Tsuna knew how pathetic he'd become. Half the time he tripped on his own feet and it wasn't due to the frail condition of his body. No-Good Tsuna was back with a vengence since Tsuna had lost sight of his flame. On top of that, there were still the after affects of the torture. Last night, he'd become so afraid when Cress had shut off the lights for him that he'd found himself screaming. Then, in the morning, he woke up to find himself huddled under a blanket in his closet. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten there, but he was sure it was fear that had driven him into hiding.

Trying to brush it off, he'd went to target practice in an attempt to pick back up his normal routine. Even that had been pathetic, however. After hearing the sharp crack of the gunshot, his hands had started shaking incredibly hard. Even using both hands, he couldn't hold his Glock steady enough to hit the target, let alone the bullseye.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Yamamoto said as they entered the school grounds. "I know that you want to try and pick up your routine again, but you don't have to do this, Tsuna."

"It's okay," Tsuna predictably replied with a smile. "I'm fine. Reborn said that maybe if things get back to normal, I'll get back to normal with it."

The two boys gave Tsuna another worried look before escorting him to their classroom. Escort was the proper word for it considering they didn't let anyone near him. Several people had overcome their fear of 'Hellfire Tsuna' during the time he'd been away. Mostly due to the curiosity that the rumors of his kidnapping caused.

Tsuna didn't notice. He seemed to become introverted as they continued down the hallways to Mr. Purdy's room and found their seats. The truth was that being around this many people was rubbing his nerves raw. Without the use of his flame, he didn't have the hyper-intuition at the level he was used to anymore. It was like he was suddenly walking blind through a pit of vipers, unable to tell if one was about to bite. It wasn't a good feeling.

Mr. Purdy's entrance into the room as he called the class to order didn't seem to break into Tsuna's introspection. Even as the two boys continued to watch their friend in dismay, he continued to be lost in his own thoughts. Gokudera tried to send a look to the teacher that said, "Pretend he's not here," but the teacher instead read it as "Look, he's here."

"Tsuna," Mr. Purdy called. When Tsuna didn't look up, the teacher walked down the isle to get his attention. Yamamoto and Gokudera both jumped up to stop him when he reached down toward Tsuna's shoulder to gently shake his shoulder. The movement of the three finally caught Tsuna's attention and he cringed away from the teacher's hand before he could control his reaction. The teacher, Yamamoto, and Gokudera held their respective breathes while Tsuna looked at the hand in momentary fear. He looked up at his teacher, finally recognizing him after a very long minute.

"Mr. Purdy?" He asked hesitantly.

Mr. Purdy couldn't move his hand as he looked at the two small scars on Tsuna's face. Having taught in a mafia-based school for so many years, he recognized the reaction Tsuna had. Combining it with the scars, he knew instantly what had happened. The knowledge was heart-breaking. The teacher cursed silently, glad that no one else in the room could see due to the three bodies surrounding the boy.

"Class is dismissed for today," he announced, lowering his hand. "Feel free to go check out the library." He looked at Tsuna's two friends, silently ordering the three to stay here before turning to the class and getting them moving out with a sharp, "Go."

While the class filed out, Reborn entered the room and jumped on a desk nearby to where Tsuna was still sitting. He had planned on warning the teacher, but had decided to see if the boy could overcome it on his own instead. By the look on his student's face, it had been the wrong decision. Cold sweat was covering his face and he seemed pale from the effort it took to make himself seem perfectly healthy.

There was a long silence as Mr. Purdy shut the room's doors to give them privacy. He sat on the edge of his own desk, giving plenty of space to the three sitting toward the back of the room.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" He asked. Tsuna shook his head no, unable to actually voice anything at the moment. Mr. Purdy turned to the two boys instead. "How did this happen?" Gokudera answered, for which Yamamoto was grateful.

"We didn't find out until later, but the Wildes didn't know he was the Tenth. They only knew his alias down in Mafia Row when they took him." Tsuna looked up, horror overwriting the shame that had been on his face.

"Wildes?" He mumbled. No one had wanted to talk about details around him, afraid that it might bring up a memory of the torture. So he only knew what he'd overheard while imprisoned. The connection with Jack's Family was surprising and at the same time, sickening. This was the second time they'd tried to kill him.

"Don't worry, Tenth. They won't be bothering you again," Gokudera said soothingly. Yamamoto was grateful at Gokudera's tact. No need for Tsuna to know that there were no Wildes left after the Vongola had finished. Tsuna nodded numbly and looked back down, not wanting to meet the teacher's gaze.

"So the rumor of his kidnapping was true," Mr. Purdy said quietly.

"Ah," Reborn confirmed. "You'll need to call a teacher's code 004 on Tsuna. They don't need to know the details, just call the code." Mr. Purdy looked down at Reborn, a mixture of sadness and mourning in his expression. He nodded silently.

"What's code 004?" Yamamoto asked while Tsuna continued to silently listen. The swordsman noticed how the other boy's shoulders were twitching as he tried to stay calm. Having noticed Tsuna's efforts, Mr. Purdy explained to give Tsuna time to get control of himself.

