Summary: Kozato Enma's never been very good at avoiding trouble. Shy and easily manipulated, he is and always will be a tool for others. Threats were also typical in Enma's every day life, but this one was just ridiculous: "Befriend Kyoya; lure his weakness out, and then tell us. Fail to do so, and we'll beat you to death." If that wasn't enough, Enma starts exchanging text messages with a secret person who won't reveal his name; naught is given but a nickname: Skylark. He doesn't think too much of this strange predicament. After all, what are the chances that this person could go to the same school as him?

A/N: I KNOW THEY HAVEN'T INTERACTED. Don't judge me~ Wondering if anyone would actually be interested in this pairing. But but but apparently, I'm not the only who thinks these two would look good together. :3
Dedicated: to Roriette, because she ... likes this too? Hopefully? Yesh? No. YES. I know you like TYL!18x00, but...hope you like this anyway. ;3

So yesh, all those who agree, read on ~

Shades of Solitude
stage one

new school, no friends

It was a gentle, windswept day in the midst of October, and there was a new transfer student in the school. With dark crimson hair wisped in neat disarray, violet-red irises inexplicably blank, shoulders stooped as if insecure, pale lips formed in the slightest frown, and with bandages adorning his fragile face, the new kid's black bag was nearly sliding off his shoulders as he dragged his feet into the classroom. Following him was a daunting, gloomy atmosphere.

"We have a new transfer student today, and we have the privilege of having him in our class." The teacher was a fairly elderly man, his eyes stern and his cheeks sunken in from age. "Everyone, please welcome him and treat him kindly. What is your name, young man?"

The boy stared ahead, and then when his eyes caught the gaze of someone else, he immediately dropped his eyes to the ground. Nothing was spoken for a few seconds, and then the class heard a soft mumble. The teacher raised his hand to his ear. "Could you repeat that?"

The redhead bent his head, his eyes now on his worn-out, white and navy sneakers. "…I'm Kozato...Enma." Only the people at the front heard him, and when the teacher asked him to repeat himself again, he stayed silent. This was already humiliating enough. He didn't want to repeat himself so many times. Derisive murmurs started to pass around the classroom, mainly from the boys. He heard a few of the girls' comments, and most of their sentences were laced with the words 'cute', 'aww', and 'shy'. Enma was almost sure that the boys were calling him an anti-social wuss.

"You can take that seat over there, Kozato-kun."

Nodding silently, Enma adjusted the bag on his shoulder before trekking towards his assigned seat, which was right beside a vertically-challenged brunet with big eyes. Enma barely spared him a glance as he slumped down wearily into his seat. Rumors and whispers were already being initiated around the classroom like chain mail: was the new boy near mute or something? His lithe fingers clasped together nervously as his eyes bore into the desk in front of him, almost as if he wanted to drill a hole in it just by gawking at it. Unzipping his slightly torn, olive green pencil case, he pulled out his favourite black pen, propped his chin on the edge of the desk and –

Well, he would have started writing if he had a piece of paper. He knew he had been forgetting something that day. He blinked at the space on his desk, as if doing so would magically conjure up sheets of paper. He heard a voice on his right,

"Mahh, do you need paper?" Without waiting for an answer, the black-haired teenager started rummaging through his bag. Enma watched as the bag's buckles clicked against each other, and after a few more seconds, the boy glanced up apologetically, nothing in his hands. "Oops. I forgot to refill my binders."

"What are you doing, Yamamoto-kun?"

Enma turned his head a bit to look at the brunet. Behind him was another teenager with silver hair that curtained the sides of his pale face. It reminded Enma of an octopus, and he was sure that he wasn't the only one who thought this. The boy was glaring in the redhead's direction, but something told Enma that the menacing look wasn't directed at him.

"Oi, baseball idiot. He asked what you were doing."

The teenager named Yamamoto grinned first at the brunet, ignoring the silveret completely. "Ah, Tsuna, I don't have paper for Enma."

"Oh, here." Tsuna yanked out a fresh, surprisingly unwrinkled sheet of lined paper and placed it gently on the redhead's desk. Enma parted his lips to mumble a quiet thank-you, but the silver-haired boy beat him to it.

