Author's notes: Thank you for over 200 reviews! You guys really make me warm and fuzzy when I see so many of you still supporting my fanfic series.

DOMO ARIGATO!

"Look out!" Tsuna shouted, hitting the breaks on his ten-speed bicycle. Despite his attempt to save himself, the icy ground made instant breaking almost impossible. He rammed into the tall skateboarder at full speed, having not had enough warning of his sudden appearance down the alley to have stopped in time. He did manage to slide sideways instead of flying headlong into the poor guy, but they still ended up in a tangle of limbs and spinning wheels that left Tsuna grimacing.

"Are you okay?" Tsuna groaned, carefully pushing the bicycle off of them.

"What the hell, man?" He snapped, sitting up with his dark blue hoodie falling off of his head to reveal a very disgruntled expression of a black man topped with a shock of blond hair. "Why don't you watch where you're going?!" He yelled as he jumped to his feet.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I tried to stop, but there was some ice and--"

"You better not have busted up my board," he growled, snatching up his own transportation in order to inspect the damage that the crash might have caused. Then Tsuna realized that his own transportation might be busted and that would be really bad. Snicker had gotten it for him for an early Christmas present when they'd been out window-shopping for fun. Normally, they'd just look in the windows and laugh hysterically at the overpriced items, but the bicycles had been different. Those were actually useful and Tsuna had commented off-hand that he wouldn't be so scared about going down the alley-roads alone again if he could simply move faster than his short legs could carry him. So, Snicker had surprised him by riding home from work on one the very next day. Snicker claimed that he'd gotten it for himself when Tsuna objected, but it was simply too coincidental to be true. It was the very same sports bike that Tsuna had shown appreciation for, plus Snicker never went anywhere except to work which he was able to get to via public transportation.

Thinking of Snicker...

"Oh, shit!" Tsuna gasped, snatching his bike upright once more. Thankfully, it looked to be okay, although it took a moment to reset the gears. Looking over at the black man, he grimaced in apology as he jumped back on it. "Are you okay? Nothing is broken, is it?"

"No, it's fine," he grumbled unhappily. "You owe me a-- Hey!" He shouted as Tsuna started to dart off. "Where are you going?!"

"Sorry!" He shouted back behind him. "I have to hurry! Snicker forgot his lunch!" Putting the crash out of his mind since the guy had seemed to be without injury, Tsuna raced through the alley-roads at his top speed once more. This time, he was more careful about intersections, though. It was rare for anyone to use the alleys as a pass-through like he did. It took a mental map that few but the homeless had in order to use the alleys to their full potential. A lot of people had mental maps and used some of the alleys to go from point A to point B, but Tsuna didn't know very many that could go from any point A to any point B with the hidden roads. There were plenty of homeless and poor that came close, but it was rare to find anyone that could afford transportation using the roads. Especially the ones Tsuna used. Even while on foot, the roads he used were used rarely. They were too dangerous unless the people using them were either moving too fast to get trapped or they went in groups. They were dangerous because they took one out of sight of any and all major thoroughfares.

But Tsuna was moving fast enough now. More than just moving fast, he was armed. He was armed with the knowledge that Coach Reynolds had been pounding into him and he was armed with the knowledge that his two brothers had begun to teach him. He felt confident that he could use Judo to get out of most grapples and attempts to immobilize him. He could use boxing punches to make the most out of his slowly growing upper body strength and he had what he'd learned in kickboxing to extend his reach since his legs were a bit longer than his arms.

More than that, though, he was truly armed. He was nearly armed to the teeth now. He had an extra lead pipe fastened onto his bike in case it was needed. He had a smoke grenade that the guy at the Army Surplus had given him in one coat pocket and a bottle of pepper spray in the other. There were backups in his backpack should one of each not suffice to ward off an attacker. He also had a foghorn that could be heard for almost a half-mile attached to the steering column of his bike, one with a particular tone that every person connected with the Orange Dragon Gang recognized.

On top of that, he had a few little surprises of his own. The first was a set of retractable blades hidden underneath his leather work gloves. Pressing a certain spot while he balled up his hand unleashed over three inches of hidden steel that couldn't be taken away. Even without the blades, he didn't have to worry about his punches being light due to fear. There was a steel plate hidden across his knuckles that was sure to ward off any attacker. The other surprise was a set of retractable blades that had been inserted into the soles of his boots and could be released with a bit of pressure with his big toe while simultaneously hitting the back of his boot against something. That was in case he found himself pinned down again. Releasing those would let him castrate anyone that tried to hurt him before they could succeed.

Just let someone try to attack him again. This time, he was prepared. Everyone had helped him prepare from the moment they'd seen him show even the smallest desire for a little independence again. He couldn't go everywhere with Ore and he was sick of relying on others to simply go to the store. It'd been over a month since Gabriel had hurt him and he wasn't about to let that person's actions stop him anymore. His arm was healed up enough to be useable again, even though he should have technically kept the cast on for another month and a half at the minimum. Coach Reynolds in particular had been amazed at the amount of recovery he'd shown in such a short time, but Tsuna was unsurprised. When he'd broken his leg in middle school because of that turtle shenanigan, he'd managed to heal up much faster than the doctors had estimated. Of course, staying at the hospital had caused even more injuries back then, but he tried to forget about that.

Lastly, there was his bicycle itself. Dashing down alley after alley, he smiled to himself at how well his bicycle answered him. With the exclusion of the interference of ice, he was able to take most of the twists and turns with an ease that he probably wouldn't have had even running. It gave him a reassuring feeling that he could escape anything and also enabled him to fearlessly use the alleys just like his gut had told him he would. He couldn't even describe how good it felt to have freedom again. He knew that the fear would come back the moment that he was at a standstill long enough to think about it, but not while he was in motion. While he was in motion, he was like a sparrow that couldn't be captured.