"It's a code that tells the teachers something has happened. Something bad. They'll ignore any irregularities where Tsuna is concerned and won't push for information or anything else. They'll give him as much time as he needs to get back to normal." Mr. Purdy looked at Tsuna, wanting to do more for him. "Is there anything else you need for me to do?" He asked in hope. Tsuna finally looked up, a faltering smile not overcoming the sadness in his eyes.

"Can you get me out of gym class?"

As the day wore on, their classmates learned to fear not Tsuna, but his companions.

Twice while Tsuna walked along lost in thought, Gokudera cleared the area behind them full of whispering students. The first time, he used a silent smoke-bomb full of sleeping gas. The second time he used one full of a particularly cruel gas that made everyone break out in hives. Both times he judged his timing and distance so his boss would be safely out of range as he turned a corner in the halls.

Gokudera left those that actually tried to come near them to Yamamoto. No few shirts had all their buttons cut off before they got within a couple of yards. No few students backed away in fear at the look of warning in Yamamoto's eyes.

As for Tsuna, he was blissfully unaware of it all. He trusted the presence of his two friends at his back more than even he realized. If he hadn't, there would have been no way he could have allowed himself to continue obliviously in mental circles while he tried to overcome the regret blinding him to his flame. While he also tried to come to terms with how he was without his flame.

The loss of his flame had affected him more than he'd realized. While he still had some intuition, the lack of his hyper-intuition and potential the flame unlocked was a large blow. He hadn't really thought about it until he'd been handed a worksheet in his math class. Tsuna had been clueless where to even start figuring out the problems on the paper. Had no idea if his answers were even close to being correct when he'd turned it in. The look of sadness and worry his teacher had given him while he graded the papers had told him everything though. "No-Good Tsuna" was back whether he wanted it or not. The thought made his heart clench like it hadn't in years. It had been one thing to come into Don Girarde pretending to be No-Good, but finding himself unable to break himself out of that role again was painful.

During lunch, the two boys cleared out a corner table for Tsuna, knowing he wouldn't be able to relax with his back exposed. Tsuna continued to be lost in thought. Quietly, they ushered him into the corner of the long table. The three ate in silence, Gokudera and Yamamoto giving each other worried looks as they watched Tsuna eat without tasting anything.

Gokudera continued giving warning looks to anyone that thought to come near while Yamamoto tried to quickly finish his meal. When he finished, Gokudera ate while the swordsman kept watch. Yamamoto spared a moment of gratitude that Gokudera had kept Tsuna from absently picking out blood sausage to eat. That probably would have snapped him out of his daze in a particularly bad way after he had already started chewing on it.

In the end, what did bring Tsuna out of his daze was the weight of a fourth member sitting down to join them. The click of a tray hitting the table and the scrape of steel being laid down beside it left the three gaping in surprise.

"H-Hibari?" Tsuna asked, his fork hanging midair.

"I see the herbivore has returned," Hibari replied in a bored tone as he sat down.

"W-what are you doing here?" Tsuna mumbled, stunned. "I thought you hate crowds." He looked around at the crowd obviously filling up the cafeteria. Of all the people that had joined Tsuna in Italy, Hibari had been the only one to keep to the traditional bento instead of eating in the crowded lunch room.

"I thought I'd ensure Discipline," Hibari smiled, giving a warning look to a table full of boys that had been looking at them a bit too obviously. Everyone at that table suddenly decided they were finished eating and left quickly. None of them wanted to be bitten to death. Tsuna looked down at his tray as he put his fork down.

"Thank you," Tsuna mumbled. Once again, Hibari's will was his own, but Tsuna couldn't help but feel a bit of relief at his presence instead of the normal fear.

"Don't misunderstand me, Sawada," Hibari said as Hibird bounced on his shoulder. Tsuna looked up at his Cloud Guardian. "I'm not here to help you. I simply desired to confirm my sparring partner today."

Even without his hyper-intuition, Tsuna could see the lie. But he didn't challenge it. He was currently no match for Hibari should the black-haired boy decide to be offended. Tsuna looked around at the tables full of people pointedly not looking at them, then he looked down at his uselessly gloved hands.

"You'll have to spar with someone else today, Hibari," he said softly so his voice wouldn't carry.

"Very well," Hibari replied in his bored voice again. The meal continued in silence when Tsuna once again fell into his own thoughts. Gokudera and Yamamoto shot him a worried look while Hibari fed Hibird a piece of corn from his tray. No one commented on Hibari's continued presence as Tsuna absently began picking at his meal again. Nor did they comment on the overly-aggressive warning looks Hibari gave to those that dared glance toward their table.

They all knew what the other boy wanted. Hibari wanted his toy back. He wanted the one person that could give him that rush that came with a satisfactory near-death bout. Wanted that feeling that came from fighting someone who wasn't afraid of his blood lust. The feeling that came from fighting someone who was strong. If it meant he had to bite a few people to death so that his toy could mend faster, so be it.

