Author's note: I will not spoil who or what exactly broke Mukuro out of his prison. I think this chapter may give you a better idea, though.

Thank you for the kind reviews. You have motivated me to write more. And I've renamed the chapters for your enjoyment :D

Chapter 12

A New Generation

A few days later…

A prisoner was busy planting a bulb into a patch of mud he had prepared previously in the East courtyard. He covered the seed with as much mulch as possible, before patting the surface to make it nice and even with the plastic trowel, before using the watering can beside him. A few moments later, and he was sure he saw a leaf rustle in the distant. Rubbing his eyes, he blinked when a frog subsequently leapt out from the undergrowth and with a cry of alarm, he almost fell backwards; it was a tiny frog, just slightly larger than his thumbnail. He stared at it, as it hopped near his foot, and then awkwardly thrust his hand forward for the frog to leap forward onto.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you." He murmured, guiding his palm carefully towards the frog. It hopped into his palm regardless, and he stared at the mass of slimy green frog in his hand.

"Uishishi….What are you doing?"

He didn't find the looming shadow that had been approaching him surprising, yet the voice above him was enough to send a chill down his spine. He looked up and he realised it was merely a man with a mop of messy blonde hair that strayed over his eyes entirely, dressed in a black and white striped shirt and black trousers standing just inches behind him. His striped shirt thoroughly reminded him of the stereotypical criminal and it also thoroughly annoyed him to no end. He narrowed his eyes acutely and scowled before cupping his free hand over his palm with the frog and turned away. "Oh…Bel-senpai, it's you."

"Stop gardening. How many times do I have to tell you? Or do you want me to drive a knife into that thick skull of yours?" said the blonde.

"No."

"Why do you garden anyway?"

"I'm bored."

"Then go read a book at the library."

"I've read them all."

"Then go read them again."

"I already have, senpai."

"Haven't you noticed that nothing seems to grow in this garden?"

He looked around. Indeed, the garden was plain and there were no flowers seen at all. In other words, it was just a patch of grass and dirt. "That's not true. I've planted lots and lots of flowers and – "

"None of them has grown, idiot. There's obviously something wrong with the soil."

"No, the soil's fine. I checked. The pH for growing is just fine."

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "…What's that you got in your hands?" said the grinning blonde, realising that his partner had been hiding something from him. "Show me."

"No."

A visible vein popped in his blonde head immediately. "What was that? Show some respect to your seniors, frog, or I'll kill you. Now show me what's in your hand."

"No. You'll kill it. You kill everything you touch. You're cursed, senpai." The prisoner nicknamed 'frog' rebuked sternly.

With that, the blonde man felt the last of his patience wither away; he squatted down and they began bickering - they struggled – frog kept his hands clamped together and the blonde tried to pry them open. Eventually, after much effort, the blonde shoved him and used a trowel to hit him over the head, and frog let the blonde open his hands.

"A frog? It's a frog." He chuckled that 'uishishishi' laugh again, "Why am I not surprised? Oh, you finally decided that you wanted a pet yourself."

"Give him back, Bel-senpai." He said, though his tone was never exasperated or desperate. He would never plead or beg.

"It's just a stupid frog."

"What do you have against frogs anyway, senpai?"

"They remind me of you." The blonde grabbed the frog off him roughly, stood back up, and threw it to the ground.

"Hey…" He began, but when the blonde lifted his boot up, he cried out, "Stop - "

It didn't stop the blonde, and he stepped down, hearing an ear-splitting crunch, followed by a horrible, squishing noise. What was worse was that he drove the boot harder against the ground. "You're not allowed pets." The blonde barked at him, grinning despicably now, as he lifted up his boot to inspect the remains of squashed frog.

"….You killed it, Bel-senpai." He turned away immediately, not wanting to look.

The blonde was now wiping his boot on the grass. "We need to go back. Boss needs us. We're meeting Byakuran soon. If he sees you gardening, he's not gonna take the Boss seriously."