In what seemed like no time at all, he was pausing at the guard shack at the gates of the factory. The man on duty was polite and firm, taking down all of his information such as his name, reason for coming, and other need-to-know information. He wrote it all down with an efficiency that only came from years of doing the job before directing Tsuna toward the building holding the main office. Dodging semi trucks and delivery vans in the parking lot, Tsuna went as directed. His bike got parked outside and chained up beside a half dozen others that were obviously owned by workers.

The noise inside made him want to cover his ears with his hands. From the moment he walked in the door, the smell of synthetics overwhelmed him while he tried to ignore the screech and bangs of working machinery. Over it all was the rumble of overheated heaters and fans which attempted to circulate heat and air through the building at a rate that Tsuna found to be almost completely useless. Although, it wasn't cold inside. Far from it. Before he even reached the office of the large factory, he was already sweating bullets. Something told him that it wasn't the heater that was warming the place, though. It was all the machinery coupled with all the people working inside. There was the smell of sweat laced through the synthetic aroma that made him want to gag over the combination.

"Can I help you?" The secretary within the office asked loudly, pitching her voice to be heard clearly over all the noise.

"I'm here to see Joshua Timberson," Tsuna replied simply. "He forgot his lunch this morning and I brought it to him."

"What department?" She asked, reaching for the keyboard on her desk.

"I, uh, I don't know," he answered honestly. "He never told me. He said that he works on doors, though."

"Almost everything we make has doors," she laughed. "You said Joshua Timberson, correct?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"Oh!" She squeaked after a few silent moments of searching her database. "You meant Snicker! Why didn't you just say so?" Tsuna blushed in return, not having known that he went by Snicker even at his work. "I'll show you were he's at," she continued with a wink, getting up from her desk in order to come around to where he was at. "Lydia can watch the office for a while and it's almost lunchtime anyway. Just follow me and look out for moving carts. Here, put these on, too."

"Eh?" Tsuna asked, taking the pair of clear plastic glasses that she handed him.

"Regulations," she explained, putting a matching pair on herself. "No one is allowed to go past the office without one on." Tsuna nodded in acceptance and put them on before following her out of the office and past a set of oversized double doors. Once inside, the sounds tripled until his head began to pound from all the tumult.

The place was a complete maze which he was guided through only due to the secretary's presence and the walkways lined in yellow paint on the cement floor. Everywhere he looked were people working away with a sweat-filled frenzy that he could only gape at. Workstations and machinery was littered everywhere while carts of half-finished products were sent speeding along painted roads through the place on carts pushed by men and women of every kind. Tsuna's eyes widened at the sight of one of the cart-pushers, seeing that the man was no bigger than himself that was still trying to push a filled cart of what looked to be the innards of nearly a dozen refrigerators from the production line to a large elevator.

The heat got even worse when she lead him up to the second floor via a set of metal grate stairs. Since heat rose, the second floor was even more stuffy than the first. It was nearly suffocating to him after having come so recently from the cold outside. It made him understand why Snicker had always worn just a simple t-shirt under his jacket instead of one of the warmer sweaters that Tsuna had tried repeatedly to get him to wear. It also made him understand why Snicker always came home smelling of sweat even though his clothes stayed dry. The old fool must have always waited for his clothes to dry out before returning just so that Tsuna wouldn't see how difficult his work conditions were. Not that anything could be done about it. He could tell that the factory tried to make things easier. Every window in the building was open and the fans kept the warm air circulating somewhat so that no one felt breathless. Although, feeling the heat in the winter made Tsuna very solemn when he thought about Snicker having worked in the place in the spring.

Falling to a silent stop beside the secretary outside of a set of workstations, Tsuna immediately saw Snicker. He was working with the same furious speed that everyone else was displaying, attempting to fill the last minute orders that had come in for the holidays. The back of his t-shirt was soaked with sweat while he continuously lifted panel of stainless steel from a cart onto the line. Almost immediately, he tore off the protective layer of clear plastic off of it before snapping pieces of plastic into place over the sharp edges. His hands darted out repeatedly for bits of tape to hold it all in place before sending it down the line to the next person that was wielding a drill to replace the tape with screws. Finally, without pausing to even catch his breathe, he began repeating the process again and again.

Tsuna simply waited beside the secretary and watched Snicker work for several minutes. From what he was able to see, the only time that Snicker got even a moment to pause was when someone ahead of him was too slow. The line got backed up fairly quickly, but Snicker didn't even stop when it came to that. Instead, he started getting ahead with what was still on the cart by tearing off the plastic on the next three doors. By then, the line was clear again and he set to his frenzied pace once more.

Every head seemed to pop up in unison at the sound of a horn ringing through the factory. Hands slowly finished the piece they were working on before the people left their workstations en masse. The secretary smiled at him quietly before urging him forward to finally talk with the person that he'd come to see. He knew the moment that Snicker finally saw him in return due to how he nearly choked on a large gulp of ice water from the jug that he grabbed from a shelf below his own workstation. His jaw dropped in surprise and he froze completely in shock while Tsuna crossed the distance over to him.

"What are you doing here?" He finally gasped.

"You forgot your lunch," Tsuna answered with a smile, quickly pulling off his backpack to retrieve the container that he'd brought with him. Holding it out, Snicker took it slowly with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Since you're working so hard, I figured that you would probably be hungry."

