Hibari knew his plan had a few flaws in it, but he would have to make due with it. He had a short amount of time to work with, so he had to work as quickly as possible. His herbivore wasn't going to forgive him so easily this time. A mere box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers wouldn't even be close to enough. And somehow, at the same time, he had to ensure that Tsunayoshi remained his, that no other herbivore tried to claim what was rightfully his, and that he managed to keep his pride intact. His pride was something he would never give up, not for anyone, and he was sure Tsunayoshi would come back to him and that his pride would not receive any injuries. Injuries were unacceptable...

Now, he had to get his herbivore's attention, because Tsunayoshi had been ignoring him, and that was not something Hibari would tolerate. He was to be given the utmost respect, and his herbivore was doing the opposite, not that one could fully blame him. Hibari took full blame for what happened between them, and he knew he was wrong, but that didn't mean he would allow his herbivore to leave him. Tsunayoshi was his, and only his. His herbivore was only allowed to leave if Hibari told him to, though now, he supposed, was an exception.

For now, he would force the herbivore to pay attention to him; one way or another.

His first task, was to deal with any bullies. Rumors had spread quickly as people seemed to noticed them not spending any more time together, and while some of the people following after his Tsunayoshi were perverts, whom he would bite to death later, most were bullies who thought it was a good idea to antagonize his herbivore. That was not tolerable either. Just because they technically weren't together, didn't mean they had any right to attack his herbivore. Whether Tsunayoshi liked it or not, he belonged to him, and Hibari would be damned if he allowed weak, puny herbivores to attack and harass his Tsunayoshi. Something had to be done.

And he planned on doing something about it right now, because right outside his window, his herbivore was being bullied.

Hibari smirked. This was the chance he needed.

He opened the window in the room and jumped out, not minding at all that he was on the third floor. He jumped to the nearest tree, and from there, down to the ground, right behind the idiots he was going to bite to death. Tsunayoshi's eyes widened in what he knew was shock and horror, and worst of all, sadness. The bullies continued to tease his herbivore, laughing because they thought his Tsunayoshi was scared of them. He was much scarier, he knew, and Tsunayoshi had dated him for 2 years. There was no way Tsunayoshi was afraid of these weaklings.

"Herbivores." It amused him, seeing the look of terror on their faces as they slowly turned to meet his gaze. He hid his smirk and chose to scowl instead, because despite being amused by their fear and a bit happy that Tsunayoshi was currently watching him so intently, he was pissed. No one was allowed to lay a hand on his herbivore. Only him.

"I suggest you leave now, before I bite you to death." He had already raised his tonfas for emphasis, and now all that was left was for the boys to run away, which didn't take long to happen. Of course, he immediately picked up on the fact that his herbivore was also trying to get away from him. "Except for you Tsunayoshi."

His herbivore tensed under his gaze, and refused to look directly at him, a scowl on his face. He didn't like when his herbivore was scowling. Scowls did not suit Tsunayoshi's face.

"Look at me Tsunayoshi." Still, no response. He would definitely have to fix that as well. "You should look at people when they are talking to you herbivore."

"That would only be to people you respect Hibari-san, and I have lost all respect for you." Completely unacceptable. He wanted to smash his tonfa over his herbivore's head, but that would do the opposite of getting them back together. No. Now, he needed to focus on getting his herbivore to at least glance in his direction.

"Is that so? Well, then, I have to teach you to respect me once more than, don't I?" Challenge accepted Tsunayoshi. You will be mine again.

"That would be unnecessary Hibari-san. I'd rather you didn't. I have to get home anyway. Goodbye Hibari-san." Again with those words. This isn't goodbye. Before his herbivore could walk away from him, he grabbed Tsunayoshi's wrist and pulled, effectively landing the herbivore in his chest. Of course, Tsunayoshi struggled, and refused to give up with that stubbornness that Hibari had come to find a bit charming, though now, it was annoying the hell out of him. Why couldn't his herbivore see what he was trying to do?

"Let me go! Let go of me Hibari-san! Let go!" He wouldn't let go. He didn't care if Tsunayoshi continued to pound his fists onto his chest. Hibari would not give up. It pained him to see his herbivore break down before him, tears streaming down his cheeks as he desperately tried to get away, but Hibari couldn't let go. He wouldn't let go. He had to get his herbivore back, and he didn't care about the consequences.

The punches to his chest got weaker and slower as his herbivore continued to cry his heart out. His knees collapsed beneath him and Hibari had to tighten his grip on his herbivore's waist so that Tsunayoshi wouldn't fall.

"W-Why? Why won't you just leave me alone? Was two years not enough time for you to toy with my emotions?" Toy with his emotions? Oh yes, he had told his herbivore that he never loved him. Great. He had to fix that too.

"You are mine Tsunayoshi, and no one else's."

It was true. He would not allow Tsunayoshi to slip away from him so easily. Hibari would not give up. Not ever. Tsunayoshi would be his again, without a doubt.

"No. I'm not yours," Tsunayoshi said. Hibari's eyes widened slightly, but not enough for anyone to notice. "I am not your possession or an object you can just play with!"

Why couldn't his herbivore realize it? Why couldn't Tsunayoshi realize that he really did love him?! Tsunayoshi broke away from his grasp and stood in front of him, bangs shadowing his eyes. His voice broke and he heard small hiccups and choked sobs from his herbivore. He... He made his herbivore cry again. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I'm not a play thing damn it... I won't be your play thing anymore!"
He didn't think that. Tsunayoshi not a plaything, but he couldn't tell the other that. Not now at least. He needed to convince Tsunayoshi that he hadn't meant a word he said before, and at the same time, keep his pride intact. So he watched as his herbivore walked away, staying there and ignoring the fact that he had let a both a worthless herbivore that needed to be bitten to death and his Tsunayoshi out of his grasp. That wouldn't do. He would have to fix that soon.

