Quite a bit happens in this chapter, including a shift in Hibari and Dino's relationship. And just you wait, guys! In just two chapters, our evil plot begins. Bwuahaha.

Target 09: Making Up

As promised, Tsuna was picked up the next morning by his mother. He spent the next few of days recuperating at home. He saw little of Reborn, and he had a feeling it had to do something with the man in the picture—the man who had shot him—but he didn't have a chance to dwell on this very much as Fuuta and the rest of the kids made sure to keep him distracted.

Oddly enough, he also saw little of Gokudera. Though Tsuna received multiple texts from the other boy for the past few days, the bomb-user hadn't made a single visit. This worried him.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, made sure to drop by for a couple hours every day. Tsuna appreciated his company, but he couldn't help but to notice that there was something different about him.

But on the morning of the fifth day, Tsuna was already ready to get back to school. His wound still hadn't fully healed but he was well enough for light activities apparently. As he readied himself for school and began heading downstairs, he wondered if Gokudera was going to come and pick him up. He had told him he was going to school that day but Gokudera hadn't responded to his text.

He need not have worried though.

"Good morning, Tenth!" Gokudera was waiting at the door as usual. There was a bright and expectant smile on his face as he waited for his boss to come down.

"Ah, good morning, Gokude-... Ah!" Tsuna's eyes widened slightly, and it was no wonder why. Before him, Gokudera stood with bandages peeking out under his clothes.

"What happened?!" Tsuna exclaimed, eyeing the bandages with worry.

Gokudera rubbed the back of his neck. "It's from training," he explained, looking slightly guilty. "But don't worry yourself, Tenth, I'm perfectly fine. Really!"

Tsuna frowned and felt a surge of guilt himself. Gokudera had done this to himself for him. He almost wanted to reprimand the other but Gokudera's earnest expression prevented him from speaking. He was so difficult sometimes…

He invited Gokudera in and turned to the hallway. As he neared the kitchen door, he heard a small commotion. Maybe it was just the kids. But as he looked into the kitchen, his expression changed. "REBORN!" Tsuna fumed, watching the Arcobaleno gobble down the last of his breakfast, but before the brunette could open his mouth to argue, Reborn immediately cut in. "You weren't paying attention, No-Good-Tsuna," he said.

Tsuna scowled but gave up, knowing a useless situation when he saw one. "I guess we should just get going, Gokudera-kun," he said as he headed back into the hallway and picked up his bag.

Gokudera nodded but frowned for a second. He hesitated and eyed the other for a moment before speaking up. "Would you like to pick up something to eat on the way?" he asked as he held open the front door for the Tenth. "I haven't eaten anything either," Gokudera added just in case the other thought it would be too inconvenient.

"Ah, sure! That sounds great!" Tsuna smiled happily, walking next to Gokudera as they headed down the street. It felt so normal considering what had happened these past few days. Tsuna, though, still had no idea as to what had happened between Gokudera and Yamamoto, though perhaps it was better that way.

Halfway through their trek to the school, they stopped by a small shop to buy some bread. Gokudera was happy the Tenth had agreed to stop by. "You shouldn't overexert yourself today, Tenth, since you're still recovering! If anything troublesome comes up, just leave it to me!" he told him eagerly before biting into his bread.

Tsuna smiled at the other's words and nodded slightly. "Okay. I'll be counting on you today," he said before beginning to nibble at his bread, happy he would be able to have some breakfast.

The two continued their way to school like this. Tsuna was surprised they hadn't run into Yamamoto and mentioned this.

"He's probably waiting for us at the gate. We did take a detour," Gokudera reasoned.

He was right.

"Yo~!" Yamamoto called at them, waving when he finally caught sight of them nearing the school.

Gokudera took another bite of his bread and gave the other a lazy wave. "Morning," he acknowledged, making an effort to be amiable… It was surprisingly not hard.

"Good morning, Yamamoto!" Tsuna said before his mind caught up with Gokudera's response. He was slightly shocked at the realization that Gokudera had simply greeted the other. No scowl? No grumble? Tsuna glanced between the two in confusion but took this in stride. He didn't sense anything was wrong. Maybe the two were finally starting to get along?

The idea made him smile.

"How are you feeling, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked him then with his usual smile.

"I'm doing much better." Tsuna nodded and smiled in return.