"You didn't have to do that," he mumbled with a conflicting look of gratitude on his face. "Come on," he continued, giving a small nod to the secretary to tell her that he'd take over guiding Tsuna. "You can sit and eat lunch with me. We get a half-hour and there's no reason for you to rush off since you came all the way down here. Did you have any problems at the gate?"

"Nope," he answered with a small grin as he followed Snicker through the maze once more with the obvious goal being a picnic table set up for the other line workers to take their breaks at. Several of them were already eating or simply chain smoking in effort to get enough nicotine in their systems to last another few hours. The rest were taking turns pulling their lunches out of the small refrigerator assigned to the department or were already heating their meals up in the microwave on top of it. "I did have a little bit of a crash on the way here, though. My bike is fine," he added hurriedly when Snicker's head snapped toward him in concern. "So am I. I just hit a little bit of ice while I was going around a turn and skidded a little bit."

"Be more careful," Snicker advised before snagging them both a seat across from each other at the table. People scooted over to make room without any fuss while giving him a small wave of greeting in curiosity. Tsuna barely noticed them, instead being focused on Snicker's face when he opened his lunchbox. "What's this?!" He asked in joy, making Tsuna grin widely in happiness when he saw that the meal had survived the crash intact. After seeing that Snicker had forgotten his lunch, he'd put extra time in making him a fresh one. No one had minded since Snicker always picked some of the cheapest and easiest things to make on his meal-days. He usually picked things like potato soup and salad or sloppy joes and french fries. What was in his lunchbox wasn't simple or cheap, though. But he deserved it. After seeing him work, Tsuna was even more positive of that than ever.

"It's one of those barbeque beef sandwiches that you like so much," Tsuna answered with his happiness plain on his face. "There's a couple veggie kabobs in there with that pepper seasoning you like and I picked you up a fresh orange since you didn't have your normal one at breakfast. Oh!" He gasped, reaching into his backpack again. Pulling out the can that had put him into such a rush to make it on time, Snicker gaped at the sight of the energy drink that he occasionally splurged to get for himself.

"What's the occasion?" He asked while he looked over the bounty that Tsuna had brought him.

"No occasion," Tsuna replied with a small blush.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it," one of Snicker's coworkers commented with an appreciative glance into his lunchbox.

"Get your own!" Snicker snapped laughingly before digging in. Tsuna felt his ears turn red for a moment at the possessive comment, making him insanely happy that Snicker wasn't willing to share. He found himself becoming almost drunk on the feeling while Snicker nearly inhaled the meal around expressions of ecstasy for the taste of his favorite foods. Then Tsuna smelled something incredibly familiar and his gut twisted in his own longing.

"Is that curry I smell?" He asked curiously, looking down the table at where another guy was eating quietly at the end. The man looked up at the word curry and tilted his head with a curious expression on his face.

"You like curry?" The man asked with a heavy Indian dialect.

"I haven't had any since I moved here from Japan," Tsuna answered with a smile. "It's almost as hard to find good curry as it is to find good dango outside of Chinatown and I never learned how to make it."

"It is tough," the man replied with a small grimace of sympathy. "The only place that I've found is a little shop down on Market Street. Most people just walk past it, but it makes the best curry in the city. You should go by there sometime. Just look for Hurry Curry. Tell them where you're from and they'll make you think that you're in your homeland again."

"It sounds too good to be true," Tsuna replied while embedding the information into his head.

"We'll go tonight," Snicker interjected around his last bite of barbeque-covered sandwich. "It's your turn to pick the meal. Isn't it?"

"Eh?!" He exclaimed, turning to look at Snicker in surprise. "No. It's your turn. You said that you wanted--"

"I changed my mind," he replied with a wide grin. "I've never had curry. It smells interesting and Cassandra would probably like a night off of cooking. The cans of chicken and dumplings can be put back for another night. Plus," he added with a soft, knowing look on his face, "You always pick my favorites when your turn comes around. Don't you go thinking that I haven't noticed. It's about time you got what you wanted, too. If you got a craving for curry, then we'll go have curry tonight."

"Snicker..." Tsuna mumbled with a bright blush, feeling as if his chest was going to explode over Snicker's effortless caring.

"Now, isn't that sweet," one of the women at the table mocked in amusement while Snicker pulled out a cigarette to cover his embarrassment over Tsuna's honest reaction. "And here we all thought that Snicker was just a bumbling old geezer. It looks like there's more to him after all."

"Who are you calling a geezer, you old goat?" Snicker scoffed in reply while Tsuna hurriedly grabbed his lighter out of his pocket when Snicker couldn't immediately find his own. Lighting it, he grabbed for a cigarette of his own to cover his growing embarrassment at all the considering looks that people kept glancing at him with.

"So," one of them asked conversationally. "Is this that roommate that you're always talking about, Snicker?"

"Yep," Snicker nodded before giving belated introductions. "This is Suoh. Suoh, this is Harold, Cliff, Fred, Sarah, and Paula," he said, pointing out the individuals at the table. "The fat one on the end is Frankenfurter and your curry friend is Ekram."

"I'm not fat," Frankenfurter laughed while attempting to smash his third hamburger into a bite-sized lump. "I'm just big-boned."

"Tell that to your cholesterol," Paula, the middle-aged woman from before, laughed. "If you keep eating like you do, you're going to end up having a stroke by the time that you're my age."

"Keep teasing me about my weight and I'll schedule overtime," Frankenfurter threatened in reply, making Tsuna blink for a moment in the realization that their supervisor was among them. Everyone at the table groaned openly without showing any inkling of being afraid of their overseer. It made Tsuna gape since he'd thought that Snicker's supervisor would be a lot different than what he was. "Suoh," he asked curiously. "If what I'm told is right, you're the leader of the Orange Dragon Gang down on Independence Street."