Walking back to the reception room, he thought nothing more of the previous conversation with his herbivore. He didn't want to think about what Tsunayoshi said to him now, and instead, thought more about what he would do next. Now was not the time to worry about past conversations, but to worry about future once. He needed to make sure that his next plan did not fail.

~.-.~

Tsuna found that he couldn't spend the rest of the day at the school, the very place Hibari loved so much. He could no longer be in the same area as the other without feeling a sharp pain in his chest, and he couldn't deal with it. It was only yesterday he had ended everything and he wouldn't have come to school had Reborn not forced him. He was 16, and Hibari was the first person he had ever truly loved. He loved Hibari enough to go through every single test, and he didn't care if Hibari cheating on him was another test or not; it was wrong. He couldn't believe he hadn't known sooner, that his relationship was at such a low point, that the other had to result to sneaking around.

Was it his fault? Had he made Hibari wait too long? But Hibari had told him that he would wait as long as it took. It didn't make sense that Hibari would do that to him. Maybe he had done something wrong during their relationship, but he could think of nothing he could have done to upset the prefect.

Maybe... Maybe what Hibari had said before was the truth. He had just lost interest in him, that was all. His intuition yelled at him that it was a lie; Hibari had not lost interest in him, and Hibari still loved him.

He wanted to believe his intuition, just like all of the other times when it saved him from his enemies, but now, he couldn't. He couldn't believe it, because even if he did, he didn't think he'd be able to forgive the prefect. He had gone much too far.

And yet, he couldn't stop himself from still being in love with the very person that had broken his heart. He ignored his mother's worried calls as he ran up to his room and locked himself in there, tears already spilling freely from his eyes. He curled up in the corner of his bed, bringing his legs up to his chest and holding them in his arms, his head resting on his knees. He didn't want anyone to see him this way, not looking so broken, because he couldn't even force a proper smile at this point. It was just too difficult and he knew it would worry everyone more than it would had he just shown them his true feelings, which he also had no intention of doing. He didn't want them to see him so broken, and at the same time, he didn't want them to see a facade he felt the need to make. He just wanted to be alone.

He ignored the knocks on his door or the questions from his worried mother as he continued to sit there, wondering if maybe he had done something wrong in their relationship to have Hibari cheat on him the way he did.

He knew about the tests –about all of them– and it hurt him every time a new one came. He trusted Hibari with his own life, and the other could not even trust him after 2 years of being together.

Sadly, Tsuna wasn't sure whether or not Hibari was really cheating on him or not, or if it was just another test, and now, he didn't even care. Whether it was a test or not, Hibari went too far. It didn't even matter if Hibari had only slept with the woman once or multiple times. To Tsuna, it was painful either way, and no matter what Hibari said to fix it, he wasn't sure he could forgive the raven haired man as easily as he used to.

He looked past all of those tests before, ignoring the pain in his heart every time, just to forgive Hibari's stupid mistakes, but now that was different. Now, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't and wouldn't forgive Hibari. He was done being Hibari's pet. Tsuna always settled for the little gifts Hibari would give him as a form of apology instead of sincerely saying though few words because he knew Hibari was trying, and he accepted that, but not anymore. He was not some pet that could be bought with a treat. He was a person, and he wasn't going to settle for some treat anymore.

Tsuna unfolded himself from his curled up position at the corner of his bed, staring at the object on his desk. It was a box that looked exactly like the one he gave Hibari all those hours ago. He stared at it, contemplating whether or not to keep it. It no longer held any value to him now that they were no longer together, and he didn't need any more reminders of his fallen relationship. He wasn't going to let this keep him down for long.

He was going to be strong, and he was going to get over Hibari. He didn't need someone who never trusted him, and he wouldn't let that bring him down anymore. He was stronger than that, and he was going to show Hibari. He wouldn't let the older male have his way anymore.

Tsuna was going to show Hibari that he didn't need him to live his life. He was just fine on his own. He was before they were dating, and he was going to be fine now.

~.-.~

Sky: Hello! Everyone! Its me! CloudieSky27! And I'd like to introduce my new co-writer for this story!

Yuki: Hello! I'm Yukichanaru :3

Sky: I was running low (and I mean looooow) on ideas for this fic, but Yuki saved the day! :D

Yuki: Lies. It's just something called teamwork = w =

Sky: And teamwork is wonderful~ Especially when we love all the same pairings!

Yuki: That, right there, is very true.

Sky: XD Well, we must thank our reviewers~

Yuki: And never forget the readers!

Sky: Indeed! And I always forget disclaimers...

Yuki: . _ . Really now. That's why you should do them at the beginning...

Sky: Yeah... Its a bad habit... And I prefer making Author's Notes at the end, so readers can get right to reading the fic! :D

Yuki: Yeah, but they hate long author's notes like this one .

Sky: ... Okay! Now to thank reviewers and readers!

Thank you to: poisson, Kiyomi di Vongola, ben4kevin, aika, Kana-chan, NeitherSaneNorInsane, rentamiya, usagi grecia desu, Angelic Phantomcrow, Carmz C, Kichou, FallenxLinken, MISAKI555, wooden-spoon, and Sawada. Also, thank you to other readers!

Sky: Yuki! Disclaimer please?

Yuki: Fine, I'll do it...
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT, AND WILL NEVER, OWN KHR. IF WE DID, 1827 WOULD BE CANNON.

Sky: Greater words have never been spoken *tears up*

Yuki: Riiiiiiight... *deadpans*

Sky: Aaaaaaanyway~ We are just about done here. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW PEOPLE! See you next chapter~

Yuki: Ciao~