Chapter 3
It's dark, and there's sniffling coming from the darkness. There's nothing around though. Well, it is just darkness all around, so there can't be anything around, right? The sniffling continues, why? Who's crying and where are they? It's so loud.
Tsuna wakes. He sits up in his bed with his hand on his head. 'I can't remember anything, but am I crying?' Tsuna wipes the tear away before getting up for school.
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Tsuna, heading to school, was walking faster than usual. He hopes that yesterday was not a dream and that there were people wanting to see him at school. As he is heading down the street, he stops at the gate. Once again, his nightmare was sleeping. Tsuna hoped he would be able to sneak by the monster today. Tsuna walked slowly and quietly. He tiptoes and silently praying to himself. Tsuna was almost past the gate. Whoosh! Tsuna screamed and jumped back as he saw something run past him around the corner.
"Grrrr!" Tsuna froze as he felt terror fill him. Slowly Tsuna turned and came face to face with the bloodthirsty beast. An icy cold chill went down his spine.
"AHHHH!" Tsuna took off. He ran around the corner and ran quickly down the road. BANG! He falls and slides to the ground hearing a string of curses from "the wall" he hit. Tsuna looked up from the ground where he was sitting, and he saw Gokudera. He was wearing his school uniform and had turned to curse out whoever had knocked into him. Noticing Tsuna, he stares at him questionably.
"I-I'm so sorry Gokudera-kun."
"It's okay, but what in the world were you running from?" asked Gokudera. He looked behind Tsuna before looking back at the terrified Tsuna.
"Oh… umm, n-nothing really. Hee Hee…," Tsuna tried to laugh it off while looking nervously around. Gokudera reached down to pull him up. Tsuna begins to dust himself off. He feels nervous under Gokudera's suspicious staring. Finally, Gokudera decides to ignore it for now, and he turns around to start walking.
"So, are you going to stop by Yamamoto's to see if you can catch him?" Gokudera asked Tsuna who began to follow behind him.
"Maybe," Tsuna began. He had to jog up to catch up with the long-legged teen. "I thought about it but wasn't sure if I would even catch him since I'm already running later than I should."
"Mmmm" was all Gokudera said as they continued to head to Yamamoto's place. Once the two boys arrived, they saw someone outside the shop who looked almost like an older Yamamoto.
"Is Yamamoto here, old man?" Gokudera aggressively asked the dark-haired man. The man turned surprised from being sneaked up behind.
"Oh, Gokudera. You just missed him. He just headed out to school, you can catch up with him though." The older man glanced toward Tsuna and stared at the tiny boy.
"Alright then, let's go." Gokudera grabbed Tsuna and pulled him away from the older man. It was like Gokudera was needing to get himself and Tsuna away from the man. Tsuna frowned as he was dragged behind Gokudera. They continued walking quickly until they spotted Yamamoto just ahead of them.
"Yo, Baseball Freak!" yelled Gokudera. Tsuna was stunned by Gokudera's weird behavior. Yamamoto looked back to see the two catching up to him.
"Morning guys," laughed Yamamoto with his smile in place.
"Morning," Gokudera mumbled as he let go of Tsuna.
"G-good morning." Tsuna smiled looking up into Yamamoto's eyes. Tsuna then felt it, the pain in his head. 'What's this? Why do you look like that today?' Tsuna softens his own smile to show comfort to the other. Yamamoto was startled by the smile, and he felt himself being comforted.
"Were you catching up with me?" he decides to ask trying to distract himself from what he felt and Tsuna's knowing stare. At least, that's how it felt like to Yamamoto.
"We just saw your dad, and he told us where you were at," Gokudera explained not saying much more to answer the question.
"Oh, I see. Well, let's go before we're late and have to face you-know-who. Haha!"
Tsuna felt confused. He saw Gokudera glare, probably thinking about this "you-know-who". The three boys began to head out, quickly, to school.