"You have to say thank-you," the boy snarled bluntly. He seemed to be rather protective of the brunet, and it made Enma's heart a little warm to see that Tsuna had someone to protect him. Enma didn't have anyone like that. Tsuna immediately whirled around on his friend, brown eyes wide and hands waving frantically in front of him.

"Gokudera-kun! It's okay, really."

Enma's mini frown deepened when Tsuna sent him a wide smile. Friendly as it was, Enma felt a little troubled. Meeting nice people wasn't really a routine for him when he moved to new schools; he was usually met with tormentors and bullies targeting him around every corner he turned. Little did he know that that moment was not too far away.

"Sorry about Gokudera-kun," Tsuna apologized to Enma. He looked anxious when he spoke, and Enma had a feeling that maybe the brunet wasn't too sharp with his social skills either. It made him feel a little bit at ease, until – "What happened to your fa—"

"Dame-Tsuna! Pay attention!"

"HIII! Yessir!"

"How dare you throw chalk at Tsuna!" Gokudera bristled as the brunet cowered behind his math textbook. Enma stared, bewildered at the scene in front of him, while Yamamoto laughed not unkindly at his friends. What an odd group this was. No one saw but Tsuna, but Enma had the slightest shadow of a smile on his face. As soon as the redhead's eye met with Tsuna's, he quickly shied away and looked down. So even the new kid had a nice smile; Tsuna had a feeling that maybe they could be friends. As soon as order was restored in the classroom, Enma pressed the tip of his pen into the corner of his paper, and resumed work.

Things were about to get interesting.

"Enma-kun, are you having lunch with anyone?"

Enma blinked; did Tsuna just discreetly invite him to have lunch with him? Well, he only questioned whether or not he had anyone to be with at this period, but he knew it was an invitation nonetheless. This never happened; the paranoia in his heart told him to quickly decline. He nodded his head – yes, he did have someone to have lunch with, which was a total, complete, utter lie. He shook his head once for uncertainty, and then jerked his head down. Tsuna made a confused face, and Gokudera looked like he was about to snap at the redhead for changing his mind so many times.

"Make up your mind, will ya?!"

"Gokudera-kun! Please, could you wait outside for me?"

The silver-haired teenager made a move as if to contradict the brunet, but a quick, anxious look from the latter made Gokudera's expression soften. As soon as the rebellious male left the room, Enma murmured in a half-envious voice, "He thinks a lot of you."

"E-Eh?!"

"I can tell."

Tsuna found that Enma spoke more when he was alone with someone else. "Yes, w-well..." Tsuna scratched the back of his head modestly. He wanted to reassure Enma that he only wanted to be his friend. "About lunch..."

"Maybe next time," said Enma in an apologetic tone. Tsuna blinked in disappointment, but he let it go. He watched as Enma hastily backed away; he managed to turn the corner without feeling guilty, but when he stopped beside his locker, he started to feel a little remorseful. Maybe Tsuna really was just trying to be friendly, and wasn't trying to plot something against him, like all others before. As he swung open his locker, he caught a few hushed words that the girls were gossiping about behind him.

"Did you hear what Hibari-san did this morning?"

"You mean what he does almost every morning. I hear the guy he beat up can't even walk properly anymore. And just because he wasn't wearing the proper uniform, too."

"Yes, but ah~, Hibari-san is still so cool! Leader of the Discipline Committee, indeed."

Hibari? Enma thought absentmindedly as he stacked his mathematics binder on top of his textbooks. He checked the glass window ahead of him, squinting to see his reflection. The bandages were still neatly stuck onto his face from last week's tumble. He didn't know how, but a clumsy blond had come up from behind him while he was about to descend down the stairs to his apartment and had knocked him down. His face was bruised quite nicely, but the bandages covered most of them up. His red eyes stared gloomily back at him, and as he tilted his head to the side, he wondered what he could do to pass the time. He still had one more class before the school day ended.