"But it's just me gardening, not Boss." He replied, and the blonde grabbed him and began to march him back towards the East Division, despite his partner's thorough attempts to go back. "Wait – my tools."

"When you're in the Varia, you represent all of us." The blonde hissed into his ear, "Am I clear, Fran?"

He sighed. "….Yes, Bel-senpai."

…

"Get up."

Mukuro let out a soft groan.

"Rokudo, get up. Or do we have to drag your sorry ass out of there?"

Mukuro shielded himself from the intense light above him, curling into a defensive position on the ground. He was lying on the bottom of The Hole, and there were two distinct silhouettes peering down from The Hole's entrance. He could make out that one of them was holding a torch. Another was holding a thick blindfold.

"Your time's over. You can get out now."

"…That was fast." Mukuro groaned out, when he felt himself being hoisted up and lifted out of The Hole. He was made to stand on his own two feet before they pulled his arms behind him and tied handcuffs back over his wrists.

"Fast? You were here for two weeks." One of the Correctional Officers, who wearing a black hood that completely shielded his face from view, barked roughly at him as he tied the blindfold over Mukuro's eyes.

"Two weeks." He let the words stroll out from his mouth, then he erupted into deep laughter as they forced him to lie horizontally over a soft surface. He was then strapped over four times – mid-torso, the arms, his waist and the legs. They then proceeded to wheel him out of wherever the Hole actually was.

"What's so funny? Did the loneliness finally rot your brains out?" He heard one of them say to him.

"Not really. I went on a walk."

There was a pause.

Then the two Correctional Officers sniggered, and then one made a shrewd, whistling sound, indicating mockery. He said, "Yeah, well, whatever you say. You can take plenty more "walks", assuming you don't get into any more trouble from here on. Got that, Rokudo?"

There was no response from Mukuro. Once they arrived at the West Division, they unstrapped him and pulled him off the trolley. He was made to sit down somewhere, the blindfold was removed and Mukuro let his eyes adjust to the hard light again. He was at the Visitor's centre, and the two Correctional officers who brought him out of The Hole were gone.

Opposite him, he recognised a familiar face.

Across from him, Nagi eagerly pointed to the phone that was bolted to the wall. She had already pressed the phone to her ear, and was now waiting keenly for Mukuro to do the same. He tiredly reached over and lifted the phone off the hook, then put it to his ear.

"Hello." She said eagerly down the receiver.

He was too tired to respond to that.

"I brought you something." She showed him the fancy basket of assorted fruits she had got for him off the internet. It was probably too flamboyant for him but she hoped he would understand her good intentions. She never really saw what it was like for the prisoners in their cell blocks, only in the Lab. She didn't really want to go into cells anyway; female members of staff always recounted tales of being subjected to sexual advancements made by prisoners. Generally, females didn't go into the cell blocks. The blocks were forbidden territory, forbidden for their own good, they decided.

"I heard you were getting out of The Hole today and wanted to see how you're doing." She replied, placing the basket back down on the floor. It was a wicker basket with bright ribbons curled by scissor blades and adorned with glitter, "…I'm worried about what they serve you."

Mukuro didn't reply.

"Did you sleep well when you were there?"

He watched her silently for a few moments. Then, he smiled wryly back at her, "…Yes. I had a lot of dreams."

"What kind of dreams?" She questioned. The more she looked at him, the more she thought that thing they put over his eye looked like some kind of advanced eyepatch but with a spyglass inside, along with wires drilled into his head. He probably felt no pain but there was excessive skin growing around the wire, as if they were now another unique part of his body. She could see his red, dilated pupil inside the looking glass, only she was not sure if he could see her properly. "Bad dreams?"

Mukuro hesitated. "Yes."

"They're just dreams. They don't mean anything."

When he retreated back to another spell of silence, Nagi swallowed down. Maybe it was good to change the subject, she thought, after sensing his seemingly reluctance to answer. "The thing they put in your eye…"

"Do you know how long they're going to keep it in there?"

