Join the Boxing Club!

ONESHOT

...

REMINDER: THESE ONESHOTS ARE NOT CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER IN ANY WAY, NOR DO THEY FOLLOW ANY PARTICULAR ORDER.

Time: Just after the Varia Arc and before the Future Arc begins.

Summary: Ryouta Akio, a second year student in Nami-Middle has a brutal stepfather who abuses him and his mother on a daily bases. Ryohei tries to get him to join the boxing club.


Akio winced as his stepfather beat his backside again. Then he pushed Akio away onto the floor.

"I can't believe you only got a seventy-eight percent in English!" Saburo, his stepfather, yelled.

"That's considered good," Akio said defensively. He winced when Saburo pinched his arm.

"Now you're talking back to me, eh? Get out. Go do your homework!" He pushed the teen into his room and shut the door. Once he stumbled inside, Akio quickly turned to face the door. He slammed his body weight—which wasn't much—against it.

He pounded on the door. "Let me out!"

"Finish your homework first!" He heard a click and fading footsteps.

"Tch! Stupid old man. That's the best mark I got for that subject the whole year!" He sat down on his bed and dumped his bag's contents onto it while muttering to himself. He organised everything so the papers that needed immediate attention (due very soon) were at the top of the pile, stacked from easy to hard. He got an eraser and lead pencil and began to work while listening to music.

He continued to wage war on his homework until late in the evening.

...

The next day, he woke up at seven. He quietly packed his school bag and tested the lock. He smiled. His mother, Hakimi, unlocked the door in the middle of the night, most likely after Saburo fell asleep.

With practiced movements, he ran down the stairs without a single floorboard creaking. He listened and his keen ears picked up the snoring coming from his parents' room before looking in the kitchen. He didn't get dinner yesterday and that was a problem for him—he was a growing kid who needed food after all. He saw a packed lunch and knew it was filled to the brim with food. He carefully put it in his school bag and looked around. His mother also had a sandwich and drink for him as well as a note:

Take care on your way out.

-Mom

P.S: There's some money in the lunch box

for you to buy whatever you need.

He smiled again and crumpled the note. Saburo told Hakimi to not give him dinner and only a small lunch, saying it was to discipline the kid.

He has no idea that our school Disciplinary Committee is much, much stricter, he thought and closed the front door behind him. School didn't start for another hour or so but he left the house this early every day to avoid Saburo. As he walked to the park to eat his lunch he thought, I'm sure he also hits mom, but she won't admit it. If only we could just ditch him. Mom says we need the money though. Akio sighed.

"Once I have collected enough money, we won't need to stay with that man any longer," his mother told him a few years ago. It was just one year after his father had died, and they had a serious money problem. Then she met Saburo who seemed to be an "okay" guy at first. But as time passed, he became mean to both of them.

"EXTREME!" Akio looked up from his food and saw Sasagawa Ryohei jogging around the corner. He sighed. The captain of the boxing club was really strong. If only he could be that strong, he might stand a chance...he shook his head and laughed. I can never be as good as him.

In school, he paid attention to every class and wrote down notes and suggestions on how to do things better. His teachers praised him, but they worried about his habits of falling asleep in class.

At lunch, he ate alone...which wasn't a good thing. Halfway through his lunch, bullies from third year noticed Akio holding the money his mother gave him. He was counting in his head and estimating costs and such.

"Look who's here! It's not safe to hold onto money like that! Here, I'll hold it for you!" They tried to take the money. Akio stuffed it into his pocket and stood up.

"I can hold it just fine!" he said and backed away.

One laughed. "Hey, you're not as scared of us as that Dame-Tsuna!"

Akio snapped at them, "He beat the crap out of you two weeks ago." The three bullies glared at him. It was true; out of the blue, the little brunet had stood his ground and defended himself. After that time, they stayed clear from him.

"How do you know that?" the tall and lean one who was their leader asked.

"I saw," Akio said bluntly. "No one ever looks up, you know."

Tsuna was walking and talking to himself when these three suddenly surrounded him. Akio watched this in the trees hidden by the shadows. He could tell that Tsuna was scared, but he didn't shiver in fear like he usually does. He tried to talk the bullies out of it but they came at him, saying something about revenge for getting Gokudera to beat them up. The next thing was so shocking Akio might have fallen out of the tree: Tsuna dodged punches and landed his own. Then, frightened by what he did, he apologised like crazy and ran.

"I guess we have no choice but to convince you that it didn't happen that way." The one to his left kicked him in the stomach.

"Oof!"

Five minutes later, he had new cuts and bruises.

"Oi! What are you doing?" They turned to see Ryohei stomping towards them

"Stay out of this, Sasagawa!" the third bully said.

"You're fighting against someone who is weaker than you. That's not fair!"

"Yeah? Then we'll fight you instead!"

Ryohei stopped. "I promised Kyoko that I won't fight anymore," he said.

"It's not a fight; it's a challenge," Akio said from the ground through gritted teeth. Everyone knew about Ryohei's rule: he doesn't brawl. But he does accept challenges.

"Then it's settled! How will we do this?" Ryohei asked. He was in a boxing stance.

The three bullies charged at him.

Do they have a death wish? Akio wondered. Idiots.

Of course, Ryohei had them running away with their tails between their legs. He helped Akio get up.

"Are you okay to the extreme?"

"Y-Yeah. Thanks."

"What's your name?" Ryohei asked.

"Oh. I'm Ryouta Akio, a second year."

"Ask me for help if they bother you again," Ryohei said. "Or you can eat lunch with me and my friends. We can protect you."

"No thanks. I'd rather eat on my own." Akio thanked him again and walked away slowly.

Itai...

...

Ryohei tried to do his homework with no success. He sat there with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Kyoko passed his doorway with a towel to dry her hair.

"Onii-chan, what are you doing?"

"I'm studying."

"But you're not doing anything," Kyoko said with a cocked head.

"Trust me, I'm studying."

"Hm. Okay. Don't stay up too late, onii-chan. Good night!"

"Good night, Kyoko!" Ryohei stood up. "Time for some boxing practice," he said and put his gloves on. He went towards the red sand bag.

Hm...what was that kid's name? I forgot to the extreme, he thought. Ah ha! His name is Ryouta Akio. He really needs to power up if he wants to protect himself to the extreme! What should I do? He fixed his footwork and punched the bag again. I'll ask Master Pao Pao tomorrow. If I can't find him, I'll ask Sawada. He'll know what to do.

...

So the next day after school, he went to Tsuna's house.

"Sawada!" He slid the glass side door that led to the yard open. Tsuna was keeping Lambo and I-pin busy by playing with them.

"O-Onii-san!" Tsuna stuttered. Not the boxing club again!

"It's Lawn-Head!" Lambo screamed and untangled himself from Tsuna.

"Yo!"

"What brings you here?" Reborn asked. He was in his Master Pao Pao disguise. When did he change his outfit? Tsuna thought.

"I have a problem I wanted to discuss with you, Master Pao Pao!"

"Eh? What problem?" Tsuna was interested now.

Ryohei told them about Akio and his problem of not being able to protect himself. Tsuna frowned. Akio wasn't stupid like him, so there was no reason why the bullies should go for him out of everyone. Akio was usually alone and didn't make many friends although Tsuna knew he was a nice person.

"So what should I do?" Ryohei asked.

"Ask him to join the boxing club," Reborn said.

"HIIIEE! You can't just ask random people to join the boxing club," Tsuna shrieked.

"That's a great idea! But I usually only recruit those who show potential."

"He has potential," Reborn said. "He never gives up and does his best at everything."

"How do you know that?" You stalker...! Tsuna thought. Reborn punched his student.

"Ite!"

"You can train him," Reborn told Ryohei. "Train him until he becomes strong in body and mind."

"I'll do that!" He said. "Thanks, Master Pao Pao! Oh, Sawada!"

"H-Hai?"

"I still haven't given up on recruiting you yet!" He left jogging.

"That was...sudden," Tsuna commented.

"Opps," Lambo said.

"Eh?" He looked at the baby. In one hand, he held a pink grenade. In the other hand, he held the pin for the grenade. "HIIIIIEEEE!"

