"Hibari...Kyoya…"

The man in front of Ryuuji was none other than the leader of the Namimori Disciplinary Committee, Hibari Kyoya. While in name they are supposed to be a group that maintains the peace and integrity of Namimori Middle School, they are but a gang of delinquents that is feared by all. The worst part was their leader, Hibari, who was able to go toe to toe with Rokudou Mukuro during their initial confrontation.

"So, you've heard of me." Hibari announced. "I've never seen you around on school grounds, but you're unmistakably wearing our Namimori Middle School's uniform."

'I woke up wearing these clothes. It’s not like I had a choice.’ Ryuuji grumbled as he shook his head, from the headache that simple clothing caused.

"Wait, you're mistaken. I'm not a student of Namimori Middle School." Ryuuji protested. "And I wasn't causing any trouble. These guys attacked me first."

Hibari continued speaking, paying no attention to Ryuuji's remarks. "No matter. Anyone that tarnishes the name of Namimori Middle School," as he began to take out two metal tonfas "I'll bite them to death."

From his recollection, Ryuuji knew that Hibari was an extremely headstrong individual and rarely listened to anyone. By no means was he going to get out of this situation unscathed.

However, Ryuuji remained somewhat optimistic. 'I should be fine. After all, at this stage, they still haven't gotten to using their flames or box weapons, and I have [God-Speed Impulse]. I can get out of this situation”. This was what was being said inside Ryuuji's mind to reassure himself.

"Sorry, but I have no intention to comply." Ryuuji said as he took an offensive stance. From his stance, it was clear that he was not a grappler nor a brawler, but rather a striker. His body was rather straight up, standing at an angle as to reduce his body exposure from the front. Chin tucked in behind his left shoulder. Both hands in a guard to protect each side of his upper body. This was his orthodox stance.

"Wow~ I guess this prey is going to put up a fight." Hibari said as he rushed in towards Ryuuji without a second of hesitation.

What followed was a fierce barrage of blows from all angles. Kicks, punches, tonfa strikes. Even with the help of [God-Speed Impulse], Ryuuji had trouble dodging all of the attacks. The worst part of it was that the blows that slightly scraped him still did a considerable amount of damage. And the occasional blow that did make direct contact, did as much damage as you would expect metal hitting an unarmed person would deal.

However, in this altercation, Ryuuji was holding on well, considering who he was up against. While dodging the oncoming blows, he was able to weave in a couple of punches. Of course, none of them hit their mark. And for his other techniques, due to the intensity of the situation and the narrow alleyway, he was unable to use any of them.

In the middle of the conflict between the two powers, Jirou, the first one to wake up of the three brothers, was viewing the spectacle in front of him in disbelief. Never before had he seen a fight like this before, especially not from two teenagers who looked like they had just gotten half way through puberty. In the middle of his bewilderment, Ryuuji suddenly appeared in front of him, to dodge one of Hibari’s many attacks. And as fast as he appeared in front of Jirou, he moved to evade yet another attack.

While the downwards swipe missed Ryuuji, Jirou, however, was not so lucky. The metal tip of the tonfa gashed vertically upon the right side of Jirou’s face, cutting a bloodied line and, once again, knocking him unconscious.

As an act of desperation, the moment he had the chance, Ryuuji quickly chambered his right leg upwards and pushed Hibari back. As the kick fell upon metal bars, the receiving party was undamaged.

After the brief exchange of blows, the outcome of the match was painfully obvious, to both the participants and the surrounding Disciplinary Committee members. Ryuuji had expected to at least be on even ground with Hibari, due to confidence in his acquired ability. After all, he was able to react at near-superhuman levels because of it. But when up against an opponent that was actually superhuman, he felt as if he was a frog in a well.

Being kicked back, Hibari let out a short breath. "Ho~ that one did some damage." As he readied his tonfas again.

Ryuuji, who was covered in scratches and bruises, could only laugh at that comment. "Don't lie. That was nothing to you."

"Hmph." Hibari smiled. "Anyways, let's end this. Lunch time is ending soon, after all."

"I feared that this would come." Ryuuji reluctantly said. "But I'm not going down without a fight!"

Both rushed in towards each other. The sound of crackling plastic wrappers on the ground were drowned out by the weight of their strides. When the two were about to collide, the first one to act was Hibari, backhanding with his left, to which Ryuuji was able to block. The feeling of a metal rod hitting his arm, pain piercing all the way to his bone, was something that he could have lived all his life without experiencing. Blood, sweat, and tears.

Once again, Ryuuji felt as if this moment had given him a chance at a counterattack. Pivoting his body to the left, he threw out a straight, aiming directly for Hibari's face. Hibari was already too invested into the attack, making it so that it should be impossible to put up a proper guard. But, then again, this is the Hibari Kyoya that Ryuuji was up against.

"Too weak!" Hibari taunted, as he immediately halted his acceleration forward, using the leftover momentum to spin his body, striking Ryuuji in the face with his elbow. With his nose bloodied from the impact, Ryuuji braced himself for what was to follow.

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As Ryuuji was falling backwards, Hibari closed the distance between the two and dealt a great blow against Ryuuji's stomach with his left. Even while clenching his abdominal muscles, immense pain permeated throughout his body as his liver was struck. Coughing up blood, moments after, Ryuuji's consciousness faded from the shock.

"Tetsuya." Hibari said as he gestured to one of the men in his gakuran-clad posse. "Pick him up and bring him back to the school."

