Tomorrow's Lessons: When Tsuna flunks his math final, Nana Sawada decides it's time to put her foot down and get her son a tutor. Shoichi never realized he'd be teaching a kid his own age.

This is just the first chapter of a plotbunny that I found in my computer. Consider it a oneshot. Will most likely not be continued.

As much as Tsuna hated school, sometimes coming home was worse.

Today was one of those days.

Tsuna Sawada was a less-than-stellar student. Specifically, he was at the bottom of every single one of his classes. And while he'd had to come home with bad grades before, it had never been quite so hard as it was now. He'd been so sure that he would be able to just barely scrape by on his final exams, even if not very impressively. Well, the short of it was that he hadn't. He'd failed.

And now he had to pay the price.

Every step he took towards home felt like one step towards executioner's hill. His stomach felt like ice as he unlatched the front gate and reluctantly went down the too-short path to his front door. Every second felt like an eternity of dread, and yet it all seemed so short. All of a sudden the moment he'd been dreading was upon him. He wanted to pause before the front door and run away, but he forced himself to forge onwards.

"I'm home," he called tiredly, poking his head through the front door. "Mom?"

"Oh, Tsu-kun!" called his mother cheerfully. Her voice came from the kitchen, and from the sound of clinking glasses and tableware, she was getting ready for dinner. "Welcome home! Come in and say hello to Mama- I want to hear all about your day!"

Reluctantly, he kicked off his shoes and dumped his bag in the hall. "Coming."

"There you are!" Nana smiled brightly and wiped her hands on the dishtowel. "I've been waiting for you. Congratulations on finishing your first year of middle school, Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna's stomach twisted. "Thanks, Mom."

"Sit down, and Mama will make you a snack. Oh, I'm so proud!"

"Listen, Mom-"

"Mm-hmm?"

"I don't need a snack." He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Are you sure? I made Tsu-kun's favorite hamburgers to celebrate!"

"No. Mom, um, there's something I have to tell you."

Nana must have seen the pained expression on his face, because she pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat beside him. "What is it, sweetie?"

"I, um. You know I haven't been doing very well in math, right?"

"But your last math test-"

"I failed it."

"Hm? But you told Mama that you got a sixty-five on that test."

"I lied."

"What?"

"I lied," he repeated, and it all came out in a rush. "I only got twelve percent on that test, and I haven't been doing well at all since, and I hate my teacher and I don't understand it at all, and- and- I failed my final exam and the teacher says they might have to hold me back a year."

Tsuna didn't dare look up.

Imagining the look of disappointment and dismay on her face was bad enough. Seeing it would make it real, and if it was real he didn't know if he could keep himself from crying, and if he started crying he'd just be even more of a useless failure of a son. He didn't remember much of his dad, but what he did remember was his dad telling him to be a man and look after his mother. Even though he'd been maybe five at the time, he'd promised.

"Oh, Tsu-kun, why?"

Her voice was soft, but sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"I, I, um," he stuttered, and suddenly none of the excuses he'd thought up in his head sounded right, and he just trailed off lamely, "I hate math."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Because what good would that have done? What good did telling people ever do? What good was asking for help when all you got was sneers and cruel nicknames and mocking whispers? That wasn't fair to his mom, exactly, because even though she'd thoughtlessly called him no-good once or twice, she'd never meant it that way. She'd never believed it like they had.

"I thought I could figure it out," Tsuna said, miserably. "I thought I could learn it on my own and no one would ever know the difference, but I can't. I'm useless, just like everyone says. I'll never be any good at anything."

He finally forced himself to meet her gaze.

There was hurt in her eyes.

"I'm, I'm sorry," Tsuna said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry."

He felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Nana sighed.

"I'm very disappointed in you, young man," she said sharply.

Tsuna could have died from relief. Anything was better than that hurt expression. "Yes, ma'am."

"I never raised you to be a boy who would lie to his mother."

"Yes, ma'am."