Nagi shook her head meekly. "No, I'm sorry. I don't think they will any time soon."

"…It is a hindrance," He explained himself despairingly, although there was no need to. He was smiling apathetically at her, "I can't tell whether they are dreams or visions anymore."

Nagi was confused, but she listened on intently, her fingers fiddling with the tangled phone cord. Otherwise, he knew he had her attention regardless.

"These… dreams… They're always the same - I've been having them for a long time now; the one I told you about, when we went on a walk?" He said, flexing his palms leisurely as he leaned back in his chair. "Remember?"

She nodded, thinking back to the walk they had those few months ago. "Of course I remember. Did something more happen this time?"

"Yes."

She waited, and shifted herself in her seat uncomfortably, nervously. "Did you see me again? What happened? ...To me?"

He thought twice about telling her this. However, it was the truth, and he reckoned he should always be honest with the girl. He said, "…The one who hurts you… He stabs you twenty-six times." He replied curtly, "Then he stabs you in the eye, and leaves you for dead."

There were a few moments of silence.

Nagi's face was expressionless; he couldn't read it, even though he had always thought to be able to read people's emotions very well. However, the colour slowly drained from her face and she dropped the phone. It clattered to the ground, dangling by its cord. Behind the bandet screen, she stared hard at him, unable to detect any mirth or melancholy within his tone.

He tapped the glass, gestured for her to pick up the phone again. Again, he smiled.

She trembled slightly, her breath lodged in her throat. Nagi tore her eyes from him and slowly, she bent down; her hand shaking. She picked up the phone, and pressed the receiver over her ear again.

"Don't worry." He said, as his lips curled into a smile, "As you said before…it's just a dream. It doesn't mean anything."

Meanwhile…

"…Hayato, this is Tsuna. Tsuna, this is Hayato."

In his entire life, Tsuna had never felt so much negative tension in the atmosphere between two people who had just formally met. To be polite, he stuck his hand out to the prisoner, who Yamamoto was seeing, named Gokudera Hayato. He took a deep breath and held the hand with his cigarette out, but then Tsuna winced when he realised that he had merely sprinkled hot ashes from his cigarette onto the palm of his hand. Tsuna pulled back his scorching hand.

"Hayato!" Yamamoto exclaimed furiously, although he didn't sound as angry as he should've been. It was his nature, Tsuna then deduced. Yamamoto was far too forgiving.

Gokudera Hayato finally spoke. "I don't trust you. Don't like the look of you and therefore don't even want to be friends with you, let alone know you." He grunted without even looking at him, and Tsuna just felt awful. How could such a nice and friendly man be with such an obnoxious pig like Gokudera?

"Tsuna's trustworthy." Yamamoto protested, trying to get through to him. "He could've told on us right from the beginning but he didn't – "

"I don't care." With that said, Gokudera Hayato turned away and trudged back down towards the TV, with his hands in his pockets.

"Hayato!" He called out, but to no avail. Yamamoto spun round to Tsuna. "I'm so sorry. He's usually not like this. It's because his prison sentence was increased by two years…"

Because he couldn't keep his anger in check, Tsuna thought, but he kept a wide smile to Yamamoto. "It's okay, I understand." The only thing I understand is that that man is not getting sympathy from me. What a creep!

"I'll get him back." Yamamoto said, before taking off after him. Tsuna took this as an opportunity to saunter away quickly.

He ended up arriving at Byakuran's cell, who was just emerging out, in the middle of a conversation. To Tsuna's surprise, he was not accompanied by any of his men this time. And his room was empty. "Oh?" said Byakuran, raising a refined eyebrow in response, and he gave a very distinguished wave with his hand, "Good morning, Officer."

"Morning." Tsuna replied pleasantly, much obliged to the polite gesture although he was a little confused, "…Uh...Who were you just talking to there?"

Byakuran looked at him expectantly, then looked at his room. "I beg your pardon?"

"…." Tsuna swallowed down. Maybe he had just been hearing things. "…How is everything?"