BOOM!

...

"RYOUTA! JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!" Akio was jolted out of his morning nap on the park bench. He lifted his head. It was only seven fifteen.

"Huh?" He looked around.

"RYOUUUUTAAA!" Ryohei screamed a mile away.

"Yikes! What the hell?" Akio exclaimed. Ryohei skidded to a stop behind the park bench.

"Ryouta, join my boxing club! I'll make a man out of you!"

"Are you out of your mind? Why would I want to join the boxing club?"

"Because you need to!"

"Heck no!" Akio gathered his bag and ran from this maniac. He thought he was safe but when he turned around, there he was, running after him. Akio's eyes bulged out.

"Stop following meeee!" He increased his speed, running with no destination in mind.

"He has good speed and stamina!" Ryohei said approvingly. "Your talents are wasted if you don't extremely join," he hollered, waking up all the dogs in the neighbourhood.

Yamamoto was doing his own morning jog when he saw Akio run pass the intersection, chased by Ryohei. Curious, he ran quicker to match Ryohei's pace.

"'Morning, senpai!"

"Oh, it's Yamamoto!"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm chasing Ryouta! I want him to join the boxing club to THE EXTREME!"

"Ahahaha! Sounds like fun! Can I join you?"

"ARG! LET'S GO!" They went slightly faster. Akio made the mistake of turning his head. His legs fumbled for a second when he saw a cheerful Yamamoto Takeshi, the baseball star of his school also chasing him.

"Stop running after me!" he cried and went faster, if that was even possible.

"Hey, he's fast! Is he in the track team?" Yamamoto asked. He repeated the question louder so it travelled to Akio's ears.

"NO, I'M NOT! JUST STOP FOLLOWING ME, WILL YOU?"

"Slow down! I just want to ask you to join the boxing club!"

"No way!"

"I can help you become strong to the extreme!" Ryohei yelled. Akio caught his breath and then shook the thought away.

"That will never happen!"

"Anyone can get strong," Yamamoto said loudly.

"I won't! I'm hopeless!"

They ran for another fifteen minutes. Akio was breathing heavily. Why was he running away from them in the first place? He was just startled by Ryohei's appearance and then ran, but Ryohei also went after him.

Yamamoto happened to look at his watch.

"Oh, senpai! I have to change into my uniform and get my bag. So I'll see you at school. Bye!"

"YOSH!"

Yamamoto ran down a road that led to his family sushi restaurant.

...

Inside the school's outer wall, Akira turned and saw that Ryohei was still chasing him. His knees were shaking so badly now, he could hardly stand. He leaned on the wall and took in large gulps of air.

Ryoehi ran right past him and into the school, asking in a loud voice where he was.

Akio shook his head in amazement. He didn't know he could run that fast! It was pretty impressive for someone who didn't make a habit of running outside of P.E.

"Eh? Ryouta, are you alright?" Tsuna just arrived with Gokudera.

"Oh...I'm fine...just…huff…got chased by Sasagawa-senpai and Yamamoto-kun..." he said.

"Ehh? You got chased by Kyoko-chan's brother and Yamamoto?" Didn't I just say that? Akio thought.

"Yes, something about wanting me to join the boxing club."

"Che. That Lawn-Head is at it again," Gokudera said with a scoff. Tsuna smiled weakly.

"Well there goes the bell. We'd better get going," Akio said and trudged off.

"What's with him?" Gokudera muttered.

"Onii-san says that he's being bullied and Reborn suggested having Ryouta to join the boxing club. But it looks like he doesn't want to join," Tsuna said.

"Smart kid," Gokudera said. "Whoever stays around that idiot too long will become one as well."

"Eheheh…but I think the real reason why he refuses to join is because he doesn't think he can become a fighter…" Tsuna bit his lower lip.

"How do you know?"

"Eh? I'm not really sure. I just know." I used to feel that way too.

"Amazing, Juudaime!"

Tsuna let out a light chuckle and scratched the back of his head.

"Yo! What are you talking about?" Yamamoto waved at as he entered the classroom.

"Good morning, Yamamoto," Tsuna greeted cheerfully.

"The Lawn-Head is trying to get someone to join his boxing team," Gokudera said.

"Oh, are you talking about Ryouta?"

Gokudera was about to ask how he knew but stopped himself before asking a stupid question. "Right—you were also chasing him," he muttered.

"I don't think senpai is going to stop after only one try. Haha!"

"You're right! He's going to bother Ryouta for a while," Tsuna said sympathetically. "I feel sorry for him."

In Ryohei's class, he was sitting down and doing arm stretches. "It's always good to be ready for anything to the extreme!" he shouted. His classmates cringed at the loudness.

"Sasagawa! Class will be starting soon so settle down!" their class representative said.

"SURE!" Ryohei yelled.

"That means stop yelling!" he said. Everyone else sighed. Those two had this conversation every morning.

"I'm not yelling!" Ryohei roared.

"Yes you are!"

"NO I'M NOT!

"You are!"

"Am NOT!

"Are too!"

"I'M NOT YELLING! How many times do I have to extremely tell you so?"

"Raising your voice is considered yelling!"

"My voice isn't raised!" Ryohei objected.

"Why do you bother with it?" someone asked the representative. "He doesn't know how to talk quietly." Just then the teacher came in and they all stopped talking.

"Just don't open your mouth," the class prepresentative said to Ryohei through gritted teeth. Ryohei crossed his arms and shrugged. He listened to the teacher while thinking, I'm going to look for Ryouta during lunch time!

...

Akio was content with hiding in a tree as he ate his lunch. Several times, he could hear Ryohei's loud booming voice from the other side of the school.

"Doesn't he ever give up?" he wondered. "It's pointless. He can't make me do what I don't want to."

"I FOUND YOU!"

Akio yelled and fell from the tree. "What the hell," he sputtered. He was in a daze and saw only the clear, blue sky and the tree branches. Ryohei was looking down at him with a grin. He had weights on his arms and legs, most likely for more training. "How did you find me?"

"Ah…sorry, Ryouta…I told him," Tsuna's head popped into his view. He had a sheepish grin on his face. He helped Akio into a sitting position and leaned him against the tree trunk. He didn't complain, since his head was hurting so much he couldn't have done it without help.

"How did you know I was here?" Akio asked.

"I saw you the last time I was here with our senpais," Tsuna said. Akio stared at him.

"Huh?"

"The last time I was bullied? I saw you in the tree, so I thought that you might be here again."

"And how did you see me hiding there?" Akio asked.

Tsuna looked puzzled. "You were hiding?"

"Whatever. Forget it."

"Ryouta! Join the boxing club!" Ryohei yelled.

"Onii-san…"

"Thanks for helping me find him, Sawada!"

Akio glared at Tsuna accusingly.

"E-Eh! Sorry, Ryouta! I wouldn't want you to have to fight and all, but if you want to avoid getting hurt so much, maybe you should let onii-san teach you how to defend yourself…"

Akio's gaze softened. He wasn't one to hold grudges. "That's okay," he said and sighed.

Tsuna smiled. "Could you get up?"

"I think so…" Akio stood still until he was sure his head had stopped spinning and feeling had returned to his legs. He noticed that Ryohei was waiting for an answer, but what he really wanted to do was shout some more.

"Bye!" he said and fled.

"RYOUTA!" Ryohei screamed.

"A-ah wait onii-san! Maybe you should just leave him alone for the rest of the day," Tsuna said quickly.

"Why should I do that? I'll be wasting time!"

"Y-You're just making him less anxious to join your boxing club," the brunet said slowly. "Let him think about it some more first."

Ryohei thought for a moment. "Hmmm…okay, Sawada! I trust you on this! But if he doesn't want to join—which is what I want him to do—he could just join our group and you can protect him!"

Tsuna paled. "No way! If he starts hanging around me, Reborn will try to make him join our family! N-No thanks, onii-san!" He backed away.

"It's not a bad idea, Sawada! He'll be under our protection. Wait up!" Ryohei was about to chase after Tsuna but stopped and crossed his arms across his chest instead.

"Hn…if Sawada doesn't want Ryouta to join our family, then I guess it's back to chasing Ryouta!" Off he went.