The October weather was nice, so there was no harm in stepping outside for some fresh air. Enma inhaled lightly as his sneakers brushed against the gravelly asphalt of the school grounds. He scratched at the band-aid taped across the bridge of his nose distractedly. As he strode around the school, taking in its view, he saw that the bricks were a light auburn colour, and the windows were painted with a glossy white. He peered inside a window, and instantly ducked out of view when he realized that there was a class inside. He knocked his knuckle gently against the sturdy wall before following the trail down behind the school. He heard voices around the corner. It seemed like he was just running into a lot of conversations lately.

"Damn it. That kid doesn't have any weaknesses, does he?"

"You mean that Kyoya bastard? Of course not."

"He has to. We need someone to get inside and get close to him."

"…Don't look at me. Does it look like I can be good friends with that crazy guy?"

"Whoa, I'm not doing it either."

Enma peeked around the corner, curiousity getting the better of him. The senior boys were nothing short of ugly; that was one word to describe them. Smoking and leaning languidly against the black fence that looked like it was about to break under the bigger one's weight, they reeked of weed and trouble. Enma noticed that one in the group had a distinct black eye. Not only that, but he was out of uniform as well, and his leg was wrapped with cloth rather awkwardly. The redhead had a feeling that this was the boy that the girls had been talking about earlier. Knowing that getting involved in this would probably be a bad idea, he started to turn around to leave, but not before the farthest teenager's eyes met with his. Noticing Enma's obviously shy and introverted demeanor, a wide smirk replaced his worried frown.

"Hey, maybe I've got the perfect candidate."

It was moments later that Enma found himself being backed up into a wall, eyes expressionlessly gazing up at the four boys. From what he could tell from his short height compared to theirs, they were considering him to…do something. Do what? He had no idea.

"Hey, kid, do us a favour, huh?"

All Enma did was look up questioningly. The injured teenager began to speak, "You're new, aren't you? Well, maybe you don't know Hibari Kyoya personally, but I've had a few run-ins with him, and let me tell you, he's horrible, okay? So, all you gotta do is get him to be buddies with you, find out what his weakness is, report back to us, and we can send him to hell where he belongs. Sound good to you?"

"Tell him what happens if he doesn't do it," the others snickered scornfully. "He will, though. Look at him. He looks so weak." One of them prodded Enma's head and the boy tottered, and on regaining his equilibrium he retired back a step or two. Into the wall, once again. Disdainful laughter broke out around the group.

"If you don't do it…" The boy trailed off, looking thoughtful. "If you don't do it, you're gonna get beat up badly. Like, so badly that you'll have to stay in a hospital for weeks and you're gonna wish you've never been born. Ya understand?"

Enma wondered what compelled him to even nod his head. He had heard these threats before, and the worst thing was that the bullies actually ended up going through with their word. What made this group any different? How did he get into this complicated situation, anyway? Who was Hibari Kyoya? And why him? Oh, he knew the answer to that last question. He was always attracting trouble; everywhere he went, problems followed promptly behind.

"Do you know how to speak, kid?"

Even if he did, he wasn't going to speak with this bunch. Enma dropped his gaze, but the moment he did, he received a smack across the head. Clutching his throbbing head, his eyes watered when he glanced back up. One of the boys looked bothered.

"I thought we were gon' beat him up if he doesn't do what we says."

"Yeah, well, we gotta get that Hibari's attention first, don't we? Why not? This is to motivate little what's-his-face over here."

So that was how Enma ended up getting thrown onto the ground, feet trampling over his stomach, his legs, his arms – wherever they could reach, they stepped on him. Enma curled up into a ball, shielding his faces from the pummeling shoes and fists. No matter what they did, though, he never made a sound. Nothing obligated him to cry out in pain; he had gotten many beatings before from other bullies, and Enma knew that this wasn't even their full potential. They were saving that for last…when he didn't do what they said. Did that mean he had to listen to them? Everything was hurting so much…

"Don't you got a mouth?"

"Yeah! Why isn't he sayin' anything?"

A choked sob escaped Enma's lips when a surprise thrust into his stomach caused him to double over in agony. His face scrunched up as he tried to roll over, and through bleary eyes, he saw a blur of his bag's contents flooding to the ground. Papers floated gracefully to the ground as knuckles continued to rain down on the boy's weak frame. As if planned, it wasn't long until a shadow approached them, a shadow with a dangerous aura emitting from his very being.