"It feels like forever since we've been to school," Gokudera pointed out as he heard the first bell ring. While Tsuna had missed class due to his injuries, Gokudera just hadn't bothered to show up at all and had decided to just use his free time to train.

"Yeah... So many things have happened." Tsuna sighed wryly before he smiled at Gokudera and Yamamoto. "But here we are again! So let's do our best!"

Yamamoto grinned happily and nodded at Tsuna. "You got it!"

Even though Tsuna had said for them to try their best, he still found himself daydreaming during class once in a while. His mind kept wandering about everything. About how his future self fared when he returned to the death trap he had walked into. About Gokudera's training-inflicted injuries. He was even thinking about the sudden change in Yamamoto and Gokudera's relationship. But what was still at the forefront of his mind was the problem with his Dying Will Flames. He was in fact so preoccupied with all of these issues that it wasn't until the teacher called his name for the third time that Tsuna "woke up" and immediately stood, stammering an apology. Of course the teacher asked him a question he knew nothing about and Tsuna just stood there with a blank and guilty look on his face.

Gokudera noticed the Tenth's predicament and quickly mouthed the answer to him. He then shifted his eyes to glare at the teacher for daring to disrupt his boss.

Tsuna caught Gokudera's look and stammered out the answer in nervous embarrassment. The teacher, looking slightly surprised, said that Tsuna was right and could sit back down. Tsuna sat, a huge sigh of relief heaving his shoulders. He mouthed a "thanks" to Gokudera before smiling at Yamamoto who was giving him a thumbs-up from across the room.

Gokudera smiled back, happy to have been able to help.

The day passed quickly. Tsuna tried his best to keep his problems out of his mind but it was hard. Before they knew it, it was already lunchtime and they all decided to head upstairs to eat on the roof. Much to Gokudera's great annoyance, however, the lawnhead had decided to join them for once.

"Yo, Sawada! It's good to see you up and about to the extreme!" Ryohei punched the air in excitement.

Tsuna smiled a bit before nodding. "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, onii-san," he said before taking some of the sushi Yamamoto had brought for the three of them.

"That's extremely great! Now that you've recovered, you should come back to the boxing club!" Ryohei laughed boisterously.

Gokudera scowled at the other's loudness. "As if, lawnhead!" he growled, wishing the other would leave already. He was disrupting their lunch.

"Ah... I don't think I will, onii-san..." Tsuna sweat dropped.

It was then that Hibari walked up to the roof. Tsuna was at first unaware of it, but he caught himself staring at the black-haired male after a moment. He watched as Hibird flew down and landed on the prefect's shoulder, but before he could tear his eyes away from this sight, Hibari caught his look. Tsuna quickly stiffened and reacted, deciding the best idea was to greet him. "H-hello, Hibari-san…!" he greeted him with a small wave.

Hibari just looked at him.

Gokudera gave the prefect a dark warning glare, as if daring him to try and hurt the Tenth.

Ryohei, on the other hand, got excited. It had been quite a while since he had encountered the prefect, as whenever Dino was in town, Hibari became almost impossible to visit and challenge to a fight. So without further thought, Ryohei stepped up to address him. "Hibari!" he shouted loudly. "Let's have a match to the extreme!" he announced before charging at him without further ado.

Hibird fluttered away quickly as Hibari took out his tonfas in the blink of an eye.

Tsuna eyed him worriedly. He wondered if he should stop them, considering Hibari-san's... condition. "Wait! Onii-san, don't!" he called out belatedly. His effort was hopeless though, because once Ryohei got this way, there was no stopping him.

Hibari blocked the incoming punches easily though, so it seemed like there was nothing to worry about. In fact, there was even a pleased smirk on his face.

Ryohei continued his assault determinedly and dodged Hibari's blows. They seemed to be evenly matched, Ryohei thought cockily, but he wasn't one to accept a draw so Ryohei increased his pace, trying to land a blow.

As Gokudera and Yamamoto could recognize, however, Hibari wasn't using his full strength. This didn't stop Tsuna from becoming utterly worried about the situation. He watched them with wide eyes, hoping fervently that Ryohei would stop. After a while, it was clear that Hibari decided that enough was enough as he began aiming swift, strong blows to Ryohei's head, aiming to knock him out.