The next time Ryohei found Akio, it was after school. Akio was just walking home at a leisurely pace thinking about how he could help his mother earn more money. Maybe he should accept that part time job as a cashier. That thought only lasted until he reached the school gates.

"RYOOUUUUUTTTAAAA!" a now very familiar voice cried somewhere from behind him.

"Oh no," Akio muttered. He ran home.

"Ryouta, wait!" Ryohei roared.

"Not a chance. I told you, I don't want to join the boxing club!" Akio shouted behind his shoulder. "No amount of persuasion can get me to join! It's a waste of my time, which is something I already have little of!" Considering most of my time is being spent yelled at by the man, Akio thought grimly.

"Boxing will save you time!" Ryohei yelled. "Just practice a lot and then you save time!"

What logic is this? Akio frowned.

"Why do you want me to join boxing so much?" Akio exclaimed as he ran.

"You can protect yourself if you know how to fight!"

"I don't want to learn how to fight!" Ryohei was coming closer. Damn! What happened to that energy he had that morning?

"Sawada can help you! We can extremely protect you!" He said, and then remembered something. "But Sawada doesn't want you to join our family," he muttered to himself. "Damn it!"

"Sawada? You mean Tsuna? Why do you have to listen to him?" Akio asked.

Coming out of his thoughts, Ryohei heard the last bit. "I would have you join our group, but Sawada's the leader and I trust his judgement!"

Akio was super confused but decided to ignore him and focus on losing the boxer instead. He had finally arrived at his house after twenty minutes. Akio huffed and controlled his breathing. The door swung open and Hakimi stepped out.

"Where were you? I was worried sick!"

"I…had clean up duty today. I forgot to tell you. Sorry," Akio said and entered the house. Saburo was sitting on the couch with a bottle of beer.

"You little brat. How long do you think you're going to hang around outside, huh?" His slurred speech made it difficult to understand him.

"Sor-ry," Akio said. Saburo growled and stood up. His mom intervened.

"He's only a little late. Calm down!" She said. Saburo glared at his wife.

"Calm down? I am calm! Move aside! I need to discipline him more." He shoved her onto the couch roughly. Akio's blood boiled.

"Hey," he snapped. "Don't push your own wife around."

"I can do whatever I want!" He then rammed Akio into the wall and slapped him. Akio made no sound. Saburo glared and slapped him again. Akio simply stared back. He tried to block most of the blows that were thrown at him, but many of them hit their mark. Then he unintentionally kicked Saburo in the gut. He roared.

"You little brat!" He kicked Akio down, who tried to get back up. His mother grabbed one of Saburo's arms and told him to stop but he slapped her away and she stumbled backwards. He faced Akio and hurled him at the front door.

"You don't deserve to stay under this roof! Get out! And don't come back unless you're ready to apologise!" The door slammed and locked. Akio was surprised the door hasn't broken down by now. He got up with some difficulty and picked up his bag. He spit at the door and limped off the property, planning on sleeping outdoors for the night after getting some food from somewhere. He stopped when he saw a brunet leaning on the side of this house's wall. He wore a white and orange sweater and cream coloured pants.

"Sawada?" The boy turned with a worried expression to face Akio.

"Ryouta…are you okay?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"E-Eh?" Tsuna scratched his head and grimaced. "I was just going to buy an ice cream for this kid at my house, since I lost a bet and…yeah. I just happened to pass by when he…threw you out?"

Akio snorted. "That was my so called bastard of a stepfather." He began walking towards the park, which took just five minutes. Tsuna followed.

"Do you need a place to stay? Well…not my place—we're already overflowing—but someone else's. Like, Ryohei's."

Akio looked at him, confused. Didn't Tsuna live alone with his mother? How is that overflowing?

"No. I am not going to stay at the Sasagawa's house. He'll bother me nonstop about joining his boxing club."

Tsuna smiled. "He also tried to get me to join the club. He still is, but he wants you to join first. So I'm off the hook at the moment."

Akio stared at him with a look that said, You've got to be kidding me. Akio said, "I can deal with the bullies myself."

"Ryouta," Tsuna said seriously. "This isn't about protecting yourself."

"Huh?"

"Your mother needs you. She needs you to protect her."

Akio walked on silently. Then he opened up, voicing his worse fear. "I can't do it. I'm not strong enough to face that jerk. What if I try to, and he's stronger than me? Then my mom's life will be worse than hell."

"Yes, you can beat him!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Oh—sorry."

Akio looked at him skeptically. "Maybe you can, but I can't."

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"I saw you fight those three a few weeks ago. You act all stupid, but you can fight."

"Th-Those was purely reflexes…I didn't want to fight them." Tsuna sweat dropped. After fighting the Varia, he was jittery every day, waiting for them to come back and finish the job. When he was thinking to himself that day and the bullies suddenly came out of nowhere, he panicked. His slave driver of a tutor, Reborn, thought it would be fun to shoot him with a Hyper Dying Will bullet, since he too was getting bored. "But that just proves that you can fight as well," Tsuna said. "If I, Dame-Tsuna, can do it, so can you!"

Akio still looked uncertain.

"Ryouta, you care about your mother, right?"

He growled. "Of course I do!"

"Then fight to protect her. Protect those who need it. That's why you fight," Tsuna said firmly. His chocolate brown eyes stared into Akio's, forcing him to believe in those words. Akio almost—almost stood up to run to Ryohei's house. But he stopped himself. Did he really want to? It seemed like a big bother…taking up too much of his time. Tsuna seemed to be reading him like an open book.

"My tutor drags me through hell every day during training. If you really have the determination to do something, you have to be willing to go through anything to get it."

"Y-You just…" Akio said, looking for the right words. "That doesn't sound like something you'd say, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna blushed. "E-Ehhh? I-I'm just telling you what I think—oh snap. I forgot to buy ice cream for Lambo!" Tsuna shrieked. "And Reborn wanted one too! Oh I am so dead!"

"Wait," Akio said. "I'm not going to go home today. Do you think you can fit another person in your house?"

Tsuna replied without hesitation. "Of course!"

"A-Are you sure?" Akio asked. "I don't want to be a nuisance..." Tsuna cut him off by nodding. He went to the ice cream truck and ordered double scoop chocolate fudge and two vanilla-flavoured ice creams. Akio thought for a moment and bought a chocolate mint ice cream.

"But you said that your house was overflowing…"

"Now that I think about it, three of them are babies and one is a nine year old kid. They don't take up that much room…One of them is sleeping in my room, and the other three share a room…this woman who also lives with us already took the guest room…and you don't want to go in there—trust me. I can put a futon in my room for you…but you have to sleep without snoring."

"I don't…but why can't I snore? Are you a light sleeper?"

"…It's not me, it's my tutor…if I move too much, talk in my sleep, or snore, he beats me up." Tsuna said this so bluntly that Akio had a hard time not believing him.

When they reached Sawada Residence, Tsuna opened the door and was met by Lambo and Reborn, who were waiting for their treats.

"TSUNA! YOU TOOK A LONG TIME!" Lambo complained.

"Ah…this is Lambo," Tsuna introduced and gave the baby cow his double scoop ice cream. "And this is Reborn…ow!" Reborn launched a foot into Tsuna's cheek. Akio backed away in surprise. Tsuna bounced back up as if the dent in the door didn't exist. He somehow managed to save the remaining two ice creams from takig a nose dive as well.

"You're late," Reborn said as he took his ice cream from Tsuna's hand.

"You didn't have to kick me!" He retorted.

"Ah…" Akio said. "Hi…?"

Reborn stared at him. "Ryouta Akio. Are you staying here tonight?"

"H-How do you know my name?" Akio asked nervously. "And how come a baby knows how to talk?"

"It's best if you don't question him too much," Tsuna whispered in Akio's ear. "He's the tutor from hell I told you about. HIIIEEE!" Reborn whacked a Leon hammer at his student.

"Whoa!" Akio jumped away from his fallen classmate.

"Oh, Tsu-kun! You brought a friend home?" Nana was walking towards them. "Hello there! I'm Sawada Nana, Tsuna's mother. Come in, I have some dinner left, if you're hungry!" Akio's stomach answered for him.

