, you can just call me Tsuna-"

"So what has Japan been doing these last three years?" Kyoya interrupted, a now eager and desperate glint in his eyes.

"Uh..." Tsuna pondered, not sure how to answer the random question. "Pretty? Yeah, Japan's doing pretty well and the trees are really pretty! Oh and the fireworks are pretty cool too! If maybe a bit too loud at times..."

"Hn," Kyoya replied, his voice full of satisfaction as he closed his eyes. There was an expression in his face that Tsuna couldn't quite name however. It was almost like he wished to be back-

Oh, oh of course! Kyoya's homesick! That's why he asked that!

"Keep going," Kyoya half-requested, half-ordered, not that Tsuna minded. He felt a bit homesick himself, he could only imagine what it must have been like to be away from home for three whole years.

Though he supposed he would find out in three years time.

Tsuna shook that depressing fact out of his mind and told Kyoya as much as he could, from what his school was like to the scary chihuahua next door who always seemed to be out for his blood.

"And the food is still delicious. My favorite is hamburger steak!"

"Ah, hamburger steak," Kyoya moaned as he closed his eyes again. "That's my favorite too."

"Really? Isn't it the best?!" Tsuna exclaimed happily. "Especially my mom's..."

And just like that, Tsuna's happy mood vanished as he remembered, quite clearly, that his mom would never make him hamburger steak again. She would never call him Tsu-kun, would never tuck him into bed at night, or make sure his cuts were clean before putting a band-aid with robots on it on them ever again.

Mama was gone. Forever. Just like Dad.

Tsuna felt his face crumple as he tried to hold it in, so that he wouldn't annoy the one boy who could not only speak Japanese, but was also treating him kindly. But in the end...he couldn't. His broken heart felt like it had been punched right over the arrow wound and...and...

He didn't want his parents to be dead.

Tsuna let out a choked sob as he covered his eyes with his hands, as if that would stop the new, fresh tears from gushing out. As if that would stop Kyoya from being annoyed at him.

As if that would heal his aching and broken heart.

Then suddenly, he felt a hand on his head. Tsuna's sob died in his throat as he lowered his hands away from his eyes.

The hand belonged to Kyoya. Kyoya didn't look annoyed. Uncomfortable maybe, but also sympathetic and...and maybe a bit sad as well.

That was when the stunned Tsuna recalled that this was an orphanage, that Kyoya had to have a reason for being here too.

"There there," Kyoya said flatly as he gave Tsuna's head two more pats, obviously not used to comforting others.

But somehow...that was all Tsuna needed to gain control of his tears, to feel better, to heal his injured heart a little bit.

Tsuna took in a deep breath before he let it out somewhat shakily as he wiped away his tears. He was about to wipe his snot away too when he realized that he didn't have a tissue. Crying in front of somebody new was one thing, but to wipe his nose in front of him?

If that didn't turn him away in disgust, Tsuna didn't know what would.

"Here," Kyoya sighed as he reached into his black shorts pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Thank you," Tsuna accepted with a sniff as he grabbed the handkerchief and blew on it. When he was done, he looked down at the now very-used handkerchief and back up at Kyoya.

"Um...he-"

"Wash it first before you give it back," Kyoya said quickly, stopping Tsuna's attempt to return it. Tsuna nodded even though he didn't know how to wash it, he had never done laundry before.

But...he guessed he was going to have to learn. For Kyoya.

"Or...no, wash it and if I manage to scare another caretaker enough to make them drop their handkerchief by then, then you can keep it."

"Uh...okay," Tsuna replied as he looked down at the dirty handkerchief in his hand.

Is that really how Kyoya got this handkerchief?

"Well...this has been good," stated Kyoya with a nod as he stood up. "See you around Tsunayoshi."

"Yeah...see ya!" Tsuna exclaimed, perhaps a bit hesitant as his mind tried to figure out how scary Kyoya really was if he was able to frighten a full-grown adult.

Kyoya then nodded as he walked away. However, he only got a few steps in before he suddenly stopped.

"...Thank you." And with that, Kyoya left Tsuna's line of sight without once looking back.

It was then that Tsuna realized that he didn't care how scary Kyoya really was.

He just wanted to be friends with him.

And that is how Kyoya and Tsuna first met each other! It went well, don't ya think?

Now...what do you want to see next? Because you see, unlike with "Little Children", I'm not planning on writing this story in chronological order. I'm just gonna put up little tidbits/little stories at happened to them in the orphanage (and perhaps even in the cave before the events in "Little Children") as I see fit. So I could put up how Kyoya and Tsuna's relationship grew or I could put up the time when Mukuro first considered Takeshi or how Hayato joined the family. It's your call. I am also opened to ideas.

So what did you think of the first chapter so far? Please leave your thoughts and reactions in a review and I will update in probably two weeks or so. Till then, have a good day/night and stay as well as you can!