"Fine. I slept very well last night; in fact, D-Block is much better than L Block." Byakuran mused, somewhat dreamily with a lazy smile gracing his features. "Might I ask what you were doing outside my cell, Officer?"

It just dawned to Tsuna that he had been in fact, lingering outside Byakuran's cell. He swallowed down and shook his head quickly. "N-Nothing. Just wanted to see if you were up. Everybody else is up."

"That's very kind of you." Byakuran replied sincerely, "….Scarlet used to do the same. He checked up on me every morning and at night. But on completely different circumstances. He thought I was a murderer."

At that point, Tsuna froze up all over.

"I'm sorry; I've put you into an awkward position, haven't I? I didn't mean to bring it up." Byakuran chuckled light-heartedly when Tsuna threw his numb gaze to the floor. "Would you like to go for a walk? I'll teach you about flowers again, as compensation for that snide comment I made about you."

Tsuna was confused. "….A walk?"

"Yes."

"Um…"

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna winced at the furious voice that had entered the atmosphere. The two men looked up to see Giotto. He was storming towards them, his usually soft expression clouded with anger. He glared at Byakuran and then turned to Tsuna. He grabbed his arm and Tsuna flinched slightly in pain. "Ow…Giotto-san, you're – "

The grip tightened. "I need to talk to you."

"S-Sure…" Tsuna was then dragged along firmly by the arm by Giotto back out of the Cell block, with Byakuran watching them keenly with a smile.

He turned to one of the prisoners who had just passed him. It happened to be Gokudera Hayato. "Why is Giotto-san so concerned about that Officer?"

"Goldilocks?" Gokudera took a deep drag from his cigarette and then puffed some smoke out into the air. "…He's a new recruit."

"Oh, he's new?" Byakuran's smile widened, and Gokudera passed him, marching back to his cell. "That's… interesting."

…..

In the corridor, Giotto finally let Tsuna's wrist go and the boy meekly cradled his aching arm to himself. "What on earth were you thinking back there?" Giotto snapped at him angrily; his expression scared Tsuna – he had never seen Giotto use that face on him before. It was just like when Mukuro had held Tsuna hostage back then… but this time, Giotto was furious at Tsuna.

"I wasn't going to go on a walk with him – "

"But you've taken a 'walk' with him before?"

"…Yes." was Tsuna's guilty reply.

He couldn't help but shrink away from him, and Giotto began to pace the corridor up and down restlessly, before turning back to the younger boy and emphasizing helplessly with his arms. "Tsuna, that man is dangerous. Leave him to me, Takeshi and Ryohei. I don't want you to go near him, do you understand?"

"Yeah…"

He wasn't convinced, and instead, he grabbed Tsuna and pinned him to the wall by the wrists again. "What if something happened to you?" He snarled under his breath, his deep eyes sinking into his. Tsuna swallowed down distinctively as he felt Giotto move his knees apart by using his own leg to move in between, and Tsuna was forced upwards against the wall, now being sustained in the air. "What if…What if he gets you too?"

"I-I won't let him." He stammered out, going cross-eyed with Giotto.

"It's not that easy, Tsuna!" He roared, his grip tightening over the younger boy's wrist, and now Tsuna truly felt afraid, "I won't be here all the time, and neither will Takeshi or Ryohei!"

"I'll…I'll be okay…I can look after myself."

"No, you can't – you're not ready yet, Tsuna, and you just don't get it, do you? If anything were to happen to you, I'd… I'd… well; I wouldn't know what I'd do without you!" Giotto yelled out – but now it seemed he was more frustrated with himself, "I wouldn't know what to do without you, alright?"

"….B…But why?"

"Because you mean a lot to me, Tsunayoshi." Giotto muttered out, now having calmed down, "…You...You don't understand."

"You can tell me." Tsuna implored. Although he did not know the reason why his Commanding Officer was behaving this way, he felt as though he could feel Giotto's inner, conflicting tumoils at the moment. "...I won't understand if you don't tell me."

