Days turned into months which turned into years. Tsuna and Shoichi were now 9 and Kyoya was 11. They pretty much lived together at that point in the Hibari mansion. Some things had remained the same during all that time, while others had evolved in odd ways.
One of those changes were the creation of the Discipline Committee, also known as Kyoya's private army by Tsuna and Shoichi. It started with a simple patrol and encounter. Hibari was making his usual rounds around town -with Tsuna in tow- when he stumbled across a bunch of teenage delinquents ganging upon a single younger child. Not that the child didn't look like a delinquent : he had rough traits and a most curious pompadour hairdo. Anyway, Kyoya quickly dispatched the older ones (read : hit as hard as possible until they lost consciousness) and turned to the younger one. He was about to bite him to death for crowding when the Herbivore suddenly knelt on the ground.
"Hibari-sama, please let me be your subordinate!" he yelled in a military manner, a respectful glint in his eyes. Kyoya was stunned and forgot about the bitting to death and Tsuna was just as shocked. He, however, recovered faster and burst out in laughter. You didn't see such a reaction every day to say the least! Hibari finally managed to snap out of his daze and asked the weird Herbivore (he hadn't hit him yet, so why was he already delirious?) "What are you talking about Herbivore?"
"I know that Hibari-sama is always patrolling and protecting Namimori. I would like to put my meager abilities to use and help as much as I can. So please, Hibari-sama, take me as your subordinate." he pleaded. Tsuna was roaring with laughter in the back and Kyoya shot him a scathing glare. He was also thinking. He was alone in protecting Namimori (the Omnivore had already expressly announced that he wasn't very interested in that job and only followed him to practice his moves. And Kyoya wasn't too keen on letting him wander alone and risk encountering his bastard Herbivore of a brother). Having others that could go on different patrols and cover more ground could be useful. He knew even his mother used subordinates to investigate and capture criminals.
"I guess you could be useful, Herbivore. From now on you will work under me and protect the peace of Namimori. Come with me to discuss how you will help. And stop calling me 'Hibari-sama', that's my father's name." He turned around and left in the direction of his house. The pompadour-boy quickly stood up and followed, he looked strangely happy under his serious face. Tsuna was bewildered by this turn of events, but promptly caught up with the new subordinate, plastering a smile on his face, he began.
"Hi, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, Kyoya's friend and I'm 8. Call me Tsuna. I think you can call him Kyoya-san or even Kyo-san for it to be shorter (and to make it sound more like a gang). He doesn't like being called 'sama'. So, by the way, what's your name?"
The boy was surprised by the bubbly brunet, but his new employer just slightly turned his head towards him and nodded sharply. It seemed the smiling boy's story was true. And he had seen him trail behind Kyo-san too often for it to be a coincidence (the nickname had already been adopted). "My name is Kusakabe Tetsuya, you can call me Tetsuya. I'm 11 years old. It is nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi-san." He bowed.
"No need to be so formal, I told you to call me Tsuna, and stop bowing. So, what made you want to be Kyoya's subordinate?"
And Tetsuya wove the story of how he was inspired by the demon of Namimori when he saved his neighbors from yakuzas. He then started observing Hibari when he encountered him in the middle of bitting unlawful Herbivores to death. He asked himself what he could do to help -he held no illusions of ever fighting as well as Kyoya. He taught himself how to dispose of unconscious bodies and to treat most injuries. He was adamant about being of use, and Hibari saving him today was just the last push he needed to offer his services.