"What are you herbivores doing?"

Then everything ceased. The punches, the kicks, the shouted insults, and even the clattering of Enma's belongings, stopped abruptly. There was a hissed intake of breath from one of the bullies, and they all backed away hastily. Enma managed to flip himself onto his back, and through the pain, he cracked open an eye to see a boy towering over him. This raven-haired male must have been at least a year older than him, but that didn't stop him from seeming ten times more intimidating than the bullies themselves. His stoic poise struck Enma to be a strict, unyielding person, and his features were nothing short of handsome. Enma closed his eyes wearily; the ground never felt so comfortable in his life.

"H-Hibari-senpai."

Why did they suddenly sound so frightened? They were so buff and fearless a second ago before this guy came – oh, was this the infamous Hibari Kyoya? Enma wanted to open his eyes again to take a second look, but he was too tired, and his eyesight was deteriorated.

"I will bite you to death for littering the school grounds with such detestable behaviour." Smoky eyelashes fluttered as dark, cobalt eyes flickered towards the redhead sprawled on the ground, but they looked rather uninterested at the sight.

"We were just leaving." Instinctively, each boy clutched the back of another, yanking each other back. Before limping away, the injured boy swung a swift kick at Enma's back, earning an alarmed lurch from the latter. Pattering of frantic feet could be heard, and momentarily, silence overcame the two remaining. Enma groaned inwardly; he couldn't feel his legs. His arms slid forward as he tried to push himself into a kneeling position, but his elbows were wobbly and feeble. Maybe collapsing back onto his stomach would be better than trying to stand on his own two feet.

He shook his head, gingerly touching a cut at the side of his face. It overlapped an old bruise, and it stung dreadfully. His face was going to be decorated with a few more bandages tonight, not to mention a few other parts of his body. Out of nowhere, strong hands grasped his upper arms and forced him to stand. A weak mumble of protest was all Enma managed to do. The hands never let go, and it took a while for Enma to realize that it was Hibari Kyoya that had his iron grip on his arms. The older teenager looked dissatisfied with the disheveled appearance of the new student, but even so, he let go – causing Enma to lean dangerously backwards. Luckily, the wall was there to catch him on time.

"So long as you can stand, herbivore. Get to class."

Enma couldn't believe his ears. Go to class? In this state? Hibari had to be joking. Fear-induced eyes snapped up to meet Hibari's demoralizing ones. "I…will faint," Enma declared quietly, half-stating the truth. He felt like he was going to keel over if he tried walking anywhere. The Leader of the Discipline Committee narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the pathetic, barely-standing figure before him.

"I cannot allow you to pass out on school grounds."

Almost every sentence that Hibari used had something to do with the school. Enma rested his head against the wall, blowing a wisp of air from the corner of his mouth. It wasn't a wonder why those boys wanted to beat the crap out of this teenager. Still, he had a violent reputation, and though Enma knew he had to be careful around him, he didn't want to get beat up by a gang again. Getting close to Hibari Kyoya was going to be a problem, however, but he would have to deal with that tomorrow.

Begging for a job under Hibari's watch seemed very tempting at the moment…and also very frightening.

The two stared at each other for a while. It seemed to Enma that Hibari did not speak very much, not when there was no need to. The redhead swallowed hard, his vision spinning. A frustrated sigh came from the other's direction. "Follow me."

The order wasn't such a good idea, but the dark look in Hibari's eyes caused Enma's feet to take a step forward. With the last of his strength, he pushed his pencil case into his bag and dragged it along after him. He didn't care that it was getting dirty from being lugged across the ground. Enma was on the brink of consciousness, so it was no surprise for him when he reached the entrance of the school, oblivion enclosed his vision.

Hibari had been taking deep, strong strides towards the Nurse's Office; his hands were stowed in his pockets, and his gaze unwavering on the hallway in front of him. It was then that he heard a dull thud behind him and he impatiently turned around to see what had happened. There, lying on the floor, was the redhead. His body was just barely moving from his tranquil breathing, and Hibari frowned. It seemed like the school found a new target to bully. It was no longer Tsuna – well, maybe it was still Tsuna – but now this boy was dragged in as well.