Giotto's grip on Tsuna loosened a little, and his mouth opened slightly to some extent. "I..." He looked confused. Then his expression clouded somewhat, looking frustrated, then almost...helpless. "I can't tell you."

"Then show me."

He gazed at Tsuna wordlessly, then his eyes landed on Tsuna's parted lips. Giotto hesitated, He leaned forward slowly, and Tsuna remained rigidly stiff against the wall, as Giotto leaned further and further in, about to close the gap – and surprisingly enough, Tsuna tilted his head forwards slightly, as if to accommodate the inevitable contact. His lips brushed over Tsuna's.

No...it's too early. I-I can't -

Giotto let go of him roughly and stepped back, before abruptly taking off down the corridor.

"W-Wait!" Tsuna called out, but Giotto was already gone.

Somewhere outside the Reformatory…

The hotel had an abundance of clients; most of them were businessmen, all adorning black suits with briefcases in hand. The receptionist didn't find it particularly surprising when the young man, who was clad in black with a matching fedora hat, was asking about the guest in Room one-oh-two. When he supplied her with enough information concerning his relation to the old man who had been staying in that particular room for the past five days, she looked away from her computer screen and said, "You are… his grandson?"

He smiled dryly at her. "...Yes, that is correct."

"Well, sir, according to our records…your grandfather hasn't checked out."

"I see." The young man replied, "May I have a key to his room?"

"Yes, of course, sir. But I need you to fill out this form." She handed him a document and a pen from her cupboard. "Just imprint your name here, and sign here, and there." She drew little crosses on the two lines that required his signature.

"No problem."

He took the pen and quickly signed his name before handing it to the receptionist. In response, she handed him the spare keycard to Room one-oh-two. Her expression bunched up when she saw the name on the sheet.

"…'Reborn'?" She uttered quietly to herself. What kind of name is that? An alias?

"…I'm sorry, sir, but could you re-sign this – " She immediately spotted a green… thing that was riding on the brim of his hat which occurred to her, looked a lot like a... lizard, "…Sir, we don't allow pets – " She asserted firmly, after realising what the green, shaft-like blob perched atop his hat actually was.

The young man turned back round. "Pet?" He said, raising a refined eyebrow.

With that, the green blob began to bubble and the receptionist rubbed her eyes when the green blob turned into a shiny brooch shaped into a chameleon. "B-But I was sure…"

The young man smiled gently at her, "Is there a problem, Miss?"

She swallowed down, and looked at the sheet in her hand. then she shook her head and apologised.

"It's quite alright." He took off his bow and bowed at her, then propped it back over his head and began to make his way towards the direction of the elevators, the receptionist eyeing him warily the entire time, before picking up her phone and punching in a few buttons.

His eyes narrowed slightly. She's probably calling security, he thought. Better make this quick.

When the elevator arrived, he hastily entered and pressed the designated number, and waited for the lift to go up. The lift stopped shortly and he stepped out, then made his way towards Room 102. He stopped outside the door and then jammed the keycard in before opening the door.

The room was quiet.

"Timoteo-san?" He called out.

There was no response.

Indeed, the room was empty and devoid of the guest's presence. How the hotel did not notice anything suspicious for the past week was strange. Guess they didn't look after their customers as much as their mission statement said, he thought, as he picked up the hotel's advertisement card off the table. It said: 'We aim to look after our guests as much as possible', followed by a complaint helpline. He put it back down and returned to the rest of the room.

The bed was made, and the sheets, cleaned because the housekeeping staff would've come by obviously. Two suitcases stood by their lonesome next to the closet, and Timoteo's jacket and outdoor shoes were missing from the hangar. In place, was his nightrobe, slippers and the rest of his night garments. He went over and inspected them carefully, then returned to the suitcases. They were still locked, the padlocks unmoving.

On the table, he couldn't find anything of interest except from a few sheets of paper the hotel provided. He went through the cupboards but couldn't find anything else of importance or of attention to detail.

