Since Yamamoto was aware of the problem with Gokudera, he knew why Tsuna wasn't eager to hang around after school. The baseball player offered to walk Tsuna home, and Tsuna was more than happy to accept. For once, Tsuna felt normal.

As he and Yamamoto walked out of the school gates, chattering about the day so far, Tsuna felt happy. He had always been alone with no one but his brother, but now, for the first time, he was walking home with someone who wasn't a part of his family.

Tsuna even invited Yamamoto inside when they arrived, an invitation that the baseball player gladly accepted. When Yamamoto was welcomed in, Tsuna's mom practically glowed with happiness.

"My Tsu-kun invited someone over! Next time, bring a girl, okay?" Nana beamed at them happily before rushing to make tea for them both. While Tsuna buried his face in his hands in embarrassment, Yamamoto laughed good-naturedly behind him. It really made it hard for Tsuna not to smile himself.

The afternoon passed by without a hitch. Even Reborn seemed to approve of Yamamoto, declaring he was welcome to come over whenever he wanted. Even Tsuna's little brother, Lambo, took a liking to the tall baseball player. Tsuna was happy that his first friend was accepted so well in his house.

Before it became too late, Yamamoto left to go home. Tsuna walked him to the door and waved goodbye before heading back up to his room.

Tsuna sighed and lay down on his bed feeling happy. He had a friend. Someone to laugh with, have fun, and maybe even protect him. Tsuna frowned a bit as he remembered Gokudera and what would await him tomorrow at school. But it was like what Reborn said. As long as he wasn't alone, Gokudera wouldn't try anything, right?

Tsuna heaved a sigh and opened his eyes, looking down. His eyes connected with two bright yellow ones.

For a moment, he just blinked, his mind trying to catch up with what he was seeing.

"REBORN!" Tsuna froze immediately as he realized what it was.

Reborn came into the room at his brother's call and laughed slightly, picking up the green lizard from Tsuna's chest. "There you are, Leon." He smiled and put the lizard on top of his head. Leon settled on top of the beanie happily.

"Jeez, Reborn. You should keep a closer eye on him." Tsuna frowned, sitting up.

"I do!" Reborn said, giving Tsuna a light smack on the forehead. "Besides, you shouldn't be talking! You've killed more fish than I can count. And I can count pretty high."

"It's not my fault! Fish are hard to take care of! If mom would let me have a cat or something, it'd be so much easier!"

"And risk you killing that too?" Reborn laughed slightly.

Tsuna huffed slightly and crossed his arms. "You suck."

Reborn snorted slightly before he sat down on the bed next to Tsuna. "So are you going to be alright tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Tsuna said softly with a nod.

"Stick close to Yamamoto," Reborn said, standing up. He then smirked. "If you need anything, just scream and your big brother will come to the rescue."

Tsuna pouted slightly. "Stop treating me like a girl!" He scowled before pushing Reborn out of his room. "I'm your BROTHER! Not your sister!"

Reborn laughed before he reached back and grabbed Tsuna, putting him over his shoulder easily. "Yeah, I know!" He smirked as the young brunette squeaked and squirmed. Surprisingly, Leon the lizard stayed on Reborn's head this whole time as if it was used to all of this.

Eventually, Tsuna was placed back on his bed and Reborn returned to his own room. Despite his annoyance, Tsuna felt relieved. The first day of school had gone by pretty smoothly. He didn't get beaten up and he had made a friend. Tomorrow could only get better. He knew it. It just had to be better.

Things just had to get worse, didn't they?

The day had been too good to be true. Tsuna had spent the school day happy and relaxed. Yamamoto was at his side and laughing for the whole day. They met at the front gates of the school and walked together into homeroom. They spent lunch together and returned to the classroom late. They got extra homework as a punishment. As the day ended, Tsuna invited Yamamoto over his house to do the homework together.

"I have a baseball meeting today." Yamamoto smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, alright. You want to come over after, then?" Tsuna offered as he picked up his bag.

"Yeah, definitely." Yamamoto grinned, shouldering his own bag before waving a goodbye and running off to the boy's locker room. Tsuna smiled a bit and waved back, watching his retreating form. Then without a care in the world, Tsuna walked out of the school, heading for the sidewalk to walk home.