Ryohei only got more excited at the challenge. He continued to dodge, having to block once with his arms—and damn that hurt—but he grinned. He hadn't had a fight this good in a while. "Heh, you're good!" he complimented the prefect, jumping back for a second to catch his breath and appraise the other. But before he could jump back into the fight, there was an interruption.

"Kyooouya," a scolding voice rang out. Someone appeared from behind Hibari and wrapped their arms around the prefect's body, pulling him back. "Didn't I tell you not to overexert yourself today?" Dino tsked, tightening his hold before addressing the others.

"Hey, Tsuna. Nice to see you out of the hospital!" The blonde smiled.

Dino was probably going to regret that. The moment he wrapped his arms around an adrenaline-filled and mood-swinging Hibari, the prefect whirled around and punched him across the jaw. Tsuna winced in the background as Hibari simply stared at the blonde, his adrenaline thinning out bit by bit.

Dino hissed in pain, recoiling from the blow. The punch had been hard enough to actually draw blood, Dino noticed with a grimace. But it's not like he could really glare at his lover for his reaction…Dino really should have expected that. He had been worried to see the other fight though (not to mention also a little jealous…but only a little!), so it was also only natural for Dino to react this way. He bit back a sigh, wiping the blood that was beginning to trickle down his chin, and was about to make some sort of humorous remark to break the tension when he was interrupted.

"That was extremely uncool, dude! Never get in the middle of an extreme fight!" Ryohei lectured him with a frown.

Needless to say, the comment only served to further irritate Dino.

Hibari was actually amused at this last statement and was satisfied to see a little bit of blood on his dear lover's cheek. Still, he was beginning to get annoyed by the fact that there were too many people crowding about, so he pushed Dino away and began to head towards the door. "I'm leaving," he said without even glancing back as Hibird fluttered back to his shoulder.

Dino sighed aloud this time, running a hand through his hair before letting his face fall into an easygoing smile. As much as he wanted to go after his lover, it was better if he stayed away, at least for a little while, before going after him.

"He has such a temper sometimes," he joked to Tsuna, knowing he was the one most intimidated by Kyouya among them all.

Gokudera, who had watched the scene with an uncaring look on his face, snorted at this comment.

Yamamoto laughed a bit at this comment and Tsuna tried to smile back to Dino. "Aha… Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it, huh?" he said and shot the other an awkward smile. Still, he had to admit he was relieved that Hibari-san left the fight without any serious blows.

Should I talk to Ryohei later about this? Tsuna wondered briefly, but he discarded this thought a moment later. If Tsuna told Ryohei the reason, it would likely spread around the school in a matter of seconds. If word gets out, Hibari-san would definitely send me to the hospital. Tsuna shuddered.

On the other hand, with no one else to fight at the moment, Ryohei was losing interest and fast. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy their company, but there was training to do. He was disappointed with the lack of an outcome in his battle with Hibari and he vowed to himself to ask for a rematch later on before saying goodbye to everyone. The comment made Dino's eyes narrow for a second and he thought he might have a little word with the boxing fanatic later on.

Tsuna spotted Dino's expression and realized that he should probably take charge of his "Family." After Ryohei left, Tsuna looked at Dino with a slightly nervous expression. "Um, I'll talk to him, so don't worry, Dino-san," he assured him quickly. "I'll take care of it."

At Tsuna's words, Dino tried to dwindle down his annoyance at the Sun Guardian and gave his little brother a sheepish smile. "If you say so," he responded agreeably.

The bell rang then, signaling the end of lunch. "I should get going," Dino said, already anxious to follow his lover, especially now that students would be heading back to class.

Gokudera rolled his eyes at all the drama that had happened during lunch, but was glad that none of it had been harmful to the Tenth.

Tsuna nodded and gave a small smile. "Take care of yourself," he said to Dino before going back to help Yamamoto pick up the remains of their shared lunch.

Hibari patrolled the halls with a quiet irritation. Anyone in the same hallway as him became quiet, fearful, and walked quickly. As the students filtered into their classes, Hibari returned to the roof with a small lunch in his hand. He preferred to eat when students were in class and away from him.

Dino was there waiting for him, but unlike before (unlike usual) he didn't make a move towards the prefect, instead he just waited on the spot he was laying on and stared at the sky, a calm expression on his face as he listened to the other settle down.

This was partly because he was sulking, and partly because he wasn't ready to test out Kyouya's mood.

