Aeolian

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Hibari

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When Hibari wakes up, it is not to the sight of his room. The rich wood of his home's ceiling is not the sight he is greeted by.

Instead of the gleaming oak wood that is commonplace to wake up to, he instead sees concrete, dull and grey and stretching out above his head to form a gaudy halo around the sole light bulb that illuminates the room. White paint chips off of the brick walls, flaking and gathering in tiny piles upon the floor, another stretch of worn concrete.

With a groan Hibari clenches his eyes shut, before blinking rapidly. It wasn't a completely herbivore move to hope for a mere second that what he was seeing was a very different thing to what his brain was registering. As if he were still dreaming, and not quite out of the dreamscape he had tumbled into.

Alas, the scenery didn't change, nor the stale smell that penetrated the air around him.

Lips pursed, Hibari rises to his feet, swaying slightly as the muscles within his legs respond far slower than normal. His trusted tonfas are absent, stolen from his person, given that the arm guards he never removes are also missing. Even the knife in his shoe, the one his mother insisted he carry with him, is gone, and Hibari's teeth grind together at the realization.

He's still in his school shirt, and the last thing he remembers is going up to the Disciplinary Committee Office to retrieve his personal affects before heading home for the day. He remembers walking up the first set of stairs, he remembers walking onto the landing.

After that, it gets fuzzy, the mental image of the school he knows so well disappears, blurring around the edges in a way that is not natural of his memory, and Hibari knows he has been drugged.

Otherwise, they would have never managed to get him here without a fight. Hibari would have bitten them to death.

Lifting his fingers to his face, Hibari can see the tiniest bits of skin beneath his fingernails, little freckles of blood dotted around the edges. He'd fought, but unable to go for his tonfas, he'd attempted prising the man's hand away from his mouth.

Chloroform it was then.

Scowling, Hibari finally regains balance in his legs, standing tall and taking a good look around the room he was in. It was a reasonably large room, perhaps fifteen foot in width and twenty in length.

Scowling, Hibari strides across the room, stopping before the only door he can see. It's a heavily armoured thing, that kind that he imagines banks would employ in the protection of precious jewels.

Tapping on the door, Hibari frowns at the evidently thick metal, flexing his curved fingers repeatedly to take away the sting that persisted. It's solid, not the kind of thin wood that he'd have been able to kick down.

Irritating.

Taking a step back away from the door, Hibari scans the room once more, looking for some form of tool that he would be able to use, one that could prise open the door and allow him to find out just what kind of herbivore would dare to put him in this situation.

And then bite them to death, of course.

That's when he sees it, the thing he missed upon his first initial scope of the room.

Pausing, Hibari crouches beside the prone from, reaching for a tonfa to poke the figure with, before scowling upon the reminder he was currently unarmed. Instead, he settles for poking the boy in the side. He's completely still though.

Brushing the brown hair back from the face, Hibari scowls down at the feminine features of the brat, casting his mind back to the latest batch of students that had moved up into his school. It takes a moment, but when the information does come, Hibari's scowl hardens.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, age 13, born October, and worst in his class. Brilliant, the herbivore would be no help whatsoever in escaping from here.

Wherever they are.

Lips pursing, Hibari rounds on the door again, slamming his foot into the metal to no effect. Taking in the sight of the door again, Hibari notes the lack of hinges on their side of the threshold. Smart of their kidnappers, but irritating for him.

The sound of his shoe meeting the door does have the side effect of waking his fellow captive, however slowly such a rising occurs.

The question was, why Sawada?

Hibari himself was a big target in the underground world, simply for the man his uncle was. Well, man wasn't quite the right word, but regardless, any form of leverage over the Storm Arcobaleno was something of note. As the only nephew to Fon the World's Greatest Martial Artists, Hibari was prime property himself. His kidnapping made sense, though why these idiots would risk Hibari's wrath -never mind his uncle's, should Fon ever catch word of this-, the teenager didn't have any idea.

