Chapter One: Morning Jog

Masayoshi Shinako regretted the day she had re-transferred to Namimori Middle School. She had been hoping for a quiet year yet things had taken a drastic turn for the worst instead. In her mind she had had everything set. She would go to school, sit quietly at a desk by a window and maybe make one or two friends just so she'd have someone to partner up with in PE; or call on occasion. It wasn't a hard thing to do, and in truth this was all she needed. Well, that and to keep her grades up, hopefully.

So why was Shinako not satisfied? Well for once because her classmate, Sasagawa Ryohei, insisted that the best way to start the day was with a jog around town and to be quite truthful Shinako really did hate running. It probably had something to do with how lazy she was though.

But even if she refused to go with Ryohei for a jog, in the end even she always gave in to his overwhelming excitement.

"Shinako! You're falling behind!" the lawn-head shouted from further ahead "Pick up your pace to the extreme!"

Shinako honestly felt like punching him out cold right now but she suck it up and at great cost did manage to pick up her pace. "Do you mind slowing down? Sheesh why do you make me do this every day?" she complained to her fellow classmate. It was really troublesome to arrive every day at school sweating like hell and already feeling like you couldn't move your legs for the rest of the day.

"What kind of question is that, Shinako? It's great practice!" he enthusiastically answered, causing Shinako to sweatdrop. "Practice for what?" she barely noticed she had said that out loud and it only really became obvious to her that she had, when Ryohei answered.

"For the boxing club!"

"Ryohei…I'm not in the boxing club." She pointed out for about the millionth time ever since they had started this little habit of theirs, better yet of Ryohei's. "But you could be, if you'd stop being lazy that is." He laughed soundly at this "We could use some more members too!" he added.

"I'd join, but I'm not interested in clubs."

"What? Is Hibari's attitude rubbing off on you?" he asked jokingly, laughing loudly once more whether Shinako just frowned a little. "Don't even joke about something like that Ryohei." She muttered in annoyance "The only reason why I'm not interested in clubs is simply because I'd rather go straight home once school is over." She pointed out with a sigh.

She couldn't actually believe Ryohei was mocking her about Hibari. It's not like it had been her choice to belong to the Disciplinary Committee. Well, it had, but it's not like she wanted to freely associate herself to someone like Hibari. She had simply joined more because of her friendship with Kusakabe, seeing as they had known each other since they were kids and she actually felt like the Disciplinary Committee could use someone that wouldn't simply go around beating up other students over minor things.

"If you change your mind, you know where I'll be!"

"Practicing?"

"To the EXTREME!"

Shinako sighed once more but in the end couldn't help but to smile a bit. Even if she hated running, doing it with Ryohei somehow managed to bring her spirits up as she did feel like she was capable of achieving almost anything and she was slowly getting used to it; which just went to show how motivational running with the lawn-head could be.

"Ah, now that I remember, has anyone figured out who's been attacking the Disciplinary Committee members?" he suddenly asked, looking over towards his classmate.

"Not yet, but I doubt it's anything major."

"You think?" he questioned, blinking his eyes curiously and Shinako nodded in reply "Yeah, it was only two members after all. It was probably someone with a grudge against those two." She answered. Even if the situation looked a bit suspicious, for now Shinako didn't see any great reason to suspect someone was on a vendetta against the Disciplinary Committee.

"I think that the people spreading the rumor that someone is out to get the Committee are simply getting carried away, there's no reason to assume that." She added, nodding as if to confirm her own words.

"I see…well, you're probably right." Ryohei concluded shrugging his shoulders. A moment of silence fell between the two, but those didn't usually last long when Ryohei was around. "KYOKO!" the fact that he suddenly shouted out his sister's name startled Shinako quite a bit, who practically jumped to the side. We're at the school already?... I guess that's a good thing, at least I can go and get some water, she thought as both she and Ryohei made it to where Kyoko was standing, waving at them.

"Good morning Oniisan, Shina-chan" she greeted with her usual smile doing a polite bow towards a blushing Shinako. Shinako wasn't that used to people using nicknames around her, even less to people who added the suffix '-chan' to her name, so she always felt a bit embarrassed whenever Kyoko did so. Still, Shinako felt that she could consider Kyoko a friend so it's not like she'd make a big deal out of it.

Ryohei however did notice this and laughed again "Neh, Kyoko you're embarrassing her to the extreme!" he was going to laugh once more but Shinako cut him off by stepping on his foot, in a rather painful manner that caused the lawn-head to yelp. "Oniisan don't say that, I don't embarrass Shina-chan, do I?"

Shinako looked taken aback by Kyoko's suddenly concerned expression and shook her head from side to side several times "Not at all Sasagawa-san." Kyoko smiled with relief "That's good to know, but we're friends so you can call me by name, ok Shina-chan?"

"E-Eh…right, Kyoko-san" Shinako seemed to stammer a bit as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head. As a rule she wasn't that good at talking to people and even if Kyoko was a friend she still had trouble knowing how to respond properly to her kindness. It must be a side effect from hanging out with men all day. Grumpy, ill mannered men, she thought with an internal sigh.

"Well, I'm going to go to the boxing club, to do some more practice." Ryohei grinned, practically bursting with excitement "Shinako, you coming?"

Shinako shook her head "I'll pass on that, I still have to go to the locker rooms to get a shower." And then I'll have to see what sort of work Hibari is passing along to me again, she added in her mind with an exasperated face.