Hibari wasn't really surprised to see Dino there. In fact, he would have been surprised if he wasn't. He stood next to where Dino was laying and looked down at him. He then moved and sat down a few feet away from Dino (like usual) and opened up his lunch box, beginning to eat. He occasionally fed a few grains of rice to Hibird, who was still resting on his shoulder.

Dino smiled at the other's gesture (and tried not to wince in pain at the action). It seemed he had been forgiven? Or, Dino thought ruefully, perhaps his injury had been the only consequence of his transgression? In any case, Dino was glad that the other didn't seem to be angry. He turned around so he was lying on his stomach and stared at his lover quietly. A peaceful smile spread across his face. Dino could never really stay angry at the other, and he knew exactly the reason why.

Hibari concentrated on his food and ignored the other's stare. The often-loving stares Dino would give him were something he had to live through. It was more than annoying, really. Seeing that pure happiness in those eyes ruined the strength the blonde was capable of and made him look like another herbivore. "Are you just going to continue staring at me for the rest of the period?" he asked, thought he was meticulously not looking at the blonde as he took a bite of his rice ball.

Dino grinned slightly. And as if that wasn't enough of an invitation, the realization that one of the grains of rice stuck to the corner of Kyouya's mouth was. Dino couldn't help but to reach over to lick it away. Deciding to test his luck, he scooted over until he was sitting closer to him. He wanted nothing more than to hold him like he had last time they had been on the roof (and wow, that felt like forever ago), but didn't want to push him that much yet. Instead, he held out one of his hands so Hibird could perch atop of it.

Hibari closed an eye when Dino licked him and had to hold back a roll of the eyes. As Hibari continued eating, Hibird looked at Dino, tilting his head a bit. He hopped a few times, heading for Dino's finger and sitting on it. Though it only took a few moments to find Hibari's head much more comfortable, fluttered up, and nestled at the top of Hibari's hair. The prefect didn't seem to mind at all and just continued to eat.

Dino smiled at Hibird's actions before leaning back and waiting for Kyouya to finish eating. The silence was a peaceful one, yet as time went by, the scene from earlier began to bother Dino more profoundly. Didn't Kyouya care about his condition? He shouldn't be overexerting his body like that while he was like this. A frown marred Dino's lips as he thought about this and tried to think of a way to broach the subject. He had a feeling Kyouya wasn't going to concede despite of this however, so he would just have to make sure that there just weren't any opponents for the other to fight.

Hibari finished his lunch soon after and looked at Dino. "Why are you here today?" he asked, putting his bento box back together and into its bag. The first few times Dino had come to see him "just because," Hibari had refused to be with him. Now, he usually had a reason to visit him at school. Otherwise, Hibari would always see him at home.

Dino has been expecting the question but wasn't sure exactly how to answer it. As much as he would love to say "just because," Kyouya would either not believe him or just ignore him. However, confessing the truth, that he had come to check if Kyouya was doing alright, would only make the other irritable.

So he settled for the half-truth. "I wanted to see you," Dino told him, because he really had. Waiting for Kyouya to come back home was becoming too unbearable. Especially when his subordinates' reports kept telling him that Kyouya kept getting into fights.

"If you wanted to see me, just wait at home," Hibari said, looking at him with a small frown. He placed the bento box down in front of him before standing up. Hibari didn't like sitting still for very long. Especially around Dino. The blonde would often get clingy.

"I was bored," Dino joked, although he had a feeling Kyouya probably wouldn't be surprised if that was the truth. He watched the other stand up, wondering if the prefect would leave him now, but didn't move from his spot.

"I'm sure you have other places to go," Hibari said, looking down at Dino. "Aren't you the head of a Mafia Family? Don't you have things to do?"

"Are you worrying about me?" Dino teased, sidestepping the question. If only Kyouya knew the effort Dino had put into making it possible to actually stay in Japan for this long. It gave him twice the paperwork, but at least he didn't have to endure those endless meetings with his "marriage proposals."

Hibari just looked at him hard. He didn't like it when Dino teased him. Mistaking his normal statements for actions of affection... It was insulting. "I'm going," he said, picking up his bento box and turning to leave.

It was at this moment that Dino would usually stop him, pull him close and extend their time together for even just a second more. But today… "See you later," the blonde responded amiably, lifting his hand in a lazy wave.

Hibari fully expected for the usual to happen: Dino instantly refusing him to go. But... Hibari stopped at the other's words and looked back at him. "What?" For a moment, a small flash of surprise passed his expression but it was soon replaced by his usual unemotional wall.