But this is when his day finally turned sour.

Tsuna looked ahead of him and spotted two bulky teenagers about twenty feet away. The brunette immediately recognized them—their faces were too scary to forget. It was Gokudera's gang. Tsuna went pale and immediately turned to take a different route home. He didn't walk more than a block before he saw another pair of the bullies ahead of him. Tsuna turned down another street. He glanced behind him and saw that the two more recent teens were now following him. Tsuna gave a small whimper and picked up the pace.

As he turned the corner, there they were again. The gang was staring him down. Tsuna's only remaining option was to slip through a narrow road away from the main street. But as he headed down this path, he saw that the exit to the small alley was blocked by a fence. Tsuna stopped in his tracks and turned around to try another way, but the four teens were now blocking the entrance. That was when it hit him.

They had been herding him all along.

Like a pack of wolves, scaring a small rabbit into a corner so he'd be far away from his burrow. Far away from escape. Tsuna backed up against the fence, feeling the threatening stares burn into his skin. He could see two of them had bruised faces. Tsuna had no doubt that those were the ones that had met Reborn yesterday.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we've got here."

The teens parted in the middle, two on each side, allowing Gokudera to pass through. He glared down at Tsuna, seeing as he was about a head taller than him. Not as tall as Yamamoto, but tall enough. Tsuna tried his best not to cower against the fence.

"Your big brother can't save you now."

At Gokudera's statement, two boys grabbed Tsuna's arms and tossed his school bag to the floor. No matter how much Tsuna struggled, though, the boys easily pushed him up against the alley wall. They held his arms tightly, so much that Tsuna could feel the tips of his fingers begin to go numb. But his fingers were the least of his worries.

A hard, blunt pain exploded in his stomach as Gokudera rammed his knee into him. Tsuna gasped for air, feeling his body constrict as none came at first. A few seconds later, he began to cough violently, his eyes tearing up in pain. Before he could fully regain his breath, a punch connected with his jaw, then a kick to his side. The blows continued for a while and the pain only increased until all Tsuna could do was breath and bleed.

Finally, the hands holding his arms suddenly disappeared. Tsuna's strength had long since left him. His legs refused to hold up his body and he fell to the ground on all fours. Tsuna trembled as his body ached. He thought it couldn't get any worse but then one last rough kick decided to meet with his side. Tsuna fell at the impact, and began coughing again.

"What a pathetic piece of shit." He heard their cruel voices around him laugh.

Tsuna curled up as he heard the gang leave the alley. He didn't have the courage to open his eyes or even move. So he didn't. He just laid there on the alley floor, shivering in fear and pain. He didn't know how long he was there for, but when he finally regained the strength to stand, the sky was beginning to darken.

It took Tsuna half-an-hour to limp the rest of his way home, a trip that would have usually taken him no more than fifteen minutes. But luckily, he didn't have to walk all the way. About a block away from the house, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Tsuna!"

"Di…Dino…" At the sound of his big brother's best friend, Tsuna felt relief course through him, and this seemed to drain the last of the brunette's strength. Tsuna's body finally gave up and let the darkness take over him. He was already unconscious by the time he fell straight into the older teen's arms.

"…appened to him?!"

"I don't know, Reborn… I just found him like this."

The voices were slowly getting clearer as Tsuna felt the comfort of his bed. Everything else was muted. The pain was lowered to a dull throb except for a sharp pang here and there. He finally opened his eyes though, when he felt a cold wet cloth on his forehead. His tired eyes connected with his mother's worried ones.

"Tsu-kun!" She held back a sob and gently cleaned his face.

"I'm sorry, Mom... Don't cry," Tsuna said immediately, his voice rough and tired.

"Don't be sorry, you idiot!" Reborn growled, smacking Tsuna over the head. "This wasn't your fault!"

Tsuna winced before giving his brother a bitter smile afterwards. Reborn sighed disgruntled, only listening with half an ear as is mother scolded him for hitting Tsuna when he was in such a condition. While they spoke, Tsuna turned to look at the fourth occupant that was in his room.