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They arrived at the school gate five minutes before the last bell rang. They hurried to get to the classroom. Tsuna was running behind Yamamoto as he laughed at how he felt like this was a race. Tsuna was about to argue back that this was not a game when he collided with a cold, hard metal. The late bell was ringing through Tsuna's ears as he flew down to the ground with a loud thump. Yamamoto looked behind himself, for he was unsure of what had happened. Gokudera was looking at the culprit of Tsuna's injury, growling. Tsuna looked up to see a deadly glare and metal tonfa ready to take him out.
"I will punish you, late 1st years," was all the older teen said to explain his actions as he eyed Tsuna furiously. He took a step toward Tsuna. The brunet gulped in fear. "You will be bitten to death for rule breaking." Tsuna couldn't react as the scary teen slammed his tonfa into his throat. He was now pinned to the wall and under the other's piercing stare.
"Um-uh," was all Tsuna could think to say. His throat began to feel sore from the pressure on his neck.
"Haha, sorry about being late, Hibari. I held us up this morning," Yamamoto said taking the blame. He smiled, but this one was different. Tsuna felt scared of it, almost as much as he feared the person at his neck.
"It does not matter. No one is excused." Hibari stared into Tsuna's frightened eyes. He continued to stare for a moment before he slowly released Tsuna from his imprisonment. "Late again, and I will bite you to death." Hibari's eyes shined with bloodlust and the pure pleasure of causing more pain. Tsuna tries to hide from the threat behind Yamamoto.
Yamamoto laughs saying, "We'll do our best next time." Gokudera just glared looking pissed off at Hibari. Hibari stalked away, bloodthirsty aura still leaking out of him. A moment later, a scary-faced guy appeared out of nowhere and followed behind Hibari, staying ten feet away. The much more mature looking man looked back at the three of them as he follows Hibari.
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They walked into the classroom and began heading to their seats. It seemed the teacher was also running late since the students were still standing around and talking. Tsuna felt relieved that they were not going to get into more trouble after having been almost killed by Hibari. The students noticed their arrival and began to snicker. Tsuna knew why. Beginning to feel down, he walked to his seat and knew today was already starting off bad. He sat.
"Dame-Tsuna's late!"
"What a surprise!"
"Hahaha!"
The class erupted into laughter. 'Of course, why would today go any better when yesterday. Yesterday, no one even knew what I was then. I'm such a Dame!' Tsuna yelled in his head while he lay his head on his desk. He just had to wait and not give them the attention they wanted. 'They'll stop soon enough. Well, they'll stop when the teacher gets here.' Tsuna hoped.
"Shut up!" yelled the same rough voice he heard yesterday, saying those same words. Tsuna looked up at Gokudera in shock and amazement.
"Yeah, he isn't a dame, and it isn't nice to laugh at others flaws. I have my flaws too." Yamamoto laughed, but once again, he smiled in a way that scared Tsuna a little. He was not giving off the same nice guy look that he usually tried to give off.
"I agree," called out an unexpected, sweet voice. The entire class turned to it. "It's not okay to be rude to another classmate." Sasagawa Kyoko was standing next to her friend staring intensely at the other classmates.
"Yeah, can't you monkeys be civil," yelled out her taller friend, Kurokawa Hana.
Tsuna stared at the girls in shock. These sweet people were standing up for him. They didn't even know him. Everyone in the classroom was silent. They all just looked away and began to chat with one another. They decided to ignore Tsuna, and that was okay with him. Even though they were acting like nothing was wrong, they continued to glare at Tsuna.
Gokudera sat at his seat and turning to face Tsuna who still looked in shock. Yamamoto walked up to the girls and said thank you to them. They smiled in return, and then glanced over at Tsuna. The short girl was smiling sweetly, and the other was smirking proudly. The three of them sat down, and Yamamoto began talking to Tsuna and Gokudera.
xxxxxx
The teacher came into the classroom apologizing for his tardiness. He began to call out names to come pick up their tests. The teacher called out Gokudera's name and Tsuna looked up. Tsuna saw Gokudera, unwillingly, get out of his chair to get his paper. A paper, Tsuna was sure, had nothing but red on it. When he got back, he placed it on his desk. Tsuna's eyes bulged at what he saw.