Dino was startled by the other's surprise but pretended not to notice. (Inwardly, he was very happy.) Instead, he stood up and moved to wrap his arms around the other's waist, pulling him close and smiling into the other's neck. "At least try not to do too much?" he asked, his voice both pleading and resigned. He leaned over to kiss the other before letting him go.

As Dino's head was buried in his neck, Hibari's expression softened. His hand wandered to his own stomach before he let Dino kiss him. He then looked at Dino. "No promises," he said before turning around and heading back inside the school.

Dino was surprised at the other's response, glad that the other had at least thought about it. His eyes softened as he watched the other leave, wishing he could keep the other in his arms. But as Kyouya had said earlier, he had work to do.

(As if paperwork would ever be more important than Kyouya. Dino snorted. When would the other ever learn?)

Hibari had a pretty normal afternoon. He put his bento box away before patrolling the halls of the school. The normalcy though was disrupted. About an hour after school let out, Hibari left the grounds and began walking home. Once he hit a deserted street, twelve guys immediately surrounded him. The teens sneered at him, their faces dark with resentment. "If it isn't the great Namimori prefect, huh? I bet you can't handle all of us at once!" the apparent leader announced.

Undaunted and refusing to acknowledge he had been caught off guard, Hibari took out his tonfas. He was just in time to block the attacks headed at him. He managed to knock eight of them out with swift blows to the head but the remaining four managed to rush him and shove him up against a wall. Hibari lost his balance, his forehead smacking against the concrete wall.

"Ha! Not so tough now, are you? Maybe this will teach you not to act so stuck up anymore!" the leader taunted Hibari, as two of the other guys moved to grab the prefect's arms. The leader walked closer to Hibari until he was mere inches away from him. He was about to grab the other's collar and punch him in the face when a loud cracking noise filled the air, and then there was pain.

It was Dino. The blonde had a dark glint in his eyes as he stepped into view, his wrist flicking as he took care of the guys. "Fuck!" another one hissed as Dino's whipped cracked again. Not before long, there was complete silence in the clearing and Dino looked in Kyouya's direction with an unreadable look on his face.

Hibari was dizzy from the blow to the head. Once the teens had released him, he had fallen to his knees. He pressed his hand against his forehead where there was a scrape, blood dripping down the side of his face. His eyes wouldn't focus. He heard loud cracks and the screams of the last four boys before he finally looked up, his eyes meeting the gaze of his blonde lover. Hibari didn't say a thing.

"I thought you said you would be careful." Dino's voice was accusing. His eyes roved the other's body, checking for injuries before closing his eyes for a second and sighing loudly. He called Romario to come check up on his lover. Dino didn't think the other was badly injured, but it never hurt to be careful. Especially now.

Hibari frowned and glared slightly at Dino. He didn't want to admit that he had successfully been ambushed. He didn't want to admit that without Dino, he would have had trouble beating his assailants... No. Hibari didn't want to admit anything of that sort. So he just stayed silent.

The silence was not helping Dino's temper. "I am putting my guards to follow you—and by this, I don't mean from far away like they usually do." Dino narrowed his eyes at this. "They're going back to following you closely, like they should have been in the first place. You are not allowed to bite them to death, Kyouya," he warned the other, his voice non-negotiable.

Hibari stood up and picked up his tonfas. His hair was hiding his face until the single moment where Hibari snapped. He rushed up to Dino and began swinging his tonfas at him with more strength than usual.

Dino's patience completely snapped. "Enough," he hissed loudly, cracking his whip quickly to disarm the other before gripping the other's wrists tightly. "Are you out of your mind, Kyouya?" he asked the other, his voice slowly rising with his every word. "The only reason I am here in the first place was because I was planning to meet up with you! If my men hadn't told me you were on your way home, what do you think would've happened?" Dino yelled at the other, feeling furious.

But Hibari didn't stop, nor did he respond. With his wrists now held still, the prefect opted then to thrust his heel down on Dino's foot. Anything. Anything to cause a bit of pain. Any bit of pain at all.

"Don't." Dino's voice was low but scolding. Don't be such a child, Kyouya, he thought, ignoring his stinging toes. "Don't," he repeated in frustration, this time meaning, don't fight me on this.