"Yes," Tsuna nodded, seeing no reason to deny it. Absently, his hand went to the marker tied on his arm over his jacket while he glanced over to see Snicker's was still proudly displayed on his arm. "There's nothing wrong with that. Is there?" He asked hesitantly.

"Nope," he replied, shaking his head while everyone else listened in shamelessly. "Half the people working here are in one gang or another. The ones that aren't are either living the good life or are loners."

"Or chose not to take part," Sarah added with a tone that suggested the young woman was speaking of herself.

"Like I said," Frankenfurter commented with a raised eyebrow at Sarah's freshly dyed hair, manicured nails, and name brand clothes. "They're either living the good life like Sarah or are loners like Ekram. I try to keep a close eye on my people because I don't like the way that the other departments have such a high turnover rate. It's better to teach them right and hold onto the people that really appreciate their jobs. Most of the other departments hold onto a few core members that are quiet and don't make trouble, but they just get rid of new people before their trial period is up and they can join the Union."

"Union?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"All of us are in the Union," Cliff commented with a thick, southern accent. "It'd be stupid not to join when they keep us from getting laid off for no damned reason. Even Snicker started paying his dues when he managed to scrape past the trial months intact. It isn't that much, but it's better to have their support and not need it rather than find yourself in need and not have anyone watching your back."

"I didn't know you were in a Union, Snicker," Tsuna mumbled in surprise. Almost instantly, he had to firmly silenced the jealous voice grumbling in the back of his head over someone knowing something about Snicker that he didn't.

"No reason to mention it," Snicker shrugged while he relaxed in complete contentment over his full stomach and his half-finished cigarette. "But I'm glad that I paid my dues. They helped me out back when you got hurt. The factory was running everyone ragged and they didn't want to let me off for more than a day. I got a Union rep to come in and help me talk them into giving me more. It was a pain in the ass to get them to even agree to that much. I had to end up using three days of my vacation time on top of the four days that they managed to get me so that I could have a whole week."

"Back to what I was saying," Frankenfurter continued while Tsuna's face fell over the knowledge that Snicker had done such a thing for him. "I don't have any problem with Snicker being in a gang, but I'd like some assurances that he isn't going to be getting in any trouble. I don't want to come in one day and find out that he's not coming in because he's in jail or some nonsense."

"He won't!" Tsuna squeaked with wide eyes. "We're not that kind of gang!"

"That's what Snicker said," he nodded. "And I believe it after meeting you, but gangs are notorious for getting into trouble. Especially when word spreads about a new one."

"Snicker won't ever get into trouble," Tsuna swore firmly, his face set with determination. "I won't let that happen."

"Good deal," Frankenfurter sighed in relief. "Well, it's almost time to get back to work. Snicker, go walk your friend out and I'll keep an eye on your station until you get back." Tsuna blinked at the instant acceptance of his oath and at the speed with which everyone stood at Frankenfurter's words. In less than ten seconds, everyone had put out their cigarettes in the ashtray, put up their lunch boxes, and started lazily heading back toward the work area in order to be back in place when the line started up again.

With a squeak, Tsuna belatedly jumped to his feet at the prodding tug on his sleeve by Snicker and hurriedly followed him back down the same path that the secretary had brought him down. More than anything, he wished that the trip could be made slower, but Snicker was nearly racing in order to get him outside so that he could return to work without fail. They stopped for a moment at the office on the way through so that Tsuna could return the protective goggles back to the secretary, but it was otherwise a straight shot out to where his bike was still chained up outside. Although, he did notice that Snicker slowed down a bit once they were out of the factory in the obvious desire to enjoy the cold air for a moment. There was no need to ask why, either, when Tsuna saw how the cold made the sweat steaming off of Snicker's head visible.

Kneeling down, he quickly unlocked the chain on his bike and set to mounting it in the full knowledge that Snicker wouldn't be comfortable doing more than simply saying goodbye. The fact that he was waiting to see Tsuna off at all was enough when Tsuna considered how strict the rules of the factory were. The way that he lingered even after the horn sounded off for the lines to start back up was better than any kiss or any intimate gesture because it was something that he did within his own limitations to show that Tsuna meant more than anything else. Tsuna noticed and found himself blushing over it almost as if he had been kissed.

"Thanks for bringing it to me," Snicker said quietly as he belatedly had Tsuna hold still so that he could put his empty lunchbox back into Tsuna's backpack to take home. Tsuna nodded in return and started backing up his bike from the rack that it'd been locked to while trying to keep his head ducked down to hide his blushes. Inside, he was cursing himself for his blushes since he knew that he was a grown man. Even so, it was difficult to control them. This was the first time that he'd ever felt so deeply toward someone and he had no experience to fall back on that told him how he should act and react to things. He was simply making it up as he went along while hoping that he didn't step wrong. He knew how to act with friends and he knew how to act with someone he'd slept with who was a friend. What combination was he supposed to use when he had a friend that became something more to him than even an intimate companion?

As the saying in the circus went, he suddenly felt like he was working without a net. All he could do was to keep his mind on what he was doing and hope that he didn't slip up. He knew that it shouldn't be as difficult as he was making it for himself. Snicker was still the same Snicker he'd had beside him all along. It wasn't like he was looking at him differently or anything. He was just more appreciative of the tokens of caring that Snicker had always shown. It was a strange combination. Snicker was simply a partner and friend like he'd always been, but everything he did seemed to mean so much more now. He knew that he was probably just thinking too hard about it, but--

"Suoh," Snicker said, lifting Tsuna's head with a gentle thumb rubbing across the three microscopic whiskers on his chin that had finally emerged after a week. Tsuna found himself blushing even more when he looked up at Snicker due to the way that his breath caught up in his throat so quickly when their eyes met. All the blushing made him realize why Snicker probably wanted their relationship to stay private, too. If he blushed so easily because of inexperience, Snicker must be just as bad off on the inside. The only difference was that he had practice in hiding it.