Dino Cavallone was a third year who has been in the same class as Reborn since they were children. He was a very close friend of the family to the point where Reborn and Tsuna both thought of him as another brother. His eyes were a soft light-brown, the kind of color that reminded you of melted milk chocolate. Dino was not fully Japanese though. Due to his half European decent, his hair was a light blonde. The tips just about touched his shoulders.

His blonde hair, though, was not the only thing that stuck out about the teen. From his neck, to the tips of his fingers of his right arm, tattoos covered his skin. An image of barbed wire ran up his wrist and arm. On his forearm, there was a bright orange sun with a C in the middle. Then finally, on his shoulder running up to his neck was a black skull covered in a sky blue fire. Tsuna often wondered if the boy had more tattoos that were simply hidden from view. Dino didn't tell and Tsuna didn't ask.

"Hey, Tsuna. How are you feeling?" Dino caught Tsuna's eyes and smiled fondly at him.

"Okay… considering everything." Tsuna broke the eye contact to look at the ceiling instead.

Dino's smile disappeared and he sighed slightly, nodding with an understanding expression.

"Are you hungry, Tsu-kun?" His mother returned to his bedside. "You should eat something." She gently petted his head, eyeing his darkening bruises with a frown.

Tsuna sighed slightly and nodded, his mother's touch numbing the pain a bit. His mother smiled and nodded before she left, leaving Reborn to take her place at Tsuna's bedside.

"It was them, right?" Reborn asked with narrowed eyes. "That gang that I found picking on you on the roof."

Tsuna looked away and nodded slightly. But then he quickly returned his gaze to his older brother. "But, please don't do anything!" he said hurriedly.

"What do you mean don't do anything?!" Reborn snarled slightly and Tsuna couldn't help but to flinch. Dino put a calming hand on the older brother's shoulder. Reborn shot a glare at Dino but the touch had the desired effect. Reborn looked back at Tsuna, slightly calmer.

"I just…" Tsuna struggled for words. How could he explain this? This feeling of utter fear... His body trembled slightly as he remembered how hard he had gotten hit. Over and over. He could still feel it… "I… I don't want you to get hurt… Reborn, please don't go after them…"

Reborn grit his teeth. At first, it seemed that Tsuna's words were having the opposite effect. Reborn was growing tenser and angrier. But then Dino spoke up with a frown.

"Reborn, he's right. Besides, if you fight his battles for him, they'll only go after Tsuna again in revenge when you're not looking," Dino reminded him, crossing his arms over his chest.

Reborn looked at Dino for a moment before looking back at Tsuna. The siblings' eyes connected and after a single moment, Tsuna saw something inside Reborn click. He saw the gears in his head move. His older brother had gotten an idea, and through experience, Tsuna knew they were never good.

When Tsuna was two, he endured the first of Reborn's infamous ideas. Five-year-old Reborn had figured out a way to teach Tsuna how to walk. They had been in the park one day and it was a simple matter of enticing a stray dog with a sandwich before shoving it down Tsuna's shirt. Not only did the young toddler learn to run before he walked, but it struck a fear of dogs in him that plagued him to this day.

Then, at the age of five, Tsuna once again suffered an encounter with Reborn's evil mind. Reborn had wanted to make his little brother braver, so on Halloween he abandoned the younger boy in the middle of a haunted house. Tsuna emerged an hour later, never the same again.

So while Reborn always had good intentions, things always turned out horribly. Tsuna endured many of Reborn's trials and it seemed like he was going to have to endure one more. But before he could say a word of protest, Reborn was already up and running out of the room.

Tsuna's mouth hung open, his hand outstretched feebly as he realized his fate was sealed. Now he had two things to worry about. Gokudera and his thugs, as well as whatever Reborn was planning. Tsuna almost felt like crying.

Dino sighed slightly and patted Tsuna's shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on him, alright? You just relax." The blonde gave a comforting smile before running off after Reborn. Seeing the level-headed Dino pursue his older brother made Tsuna feel better, but only marginally. He knew that once Reborn had an idea, no one could stop him, but at least Dino could make it more bearable.

Tsuna managed to relax for the rest of the evening and in combination with his mother's amazing food and a good night's sleep, he recovered quite well. Tsuna was able to walk without a limp the next morning, though the bruises and sores still ached him.