He let go of Kyouya's wrists despite knowing there was a chance the other would continue to fight him anyway. With his now-free hands Dino reached over to tilt his lover's chin up, using his other hand to wipe away the remaining blood at the prefect's forehead. His actions were soft, caring, and concerned, despite the anger still visible in his eyes.

Hibari ground his heel into Dino's foot until he was released. He then smacked the blonde's hands away, glaring at him. Finally, Hibari spoke. "I never asked for this," he said lowly, glaring at Dino. "I never wanted this. Don't start acting like it's my fault."

Dino flinched, the words stinging him more deeply than he thought they would. It's not like he had ever really deluded himself about their relationship… He had practically forced his affection onto the other, and now because of him and his stupid words to Reborn, Kyouya was saddled with something else he didn't want.

Dino knew, but the words still hurt. "I'm sorry," he told him quietly, knowing there was nothing he could do to ease the other's burden.

"You better be..." Hibari said lowly. He picked up his tonfas and walked past Dino, continuing to walk to his house. Once he got there, he threw his tonfas to the floor irritably, before walking to the bathroom to clean his face. His head hurt. His chest and stomach hurt. His mind was racing. The only thing he could really do was sit on his bed and stare at his sheets blankly, trying to figure out what the hell he had gotten himself into.

Dino clenched his fists at his sides, trying to will away the hurt that was bubbling up in his chest. He watched the other walk away before closing his eyes and tried to calm down. It didn't help. So he began to walk, waving away his men and before reminding them of their other duties. He needed to be alone.

Romario watched his boss walk away with a conflicted look in his eyes. He sighed, and not for the first time, thought that this relationship had not been a good idea. The thought was fleeting however, and he shook his head before following Hibari to his house, needing to check on the boy's conditions as per Dino's orders.

Hibari was sitting on his bed, just silent. He was staring at the bed sheets while his hand was absentmindedly rubbing his stomach. He didn't ask for this... He never wanted this. Why couldn't they just be like normal? This... baby, it was complicating things.

"Kyouya-san," Romario interrupted the prefect's musings as he entered the room. He examined the other's troubled expression with a frown but withheld his sigh. He stepped forward to tend to the boy's wounds, his actions wary. While Hibari didn't usually protest to letting him do this, the boy's moods had been unreadable lately.

Hibari looked at Romario but stayed still, allowing him to clean the scrape on his forehead. It wouldn't do any good to have it infected... He had been acting childish. This baby was making him lose his mind. He had to figure things out before it got completely out of hand.

Romario quickly took care of the scrape, before giving the other a onceover. "What else?" he asked as usual, just in case he missed something. He trusted Hibari to speak up since he could never examine the other as thoroughly as he would like.

"Nothing else, Romario," Hibari said simply, looking at the wall and leaning back on the headboard of his bed. He had stopped rubbing his stomach and both his arms were now resting beside him.

Romario nodded and began gathering his things, although still keeping the other within his vision. He was worried about his boss, about this whole situation. When he turned towards the door, he couldn't resist the urge to speak up. "It doesn't have to complicate things," he told him, although he knew that this situation was a huge complication. However… "If you let it, it will become precious to you," he told the other with a kind voice before leaving the seventeen-year-old on his own.

Hibari was silent as he watched Romario leave. Something precious. He mulled over these words as he slowly took out his phone and scrolled through the very short contact list. As Hibari stared at Dino's name on his phone, he realized that the only precious thing he's ever had was Namimori Middle School... But what about Dino? Could he live without him? And this baby... As much as he wanted to deny it, it was on its way. Dino and this child... Yes. They were precious to him. Not that he'd ever tell the stupid blonde.

At that moment, something seemed to click. Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones. Perhaps it was the guilt. Perhaps Romario's words actually had an effect. Regardless of the cause, Hibari selected Dino's number and sent him a single word text.

"Sorry."

Dino was frustrated. With Kyouya, with Reborn, but mainly with himself. He just didn't know what to do anymore—how to make this up to Kyouya. He felt like their relationship was slowly shattering before his eyes, and it was something Dino didn't want to let go, even if the pieces pierced his hands bloody. His morbid thoughts were interrupted by a vibration—his phone. Wondering who it could be, Dino flipped over his phone and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Kyouya had… apologized.

Outside the Namimori Middle School, Dino smiled softly to himself, beginning to feel hope. He knew then that they would be alright.