"Haha, you're still so smart Gokudera," laughed Yamamoto as he left to get his paper. Tsuna couldn't believe it. Gokudera had a perfect grade. His paper was covered in check marks and pencil markings. The numbers and information on the paper made Tsuna's head spin with confusion. He felt like it was all some sort of computer language. Yamamoto returned with his paper laughing. He placed it on his desk. "Looks like all my guessing saved me again, haha!" Yamamoto laughed looking happy with his barely passing grade.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna jumped at his name. He stood and walked up to the teacher. He didn't look forward to what he was about to see. Tsuna took the paper from the teacher who was giving him a sympathetic look.
'How bad is it?' Tsuna thought as he took the paper. He didn't look at it while he made his quick walk to his desk. He made it to his desk and began to look at all the red marks on his paper. The grade above was not even there. Instead, there was a note.
'Sawada-san, I see you will be struggling in this class. I recommend a tutor of some kind. If you do not have anyone in mind and would like recommendations, stay after class. I recommend taking this advice. I will later begin to stay after school to give extra lessons. Your decision on how you want to handle this. Ask me any questions you may have.'
Tsuna stared at the note. He was shocked that the teacher was actually encouraging Tsuna to try harder. At his old school, the teacher did not care if Tsuna failed. The teacher actually took pleasure in his failure. Tsuna worked hard but had no friends to help him, Dame-Tsuna. Tsuna looked up to his teacher with shocked eyes. The teacher noticed him staring and smiled back. Tsuna felt encouraged for once in his life.
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Yamamoto and Gokudera grabbed their lunches and headed to Tsuna. Tsuna had just grabbed his own when he saw the two of them in front of him.
"Let's have lunch together, Tsunayoshi," Yamamoto said grinning at Tsuna. He smiled back brightly before nodding. "We usually like going on the roof, if Hibari doesn't mind," he whispered to himself. "Do you wanna go there?"
"Sure, let's go." Tsuna rose out of his chair, and they began to head out.
As they walked to the door they heard someone call out, "Mind if we join you guys?" The three guys looked back at Kyoko and her friend, Hana, with their lunches in their hands, smiling at the boys.
"Sure," Tsuna spoke out. The five of them left the room, not paying attention to stares and glares they received as they walked out.
xxxxxx
The five of them arrived on the roof and sat in a circle. They were enjoying the light breeze and the not too sunny sky. Tsuna began to feel nervous. He was around so many people who were not there to tease or bully him.
"Th-thank you for earlier, Sasgawa-san Kurokawa-san," Tsuna said with a timid smile on his face. The girls looked at Tsuna's smile and couldn't look away. The smile was sweet and very appreciative. They felt a warmth from such a small smile.
"You're welcome, but they shouldn't be laughing about anything or calling someone they don't even know a dame." Tsuna could tell how passionate Kyoko was when she spoke about their teasing.
"You shouldn't let them do that to you anyway. Your gorillas can't always protect you. You should try standing up to them yourself," Hana said not too nicely.
"I'm sorry. I was recently told the same thing yesterday, but I have yet to take action for myself. Even so, I plan to do better next time and not just for myself. I hope that soon you all won't have to worry about me." Tsuna spoke with determination. His eyes help that same determination. He then broke into a deeply encouraging smile as if he was encouraging them. All of them were stunned for a moment before they each gave Tsuna a smile of their own or smirk in Gokudera's case.
They all began to eat in comfort until Yamamoto asked Tsuna how he did on the test. Tsuna began to panic inside. He remembered how horrible his paper looked. Tsuna thought of whether he should lie or just tell them the flat out truth. He decided on the truth. In all honesty, he didn't want to lie to his friends. 'Are they my friends?' he wondered before he spoke.