As he got up and took off his pajamas, Tsuna noticed his stomach. A large purple and blue bruise had blossomed on his stomach, covering a large area. The flesh was tender there and it hurt whenever Tsuna touched it. The young student paled slightly at yesterday's reminder but continued to get dressed in his school uniform.

When Tsuna went down the stairs for breakfast, he was surprised to find out that Reborn had left early, and was even more surprised to see Yamamoto standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Yo, Tsuna!" The baseball player flashed him a cheery smile. "Your mom invited me in. Hope you don't mind!"

"No, of course not!" Tsuna said quickly before smiling as well. "But what are you doing here so early, anyway?" Tsuna asked as they entered the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Ah, well." Yamamoto's smile shrunk slightly. "I heard about what happened to you yesterday and I wanted to walk you to school today. I can walk you home too since I don't have baseball today. If you don't mind, that is."

Tsuna looked at Yamamoto for a moment before smiling gently. Although they had only known each other for such a short time, Yamamoto was already worried for him. Yamamoto was kind and Tsuna was lucky to have met him. "I don't mind at all. In fact, I appreciate it," he said happily. "Thanks a lot, Yamamoto."

The smile returned at full force. "No problem!" the other said immediately.

The two boys talked animatedly over a breakfast that Tsuna's mother was more than willing to make for Yamamoto as well. Lambo even gave input as the subject changed to baseball. The small boy bragged that he could catch his bouncy ball perfectly every time and made Yamamoto promise to come and play with him one day. The baseball player laughed and nodded, ruffling the small boy's hair.

"Sure, sure!" he agreed with a grin. Tsuna laughed when Lambo announced that the three of them were going to have so much fun and that their older brother, Reborn, wasn't invited.

Tsuna and Yamamoto walked to school with a good disposition. Tsuna barely even felt his injuries as he laughed and smiled with his friend. Though when they entered the school, the bruise on his stomach gave a bit of a twinge as he spotted some of Gokudera's gang hanging near the entrance. Gokudera wasn't with them, but Yamamoto still grabbed Tsuna's arm firmly, picking up the pace as they reached the school. The young brunette was thankful for that. Once the gang was out of sight, Yamamoto's smile returned. Tsuna felt at ease, seeing it.

The rest of the day was spent avoiding the gang as much as possible. Tsuna and Yamamoto ate lunch in the classroom instead of on the roof. When walking out to a different classroom, Tsuna made sure to stick with the group as close as possible. Though he noticed that through the day, he only saw Gokudera's thugs and never Gokudera himself.

"I heard there was another huge fight with the Disciplinary Committee head and the Ninth's gang again," Tsuna overheard a student nearby. "Apparently they beat up some kid really bad and Hibari Kyouya went after Gokudera."

"Ah, those two are scary…" the other student responded, shaking her head. "I'm trying to get my mom to transfer me out of this place but she doesn't believe anything I tell her."

"Yeah, my parents too." The first student sighed. "All we have to do is keep our heads low and avoid catching attention to ourselves and we'll probably live to see graduation."

Tsuna shuddered slightly at the conversation he overheard. The fact that there was someone more terrifying than Gokudera was a horrible thought. He never wanted to get on the bad side of this Hibari Kyouya. Gokudera was enough. Thankfully though, it seemed like the head of the Disciplinary Committee was on Tsuna's side.

Not before long, it was afternoon break. Tsuna's class was on cleaning duty that day. The brunette's heart dropped when his teacher told him to take the trash to the dumpster that was behind the school. In a very isolated place… Tsuna gulped nervously before nodding, deciding if he moved fast enough, nothing would happen.

Tsuna hurried over to the dumpster with the trash bag. As he tossed the trash into the dumpster, he noticed a large scaffolding running up the side of the school with various building materials. Were they doing some repairs on the school? Tsuna looked around and found that various windows were shattered and some of the walls were cracked slightly. Tsuna wondered could have possibly caused that …

It was as the brunette turned to go back to the school that he crashed right into someone. Tsuna froze, dread beginning to spread through his body as he slowly looked up into the green eyes of the Ninth.

"G-G-Gokudera!" Tsuna squeaked in fear, staggering back a step.