It was as if Timoteo had completely vanished into thin-air.

Sighing, he sat down on the chair of the table and looked around. This was certainly odd. He had no idea what was going on. He set his hat down, and Leon transformed back into his original shape, twittering up at him affectionately.

"…What happened here?" He murmured to himself, and he moved out of his chair, accidentally brushing against the table.

To his surprise, something white flipped out from under the cupboard of the table and he paused, then reached out for it slowly. It was cleverly jammed inbetween the cupboard hinge and the table surface, rendering it hidden. He slowly eased it out, trying not to rip it, and then unfolded it.

In black ink, it said: THEY CAME FOR ME

Who came for him? He put down the letter when he heard someone knocking on the door. Cautiously, he manoeuvred his way forwards and opened the door. A smartly-dressed man with slicked back hair in his mid-twenties stood there, adorned in a bleached white suit. "Pardon me, but… You are Timoteo's grandson?" The man said.

He replied back suspiciously, "…Yes. Do you know where he is?"

"Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Zakuro." The man initiated a short bow and held his hand out, but the young man did not shake it. He smiled wryly back in response and pulled his hand back, then he continued on, "I don't know where your grandfather is, but…These strange men came for him the other day. I heard them talking outside my door; they took Timoteo-san away… and he never came back since."

Back in the Reformatory…

"Hm? You...want to find out more about Giotto-san?"

Tsuna nodded viciously to convince Yamamoto. "I would've asked him personally but I can't seem to find him anywhere..." Perhaps Giotto was avoiding him after that little scenario back in the corridor? He quickly shook his head mentally. No, Giotto was a responsible, mature man and would not act this way.

"Oh, well, sure, just ask me anything. I'll try and help you out as much as I can." Yamamoto grinned back, "Actually, I know a very good place to start. Come with me."

They left the Podium to Ryohei's care and sauntered out of D-Block towards the West Division, arriving a few stair flights down to the Visitor Reception room. Yamamoto beckoned Tsuna over to the wall at the very far end, which was covered in hundreds of photographs. Standing nearby were two trophy cabinets filled with elaborate rewards, newspaper clippings, and tonnes of framed photographs and medals. While Tsuna was distracted by the sheer shininess radiating from the collage of metal and lighting display, Yamamoto steered his attention back to the wall.

"This picture here will tell you everything."

Tsuna squinted at the photo Yamamoto had shown him. A large group of people were featured in it; the majority he had not seen before were there. Some he recognised, such as Reborn, and Giotto, who was nearer the front, standing beside other Officers in the same uniform as his. "Who are these people?"

"They're the Commanding Officers and Correctional Officers, about six to seven years ago, or more, I think. Before the new generation of Correctional officers anyway."

"New generation?"

"Yeah, me, you, and Ryohei and some others. This photo was taken just a few months before I arrived, apparently. Look, there's the Chaplain, the Governor, the Governor before him and his daughter - There's even Giotto's father." Yamamoto pointed to a man standing at the very right end, "He was the original D-Block Commanding Officer."

Tsuna squinted his eyes. The man didn't look much like Giotto, with his sharp, dark eyes and cloudy demeanour as he stood stiffly beside a man who strikingly resembled Gokudera Hayato. "Giotto-san's...father? Is he still here?"

"No, unfortunately. There was... an accident. I heard the loss was devastating to Giotto-san."

"Oh..." He croaked out uncomfortably. "Look. There's Dino… and Reborn." Tsuna pointed to the two familiar figures. "And…these people in front of them, in the same line as Giotto – "

"They're the Guardians. Well, Giotto was the first, actually."

With that statement, Tsuna perked up. "…Guardians?"

Yamamoto nodded. "Yeah. They were the first, and… unfortunately, the only protectors the Melone Reformatory had."

"But I've never seen these people around."

"That's because they're gone." Yamamoto replied, digging his hands into his pockets, "They were all really close, almost like family, and they were given these rings, of all the attributes, to protect the Reformatory, if anything went wrong. But I don't know what happened to the rings they were given once they all left. Giotto was a Guardian too."