He had even less of an idea over why they would take Sawada.

The boy was useless, had no friends and no prospects. Hell, the only one who would probably end up looking for the boy was his mother, once she realized he was gone, that was. Hibari had seen the ditzy woman once, when she came to pick her son up after a particularly bad day with the herd.

Not that Hibari had allowed the herbivores to get away with striking one of their own. Sawada might have gone home with bruises on his skin, but those boys went to the hospitals with bones broken in their limbs.

Why would they kidnap Sawada of all people?

Evidentially he was not involved in the underground, he'd know how to defend himself otherwise. Then again, the absentee father…

Perhaps, there was something there.

So, Sawada was linked into that world as well? Interesting.

"Hiiiee! Hibari-sempai?! Wha-"

The boy cuts off his infernal screeching, his head swinging back and forth as he too takes in the situation they have both found themselves in.

"Wha-what's happening?" His voice is shaky as he speaks, high with terror, and Hibari's eyes narrow in response.

How so very like a herbivore, to hope that what they knew was in fact, false. That they were in fact, not in any trouble, in any way, shape or form.

"We've been kidnapped, herbivore. Now step back, you're crowding."

On instinct alone, Sawada scuttles back from him, eyes wide with fear, before tears began gathering as the full weight of the situation hits him.

"Kidnapped?" He repeats, lips wobbling, and Hibari knows that he's mere seconds away from having to spend however long with a crying herbivore of dubious volume. He does not have the time, nor the patience for such a show on a regular day, never mind right now.

"If you're not going to be any help, then sit in the corner, and shut up."

Sawada sits in the corner, and shuts up.

.

Hibari spends the next hour or so pacing before the door, fingers itching for a weapon so that when the fools who'd dared to kidnap him open the door, he will be able to rain his righteous justice down upon them.

Across the room, Sawada is sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, quiet sobs muffled by the material of his pants as he manages to cry in what could almost be silence. Were it not for the ever so slight, shuddering breathes he takes.

This was the difference between a herbivore and a carnivore. Whereas Sawada has already given up, resigned himself to his fate, Hibari would keep fighting. He would power through all the opposition, bite them all to death, and then bite Sawada for good measure too.

Because the boy was irritating him right now.

Not enough to warrant a biting, not when he needed as many resources as he could possibly get his hands on. Not having to drag Sawada's dead weight out of here -because that's what he would be, should Hibari give him a well deserved beating- would be a plus in any case. It is for that reason, and that reason alone, that Hibari has yet to rip into the boy for being such a weakling.

First, he had to deal with the uppity herbivore that dared to try and resist the food chain. Then he'd bite the weaker prey.

Glancing once more at the herbivore, Hibari meets the brown irises that gaze back at him, sneering at the red skin that now joins thick eyelashes in framing Sawada's eyes.

It is in that exact second the door opens, and Hibari swings around, hands already balled into fists and ready to fight his way to freedom. Regardless, he has been facing the wrong way, and the split second it takes him to twist around, is enough of an opening for the man to move.

Something metal jabs into the tender skin of his neck, and Hibari bites through the inner flesh of his cheeks as he forces himself not to scream, not to show any weakness before the enemy. Paralysing amounts of electricity courses through his body and Hibari crumples to the floor, snarling and well aware that the second he could move, he would. And the herbivore would know what it truly meant to repent.

"Get off him!"

Hibari snarls under his breath, twisting just in time to see Sawada streak forwards, thrusting his fist towards the vicious herbivore's face. It didn't take long for the boy to be pushed back, but what little Hibari has seen in that moment registers in his brain. Sawada had form to that punch, had form to that kick.

So, not completely useless then; Sawada has trained in hand to hand combat. Evidentially though, the drug that had knocked them out was still running rampant through his body, weakening him. Unsurprising. He highly doubts that Sawada has built up a resistance, an ability to fight under duress.

Not like Hibari has.

Given the boy's small form, it would be taking his body even longer to process the drug, to clear out all of its effects.