"Haha, go on, my mom likes feeding people," Tsuna said. He began to eat his ice cream and guided Akio towards the kitchen. Akio cautiously sat down and Tsuna leaned on the counter, rubbing his head with a smile. Reborn sat on the chair beside Akio. Lambo ran to the living room.

"Lambo! You're going to make a mess there! Eat in the kitchen first!" Tsuna chased after Lambo.

BOOM!

"What was that?" Akio asked fearfully.

"Nothing." Reborn smiled honestly.

Akio was about to have an interesting night.

...

The next day, Akio walked to school with Tsuna and was met with Tsuna's friends. Akio himself being a loner didn't miss any friends and was happy to stick with Tsuna's group until they reached school. Half way there, Ryohei and Kyoko appeared. Tsuna began to stutter and Akio snorted. Gokudera glared at him but did nothing else because Akio was walking on Tsuna's left, in front of Yamamoto. There would be two people ready to stop him if he tried to bomb the little upstart.

"Ryouta!" Ryohei exclaimed. "JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!"

"O-Onii-san! At least let him think for a day or two," Tsuna said. Ryohei frowned in confusion. What was there to think about? Boxing is boxing. You either like it or you hate it. He was sure that Ryouta likes it. Akio looked at them uncomfortably.

"…No." He said. When Ryohei opened his mouth to reply, Akio sad, "No I'm not going to join your boxing club, senpai. If I am, I know who to talk to." He sped up and left the rest of them far behind.

"So is he joining or not?" Ryohei asked them. "I'm EXTREMELY confused!"

"He's only joining if he wants to, Turf-Top!" Gokudera said. "It's so simple!" They began to bicker all the way to school as Yamamoto laughed and commented on some of what they said. Tsuna sweat dropped.

During lunch, Tsuna and Gokudera dragged Ryohei up to the rooftop with them. Yamamoto followed behind them, laughing at Ryohei's bewildered face.

"What is it, Sawada?" Ryohei asked when they got there. Tsuna looked up at him.

"Onii-san, you can't go screaming at Ryouta every time you ask him to join the boxing club!"

"Why can't I?" Ryohei was extremely confused. It's called energy! He has to disperse his energy or else he will get stressed out! It's always been like this ever since he was born. According to his parents, he was always the loudest baby in the neighbourhood. Tsuna shook his head.

"You…should try to talk calmly with him."

"Calm? I'm always calm!"

Gokudera face palmed. "YOU IDIOT! STOP…shouting," Gokudera said, making the difference in volume obvious. He was only doing this for Tsuna's sake. He couldn't care less about what happened to Ryouta Akio.

After school, Akio decided to go home. Ryohei accompanied him. How did this happen?

-Flashback-

"Ryouta," Ryohei called from behind Akio. He jumped in surprise. How the hell did Ryohei come up behind him so quietly? Well, not that he can't do it...it's just that Akio usually had some type of warning like, "RYOUTA! JOIN THE BOXING CLUB!" or running footsteps.

"W-What?" Akio asked suspiciously. He saw Tsuna and his two friends walking away from school, not even looking at their direction. Should I run for help? Sawada seems to understand how I feel and he can control Sasagawa-senpai, Akio thought. But Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto were totally ignoring him and were walking out of sight. This confused Akio dearly.

"Oi, Ryouta," Ryohei said. "I want to talk to you." Akio was starting to think that the world was coming to an end. He had just finished watching the movie 2012 a while ago, and maybe the end of the world is a year early? Ryohei wasn't shouting! He was actually talking like a normal person.

"Sure…?" Akio said hesitantly and began his walk home. Ryohei followed him silently. It was only when they were outside of school property did Ryohei become half his usual self.

-Flashback End-

"Ryouta! I want to extremely explain to you why joining the boxing club is good," he said strongly, although not at the level of his usual screaming. Akio decided that he liked this Ryohei better than the lunatic version, so he nodded his head and said, "So…how are you going to try and convince me?"

"First, if you don't do boxing, it's a waste of your talents."

Akio raised his eyebrows. "Uh-huh…and what may those talents be?" he asked politely.

"I have extremely noticed that you have amazing reflexes!"

Akio snorted. "Anyone can have that. I don't see you trying to get them to join."

"But you are extremely different!"

Akio growled silently in frustration. He hated being singled out. "Not only are you quick, you are also determined enough to get what you want! You are brave!"

"Am not."

"Yes you are! No one has ever out run me before!" Ryohei said surely. "No one!"

"Huh?"

"When I first asked you to join the boxing club," Ryohei said as they passed another street. He was actually making progress! "You ran away."

"Or course I did!"Akio said. "Who wouldn't? You were acting like a maniac!"

"Not only did you run away, you were running away fast!" Ryohei concluded. Akio stared at him. Nothing he's saying is connecting to the other. He's just saying random points that appear in his head!

"I don't want to fight," Akio said. They were nearing his house now.

"Boxing doesn't have to be about fighting all the time!"

"You're fighting for fun. It will be wasting my time. I have better things to do."

Ryohei stopped abruptly. "I'm not fighting for fun," he said seriously. Akio was about to run, not believing his luck but he paused when he heard that tone of voice. Until then, his senpai's voice was plain loud. Now it was much, much calmer and serious. His eyes told Akio that he had seen things that made him believe that boxing was no joke.

"I fight to protect my friends!" Ryohei declared. Akio snorted, thinking he was talking about protecting them from the daily bullies, not deadly Mafiosi. But he does have a point, Akio thought grumpily. Fighting could help counter his stepfather. Maybe I should try it out. Then something caught his attention.

"What's that?"

Ryohei scratched his head. "What?"

"That…scar on your brow. How'd you get it?" His curiosity overruled his anxiety to go home.

"Oh! I got it when I was in elementary school! These middle school bullies were picking on my little sister! I had to save her from them, but I got hurt instead!"

"They hurt you so much that it left a scar?" Akio demanded. "What kind of people were they?"

"This is nothing! I've been in more extreme fights than that one! Besides, I couldn't let them hurt my dear little sister, not even if I die! That goes to all my friends!" he said resolutely.

Not even if you die? Akio thought. His heart began to pound a different beat, one that he has only felt once before: when he was talking to Tsuna about the same topic.

"I'll think about it," Akio finally said when he realised Ryohei was jumping with impatience. "If I decide to join, I'll tell you tomorrow. Before school."

Ryohei instantly stopped and screamed. "YOSH! You can find me in the boxing room! SEE YOU THERE TOMORROW, RYOUTA!" He ran off, leaving a startled Akio standing in front of his house. He blinked twice and shook his head. He'd better get used to that loud voice.

"I'm home," he called. His mother greeted him. His heart ached when he saw a bruise on her arm. She quickly pulled her sleeves lower when she saw him staring.

"Dinner's ready. Put your bag away and you can eat."

"Hai."

They were the only ones eating at the table. Saburo was in the living room, watching the sports channel.

"How was school today?" She asked him. He thought of Ryohei and the boxing club.

"Hm…Nothing much, a bit different than usual. I also met a few other people I would usually never talk to. They're an odd bunch."

"That's great!" She smiled brightly. Akio lifted his head in surprise.

"What? Why is it great?"

"I noticed that you seemed happier these days," she said. "You seemed more excited about school." She laughed at her son's shocked face.

He found school fun? Akio would have never thought. Did he really consider being chased after by Ryohei fun?

"Mom," he was about to ask her opinion about joining the boxing club when her husband said, "Hey! Akio! Get me another can of beer!" Akio sighed in frustration and decided that he'd talk to her about it later. He went to do as Saburo wanted, to avoid another beating. After getting away with only a bruise on his side, he went to help Hakimi with the dishes. She started to talk to him about various things and he soon forgot about his problems. His mother had that effect on him. She was so happy all the time, even when she had to stay at home the entire day with that brute. She shooed him out the kitchen and into his room afterwards.

He had finished his homework during lunch when he hid from Ryohei, so there was nothing for him to do. He fell onto his bed holding the pillow, pondering. He looked at his fists.