"You got a lot of nerve," Gokudera snarled furiously. There was a large bruise on the gang boss' cheek. "Because you had to go blabbing, that annoying ass Hibari had to come after me."

"B-Blabbing?! I-I didn't say anything!" Tsuna's eyes were wide, darting around in fear as he noticed the rest of the boys slowly begin to close in again. In a second, he'd be cornered. He'd have to run now if he wanted to escape. So Tsuna swallowed his fear and bolted.

He ran through the closing gap, slipping out of the boy's grip. The gang was behind him and he was home free. All he had to do was hightail it back to the classroom and he'd be safe under the watch of the teacher.

But fate was against him. Tsuna stepped onto a stray baseball. He didn't have time to wonder how it got there before he slipped back. Flailing his arms, he tried to regain his balance, to no avail. Instead his arm smacked into the face of one of the boys who were pursuing him and as he fell back, Tsuna's head smacked into the nose of another boy behind him. The first boy stumbled back in shock while the second boy held his bloody nose in his hand as he fell to the ground as well.

Tsuna looked at this and became pale at the look on Gokudera's face. He couldn't take his eyes off the hard green orbs glaring at him. Tsuna didn't notice he was walking backwards until he had hit the wall of the school. A quick look around him told him he was standing under the scaffolding. There were iron supports on either side of him. There was no way out. The remainder of the gang began stalking towards him and when they were right in front of him, Tsuna screwed his eyes shut.

But then he heard a loud crash and several shocked screams. Tsuna cracked an eye open and his jaw dropped. There was a pile of wood on top of the now unconscious boys. The brunette risked a look in Gokudera's direction only to flinch fearfully at the other's positively murderous expression. Tsuna ran but didn't make it very far. Gokudera grabbed him and shoved him up against the wall. As the white-haired teen pulled back his fist to punch him, Tsuna noticed something weird. There were small rocks and dust trickling down on them.

Tsuna looked up to see a large concrete brick falling out of a window.

Time seemed to slow down as he looked straight to see Gokudera looking up at the brick in shock as well. Tsuna felt his body move on instinct. He shoved his shoulder against Gokudera's chest, pushing the boy and himself out of the way. A second after, the large brick landed on the sidewalk, leaving three or so large cracks on the solid ground.

Tsuna's eyes widened slightly at this. If they had been one second late, they would have died for sure. The shock took hold of Tsuna's body and suddenly everything went black.

The next thing Tsuna saw when he opened his eyes was the white ceiling of the nurse's office. It took a moment before he remembered what had happened and why he was laying in the nurse's office. That's right, he had almost died. What the hell were they thinking putting such a heavy brick in such a place? Tsuna groaned slightly, massaging his forehead.

"Oh, you're awake?"

Tsuna froze. That voice. Slowly, he looked to the side to lock eyes with the green ones of Gokudera. His heart stopped, wondering briefly if the other would attempt to do something while he was in the nurse's office. But then, he registered the other's expression.

Gokudera's anger was long gone. Instead on his face was a somber expression, even a bit of concern. As Tsuna looked around, he saw the rest of the gang there as well, bandaged up but with similar expressions.

"We didn't think you were that strong," one of the boys said.

"Yeah, you beat us good," another one said.

"On top of that, you saved my life even though I treated you so horribly," Gokudera said with a small frown. He then stood up and stood beside the other boys. They stood in a line and bowed low before speaking out in unison.

"We pledge our allegiance to you, Tenth!"

Tsuna stared at the boys who bowed before him. Tenth? If Gokudera was the Ninth…

"No! No wait!" Tsuna flailed his arms quickly as Gokudera looked up, the rest keeping bowed. "I-I can't be your boss!"

"Of course you can," Gokudera said simply. "You beat me."

"But I can't possibly-!"

"You will." Gokudera's eyes hardened as he glared straight into Tsuna's eyes. "That is our rule. You won so you will take over as our new boss."

Tsuna looked at Gokudera and his throat went dry. How could he say anything else? It was clear that they wouldn't accept anything other than an agreement. Even now as their new boss, Tsuna still couldn't assert himself. God, he was pathetic.

"A-Alright..." he muttered, with a despairing look on his face.