"Yes, Snicker?" He replied breathlessly.

"I really do appreciate you bringing me lunch," he said with a small smile. Then the smile turned into a grimace, making Tsuna's heart clench in automatic response. "But next time, I can just pick something up from one of the vending machines. Okay?"

"Oh," Tsuna mumbled with wide eyes. Turning away, he pointedly stared at the steering column of his bike while he let the words sink in. He knew Snicker wasn't saying it to be hurtful. Instead, he was saying it so that he could be open with how he felt since that was the only way for Tsuna to know. There was no other way to say it in a nicer way. He'd said it as gently as possible and as carefully as possible in order to lighten the blow that they both knew were in the words. "Okay," he agreed while trying to keep how it still hurt from being seen by Snicker. "I won't bother you at work anymore," he promised with his head bowing down despite himself.

"Thanks," Snicker said with a voice laced full of sincere gratitude and a touch of sadness. "I'll see you at home and we'll go for curry tonight along with all the guys." Tsuna nodded in agreement before silently turning his bike in the direction of the front gates. Snicker didn't say anything else as Tsuna left, knowing that Tsuna preferred silence to think things over in. Thinking was exactly what he did while he sped out of the parking lot and out of sight into an alley beyond the guard shack.

He knew that Snicker hadn't been trying to hurt him. He'd just tried to be honest with his feelings and his feelings were that he still wasn't comfortable with other people seeing the two of them together. Before they'd become intimate, he would have never had an issue with Tsuna showing up at his work. It was different now. There was a paranoia present in Snicker that made him automatically fear that people would assume the worst about the two of them. When there were others present other than Tsuna, he was able to discard that paranoia completely. Yet, when confronted with Tsuna alone, there was something in him that cringed in fear of what everyone else thought. He hadn't cared when there was no truth to the matter, but he couldn't help it now that there was.

It was his fault, Tsuna thought to himself miserably. If his feelings for Snicker weren't always so plain on his face, Snicker wouldn't have that fear. He'd realize that they could be together in front of others without people assuming that they were more than friends. They'd did it for so long without any problems, but there was a problem now because Tsuna couldn't control his emotions that he'd finally accepted as part of himself. While part of him wished that Snicker could be happy with screaming to the world that they were together like Gigi would have in his place, he understood that there was no changing Snicker. He didn't want to change Snicker. He'd fallen in love with Snicker even though Tsuna knew that he'd had such a flaw.

He had to try harder, he told himself. He had to learn to hide his blushes like Snicker did. That was what real partners did. They made up for each other's flaws. Since Snicker couldn't fix that flaw after having spent so many years with it, it was up to Tsuna to do what he could to make things better. He had to remember how he'd hidden his embarrassed blushes around Summer after Summer had introduced him to sex for the first time. He couldn't keep being the way he was because then he'd just be a burden to Snicker. He didn't want to be a burden.

However, thinking of that made his thoughts turn toward how much of a burden he already was. With the exceptions of Marty and Leo, he was the only one in the house without a job. Cassandra and Dedra had their jobs working for the house as a whole. Summer had gotten a waitressing job. Marty was at least looking for a job and Leo's school studies came before any thoughts of work. As it was, he was completely useless. He was taking up space and eating the food that everyone worked so hard to provide, but he wasn't doing anything to help contribute anymore. He'd thought that he'd be able to contribute by doing chores around the house like he'd done for Snicker in the apartment. Cassandra and Dedra took care of that, though.

Maybe that would make Snicker more comfortable, Tsuna mused. As it was, he was like a housewife who owned maids. Snicker didn't want a housewife. Tsuna didn't like the thought of being one, either. He was a man and maybe that was where Snicker's issues spawned. Even though there'd been nothing in his actions that were feminine, Snicker had been married once before. How Tsuna had been acting probably brought all of those memories up at a frightening regularity and made him think in Tsuna outside of fitting terms. Snicker wasn't one to like being doted on by a wife. He was the type that wanted a partner that could stand beside him.

He could fix that, Tsuna thought in satisfaction. That was something that he could definitely fix. If Snicker's issue really was what Tsuna thought, all Tsuna had to do was to get Snicker to see him outside of that role. That role didn't fit him anymore, anyway. He'd make Snicker see him like he had before. They had other people to do the cooking and the cleaning. They had other people that could watch the place to make sure no one robbed it. Tsuna didn't have to be there constantly when he wasn't at his kickboxing class. He could go get a job like everyone else. He could become a contributor to everyone's goals again, just like he'd been on the street for Snicker.

He'd been hiding under the pretense of recovering for far too long. For everyone's sake... For Snicker's sake, he had to become someone that was worthy of Snicker's feelings. He had to become someone that Snicker didn't feel ashamed or embarrassed to be seen with. He had to become a real man at heart instead of a mere boy. He had to reclaim all of that maturity that he'd gained on the street. He'd lost a lot of it when Gabriel had hurt him. It'd made him feel better to revert into a person that allowed himself to be protected. It'd made him feel safe and comforted. Snicker didn't need someone that had to be protected, though. Snicker needed someone that was strong enough to watch his back. As it was, Tsuna was barely strong enough to watch his own!