They don't look like fighting hands… he clenched it. Not much strength in it either. He rolled around in bed and closed his eyes…

"Akio!" His mother was at his doorway. His eyes instantly opened to see that it was dark outside.

"Hn…"

"Take a bath and change your clothes before going to bed!" she scolded.

"Oh…sorry about that," he climbed off the bed. "I just dozed off."

She smiled softly at him. "Get enough rest, dear. You're still a growing boy." She cocked her head and giggled.

"What's funny?" He asked as he got his pajamas out.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that your father…he used to always say that he was still a growing boy whenever he ate everything I cooked," she said. Akio recalled the memories of his dad, a big, happy man who loved them dearly. "Maybe it was also because of what he did for a living," she commented. This caught Akio's attention. He had never wondered about where their family income came from, and after his father had died, he never brought up the subject in fear of saddening his mom.

"What did he do?" he whispered.

"He was a professional boxing player," she said. Akio cringed and sat on his bed. HE WAS A WHAT! "And he would also travel to many different countries that held the competitions."

"He traveled a lot?" Akio wondered. "No wonder I don't always see him…and gosh, no wonder he was so darn strong."

She chuckled. "I never really liked his career choice, though."

"W-Why is that?" His mother didn't like boxing…maybe he shouldn't join…

"A lot of times, he came home with many injuries! There was once he had to stay in the hospital for days, all because he was trying to stop a fight between two drunken men. One of them pulled out a gun and accidentally shot him." Akio's eyes boggled. "It missed his heart. But…I guess his luck ran out two years later…" Akio looked to the ground.

"Anyways," he looked up to see her wiping tears from her puffy eyes. "Get ready for bed. There's another big day tomorrow."

After the bath, he was about to open the washroom door but what he heard froze him on the spot: a slap—and a gasp. He rushed out and went down the stairs three at a time, almost falling flat on his face.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Akio screamed at Saburo. He turned and sneered. Akio could tell that he was drunk.

"And who have we here? Your son is playing the knight in shining armour? Don't make me laugh." He left go of her and strides towards Akio who gulps. At least his mother's not in danger anymore, was his only thought. He got punched in the face.

Ow…he wasn't about to whimper. That would only give Saburo the satisfaction he wanted. He glared at the man instead. That earned him another punch. He dodged the third one.

"You lil' brat!" Saburo winced as he examined the fist which hit the wall instead of a face. Then he pulled back for another hit but clutched his head instead.

Too drunk? Akio wondered. He was right. Saburo threatened him one last time before heading off to bed, telling Hakimi to sleep in the living room instead. Akio looked at his crying mother and went to comfort her. He placed an arm over her shoulders as they sat on the floor.

Never mind, Akio said. I'm definitely joining the boxing club, if only to beat the crap out of that bastard.

...

Akio stood outside the boxing club's door. Through this door, he could hear a certain boxing fanatic yelling encouragements to himself. Akio shifted nervously, wondering if he really wanted to do this.

No, I must. For my mom, he thought. But will it turn me into a loud mouth like Sasagawa-senpai? He stepped back from the door when he thought that. It will be too embarrassing! He took deep breaths and decided to open that damn door. Once he did, the volume instantly increased a tenfold.

"PUNCH TO THE EXTREME!" He heard. The rest of the room was empty from club members because there was no practice today, although Ryohei practiced every day.

"Uh…Sasagawa-senpai?" he said but it was lost in the extremeness of the room. He cleared his throat.

"Sasagawa-senpai!" he yelled.

"EXTREME! EXTREME! EXTREEEME!" With every word, Ryohei punched the sandbag which looked ready to retire.

"SASAGAWA–SENPAI!" Akio screamed at the top of his lungs. Ryohei pauses and turns his sweat-soaked body around.

"RYOUTA! YOU EXTREMELY CAME!"

"Y-Yeah…I thought about what you said, and—" Ryohei cut him off.

"Let's get started! Remove that bag! Did you bring a change of clothes?" he yells. Akio nods slowly. "Then hurry up and get changed! We have an hour before class starts and I want to see what you can do!"

Once Akio was changed into a blue shirt and black shorts, Ryohei equipped him with a pair of red boxing gloves that fit him perfectly. They stepped into the ring. Ryohei stood in front of the boy, grinning. He was about as tall as him, which suited Ryohei perfectly because it's much easier to teach someone who was the same height—or so his mind told him.

"Right! Throw a punch at this!" Ryohei gestures towards the two pads he held in a blocking position.

"Eh…" Akio mutters before doing so.

"Stronger!"

Punch!

"STRONGER!"

PUNCH!

"STRONGER!"

PUNCH!

This goes on for another ten minutes, which was when Akio was beginning to sweat.

"Hm…you need to work on your punches to the extreme!" Ryohei commented. "They're slow and weak." Akio didn't expect to be good at boxing on the first try, but to hear him say it so bluntly hurt his feelings.

"I have an extreme idea!" Ryohei exclaims.

"Huh?"

Ryohei jumped over the ring and landed on the floor. He went towards a door. He turned the knob and many boxing related things crash into him.

"EXTREME! I NEED TO CLEAN THIS PLACE UP!" he commented. Akio takes this time to catch his breath and drink half a bottle of water. His hands were shaking from the small exercise they just did. What was the boxer up to? He was "swimming" his way through the stuff and was soon out of sight. He heard mumbles like, "no, that's not it. Not that either. So that's where it went, huh? I'd better give that back to Mochida. Hm! I didn't know we had that! EXTREME! I FOUND THEM! I thought I lost these forever!" He emerged out of the storage room with some objects Akio didn't recognise.

"What's that?" He asks when Ryohei climbs back into the ring. He tossed the equipment at Akio.

"Here! Wear this on your wrists and ankles!" Akio examined the things. He pulled at the Velcro strap and the wrist band flattened, revealing a nicely padded inside and a smooth, white outside.

"What…?"

"They have small weights in them! Wear it on you for the whole day! Never take it off! Never!"

"Never?" Akio repeated. "But why?"

"It's weight training! Not extreme, but it will be!" Ryohei yelled. He thought that explained everything but by the look on Akio's face, it didn't.

Akio shrugs and straps them on, and then the ones for his ankles which were slightly bigger. He jumps to his feet and moves his body. There wasn't anything different except for the feeling of the extra accessories on him.

"…Thanks," he says. "I don't think this will help me though…" Ryohei punches the air.

"Don't worry! It extremely will! Trust me!"

"Right."

"Here! These two balls are for you to squeeze to strengthen your grip! Now let's see how you dodge!" Ryohei suddenly said.

"We aren't done yet?"

"Of course not!" He showed Akio the proper blocking position, but Akio ended up just dodging like how he always does.

There was a very big difference between his offensive and defensive moves, Ryohei noticed. He is much better at avoiding attacks than throwing his own. Ryohei swung at Akio's gut but he stepped back quickly.

"Not bad! Keep it up!" He feints a punch on Akio's right side and goes for the left instead. Just as quick, Akio avoids the blow. This is easy, he thought. I can do this.

Half an hour later, Akio danced around without receiving a single hit from Ryohei.

Any moment now! Ryohei thinks. There! Akio's leg falters and lands short from where it was supposed to be, which shortened his jump. Ryohei's fist connected with a cheek. Even though he was going "easy" on the kid, it was still going to bruise.

"What the—?" Akio exclaims. "I'm sure I avoided that!" He looks at his own legs which had suddenly felt heavy, refusing to move how he wished.

"It's the weights!" Ryohei said. "As you move, they feel heavier! Now, let's work on your footwork! You can't keep on jumping back from your opponent! It wastes energy and leaves yourself wide open!" He began to show Akio the proper ways of standing in a way that will have him perfectly balanced and can move with only a split second's notice That took twenty minutes before Akio got the hang of it and collapsed on the ground.

"Next week we'll be adding another weight to it! We'll keep adding until I'm satisfied with your punches and footwork! Keep those legs moving! Do morning runs!"

"Morning runs?" Akio cried. "But I need to sleep! I don't have time to sleep at home!"