Footsteps approached the black-haired male from behind, but with his sharp perception, he already knew who it was. "Kusakabe," he noted.

"Hibari-san?"

The steely gaze remained on the unmoving body of the redhead. His gaze fell onto the boy's shoes; he noticed that they were not the proper school shoes, but there was no point in telling an unconscious person that. "Take this herbivore to the Nurse's Office."

"Why is it that you won't take him yourself, sir?" his right-hand man dared to ask.

"I have paperwork to do." Hibari brought one hand up from his pocket to cover up a lazy yawn. "I do not have time to bring delinquents to specified places when I've got things to do."

"Of course. I'm just a little surprised, that's all." Kusakabe scooped the redhead up into his arms carefully, using his free hand to seize the fallen bag. "Normally, you would just leave them without care."

And Hibari knew it was true. Still, there was just something incredibly pitiable about this boy that he couldn't help but feel a sharp tug at his heart whenever he looked upon him. But a small, barely visible smirk spread on his lips as he started towards the direction of the Reception Room, where he often stayed in during school hours. "Do you still question my motives?" A challenge.

Kusakabe backed down, head bowing respectfully. "Of course not. I'll bring him to the nurse right away."

"Hm," Hibari hummed shortly. With his black jacket hung lackadaisically over his shoulders, it fluttered behind him as he made his way down the hall. There was a person he had to text later on in the day, and he made a short mental note at the back of his head to remember that. Pushing the redhead out of his mind, he thought about what other delinquents he had to watch out for, for the rest of the day.

The moment Enma blinked his eyes open, he was met with a white, tiled ceiling. His head was hurting tremendously, and his arms felt like they were being tied down to the bed he was lying on. Groaning, he blinked again, and for a second, he thought there was one of the bullies in front of him. When he rapidly and frantically tried clearing his eyes by rubbing them, he realized it was just a black lamp hovering over him. Memories of what happened an hour earlier flooded his mind and he just wanted to drift off into sleep again.

"You don't know Hibari Kyoya like we do."

Enma shook his head, trying to propel the voice out of his head. His hand shaded the blinding light obscuring his vision.

"So, all you gotta do is get him to be buddies with you, find out what his weakness is, report back to us, and we can send him to hell where he belongs. Sound good to you?"

"If you don't do it, you're gonna get beat up badly."

Enma didn't want that again. He knew what he had to do. He was quiet, shy, but he wasn't dumb. He'd figure out a way to save his own skin. He didn't know anything about Hibari Kyoya, but he was pretty sure that the boy had just left him after he fainted. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he ignored the nurse who was rambling and fussing over him, telling him that it was probably a good idea to stay in bed. Limping and leaning his hand against the wall for support, he found someone and asked her where the Reception Room was.

Down the hall and to his left. Enma hobbled along the side and when he finally reached his destination, he peered inside. He saw silky black bangs covering the respected teenager's eyes; his head was bent over his paper as he wrote and signed. Without knocking, Enma stepped in.

He should have knocked.

"Herbivore, what gives you the idea that I have time to talk?" Hibari didn't glance up, which alarmed Enma a little bit since he was rather quiet when opening the door. The boy's senses were sharp. Through the open window, a fluffy yellow bird flapped its wings and nestled comfortably on top of Hibari's nest of black hair. The other didn't seem to mind. Enma tapped against the door; with irritation, Hibari glanced up and his dark eyes narrowed in recognition. "Oh, it's you." Hibari flipped the paper onto its other side and returned his gaze back down to his desk. Enma stole a side-ways glance at the clock on the wall and realized that he had passed out for two hours. School was already over.

"Skipping class results in a detention," Hibari stated flatly, ignoring the fact that Enma had been in a semi-coma in the nurse's office.