Finally able to move his arms, Hibari pushes himself to his feet, but it too late. The man has dropped his package onto the floor, and closed the door behind him, effectively locking them within the windowless room once again.

Gritting his teeth, Hibari approaches the bag, kicking it open with one shaky leg and staring down at the contents. Bread and canisters of water, one each. Clearly they were to be kept alive, but certainly not with any nutrients.

Scowling, Hibari snatches up the bread, tearing into the hard crust for the soft fluff inside. There would be no point in wasting drugs on them right now, not when they were so clearly trapped. Too much effort, for no reward.

Eyeing the little herbivore that'd shown a flash of fang today, Hibari kicks one canister over to his crumpled form, watching as the boy glances up from beneath his thick brown fringe.

"You can fight." It's a statement and slowly, Sawada nods in confirmation, one shaking hand plucking up the canister and flipping the lid.

The herbivore seems to know about preserving supplies too, because he only drinks an ever so slight amount, and eats a third of his bread. Hibari stares at the thin fingers that are curled around the canister, taking note of the delicate wrists and thin arms. Thin, but toned. The herbivore isn't built for power, but for speed.

There is a sharpness to his eyes that had been absent upon awakening, as if he'd just realized it was now fight or suffer. The kind of look an animal, be they herbivore or carnivore, got when cornered. Backed up against the wall, that was when the real fight came out.

Maybe, maybe he could work with this. For now.

It certainly didn't appear as if he had any other choice.

.

Their captors don't return, and it wasn't long until sleep began to weigh heavy on Hibari's eyes.

Sawada had already fallen asleep in the corner, curled up against the walls with his jacket pillowing his head. Hibari takes a moment to lament over his own lack of outerwear, over the lack of his trusted gakuran, which he knows is still sat upon the back of his office chair in the reception room. None will dare to remove it from its place, it will still be waiting for him when he gets back.

Still though, he has no excess clothing to make a pillow with like Sawada, so he instead sits himself against the wall beside the door, in the same way it swings open. It would give him a few seconds to wake up, should they return while he is still sleeping.

They don't though.

Now it is morning -mayhap, there is no way to tell the time in here- and Hibari wakes up once again to a ceiling that is not his own, wakes to a body sharing space that is neither his mother or uncle. He is not home, though he had not expected his situation to change overnight.

Scowling, Hibari gets to his feet, heading for the small bathroom that adorns the main room they are kept in. Clearly their captures do not wish to have them stew in their own waste.

He is quite surprise however, that upon entering the bathroom, he spots Sawada in there.

The other boy, smaller and younger than him, has somehow managed to scramble up the side of the shower's clear glass wall, balanced precariously atop it. Blood drips from between the curved flesh of his palms, fingernails cracked from where he has been working on the metal.

But there are two screws sitting in the rusted shower basin, and he's working the third one three.

Tilting his head back, Hibari considers the extractor fan that Sawada is messing with, eyes narrowed as he considers the size of the younger boy against the size of the opening.

Truly, Hibari would have no hope of fitting through there, five foot six as he is.

But Sawada, Sawada who has yet to even approach five foot nothing, and with his delicate shoulders and thin ribcage, might be able to shuffle through. It was a good plan, but it still had the problem of leaving Hibari behind here.

After all, some rodents would slip through cracks that even the smartest carnivore would not be able to slip through. Nature had to give them the opportunity to survive, otherwise they'd have all died out by now.

Sawada looks down at him with big, doe like eyes, worry evident in the slight wet shimmer that glimmers across his brown irises.

"I'll get the door o-open. I-I won't leave you, Hibari-sempai." The herbivore was still shaky as he spoke, but given the fact the boy was shedding blood to see to their escape, Hibari would forgive him, just this once.

Nodding, the dark haired teen turned to the toilet and took care of his business, even as the lightest clink of metal against porcelain let him know Sawada had removed the third screw. He was slightly impressed by the herbivore's resourcefulness, how he'd managed to put together a shallow skeleton of an escape plan in the short amount of time he had.