"Why not?" Ryohei asked, confused. Akio opened his mouth to answer but quickly shuts it. He could bet that Ryohei never had a problem with sleeping. But he did. Always constantly worrying about how the next day would be, how Saburo would abuse him, and how much the bruises given to him that night pained him. He would have never experienced that before.

"Morning runs!" Ryohei says firmly. "You have good stamina, but we're going to make it extremely better!"

Akio sighs in resignation. Suddenly, something whacks his head.

"Gaak!" He looks up. What he sees puzzled him to no extent.

"Kora! Who's this weakling?" the baby wearing military clothing asked. He was suspended in the air by a hawk…

"Master! He's someone I'm training!" Colonnello smirks as Ryohei.

"You think you're good enough to become a tutor, kora!"

"I can teach him how to fight!" Ryohei said passionately.

"Uh…what's going on?" Akio asked in a small voice. Nonetheless, Colonnello heard him, and lands on the ground. He walked towards Akio, who was sitting with his legs outstretched. Colonnello studies him for a full two minute. Ryohei stands by curiously, not understanding what's going on.

Colonnello's eyes widen slightly as if with recognition when he finished his staring. "You're…" He shook his head and any trace of shock on the Arcobaleno's face was erased. Akio cocked his head in confusion.

"Master!" Ryohei said excitedly. "Did you come to tell me something to the EXTREME!"

"Right. Apparently, Bianchi is planning on proposing to Reborn. She wants to marry him but I don't think that Reborn will agree with the plan."

"THAT IS EXTREME! IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO?"

"Hmph. No, since you'll be training this weakling, you won't have time to help. I'll find someone else, kora!"

"Alright!" Ryohei agreed, not even a little offended. "Good day, Master!"

"You too, kora! Good luck with your training, Akio! You'll do just fine…" The seagull grabbed his hair again and they flew off.

"Th-That…who the hell was that?" Akio asked shakily. A baby talking…the world is coming to an end…it must be.

"That was my extreme master!" Ryohei said proudly. Akio nodded slowly.

"I…uh…school will be starting soon…so…" Akio stood up.

"OH YEAH! YOU CAN GO, AKIO!"

"A-Akio?"

"If Master calls you Akio, then so will I! Besides, I get confused with your name and my name!"

"Eh?" Akio said stupidly. Wait…how does that baby know my name in the first place?

"You know!" Ryohei said. He pointed to himself. "Ryohei, Ryouta? Get it?" He grinned from ear to ear.

"I…didn't realise that…" Not that it matters...? he thought.

"You better go get changed to the extreme if you don't want to be late!" Ryohei exclaimed, totally forgetting the conversation.

"R-R-Right!" Akio ran to have a quick shower to wash off the scent of sweat and changed into his Nami-chuu uniform before Hibari the prefect could catch him and beat him up for not wearing it.

He waved at Ryohei who was drinking from a bottle of water and slid the door open. He closed it and bumped into Hibari who was doing his rounds. He narrowed his eyes.

"H-Hibari-san!" Akio exclaimed. He backed up as the prefect approached, examining his uniform.

"Herbivore. What are you doing in this part of the school?" Hibari knew that this part was mostly deserted because of the boxing captain who was really loud. He wouldn't have expected to see a herbivore loitering about here of all places.

"I uh…I was…" Akio stuttered. He raised both hands in surrender, to show Hibari he meant no harm to the school. His dress shirt sleeves slid down an inch to reveal the wrist bands. Hibari saw it immediately.

"Herbivore," his voice became colder. "Excess accessories are not part of the uniform. You are forbidden to wear that in school grounds. I will bite you to death."

"Ah!" Akio exclaimed what Hibari produced two gleaming tonfas. "I-I can't remove them!"

"You will remove them. And then I will bite you to death." He swung one tonfa at Akio and he dodged it swiftly, his body still alert because of the session he had with Ryohei. Hibari's eyebrow rose significantly as he mused. There's a weak looking herbivore other than Sawada Tsunayoshi that can fight against him? Interesting… He threw the tonfa at the boy again and narrowed his eyes as Akio dodged.

"You see, Hibari-san…" Akio said quickly as he dodged another blow that trimmed off a few strands of his hair, "Sasagawa-senpai told me to never take them off!" Hibari paused in mid attack.

"That Sun herbivore?" he said in a slightly questioning tone.

Sun herbivore? Akio thought of a shining Ryohei. It…works… He nodded quickly. "Y-Yeah. He told me to not take them off because it's training!"

"Why is he training you?" Hibari asked sharply. Were they recruiting people to take over the school—to overthrow his committee? It would never happen, but it would be best to stop all attempts before they could happen.

"T-To protect myself…?" Akio answered weakly. Hibari's eyes narrows again.

"Hn." His pair of tonfa drop to his sides. Akio stayed there, wondering if he was off the hook. Suddenly, Hibari's hand shot out and grabbed Akio's left wrist. He stared at the white wrist band, which he now realises, are wrist weights. He glances down at Akio's shoes and uses a tonfa to brush the pant leg aside. He sees black coloured ankle weights. They were really light though. Hibari smirks. He'll have someone new to fight against. After fighting against a horse and his whip for a week, he was getting bored. He needed new opponents. He'll let this herbivore train and see whether he can become a stronger herbivore… He lets go and turns around so Akio won't see the bloodlust in the his eyes.

"Don't let me see you wearing anything else other than those. You won't have another warning."

"You're…not…going to bite me to death…?" Akio asks. Hibari turns back around with stony grey-blue eyes.

"I never said that."

HFQI!IUR^%$%^FIEGFLWF!

...

Akio arrived in class five minutes late. The entire class turned their heads towards the door, knowing what to expect: a bruised and battered face which would be swollen in a few more minutes. What they didn't expect was Ryouta Akio, the boy who usually didn't get into trouble, walk in with such a face.

"M'kay," he reassured his classmates sluggishly.

"R-Ryouta-kun…" his teacher said kindly, "go visit the infirmary please…and get that treated."

"Hai, sensei…" He stepped out of the class and quietly closed the door behind him.

...

The following week was more or less the same. Every morning he and Ryohei would go for morning jogs before heading for school; not to go to school, but to practice. The weights on is arms and legs slowly increased and they no longer bothered him. He would also somehow accidentally find ways to annoy Hibari, which got him beaten up on a daily basis. He had to run away most of the time to avoid too many injuries, or to simply move away from the attacks if he had nowhere to run to; he didn't dare fight back for fear of angering the prefect even more. As the weeks wore on, his fighting skills began to improve and he gained fewer injuries from Hibari. Ryohei had him lifting weights now, as well as actual boxing. Although Akio planned on only learning the basics of boxing to fight off meanies, he ended up learning more about the sport and more complex moves. One day after school, Akio asked Ryohei how he thought he was coming along.

"YOU'VE EXTREMELY IMPROVED!"

Akio looked disappointed. He never got a better answer than that. He wanted to know how he improved, by how much, and what was different.

Then their school had a two week long holiday. Ryohei insisted that he keep up with his practice.

"But I need to study!" Akio protested.

"STUDY IN YOUR HEAD!" Ryohei said. "I DO THAT ALL THE TIME!" Akio sweatdropped. Hell no, he was not following Ryohei's example. But he soon figured it out. As he practiced boxing, he would stick notes on the sand bags so he could memorise them while practicing. With the beat of the pounding and the words, he ended up finding it easier to study this way. He soon began to chant out complicated things in math, science, and English.

His stepfather was also away from home, saying that he was doing some business. Ryouta suspected that he…wasn't. At least he'll be out of their lives for another week or so.

He was muttering the periodic table of the elements one morning when he almost bumped into a brunet with spiky hair.

"R-Ryouta!" Tsuna exclaimed. He was surprised that he didn't fall to the ground. That was probably because Akio avoided the Vongola boss the moment his eyes registered something blocking his path.

"Oh hey, Sawada. What are you doing so early in the morning?"

Tsuna let out a weak chuckle. "Erm…My, ah…my tutor…he's forcing me to run laps because I failed my math quiz…again."

Akio blinked. "That's one crazy tutor you have there," he commented.