"Ah really? That's alright, come by after classes are done!"

"Ryohei, for the last time, I'm not in the boxing club." Shinako pointed out, shaking her head a bit more "Besides, I'm much more prone to using my legs and feet instead of my fists in battle" she added knowingly.

"That's no fun then, but I'll still be expecting you!" he shouted, yet he was already running off towards the boxing club "See ya Kyoko, Shinako!"

Kyoko chuckled light heartedly before facing Shinako once more "I hope you Oniisan doesn't drag you into a lot of troublesome things."

"No, it's fine Sasa—I mean Kyoko-san. It's a probably a good thing that he's around as well, at least he pushes me to do better." She really did mean this too. She had-had to quit her martial arts class about a year ago, around the time she transferred into Namimori and she hadn't taken up any sports ever since; so having Ryohei around was a good way to keep her skills honed.

Kyoko looked truly pleased to hear Shinako's answer and smiled widely "I'm so glad!" she confessed and let out a small, relieved sigh "If you're free you should come by our classroom and have lunch with us, it'll be fun and I'll ask Oniisan to come too!"

Shinako looked a bit uneasy once more but before she could say anything Kyoko cut her off "There's nothing to worry about, Oniisan will definitely come and you already know me and Hana, and Tsuna-kun and the rest are really nice."

Shinako scratched the side of her face lightly as she contemplated this. What do I say to her now?...Aw I really don't like meeting new people. If it was just me her, Ryohei and Hana I wouldn't mind going but…aw damn, she's making that face!

"Alright Kyoko-san, I'll try my best to go."

Kyoko's face seemed to brighten and she nodded "That's really good to know, just come by our classroom, if we're not there then check the rooftop." She explained the details further and Shinako nodded her head a couple of times, to show that she was listening. "Ah, Hana is here. Shina-chan, I have to leave now. Please try to make it to lunch, see ya!"

Shinako waved back and watched Kyoko run ahead to meet up with her friend Hana and internally sighed and she walked inside the school.

Lucky her, the minute she did so she almost hit Kusakabe. "Ah, Shinako it's only you. Sorry about that," he apologized "How are you today? Another jog?"

"Yap, it's becoming a routine." She said and then her dark brown eyes fell on the stack of papers Kusakabe was holding "What are those for?..." She didn't know yet, but she had the sinking suspicion they were for her.

"Ah, glad you asked." He began and handed her the pile "Hibari told me to give those to you. You're supposed to sign them."

Shinako blinked as she stared at the massive pile of paper in her hands. "What are these about?" I so knew it meant work for me…I'm a freaking slave! She thought angrily while waiting for an answer from Kusakabe.

"I'm not sure about what all of them are, but apparently some are about the recent revision of the school rules."

"Aren't those…you know, supposed to be signed by the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee?" she questioned, with an arched eyebrow. Kusakabe however only laughed, which didn't necessarily help with Shinako's mood "Well, Hibari is going to take his morning nap, and those need to be signed by lunch."

"So he expects me to forge his signature?"

"Pretty much."

What an unbelievably idiotic guy, she thought with great distaste. " Well, that's pretty unreasonable."

"It's not like there's a choice right? Just try to get it over with whenever you can." The vice-chairman replied and tapped Shina's shoulder as he was walking past her. However, before he disappeared for good he stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at his long time friend. "Shinako, you haven't seen anything weird have you?"

Shinako frowned by this question. "If you mean whoever injured those two Disciplinary Committee members, then no, I haven't."

Kusakabe only nodded before continuing on to wherever it was he was headed "Just try and be careful Shinako, and don't go home too late."

Shinako scoffed "Whatever you say Kusakabe!" she then moved towards her locker where she somehow managed to put all of those papers, though she only attempted that after she had gotten out her gym bag; which she had also managed to stuff inside and had already been placed there since she knew she would need it first thing in the morning.

I swear, everyone's getting waay too carried away with these supposed attacks on the Disciplinary Committee members, she thought, nodding a bit to herself as she closed the door and picked up her gym bag, heading for the locker rooms to take a shower. At least, being in the Disciplinary Committee had its advantages. And what does he mean, not going home late, I'm not a freaking toddler!

Shinako knew that she didn't have much time before her first class of the day started so she hurried as much as she possibly could. However instead of going to class right away she stopped by the locker and retrieved a couple of the papers she had been handed, figuring that she might as well start working on those during class.

She was in the process of trying to select which ones to take when she heard the bell ring and because she was so focused the sound startled her quite a bit, causing her to jump up and nearly hitting the guy standing next to her and by his locker. "Sorr—" she was going to apologize but the boy with spiky brown hair beat her to it. "N-No, I'm really sorry! I should have been paying more attention!"

Shinako blinked her eyes quite a number of times as she stared at this kid. He was probably younger than her, a year or so, and yet he still managed to be taller than her. Being short is a curse, I swear it is, she thought, yet the sound of the boy's on-going apology woke her from these thoughts.

"Neh, it's fine really—"

"Um, I have class, I'm so sorry again!" And with one last apology he stormed away, yet Shinako remained in place, tugging slightly at a bang of dark brown hair. "Was that No-Good Tsuna?" she questioned herself. She remembered that not too long ago he had been in a volleyball game and even before that there had been that match against Mochida-senpai. That was him right?

There wasn't much time to dwell on this question as it suddenly hit the teen that it had already rang and nothing good could ever come out of being late.