But then again, if there was anything herbivores were good at, it was escape plans. Carnivores were meant to fight, to stand their ground and drive off intruders and interlopers. This was not his area of expertise.

As much as it pained him to admit it, it appears that if he wishes to be free of this place soon, then he was relying completely upon Sawada's ability to open that damn door.

The fairy-light tinkering of the final screw hitting the shower basin has Hibari looking up at his fellow captive once again, watching as Sawada carefully pulls the plastic fan back and then frowning down at the clear drop from his height to the basin. Of course, the large plastic would make a much louder noise than the screws, and if there was one thing they didn't want now, it was to make noise.

It had been the height of stupidity to not include cameras within their holding cell, but evidentially, their captors believed themselves intelligent enough to have prevented any breakout attempts.

It works in their favour though, Hibari muses, watching Sawada carefully shuffle into the compact space that had once made up the extractor fan that Hibari now holds in his hands.

At the very least, even if the herbivore should leave him, he has a makeshift weapon to wield against the captors. Not the he will be left, because the herbivore knows Hibari will get free one way or another, and should he be left behind, he'd track the boy down when he freed himself.

Sawada manages to wiggle his hips into the small space, his breathing quick and panicked, and Hibari wonders if the herbivore has problems with enclosed spaces.

"I will wait by the door," Hibari informs him, and the legs that are slowly disappearing into the ceiling freeze for a second. Sawada's feet are in fact, quite small, Hibari muses.

"O-okay."

There's a bit more shuffling, it's ungraceful and so like a herbivore that Hibari cannot help but scowl. Sawada manages though, and he disappears into the hole in the roof, the squirming worm of hope that represents Hibari's chance of a swift freedom.

Oddly enough, placing his trust in this one doesn't feel like when he trusts the herbivores to follow the rules at Namimori Middle -which they almost never manage-.

No, for some reason, he actually expects Sawada to follow through.

So, Hibari stalks to the door, and he stands, and he waits.

.

On one hand, it seems like an eternity has passed since Sawada was swallowed up into the ceiling, tattered trainers and all. And then, it seems like only a handful of minutes have passed, before the metal door gives a groan and slowly opens, presenting the herbivore in all of his triumphant glory.

It is not a pretty sight.

His hair is covered in a thick layer of cobwebs, and dust is smeared over ever visible stretch of skin. The blood that comes from his cracked fingernails has smeared across his face; evidentially he had attempted to free himself of the dirt that clings to him like a second skin, but has only ended up messier for it.

Still though, the child seemed so proud of himself, that he'd managed to help, to actually free Hibari. And quite frankly, he has managed such a feat. He deserves some form of reward.

Certainly when they get back to Namimori -and when Hibari's done dealing with the idiots that allowed a kidnapper to sneak not only into his town, but into his school too- Hibari will see to it that the fluffy bunny has some extra protection dropped upon him. Because now he owes this younger boy a favour, and he will see his debts settled.

"Th-there doesn't seem to be anyone around," Sawada stutters, jogging beside Hibari as he stalks down the hallways, looking left and right.

He can't hear anything, not the thundering footfalls of a man heavily armed, nor the stumbles of the one that fed them. It really does seem like they've been abandoned here. Evidentially, their kidnappers had more of a show to run than to just kidnap them, and only turned up to make sure they were fed and watered.

"I'll bite them to death." Hibari growls, teeth grinding together as he looks around the rooms but finds no trace of his beloved tonfas. Whoever took them will pay dearly, the second he finds out who committed such an offense.

"No! Hibari-sempai, we need to get out of here before they come back! I don't think they'll let me wiggle out of the ceiling a second time!"

That, was an irritatingly good point.

Hands clenching, Hibari draws in a deep breath before releasing it, trying to imagine all of the tension leaving his body, just how Fon had taught him.

It doesn't happen though, and he's still bubbling and burning inside to bite the herbivores to death.