You have no idea, Tsuna thought. The night Akio had stayed over, Reborn had restrained himself from being too violent—which meant Tsuna went to bed looking like how a natural humanbeing should be. He looked behind his shoulder and swore he saw a gleam—Leon in gun form, most likely. He let out a small shriek.

"I have to run! See you at school!" He ran off.

"Bye…?"

Eh? He looked kind of different, Tsuna thought as a bullet whizzed by a few millimetres from his head. He shook his head. It's probably nothing. And I should be concentrating on Reborn's torturous training!

...

Once the holiday was over, Ryouta was glad. Now he won't be forced to practice boxing for the entire day, although Ryohei never saw the problem. When he arrived in class, heads turned to look at him twice. He noticed instantly.

What? Is there something on my face? He touched it to make sure. There wasn't anything on his face, so why were they gaping at him—the girls in particular. This was getting freaky. Was it some kind of joke he wasn't aware of?

"R-Ryouta…is that you?" someone asked.

"Er…yeah?" he replied. The girl wides her eyes.

"You look so different!"

Akio stepped back. Different? He looked at himself. Oh, he thought. Akio had been so used to his own body he hasn't really noticed that he lost all the baby fat he ever had, replacing them with muscles. But it shouldn't show, right? After all, I'm wearing layers of clothing. He shrugged and smiled slightly.

"…I guess I should say thanks…" He sat down at his seat, trying to ignore the shocked stares directed his way. At lunchtime, he ate alone in a tree. He thought about his studies and boxing. So far, he only had to use it a few times to warn the bullies to never bother him again. After those matches he had with Ryohei, they seemed like nothing. He continued to eat, but Ryohei suddenly yelled for him. He fell out.

"Ouch…" He rubbed his back.

"Akio!" Ryohei shouted, even though they were only a metre apart.

"What?" he asked, irritated.

"Meet me in the boxing room after school today!"

"You didn't need to tell me," he grumbled and packed up his empty bento. Ryohei ran off to do something else after that.

Being the curious person he was, he went there right after the bell rang.

"Ryohei-senpai? You in here?"

"YOU'RE EXTREMELY HERE!" Ryohei exclaimed. "Come in!"

"Em…What, exactly?" He asks as he tosses his bag onto a chair.

"Are you still wearing the weights to the extreme?" Ryohei asks.

"Yeah, you told me to, didn't you?"

"Take them off."

"Huh?"

Ryohei urged him to take them off, so he does, without question. Hanging out with the boxing maniac, he learned that he won't be receiving answers right away. The weights thumped to the floor heavily. Akio's arms suddenly felt so light he had to double check to make sure he still had them.

"Shoot! I feel so good now."

"Get ready," Ryohei said. Akio bandaged his arms and had a quick match with Ryohei. He was surprised by his own speed and strength. He was used to fighting with the weights on, so he treated his punches like they were. This meant that his punches were actually a third stronger and faster.

They stopped after three minutes.

"That was extreme, Akio!" Ryohei gave him a hard slap on the back. He tipped forward slightly.

"That was amazing!" Akio said. He was so excited he was jumping up and down with a goofy grin on his face. Ryohei was just as pleased with his progress.

"Keep practicing, Akio! And remember your strength! And only fight to protect!" Ryohei "lectured". Akio nodded, not really listening, but he already knew those rules.

"Thanks, Ryohei!" He said without the honorific. Ryohei grinned. "I'd better get home. Thanks a ton!" He grabbed his bag and ran out the door.

Once he was at his door, he managed to calm himself so he didn't look like he was high on drugs or anything.

"Mom, I'm home!" he hollered.

"Brat," a raspy voice growled. He froze. Was he supposed to be coming back today? He turned to the living room, where his parents were seated across from each other.

"What's…going on?" he asked nervously.

"None of your business," Saburo snaped. "Go to your room!"

Without arguing, he does so. He stomped up the steps and slamed his door close. What the heck is going on? he wondered. After tossing his bag on his bed, he slowly opens his door again and pauses. He goes back into his room and opened the lowest drawer. He looks around the shirts and finds what he was looking for: a pair of worn out boxing gloves. They belonged to his dad, and his mom gave it to him a week ago. He didn't use it yet, but when he had them on, he felt invincible. It was as if the gloves had these powers in it…like it has been through many fights. The things that confused him the most was the tag in the inside. It had his father's name, and on the other side, an engraving of a clam. Why of all things, a clam? Akio never figured out why. He held the gloves in one hand and shut the door quietly. He tiptoed down the creaky steps and leaned against the wall to hear the conversation.

"I just need some money," Saburo started. Hakimi interrupts him.

"What for? Didn't you go to do business?" she asked. Akio almost choked. Was his mom—his mom, playing the tough one this time? He put on the gloves. He didn't want to send Saburo to the hospital just yet. That would mean they would have to pay for the medicine.

"Don't you go taking that tone of voice on me!" he shouted. "Just give me the money!"

"No!" she exclaimed, also standing up. "It's my money, and you're just going to spend it on beer and other useless things!"

"Give me the damn money, woman!" he screamed. Akio tensed as he recognised the movement of the arm. He quickly ran to his mother's aid and intercepted the hit with an arm, glaring at the older man, who was startled.

"What the hell are you doing, kid! Get out of the way!" He used the other hand to punch Akio's stomach, but Akio shifted his weight to his right foot and the blow glances off. He punched Saburo in the face.

"Don't…yell, or hit, or threaten my mom…again," Akio said, taking in deep breaths. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hakimi staring at him with either awe or shock.

"So... You've taken up boxing, eh?" Saburo said, wiping his mouth. "You think that just because you've taken a few classes, you will be able to defeat me?" Akio became unsure of himself. Am I actually strong enough to beat him?

He soon found that out after three minutes. He stood over Saburo who couldn't even get up.

"Akio…" his mother whispered, "since when…since when did you learn boxing?"

He showed her a guilty face. "I started learning a while ago, after you told me dad used to do professional boxing."

"I'll get you for this!" Saburo promised. "I'll have you beaten up so much you won't be able to walk!"

Hakimi gasps at this threat.

"You can't beat me," Akio said. "That's a fact."

Saburo grimaces. "Yeah? Well how do you like the idea of being hunted by a mafia family for the rest of your life, eh? You won't be able to escape that!"

"Mafia?" Akio repeated. "What are you talking about?"

Saburo laughs weakly at them. "I might as well tell you now. I am in the Todd Famiglia! I have friends who won't hesitate to help me deal with you." Akio looked around nervously, then back at Saburo, who had his phone out.

"Hey, help—" Akio knocked the phone away quickly. He took off the gloves to have a better grip.

"Saburo! You won't really do that, would you?" Hakimi exclaimed.

"The hell, sure I will! And you can do nothing about it! You'll be hunted by a Mafia Family and no one can save you from that!" He cackled a horrible laugh. Two people barged in. They were wearing black, with evil grins on their faces.

"Yo, so this is your wife and kid?"

"He ain't my kid," Saburo said. Akio let go of the man and backed away. They laughed at his nervousness.

"Whatever. We were getting bored with nothing to do in this little town," the bigger one of the two said. The other didn't look too sure.

"Let's hurry up and get outta here," he muttered. The first one snickered.

"What? You scared of the police?" The second one gave his partner an annoyed glare.

"Namimori is the home to the tenth Vongola Boss, you twit. He even beat Xanxus! We're on his turf now. I heard that his Guardians are strong."

Akio had no idea what they were talking about. But Namimori was controlled by a mafia gang? Then why hasn't Hibari stand up and fight against them already? Akio thought madly.

"Che. Fine. Let's do it." They faced the teenager. "You hear us, kid? If we don't do something about you soon, the Vongola Family will go after you anyways!"

Vongola, Akio thought. Clam. How did he know this? It just so happened that Ryohei brought him out to eat Italian one day as a treat. The only thing he did as the waitress stood over at their table was mumble over something. Apparently, he didn't know anything about Italian dishes. Then he suddenly said,

"VONGOLA!" The entire restaurant stopped and stared.

The waitress blinked and said, "What kind…sir?"

"Any!"

"Okay…your orders will be here soon…" She quickly walked towards the kitchen.

"Uh…Ryohei-senpai, what's Vongola?"