No more, he swore in a silent promise to himself. He'd become stronger. He'd become stronger so that Snicker had a real partner again instead of an amorous kid that needed to be watched over. That would make Snicker more comfortable. That would make Snicker happier. That was what Snicker had fallen in love with and not the weakling that he'd reverted into. It was his flaws that were making Snicker's flaws into something so harsh. He'd fix his own flaws so that Snicker's weren't so prevalent. It could be fixed. He could fix it. He WOULD fix it!

Tsuna tore through his room in a panic, sending his and Snicker's clothes everywhere. It had to be here. It wasn't in his pocket where he normally carried it. It wasn't in his jacket or in his backpack. He had to have left it in their room. He prayed that he'd left it in their room. He hadn't even realized it was missing until after he'd put in three applications and had finally headed over to stand in line at the electric company.

"What's wrong, Suoh?" Leo asked curiously from the ground floor. Tsuna popped his head out over the balcony to stare at her with his panic plain on his face.

"Have you seen my wallet?!" He exclaimed.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head, sending Tsuna instantly back to rummaging through their things.

"Help me look for it," he called loudly, getting both Cassandra and Dedra's attention, as well. "We've got to find it!"

"When did you last remember having it?" Dedra asked curiously.

"This morning," he answered while rifling through another set of empty pockets in their dirty clothes as if he'd simply mistaken the location of where he'd last put it. He knew where he'd put it, but he was hoping like hell that he was just not remembering correctly. "I put it in my back pocket like I always do when I leave! But it's gone!"

"Someone probably stole it," Cassandra commented with a shrug. Tsuna stiffened as if he'd been branded with a hot iron upon hearing the very thing that he feared.

"It's okay, Suoh," Leo added while still digging through the couch anyways in hopes that she was wrong. "You don't have any credit cards and you can get a new ID made. It's not that big of a deal."

"I.. uh..." Tsuna felt himself grow pale and breathless, knowing that it was a huge deal. "I had the money for our electric bill in there," he mumbled with wide eyes looking out at the three girls while overwhelming shock covering his face. He could feel himself break out into a cold sweat while they stared back at him. Considering how many people lived in the building now, the electric bill was enormous. He'd had enough cash in his wallet to completely cover Snicker's full paycheck for over a full week. It was a huge blow to him for having lost it. Right when he had decided to make himself more mature in Snicker's eyes, he'd went and allowed someone to snatch one of the most important things that he was responsible for. It was the only thing that he was currently responsible for, which made the failure all that much harder to cope with.

"That's bad," Leo muttered with her jaw dropping open. "How are we going to figure out who stole it?!"

"The more important question is how it was stolen," Dedra murmured in thought. "Weren't you on your bike, Suoh?"

"Not the whole time," he grimaced. "I stopped by a few stores to put in my application for a job, but none of them were hiring so I never had to pull it out at any of them. They were packed with people Christmas shopping, so any of the places could have had a thief working the crowds." Tsuna gave an even harsher grimace, getting an epiphany that told him exactly where he'd probably dropped it. "Change that. I don't think it got stolen. I probably dropped it when I crashed earlier. I was in too big of a hurry and I could have lost it when I ran into this skateboarder. We slid because of the ice and it could have slipped out without me noticing."

"That's easy then," Leo exclaimed with her face lighting up. "We just have to go back and-- Oh." Leo paused and her face fell to around the same level that everyone else's already were. There was no way that a dropped wallet would have stayed on the ground this long. With how much money was in it, it was probably long gone.

"I can still go look," Tsuna mumbled quietly as he got to his feet. "Even if the money is gone, maybe I'll get lucky and they ditched the rest of it into the dumpster."

"Suoh..." Cassandra muttered in open concern.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a faltering laugh while he threw his jacket on. Descending the stairs slowly, he felt like fainting over the thought of having lost such a large chunk of their funds. They had the savings to cover it, but that was several hundred dollars that they could have used for something else. Since Marty had joined them, they had another mouth to feed and there was no way that they could afford the Christmas decorations that everyone wanted now. As it was, covering this mistake was going to cost them half of what little savings that hadn't disappeared into the winds already.

He could sell some of the decorations in his room, he thought silently. He hated to do it, but curing homesickness was a lot less important than taking care of the home he did have. He could have Snicker get a refund on his bike, too. He would just have to suck it up and either walk through the crowded sidewalks or trust in the defensive measures that he carried with him. This was his mistake, so it was his responsibility to fix it. He wouldn't ask anyone else to give up their wants. They all wanted to decorate the place to make ready for Christmas and it was his job to provide that. They wanted a tree and all the trimmings so that they could feel the holiday spirit like those who lived the good life did. He couldn't blame them. They were living the good life in a way. He wasn't about to take that away just because he'd screwed up. He could always get a new bike and new decorations for his room after he'd gotten a job to help contribute. He was supposed to earn the things he got like everyone else, but he'd forgotten that somewhere along the lines.

He really was nothing more than a No-Good kid that'd been taken care of by everyone else. That thought made him even more depressed than he already was. He might not remember all those lost years, but he was twenty-three now. He'd just turned twenty-three a mere two months past. He wasn't a teenager that could expect that all of his needs were taken care of. He had to pull his own weight and he'd been failing miserably for a while now. This mistake just clinched the fact in his mind. Everyone had trusted him and he'd failed to come through for them. He wasn't pulling his own weight and he hadn't been pulling his own weight. Everyone had been carrying him and it had to stop. It was no wonder that Snicker was too embarrassed to let him come around his work. He'd be embarrassed, too, if a No-Good, useless, pathetic--

"Eh?" Tsuna gaped as he looked out the open front door at the man standing outside with his hand still raised to knock. His eyes widened in recognition of the blue hooded sweater that the man was wearing alongside the skateboard in his hands. "You!" He finally exclaimed.