But, and it pains him to admit, Sawada is right. They need to get out of here, to escape before they are put in a more restricting cage, one that Sawada's herbivore body cannot wiggle them out of.

Fist clenching, Hibari takes note of a pair of knuckledusters resting upon the table, evidentially forgotten during a rush to leave. He snatches them up, because a weapon he only has a theoretical understanding of is better than no weapon whatsoever.

"We will escape," Hibari promises quietly, thinking of his mother's face, how she would look should her son not return to her, as her husband had once failed her all those years ago. He wonders if Sawada's mother is missing him yet.

Beside him, looking teary eyed but resolute, Sawada nods.

.

They're somewhere warm.

Hibari steps out into the outside world and proceeds to glare at everything in the general vicinity, the sinking feeling in his stomach informing him that no, they are most certainly no longer in Japan.

Beside him, Sawada gives birth to a low, pathetic whimper, bloodied hands shaking as he curls them in the hem of his dirt-riddled shirt. They both look a mess, and if they're to get away from their captors with any sort of success, then they need to start moving.

Now.

The wind is burning hot as it runs through his hair, and Hibari is intimately aware of how the greasy bangs stick to his forehead, sweat mingling with the black strands. It's not exactly like he had the time to wash his hair while being held captive, nor, he believes, has Sawada.

Clearly the younger male's hair deals far better with these strange conditions, and upon observing his features, Hibari realises that Sawada is most certainly not one hundred percent Japanese. A genetic advantage, now that they were out of Japan's climate.

Scanning the base once again, Hibari notes a car, beaten up and clearly disfavoured by their captors, sits nearby. They have to be a special kind of stupid, to leave them with an escape vehicle. Most likely, it is tagged, or capable of being tracked in some way or form. Which means they will have to find other means of transportation as soon as possible.

Nodding to himself, Hibari strides forwards, palming one of the knuckledusters before equipping it upon his fist. The sleeve of his shirt offers only a minor protection, wrapped around his fingers, as he smashes the window of the car in.

Behind him, Sawada squeaks again, probably wide eyed with terror at the sight of such violent behaviour.

Regardless, they need to get out of here, and seeing as these idiots decided to kidnap them, Hibari has no problem stealing anything he needs from them.

Hell, he even takes great pleasure in it.

Predators take from prey, it's just how the world works. Only, these idiots made the fine mistake of assuming him one of them, one of the herd.

Pulling at the dashboard, Hibari prises the panelling free, ducking low to pick at the wires now exposed to his reaching fingers.

The Disciplinary Committee was made up of thugs and ruffians he had painstakingly corrected. Given their evident past, it should come as no surprise that he has picked up a thing or two, only the useful things. He already knew the weak spots of the human body, how to down an opponent and make sure they stayed down.

The Committee members taught him how to pick locks, how to jumpstart a car, just where all the good would be hidden. Life skills that seemed to be far more useful than whatever drivel they were trying to impart during class.

The engine gives a rumble beneath his touch as the wires spark, and Hibari sits back in the driver's seat, content.

Yes, he had made a good choice to listen to the Committee over the elder herbivores back at Namimori Middle.

Without him, the Committee is probably failing in their duties, no matter how efficient Kusakabe is. He has to return, and as quickly as possible.

"Herbivore, we are leaving."

It is the only warning that Hibari will give Sawada, and the boy seems to realize it, because he swiftly ducks into the passenger seat, strapping on the belt after a moments consideration.

"Ah H-Hibari-sempai, you can drive?"

The innocent question, were it posed to him during one of his rare good moods, might have even teased a smile onto his lips.

As it is, he has no time nor the patience to do so, and releasing the handbrake, Hibari streams off down the road without bothering to respond.

.

An hour later, the two of them are nestled between the thick suitcases of travelling herbivores, having snuck onto a northbound train. Their kidnappers -foolish ones, how they had struck lucky enough to escape Namimori with the two of them, Hibari doesn't have the slightest clue- had been stupid enough to house them only an hour away from a large city.