"I was--"

"You are also out of uniform." Hibari stared pointedly at Enma's sneakers. The redhead instantly hid one behind the other by instinct, mumbling an apology. He closed his eyes, awaiting the blow he thought would come, but Hibari didn't make any moves to stand up. Just when he thought he would be let off the hook, he heard Hibari say with a haughty smirk, "You will have detention tomorrow, then. In here."

"Ah...when?" Enma didn't bother telling him that he couldn't find proper black shoes this morning; maybe the Discipline Leader would forget about it by tomorrow, and he would be able to skip detention. He couldn't help but think that Hibari was abusing his position just a little bit.

Hibari's attention returned to the papers on the desk. "During your lunch."

Enma nodded. After a while, only the scratching of a pen could be heard. Hesitantly, the new student finally said in a soft voice, "I have a request." He took Hibari's silence as a notion to continue speaking. The redhead inclined his head a little, his amber eyes now on the ground. His mouth moved, but no words came out.

"Speak up," Hibari snapped, a rather tempered aura cloaking his surroundings from his exasperation.

"Let me be in the Discipline Committee."

It was soon after those words were out of his mouth that Enma realized how it must have sounded. It sounded like he just wanted to be in the Committee because that way, he could stay under Hibari's shadow and avoid the bullies. That wasn't his intention at all, but he couldn't think of anything else in his cluttered and confused brain. All Enma could see was Hibari's frown; those pitch-black bangs were covering his eyelids, and then, swiftly and smoothly, Hibari stood up. The yellow bird quickly flew away. "No."

Enma had been expecting this answer, but it was disheartening nonetheless. Before he could say anything else, Hibari took quick strides over to where he was and the redhead stumbled back involuntarily. He had to try…one more time. The moment his lips parted, Hibari took another peril-filled step towards him.

"Leave before I bite you to death." Shiing! Out of nowhere, black tonfas guarded the forearms of Discipline Committee leader, and Enma's eyes bulged at the sight. He didn't know how to fight, least of all defend himself – if he did, he would have fought back against his tormentors a long time ago. His back collided against the wall across from the Reception Room; Hibari stood at the door, his eyes glinting and a small smirk lifting the corner of his lips. "There's no room for herbivores here." And he shut the door.

Kozato Enma would have to think of a completely different plan.

Moping around at home wouldn't do, though. Lying down on his stomach on his queen-sized bed, Enma flipped his cell phone up, then back down, then up, then down. He sighed, watching the screen flash a blinding white as he opened it once more to check if he had any new messages. Who would text him? The very idea was just absurd. Tomorrow, he would have to have lunch with Tsuna and his friends to avoid from getting beat up once again. Yawning and gathering sleepy tears in his eyes, he was instantly startled when his phone vibrated.

One new text message.

He clicked read.

"For the last time: No, Chiavarone, I will not go on a date with you."

Carmine eyes squinted at the small text, and for a small fraction in time, he didn't know what to do. So he finally gets a text message, but it was for the wrong person. Who was Chiavarone, anyway? A girl? Sighing heavily, he propped himself onto his elbows and texted back with one hand, the one that didn't feel like it was broken from the fracas earlier.

"Wrong number?"

Hibari felt a buzz at his left leg and, with an air of frustration, he reached into his pocket and yanked out his cell phone. Earlier during school, he had gotten a call from a certain blond, but since he was too preoccupied with work, he did not answer the call (not that he really wanted to). He texted what he thought was the right number, but when he read the message, he immediately knew that he had been wrong. Even so, he was too proud to state that he had been mistaken. Frowning at his flaw, he clicked on the phone:

"...No, it's not. Who is this?"

After a tentative two minutes, like the other person was debating whether or not to answer, Hibari received a rather disappointing answer:

"No one important."

A smirk adorned the raven-haired male's face as he replied back promptly. Normally, he wouldn't talk to someone he didn't know, but then again, he never got a number wrong either. This would be one day where he was doing things out of order.

"Well, I'm someone important."

Enma left his cell phone propped on his pillow, watching it light up and listened as it buzzed against the soft fabric. It was strange, but he felt contented just talking to this unknown person, even if they did only exchange around four messages. Someone important? Enma smiled against the blanket pressed on his lips as he reached for his phone. He was rather curious in knowing who this so-called-important person was. Checking the number, he realized that it was someone in this area. Tapping the new bandage on his right cheek, he ventured a guess.