"What about me?" He growled while he lowered his hand down to his side.

"I mean, you're the one I ran into when I lost my wallet!" Tsuna spluttered. "Have you seen it?! It's--"

"This?" He asked blandly with the small billfold appearing into his empty hand as if by magic. "I was bringing it back-- Hey!" He blurted when Tsuna's hand darted out to snatch it back possessively. Uncaring of how rude he was, Tsuna yanked it open and felt his knees weaken at the sight of the house's electric bill. It was all still there. Every last dollar that he'd feared to be gone forever was staring back at him without a greasy mark on them.

"Thank you!" Tsuna shouted in joy while he yanked the poor guy inside the door. Before the man could do more than give an unintelligible shout, Tsuna was already aggressively ushering him deeper inside in hopes to show his appreciation fully. "I can't tell you how much this means to me! I thought I was going to have to tell everyone that I dropped my wallet and lost--"

"You didn't drop it," the man interjected, making Tsuna freeze in the middle of pushing him down into a seat on the couch.

"Eh?"

"You didn't drop it," he repeated without twitching an eyelid while he stared up at Tsuna with an uncaring look on his face. "I stole it from you."

"That can't be right," Tsuna replied with a small shake of his head. "You brought it back--"

"I said that I stole it," he repeated once more. "I didn't say that I wanted to keep it." Tsuna stared alongside Leo, Cassandra and Dedra while they all gaped at the man. He seemed oblivious to their shocked expressions as he looked around the oversized room with open appreciation in his eyes. Tsuna paled at the open curiosity, recognizing instantly that he was scoping out the place in hopes of robbing it. Even so, he couldn't help but want more of an explanation for the man's actions. Especially when he seemed so at ease with admitting his crime.

"I don't understand," Tsuna mumbled as he fell back into Snicker's recliner. "You returned my wallet with all the money still in it."

"Yep."

"But you're saying that you stole it."

"Yep."

"And you just stole our television remote," Tsuna added with wide eyes when he noticed the item peeking out of the pocket in the guy's sweater. The remote was easy to identify since Leo had painted the casing in neon colors to make it easier to find even with the lights down low.

"Crap," he paled, pulling the remote back out. Tsuna blinked while he put it back down on the arm of the couch with a slow and purposeful motion. No one had even seen him pick it up, let alone noticed him stuffing it into his pocket! "I better go," he mumbled with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Wait," Tsuna blurted. The man paused and Tsuna paused while wondering why he'd stopped him. It was probably a good thing that the guy was wanting to leave. He was a thief and there was nothing about his actions that spoke well about him. It was as if every moment that passed was filled with him looking for something new to snatch. Even so, Tsuna had a strange feeling that he was harmless.

"What?" He asked while hiding his face under the shadows of his hoodie.

"Why didn't you keep it?" Tsuna asked, sticking with that gut feeling that didn't want to be denied. "I mean, there was a lot of money in there and I probably would have never been able to pin the theft on you. So why did you bring it back?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he growled.

"Try me," he replied simply. The man paused, peeking out enough so that he could glance at Tsuna's face. Whatever he saw must have upset him because he instantly shook his head in denial and started heading for the door once more. Feeling a strange urge, Tsuna called after him with the words supplied by that inexplicable feeling once more. "You're not a bad person."

"Suoh," Dedra hissed as the man hesitated, "Just let it go."

"I can't," he said as the man faltered to a stop again. "He's really not a bad person. That's what my feelings say and I don't think it's wrong. If he was a bad person, he wouldn't have returned my wallet. He wouldn't have been honest about stealing it, either. I just don't understand why he stole it in the first place."

"I can't help it," the man answered quietly. "I get an itch in my fingers and then I got someone else's stuff in my pocket. I know that I'm doing it and I know that it's wrong, but I can't stop. I've tried to stop before and I felt like I was going to tear myself into pieces. It's like a drug that I never chose to get addicted to and there isn't any way to get off of it."

"So you keep stealing," Tsuna mumbled with his eyebrows knitting together in painful understanding. "You keep stealing, but you don't like to steal. Since you don't like to steal, you give it back after the fact."

"That's why I steal wallets when I get to choose," he said with a nod while he once more turned his head away to hide behind his hood. "If I steal a wallet, they got their ID and address inside. I can give it back and no one gets hurt. It's better than the alternative. I've already lost four jobs and got kicked out of my apartment for stealing. No one likes a thief living around them or working for them."

"But you're not a thief," he blurted, making the guy stiffen in surprise. "I mean," Tsuna mumbled with a blush. "A thief steals stuff to keep for themselves. You don't keep it. You just borrow it for a little bit without asking."

"Something like that," he agreed with a tone that told Tsuna that the guy was probably rolling his eyes over the technicality. "You got your answer, so I'm going to--"

"Do you want to live here?" Tsuna blurted.

"Suoh!" Leo gasped, making him turn red over the sudden offer. The guy turned in place to stare at him like Tsuna was insane and Tsuna couldn't fault him for the expression.

"You don't even know my name!" He spluttered.

"And we don't have any empty rooms!" Dedra added.

"But..." Tsuna felt his embarrassment growing by the second, but his gut had told him to make the offer. He wouldn't ignore that feeling nor would he take the offer back. "But he's not a bad guy," he said simply in order to answer the three girl's looks of shock first. "And there's still the room under the stage. I didn't think Marty would want it since Gigi's room is already set up with a bed and everything, but if he wants it then I don't see any reason not to let him use it."