It was during this time, that Hibari learnt the country who's soil they currently stand upon is Mexico. On another continent altogether. It is going to be far harder to get home than he anticipated.

Tucked neatly upon one of the more comfortable suitcases, Hibari turns an expecting gaze upon Sawada, who has just finished crawling in from the emergency exit that rests at the top of their temporary compartment.

The boy had been terrified to know they were sneaking onto a train, but beyond that, he was even more fearful of being left in a strange country without a familiar face at all.

So, no matter how much Hibari evidentially terrifies him, the herbivore clung as tight to his side as he dared.

Once they had gotten on the train, Hibari had made a nest, and upon the grumbling of his stomach, sent the unexpectedly stealthy Sawada off to go and retrieve substance from the dining compartment. The boy had quivered, shaken and whimpered over the idea of having to do such a thing, but clearly his fear of being abandoned, left to deal with the horrible circumstances without a carnivores protection, had driven him to complete his task.

Not that Hibari would leave him.

As a member of Namimori Middle school, it would be a personal failure if Sawada came to harm on his watch right now, especially seeing as Hibari still had his debt to the boy hanging heavy upon his head. Regardless, Sawada's fear works to his advantage now, so Hibari sees no need to press upon it.

"I got fruit, and some sandwiches, and water," the boy says quietly as he lowers himself onto a suitcase, not close enough to crowd, but not enough to be considered apart from Hibari.

"An-and a canister of tea," the boy murmurs, pulling it out of the backpack they'd stolen from some poor herbivore's suitcase, "yo-you look like you need it, Hibari-sempai."

The thought it nice, but the tea is not. Compared to what his palate is used to, the brew is foul, but Hibari chugs it down religiously anyway. He can feel it working as the usual tea does though, so for that, he gives Sawada his due.

The boy also lets him have first pick of the sandwiches, and the prefect wonders if the other knows of his picky tastes. Unlikely, he's probably just being his usually timid self. At the very least, of all the herbivores to end up with, at least this one has proven useful so far.

"D-Do you think we should change our clothes, Hibari-sempai?"

He's eyeing the suitcases around them, and finishing off the last bite of his sandwich, Hibari concedes to his point. Their captors will be looking for students wearing Japanese school uniforms. If Sawada does something with his hair and looks a little less Japanese, and a little more whatever the other part of his blood is, they might just be able to pass by unnoticed.

Instead of answering verbally, Hibari turns to the nearest suitcase and snaps the lock with one of the knuckledusters.

He hears Sawada's triumphant grunt as he too managed to get into a suitcase, but Hibari is far too busy looking through the options he now has.

Logically, it's best he step as far away from his usual style as possible. No dress shirts and trousers. They are in Mexico, a country known for its warm climate. Short and tee-shirt seems to be the way to go. Not attire he will be comfortable in, but if it is enough for him to pass unnoticed -and oh, how having to do such a thing grates on his pride- then Hibari will make do.

It's as he's pulling on a tight black shirt, stylish and something he would normally never touch, that he finally notices.

Half twisting around to look at Sawada, tugging at the hem of his newly acquired top, Hibari freezes. He is in no way prepared, not at all, for the sight that greets him.

Sawada.

In a dress.

He would think the boy is just being smart, playing off as a girl -their captors, after all, will be looking for two boys- but there's something more to it.

The delicate curve of Sawada's shoulders, the slim waist, the subtle curves upon Sawada's torso.

It's abundantly clear that Sawada is wearing a dress not to be smart, but because he is in fact, actually female.

And the first thing that blares to life in Hibari's mind is that she's been in clear violation of Namimori uniform policy by wearing the male uniform.

There will be retribution as soon as his debt is paid, on that, he swears.

So, the plan is for this to be three chapters long, so two more to go people. Hope you enjoy this short little story.

Otherwise known as; I wrote this because people wanted more 1827

Tsume
xxx