"I didn't do too good at all." Tsuna looked down as he pulled out his paper. "I even have a note here saying to get a tutor or stay for extra classes. It's just the second day of school too." Tsuna was scared to look up and see what expression the others had on. Tsuna knew they would think of him as a dame. The silence spread until he heard rustling. He looked up to see everyone pulling out their own papers.
Yamamoto laughed "I didn't do too good either. I was told a tutor would help increase my score and ensure myself of a passing grade this year, so I wouldn't have to worry about failing and missing baseball."
"I was told to work on long equations and fractions because it will be on every test we take. I was going to ask Hana to help me. If you can, Hana?"
"Sure thing, I also need practice, so tutoring really helps me strengthen my own skills." Gokudera looked at the others grades before putting his paper down. They stared at it.
"Gokudera-kun, you did a perfect score. Amazing!"
"Wow, I have to say you must be really smart."
"He's always been this smart," Yamamoto laughed.
Kyoko looked up to Tsuna and said, "Maybe Gokudera-kun can tutor you, Tsunayoshi-kun."
"Yeah and me too. Haha!" Yamamoto laughed. Tsuna looked at Gokudera who gave no clue of how he felt about the suggestion. Gokudera saw Tsuna staring at him and flushed.
"I'll help you if you want. I assume you don't want to prove everyone in class that you are a dame."
Tsuna smiled brightly before nodding his head."Please, I would really appreciate it if you could. I'm sure my grade would have a great increase with your help." Tsuna looked into Gokudera's eyes. He could see unsure feelings seeping from them, but Tsuna knew the teen felt pride.
"Haha! Alright, well then how about today?"
"Sure! You both can come over," Tsuna said with so much happiness.
Suddenly, the door to the roof opened with a bang. A group of boys entered looking like angry monkeys. They walked up to their small group, glaring at Tsuna. The small brunet stared in fear at the older teens.
"What do you want, stupid monkeys?" Hana insulted the guys.
"Shut up, we are here to deliver a message to this wimp here," the taller one said while continuing to glare at Tsuna. "Kensuke Mochida, the captain of the kendo club, challenges Dame Tsuna to a Kendo match over who has the right of Sasagawa Kyoko today after school! Do you accept?"
"That's so low, what a jerk!"
"Shut up!"
"Now, now everyone. Let's all calm down. Why does he challenge Tsunayoshi? He didn't do anything to the guy, did he?"
"He is trying to steal Kyoko-chan from the captain!"
"N-no, I'm not," he said nervously but felt very upset about what they said about his friend. 'Is she a friend? It doesn't matter!'
"Kyoko is not your captain's either!"
They ignored Hana as they continued to glare at Tsuna. "Are you going to deny this challenge or will you wimp out?"
"I will… accept." They all stared at Tsuna in shock before the guys left looking satisfied. Tsuna turned to the girls, mainly Kyoko. He stared into her eyes.
"I am only agreeing so I can inform this guy that you are not some prize. I do not agree to his terms, and I will tell him that. So please don't think lowly of me, I will fight for you but in my own way." Tsuna looked up to Hana and nodded his head as if making sure that was okay with her too. She nodded back. Gokudera stared in awe and surprise at the short boy. Yamamoto couldn't help how he felt impressed with Tsuna. Tsuna was going to face those bullies, and he looked strong at that moment.
"So after we deal with them, we can head to my house for our tutoring lesson." Tsuna was smiling his dazzling smile at his four new friends he made. He seemed to have so much confidence in himself at this moment. Yamamoto and Gokudera couldn't help nodding in agreement to Tsuna, but they still gave each other worried looks.
BANG! The five friends jumped to the sudden noise and the bloodlust they felt.
"I'll bite you to death."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"RUN!" Tsuna screamed. He could feel the dangerous aura Hibari was giving them. They all grabbed their things and ran back to the classroom just before the bell rang.