"He was?" Tsuna was stunned. "And now, they're all gone..."

"Yeah."

"Giotto-san must be lonely." Tsuna mumbled. Was that why he had told him before he felt as though he no longer had a place in the Reformatory anymore? "…The ringbox policy…"

"….After the ringbox policy, they disbanded, I guess." Yamamoto sulked slightly. "There was no more need for rings, so I suppose they left for better reasons. It would've been cool to meet them, huh? They look so mature and strong."

Tsuna chuckled slightly. "What happened to the rings?"

"They're stashed somewhere safe. Someone's looking after them. It would be cool to see those up close, too."

"Hm, I see. Hey…what happened to that man there?" Tsuna pointed to a particular man in the photograph who was in a wheelchair. The man looked dreadful, his skin was washed out and his eyes tired and weary.

"That's Genkishi, the Commanding Officer of L-Block."

"I've seen him. well, I think I have. But he's not in a wheelchair anymore."

"No, no, his legs work perfectly fine. It's just that, when they took that picture, he was recovering from a terminal illness."

"Terminal illness?"

"Yup," Yamamoto replied, "But he's alright now. I wonder what happened to him...?"

...

It was much later on in the evening, and Giotto was trying to read a book even though the events today haunted him to no end. He got his priorities and his emotions mixed up and almost ruined everything, which he found strange and foreign of him to do so. Feeling foolish for his actions earlier on, he mentally kicked himself several times. He attempted to approach Tsuna at some point during the day but his nerves got to him. Damn it, he thought. He perceived himself a mature and responsible adult and now something like this had him reduced to a nervous wreck. This was childish, and foolish of him to act like the way he was now. He even forced himself on the poor boy, and Tsuna would possibly never forgive him.

I should apologise for my behaviour. But it's late, and the Officer's subdivision is quite far from the Correctional Officer's section.

Nevertheless, he slid out of his bed and opened the door, just to see a certain Officer standing outside with his fist raised in mid-air. "Ah! Sorry, I was going to knock…" Tsuna squawked out, bringing his fist down.

"…Tsuna? What…What are you doing here?"

He said, "I-I wanted to see you - "

"...You do?"

Tsuna spoke quickly. "I wanted to say sorry." He stuttered slightly, "I'm sorry, Giotto. I'm sorry. I know what kind of man Byakuran is. And I didn't mean to get you so worked up over me. I know you care, and that's why you got so angry at me. B-Back in the showers that day, and what happened in the corridor, you – " Tsuna stopped himself before he could say more. "I… just wanted to let you know that… it's okay."

For a moment, there was another unfitting silence. Giotto raised an eyebrow questioningly. "...?"

"I mean - " Tsuna began, but then he was stuck for words. He scratched at his head profoundly. "You're not alone anymore." But don't be scared that you'll lose me, like the way you lost your father, and...Your friends. Tsuna pondered whether he should've added that part to his sentence. He chose not to as he felt as though he didn't know precisely all the details. "...People used to call me No-Good… I had no friends and I thought there was a problem with me, but, deep inside I know that's not true. So... don't blame yourself…for some things that had happened to you."

"Tsuna..."

"And-And I also wanted to tell you that I really like you." He then proceeded to babble out, clenching his fists slightly, his face flushing slightly. "And I'll always be there for you. I won't disappoint you, Giotto, I could never do that to you." Deciding that he had embarrassed himself and wasted his superior's time enough with his useless ramblings, he went red again. "I-I should g-go, it's getting late… I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking, coming all the way out here... See you tomorrow, goodnight."

Without another word, Tsuna stumbled back, but then he felt a grip on his arm preventing him from doing so.

"Don't go yet."

Surprised, Tsuna turned back round.

"It is getting late, and it's a long walk back to your room." Giotto said, as Tsuna blinked back up at him, "…Maybe you should stay here for the night."