"But Suoh," Cassandra objected with a worried look on her face. "What about the you-know-what down there?"

"Who better to protect us from a thief than someone who knows how to steal?" Tsuna asked logically. "And he said that he got kicked out of his apartment. It's the least we can do to thank him for bringing back my wallet. Assuming that everyone else is okay with it, of course."

"Suoh's never been wrong about a person yet," Leo commented with a firm note in her voice that made the skateboarder gape. It was a note that said she would trust him due to a simple vote of confidence from Tsuna.

"That's true," Dedra agreed with a shrug.

"I guess we can't argue with that," Cassandra sighed while rubbing her temples. "Alright. If he wants the stage-room, I won't argue. But you've got to be the one to explain it to the rest of the guys, Suoh."

"I will," Tsuna promised with a bright grin before turning back to their guest. "I guess I really should ask your name first. You probably already know mine from my ID."

"Ollie," he answered with a gaping jaw.

"Would you like to live here, Ollie?" Tsuna asked again. "If you live here, you'd be able to steal from one of us so that you don't have to steal from anyone else and possibly get in trouble. Everyone will understand and forgive you as long as you always give back whatever you take."

"You're nuts," Ollie replied with an unbelieving expression on his face. "I'm a thief!"

"That's what I told him," Leo chuckled, making Tsuna blush once more. "I'm a graffiti artist and he lets me hang around. He caught me tagging the place and made me part of the gang instead of turning me in. Collecting strays is Suoh's specialty."

"I don't collect strays!" He squealed in objection.

"Who are you kidding, Suoh?" Dedra asked with a knowing grin as she crossed over to him with Cassandra beside her. "All of us were strays of one kind or another."

"That's right," Cassandra agreed with a toothy smile of her own, obviously having decided to back Tsuna up completely. "You're the one that looked past our jobs or our hobbies and gave us all the benefit of the doubt. Not many would accept people like us without reservations. Especially not how you did by just jumping in headlong."

"Snicker might have noticed it first," Dedra continued, "But all of us have seen it, too. You're special when it comes to judging people, Suoh. If you say that Ollie is someone like us, then we can't really argue."

"And if you want Ollie to be our friend, then we'll be happy to welcome him," Cassandra finished. Tsuna blushed brightly once more as both girls leaned forward to mark his cheeks with a lipstick kiss. When they pulled back, Leo darted forward to give him a hug, as well, which left him gaping at the sudden affection. It gave him a nice feeling that they trusted his judgment so much, even after he'd almost screwed up so badly.

"So?" He asked, turning back to the skateboarder. "The pit under the stage doesn't have any windows, but it's bigger than it looks. The ceiling is low, but Ore is the only one that hits his head down there. We'd be happy to let you use it."

"For how much?" Ollie asked in sudden suspicion.

"No charge," Tsuna answered with a broad smile. "Everyone that lives here just helps out when they can. If you want, you can look at the room before you decide. The only entrance is from the trapdoor, but the room itself is one of the bigger ones in the place. Ore just finished installing the lighting down there, too."

"There has to be a catch," Ollie objected with his eyes glancing toward the stage area. "You don't know anything about me and you're offering me a place to stay for free. If you guys are a charity or something, then I don't need it. I can figure out something for myself."

"We're not a charity," he corrected sadly upon seeing the same pride that kept so many on the streets from accepting help. "We--"

"Then is the trapdoor going to lock when I go down there and you're going to run and call the cops?"

"No," Tsuna answered with a slightly hurt expression over the accusation. "I wouldn't do something like--"

"Then what's the catch?" Ollie asked bluntly while he seemed to get even more upset. "No one trusts a clepto. You don't know a damn thing about me and--"

"You're a good person," Tsuna interjected in sudden understanding. Ollie was used to being automatically mistrusted. Tsuna was positive that his life had been hellish because of his problem. He had a feeling that Ollie wasn't lying about not being able to stop himself, either. What made him different, though, was that he didn't try to gloss over the facts. That meant that he probably had a lot harder time than others with his same problem since he didn't seem like the type to lie to protect himself. "You might steal, but you're an honest person, Ollie. If you promise to always give us back what you steal from us, then we'll trust you and forgive you no matter how many times you feel like you have to snatch something. Isn't it better for you that way? If you steal from us, then you won't feel the need to steal from others."

"Why?" Ollie asked, bowing his head to hide his distressed expression beneath his hood. "Why would you offer yourself and your things up like that? For all you know, I could just be pretending to be honest to lure you all into dropping your guard so that I can rob the place."

"But you're not," he replied with a soft smile, feeling even more reassured about the idea of having Ollie move in with them with every moment that passed. "I can't explain it Ollie. After having talked with you for just a few minutes, I feel like I've known you my whole life. I know that it doesn't make sense, but you're meant to be here. At least, that's what I feel and I can't ignore that feeling. That feeling told me that Ore should live with us and that feeling told me that Leo wasn't as bad as Gigi thought at first. I have a lot of very important people around me now because I learned to listen to that feeling. I know that I could be wrong, but I want to trust in that feeling and that feeling is telling me to trust you in turn."

"You're nuts," Ollie repeated with his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Maybe I am," Tsuna agreed with an amused smile of his own. "But I've found a lot of happiness with that insanity, so I'm going to keep listening to it."

"Interesting," he said with a bark of laughter finally being released. There was a gleam in Ollie's eye and a grin on his face when he finally looked back up that told Tsuna everything that he needed to know.

"It looks like we have a new member to the gang, Captain," Leo commented with a wide grin.