"Prime Minister of Japan?"

In no time, he got a rather annoyed reply.

"-_-"

Enma gnawed on his chapped bottom lip, noticing how absurd his text must have sounded. Why would the Prime Minister of Japan waste his time texting a stranger? It was obviously someone younger. Or maybe a pedophile. Enma dismissed the second thought. He didn't text back.

It was near ten o' clock when he decided to pick up his phone again. He had been lying on his back on his mattress, worrying thoughts crowding his head. He knew he would be approached by those bullies tomorrow, demanding if he was going to follow up on their plan or not. He didn't know how strong Hibari really was, and he doubted he could ask the Discipline Leader for help; his mind was already opting to help out the bullies. Yes, he was weak-minded like that.

He wanted advice. And his parents were asleep. But it wasn't like he'd converse with his parents about these matters anyway. However, he was running out of excuses why he came to home always looking like he fell repeatedly on his face.

Scrolling through his inbox with his thumb, he prodded the touch-screen phone and looked for the stranger's number. He started to type into the screen:

"Important person, I have a question to ask."

He sent it before contemplating whether or not the unknown person had gone to sleep already, but he let out a vague sigh of relief when he saw the person reply back.

"If it's for my name, forget it."

Not very friendly, is he? Enma mused. He wasn't going to ask for his name, anyway, but he wanted to be able to call this person something. …If they were going to continue texting like this, anyway. He automatically thought that this was a male, since he had a feeling that if this was a female, the girl would have started asking awkward questions. Since the other recipient was already replying, then maybe he would continue doing so tomorrow.

"What should I call you, then?"

The answer was thought out and it was minutes later until Enma received a one-worded reply, followed by another text, one that sounded like the other was getting sleepy and irritated (seeing as there was no question mark at the end of the question):

"Skylark."

"Is that all."

Skylark sounded like a male nickname. Enma weighed out the question he wanted to ask in his head. Finally making up his mind, he silently texted back to the person. He never expected to meet someone like this, but he figured it was a lot easier than speaking to someone face to face. He hadn't met a single person so far that he could act like this to, though maybe there were a couple of exceptions.

"If someone wanted you to do something horrible to another, if it was to keep you from getting hurt, would you do it?"

He wanted an unbiased answer, which was why he asked this random stranger. However, he was expecting more than a useless answer:

"I don't get hurt, so your question does not apply to me."

Lucky for the stranger then, never getting hurt and all. He supposed that he was going to have to do what the bullies told him to do. He tried one last time.

"But for me?"

Enma wasn't expecting a straight answer, so instead of waiting for another disheartening answer, he started for the washroom to brush his teeth. He didn't smile at the mirror; his reflection was still staring gloomily back at him. The bandages were going to cover his entire face if these beatings continued to happen. He wished they would stop. Why would they do that, anyway? He never did anything wrong. He just never talked. As he shuffled back into his room, he collapsed onto the bed and sighed tiredly, all energy drained from the day's activities. He stole a faltering glimpse at his cell phone and when he didn't see an answer, he shrugged one shoulder and switched off the light on his bedside table. It didn't matter, he supposed. He flinched when his head rested against his fluffy pillow; even though it was soft and comforting, the pains in his body didn't help the matter. He rolled onto his side and tried to fall asleep – until a hushed buzz came from his bedside table. Peeking one eye open, he read the message. Though it was only two words, he felt slightly more at ease before he drifted off into a deep sleep.

"Protect yourself."

He would have to try and talk to Hibari Kyoya again...tomorrow.

A/N: The texting will get important, mayhaps, later on in the chapters. So anyone actually interested? :3 If so, alerts are always and forever will be welcomed. ;D If there are any mistakes, it's because I don't know Enma's character that well, seeing as he's only been in two chapters so far. But if anything, I will always go back and change things if necessary. BUT AW, HE CAN SMILE. :3 He's so cute. And he can laugh! And he can talk. He's human. LOL. Anyway...

See you when I update~ Prince Seme is outtt. ;D