The silence was broken once more by the arrival of someone else Tsuna didn't expect.

"Here, Hayato," Bianchi sat as she handed Gokudera a box. "A fresh box of Poison Puffs." Gokudera took the proferred box gratefully. After a double-take, Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise.

"You're not getting sick!" He blurted at Gokudera.

Gokudera smiled as Bianchi tossed her hair around her back. Sure enough, Gokudera was sitting beside an unmasked Bianchi, able to interact without fainting or clutching his normally upset stomach. As the silver-haired boy opened the box and popped one of the creme puffs within into his mouth, he explained. Tsuna's jaw dropped and his eyes widened even more from watching his friend willingly eat some of Bianchi's Poison-Cooking.

"I've been doing some training so that I can't be affected by poisons and gases, Tenth," he explained. His face turned a bit green as the Poison Puff hit his stomach but otherwise seemed okay. "It wasn't this easy at first, but over the past three weeks I've gotten used to it."

"But--your sister--how--?" Tsuna spluttered.

"Oh, that. My stomach is upset pretty much all the time now, Tenth," he smiled brightly, not noticing how crazy he sounded. "I've gotten so used to it that I don't notice it when my sister is around."

Tsuna looked at him like he had went insane and Yamamoto hid a smile. For the first week and a half, the swordsman had been the one taking care of him in secret after the lunch and dinner dosages. Ryohei had been the one to watch over him after breakfast so that Yamamoto could still go to some of his morning classes. All three of them had breathed a sigh of relief when Gokudera finally managed to stay standing after eating one instead of finding himself flat on his back for an hour.

"I'm proud of you, Hayato," Bianchi said as she stood to leave. "Maybe I should make them stronger?" She mused. Gokudera instantly turned a darker shade of green as he assured her adamantly that it wasn't needed. Yamamoto smiled openly while Tsuna continued to try and wrap his mind around it all. Hibari looked like he wanted to bite something until Bianchi left and quiet order was restored to their table.

"I guess," Tsuna said quietly, still trying to get over his shock. "I guess I know how you two must have felt when I came back to Namimori. A lot can change in only a few weeks."

"Tenth..." Gokudera breathed, his earlier worry resurfacing.

"It's okay, Tsuna," Yamamoto said. "We all change a little to do what we have to, but we're still on the same team."

Tsuna looked at him for a moment before bowing his head in agreement. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, to Hibari's satisfaction.

Claims from the first day of school aside, Mr. Purdy got Tsuna out of gym class. They used the pretense that Cheri needed Hibari as a sparring partner to bring out her full potential. No one dared ask why Tsuna didn't have to run the training course instead. The looks in Yamamoto and Gokudera's eyes warned not to.

Gokudera's familiar and reassuring presence stayed next to him while he stood on the sparring area's sidelines. His mind started wandering when Yamamoto took his place across from another strong swordsman. Since it wasn't Squalo, Tsuna didn't feel the need to focus on the match.

Instead, he continued trying to figure out why he regretted his decisions. He had chosen to come to Italy to get stronger, like Gokudera had said.

Had the bloodshed been worth the strength he'd achieved? He didn't feel stronger because of it. He just felt sick and tired.

Had the pain he went through been worth it? His still aching ribs and his memory of the torture said no. Nothing could be worth that pain.

He regretted it. Regretted even coming to Italy. Regretted being born into the Vongola bloodline. Regretted everything he'd done. The hell of his torture overwhelmed everything else. It wasn't a case of "this is better than the alternative". There had been no choices. He had been hurt because he'd come to Italy. Because he was strong, someone had hurt him. Because he'd hurt others, he'd been hurt in return.

Tsuna's regret drove deeper into his heart.

Even after finally recognizing and remembering his reasons for coming to Italy, his reasons for accepting his role as the next boss of Vongola, for wanting to get stronger and to loose his hesitation. For wanting to be able to do what needed to be done.

He couldn't get rid of the regret.

Nothing was worth the pain he had went through.

But he still couldn't fail his Family. They needed him. He might regret it, but he couldn't abandon them. They hadn't abandoned him when he'd been taken captive. Hadn't abandoned him while he recovered.

Regret or no, he could only move forward.

The sound of a yell as Yamamoto's match came to an end broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up and was immediately stunned by what he saw. The opponent was clutching his shoulder where Yamamoto had struck the winning blow. There was blood. Blood on the opponent's shoulder and blood on Yamamoto's sword.

He had used the blade instead of the back.

Tsuna's eyes widened as Yamamoto flicked the blood off his sword with a snap of his wrist. He laid Shigure Kintoki across his shoulders as he walked up to where Gokudera and Tsuna waited. Tsuna's eyes were filled with the question he wanted to ask but was unable to voice.

"Why?"

The very question Yamamoto has asked Tsuna. The very question that had started him on the path to regretting his actions and choices. Yamamoto smiled sadly at the wordless question and answered.

"You're not the only one that's allowed to take one for the team, Tsuna."

Tsuna could only stand there, stunned.