"Hmm! Sawada told me that it was clam in Italian!" Ryohei had yelled. "Or at least I think he did. I hope you like clam to the extreme!"

"It's fine…" Akio had said.

Vongola….clam…hang on…dad's gloves has a clam on it… he shakes his head subconsciously. It must be a coincidence.

"Hurry up," the second one told the first one. The first one scowls and approaches Akio.

"Remember, brat. It was the Todd Famiglia who defeated you!"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" someone screamed. The entire house rattled. They looked to the doorway. Akio's eyes bulged out.

"Ryohei!" The boxer stepped in and punched the second man. He stared at the first man intensely.

"What the hell!" The second one said from the floor. "Who are you! How dare you hit me, a member of the Todd Family?"

"Todd?" Ryohei repeated. "What's that? Some other team?"

"We're a mafia fmaily, not some team!" the first one growled. "Now if you don't want to get in trouble, get out!" Suddenly, a baby with an elephant costume jumped onto the sofa.

"You can't beat that kid up," the squeaky voice sayid, referring to Ryouta.

"Master Pao Pao!" Ryohei exclaimed. That's the baby from Sawada's house… Akio thought and sweat dropped.

"I can beat that kid up with my eyes closed!"

"You can't beat him up," Reborn said again. "He's under the protection of the Vongola Decimo and his Guardians—which means if you hurt the boy, you have the Vongola to answer to." This made the Todd members back away. But Saburo spoke up.

"You're kidding. You are a baby. You can't make me believe that the brat's in the Vongola Family! They will never take him in!"

"I didn't say he was in the family," Reborn said. "I just said he was under the protection of the family. So, if you harm him, you're as good as dead."

"We need proof!" The second one blurted out. Reborn took out a piece of paper with a Dying Will seal at the top. On it, scrawled in a quick handwriting and a signature, said,

Ryouta Akio and Ryouta Hakimi are under the protection of Vongola Decimo.

If anyone harms them in any way, they will not go unpunished.

-Vongola Decimo

And his seven Guardians

The short letter seemed to convince them and they began to feel uncomfortable. Then they noticed the ring Ryohei wore proudly on his middle finger. The Vongola Ring of the Sun…for the Sun Guardian. This…was the Sun Guardian. That was enough to have them running, and never come back.

"R-Ryohei…you saved us," Akio sighed with relief and slid to the floor. Ryohei grinned at him.

"It wasn't me who saved you!" he said. Akio was confused.

"Oh! This…Vongola Decimo person! Who is he? I have to thank him!"

"You already extremely met him!" Ryohei shouts.

"W-hat?"

"Sawada! He's the leader of our team!"

Akio stared in shock. His brain had yet to process this piece of unexpected information. Ryohei and Reborn were talking with each other as Akio sat there.

"How did you get the flame there?" Ryohei asked. He tried to touch it and felt a small bit of warmth that reminded him of Tsuna.

Reborn grinned. "I had to force him to do it," he said. Ryohei nodded thoughtfully.

The "seven guardians" wasn't Reborn's idea though. He never considered Chrome a Guardian, but simply a stand-in for Mukuro. Tsuna refused to put six, claiming that Chrome had just as much right to be a Guardian as Mukuro or anyone else. After all, she fought with them in the Ring Battle.

"Although this doesn't count because he's not technically the boss yet. So it's actually illegal." Reborn shredded the paper using Leon. The Dying Will Flame winked out of existence once the chameleon extinguished it. "Ryohei, stay here with Akio. I'm going back home for Mama's dinner.

"LEAVE IT TO ME, MASTER PAO PAO!"

After Akio and Hakimi calmed down, Ryohei approached them.

"Oi, Akio! Don't show fear in front of an enemy! And never back down from a fight when you have something to fight for!" His pupil nodded his head slowly. Ryohei frowned in concern.

"What's wrong?" He said loudly.

"Dame-Tsuna…boss…?" Akio looked up at Ryohei for confirmation.

"What boss?" Ryohei asked back. Akio was now utterly confused.

"You just said that Dame-Tsuna was your team leader…"

"OH!" Ryohei said. "No, he's extremely not!" NOT YET! Ryohei thought in his head. He thought that Akio understood what Reborn was saying, so he didn't bother to elaborate.

"Oh…" Akio whispered. "I thought I was going crazy for a second…"

"What are you going to do now?" Ryohei asked.

"We're staying here," Hakimi said. "I got a raise for some reason today. I'm earning double the money than before. We'll be able to stay here. Akio can save me if any bullies come to bother us again." She ruffles her son's hair lovingly. I'm so proud of you…She thought and looked up smiling.

...

Five years later...

"…Two…one…KNOCK OUT!"

The crowd cheered.

"Great job, Akio!"

"Yeah! That was record timing!"

"Haha! Thanks!" Akio said and helped his opponent get up. "You alright?"

His friend grinned at him. "Totally knocked out, dude! That last punch you gave was your best yet!"

Akio laughed sheepishly.

"What are you going to do after you graduate from high school?" His captain asked. Akio turned to face him.

"I don't know."

"Maybe you should do professional boxing!" another friend of his said excitedly. "You're definitely good at it!"

Akio pondered over this. His father was a pro. Should he go that way as well? Akio grimaced. He also remembered some things that his old friend, Ryohei had said. Ryohei practiced boxing to protect his friends. If he did professional boxing, it wouldn't do much good. And all his friends knew how to protect themselves just as he did anyways.

"Nah, his da died doing pro," his opponent nudged the one who asked in the ribs.

"Ow! Oh… sorry, Akio. I forgot."

Akio waved a fisted hand. He was still wearing the padded gloves. "It's cool. My dad didn't die boxing."

They stared at him. "He didn't?"

Akio smiled slowly at them. "No…? What made you think he did?"

"Well, well, you said he was a boxer. We asked who he was, and you told us, but then said he died a long time ago, so…"

"Aaah…sorry, sorry. I thought I explained it properly. No, he was killed in a shootout."

"Hang on," said his best friend. "You said he survived the bullet."

"He…two years after that shootout, they found his body in the midst of the other mafia dead of the second shootout. There was some kind of fight between the two gangs. He was killed."

"Oh…he was pretty unlucky..."

The atmosphere became awkward. Akio sighed. "Man! I'm so sticky! Gotta shower!"

When he came out, a girl of around seven and a baby were the only people left in the club's room.

"Sorry, but we're leaving. Were you looking for someone?" Akio asked, drying his hair with a towel.

The girl with blue hair reaching to her shoulders looked him over with an approving look. The baby was Colonnello.

Akio blinked at the girl and looked away to stare at Colonnello. "You…"

"Are you Ryouta Akio?" The girl asked. She had a slight accent.

"Eh, yes?" Akio said, sounding unsure.

"I'm Lal Mirch, from CEDEF, an organisation based in Italy and retired leader of COMBUSBIN."

Akio left the towl on his shoulders. "O…kay…?" He looked at Colonnello. "Are you in this too?"

Colonnello grinned. "Of course, kora! We're here to recruit you!"

"Into...CEDEF or...COMBUSBIN...?" he asked.

"COMBUSBIN," Lal growled. There was no way she was letting a green twerp into CEDEF. "It's Italy's combat forces. You have to have top grades and speak Italian, French, English, German, and a language of your choice. You also have to be quick witted and know how to swim laps in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

Akio sat on a chair and gaped at her. "Hold up...you are a retired leader of this...of this Italian special force? What the heck? And...whaaaat?"

Lal stomped over to him and slapped him silly and punched him in the gut. "I won't tolerate this nonesense! You don't question the orders from your superiors! You better learn that quickly or you'll be stomped on like a bug!"

"Lal, he's not a trainee yet," Colonnello said, calming the girl down. She hmphed and dropped him back into the chair.

S-Scary... Akio thought.

"The commander I left in charge there must be going soft on the trainees! I was able to bypass their security every time I visit them," Lal said with a growl. And she visited them every weekend. "I've decided. I'm going to go back there to train those brats! You included," she said to Akio.

Akio almost squeaked. "M-Me?"

THE END


-LLM

Edited 2013-08-25th