"Yes, Hibari-san!" As Testuya ordered two other members to carry Ryuuji's limp body, so as to not dirty his gakuran with dust and blood. While nowhere near the level of Hibari, he still demanded a certain level of authority as the second in command of the regiment.

Ryuuji could do nothing but let his fate be decided by this gang of delinquents.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Wake up." A soft voice spoke.

"Wake up." The voice increasingly beckoned.

"Nana?" Ryuuji muttered in his dreary state, grinning from being able to hear his sister's voice. But this fantasy didn't last long, as the sensation of a cold, metal rod hitting his head woke him from his daze.

"Wake up." Hibaru scolded. "And wipe that grin off your face"

While the blow was not as hard as when they fought, it still hurt plenty. Ryuuji, who was awoken this way, was not pleased by this.

"Hibari… Where am I?" Ryuuji asked while he panned around, observing his surroundings. From what he could infer, he was in some sort of hospital room or clinic.

"The school clinic." Hibari said as he glared down from the side of the gurney. "Now get up and go to class. Or do I have to drag you there as well?"

"Like I said, I don't study he-" Ryuuji tried to protest, as the door to the school clinic opened. From the outside walked in a middle-aged looking man in a brown suit and glasses. From the looks of it, the man did not look happy.

"So this is the trouble-maker that I've been hearing about?" Nezu jeered as he took a glance at Ryuuji. "Can't say I've seen you around. I guess you're the other transfer student we were expecting today. Two troublemakers in one day." With the last sentence being a grumble under his breath.

'Oh, great. Just what I needed. More people involved’ Ryuuji internally groaned.

Nezu walked up to the side of Ryuuji's gurney, and with a look of disgust on his face, began to talk down to Ryuuji.

"First day that you transferred here and you're already causing trouble, huh? And here I thought that a student that studied abroad, a third-year at that, would be a better role model for our students."

Hearing this, Ryuuji was a bit taken aback, almost as if they had been expecting him here. Although he wasn't sure how early on in the timeline he was, he was confident that only transfer students were Hayato Gokudera and Naoto Longchamp, and that both of them were in Tsuna's year. The only reasonable explanations that he could think of were either: there was a transfer student that wasn't prominent in the story; or that God had a hand to play here.

Despite finding it somewhat troublesome that he was put into a situation like this, Ryuuji thought that it might be a blessing in disguise: being able to fit in with the inhabitants of the world.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Get up and let's go to your class." Nezu commanded in a stern voice.

People like this were one of the types of people that Ryuuji could never get along with; those that think that their position was an excuse they could use to boss people around. But there was nothing that Ryuuji could do now but comply, especially with Hibari right opposite of Nezu.

Luckily, he was used to dealing with these people. Putting on a show (建前) was a forte of his, after all. With a smile you couldn't tell was fake, Ryuuji calmly rose from his bed.

"Certainly, sensei. I sincerely apologize for my earlier actions. My actions have caused a great deal of embarrassment to this school and I will do my best to not tarnish the name of this school any further."

Ryuuji 'apologized', bowing at a perfect 90 degrees. Nezu was shocked at such courtesy from someone whom he had thought was a delinquent. Hibari, who was to the side, uncharisterically looked as if he was about to throw up.

"O-of course. Just make sure you don't do it again." Nezu stuttered to find the right words to say. "L-let's get going, shall we?"

"Why, of course." Ryuuji continued to smile as he followed Nezu out the door. To his surprise, he caught a glimpse of Nezu slightly bowing his head to Hibari.

'Damn, even the teachers? What doesn't this guy have influence over?'

Ryuuji followed Nezu along the corridor of the third floor, passing classrooms one by one. Although the time, and world, were different from when he was in school, Ryuuji couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. The feeling of his slippers upon the tiled floors, the fresh spring breeze seeping through the windows, and harmonious chirping mixing with the cacophony of the classrooms. He missed this.

"Well, we're here." Nezu said as he opened the door to classroom 3-A.

There was a brief silence and halt in the lecture as Nezu and Ryuuji entered the classroom. Muffled chatter amongst the students arose while the teacher walked towards the door.

"Komura-sensei, this was the student that I was talking about." Nezu started.

"Oh… Nezu-sensei." In front of Ryuuji stood a woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties with long, blonde-dyed hair. You could still tell that she put a lot of attention into her make-up, likened to that of a gyaru, though much less pronounced. In contrast to the nature that you would normally associate with people in said cliches, her attitude whilst responding to Nezu was fairly timid.

"I'm leaving him under your supervision. That is ok, isn't it?" Nezu asked rhetorically. "Great!" As he left the room without waiting for any reply.

"Damn that man…" Komura-sensei whispered under her breath. Turning to Ryuuji, her cold demeanor turned warmer. "Anyways, Ryuuji, was it? I'll be your homeroom teacher, Komura Hina. Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?"

Having not done something like this in years, even as a grown adult, Ryuuji was both nervous and excited.

"Um.. what should I say?" Ryuuji questioned.

"Just your name, where you came from, and hobbies will do."

For a brief moment, Ryuuji was thinking of what to say, all while under the glaze of eager eyes. 'Might as well make it simple.' He thought as he turned to face the students.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Nakamura Ryuuji. My hobbies… combat sports, I guess.”

From the corner of the room, a loud boom erupted as a student with turf-topped white hair suddenly sprung up from his desk.

"SHA! EXTREME!!!"

'Oh great, another one.’