"From now on, I want you to tell me the instant you start having trouble in your classes. Do you understand me?"

Tsuna looked up at his mother helplessly. "Um..."

Nana recognized the hesitation in her son's voice and sighed. "Which other classes?"

"A-All of them."

He watched as his mother closed her eyes. She sat silently, hands folded, for a few moments, and then sighed deeply and nodded. "I understand."

Tsuna waited miserably for his punishment. When he screwed up this badly, all he could do was take it, no matter how long he was grounded or how many privileges were taken away or even if she sent him to bed without supper. He braced himself for disappointment and anger and a six o'clock curfew and no pocket money.

"We are going to get you a tutor," his mother said decisively.

"Huh?"

Shoichi Irie didn't much like school.

Sure, he was top in his class at math and chemistry. He could read and write in English and Japanese better than most of his peers. Even history was easy enough if he remembered to read the textbook. He was taking computer programming and the teacher had all but given up on keeping him occupied, he was so far ahead of the rest of the students. The only class he never did well in was Gym, and with a build like his that was hardly a surprise.

It wasn't the bullying that bothered him, either, although there was a fair amount of that. His bright red hair and thick glasses, as well as his hair-trigger nerves were enough to make him the butt of a fair number of malicious jokes. Yumei Private Middle School was tame enough, though, with most of the students more occupied with studying than mocking fellow students.

So Shoichi didn't dislike school.

It was just that he didn't much enjoy it either.

School was boring. There was never an element of inventiveness or creativity. It didn't ever surprise him or even interest him. The day when he could actually apply his knowledge seemed so far away, and the potential for making something new that could help someone or inspire more creativity seemed small and pointless.

Two weeks ago, he had made the mistake of saying as much in the presence of his mother.

"Oh?" she had said, a dangerous look in her eye. "You're bored, are you?"

He'd shrugged.

"Well, I had thought you were too busy with studying, but now I see you should have plenty of free time. I think I'll sign you up after all!"

"Huh? Wait, sign me up for what?"

"Just a little student tutoring program. I think it'll help liven up your day. Older students can sign up to tutor younger students in the subjects they're struggling with, and make a little money too. It's a wonderful notion, isn't it?"

"But school-"

"Oh, no need to worry. I contacted your school and they're just fine with part-time jobs. Besides, it's really more of a tip than a fee."

"I can't-"

"Oh, Shoichi, just think of all the good you'll be doing. I'm so proud of you."

Shoichi had protested, but in the end she'd added his name to the list anyway.

So here he was, two weeks later, standing in front of a home with the nameplate 'Sawada', wondering whether he ought to have protested more vehemently.

He didn't especially want to spent an hour every day teaching multiplication tables to some elementary school kid, but it wasn't as though he really had much else to do. Besides, the promise of even a little bit of money was tempting. He'd been begging his mother for a music lessons or even just an instrument for years, but none was forthcoming. If he saved up, he could maybe buy something cheap and teach himself.

With a sigh, he rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" called a female voice from inside. There was the sound of footsteps and the door opened.

Ms. Sawada was surprisingly young- Shoichi would have put her at thirty at a stretch- with wide brown eyes and short brown hair. She wore a collared dress and an apron, and her sleeves were rolled up for cooking. She smiled warmly.

"Oh, you must be the tutor here for Tsu-kun!"

"Yes, ma'am," he said politely. "My name is Shoichi Irie. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, do come in," she invited. "Tsu-kun will be down in a moment."

She ushered him in the door and seated him at the kitchen table. There was indeed a bubbling pot of what smelled like curry on the stove, and from the mouth-watering smell permeating the kitchen, Ms. Sawada was a much better cook than his own mother.

There was the sound of footsteps pattering down the stairs. "Coming, Mom!"

Shoichi frowned. That voice sounded a little older than an elementary school student's.

Then a brown-haired boy with wide brown eyes came stumbling to a halt in the doorway. He was about the same height as Shoichi, with messy hair that stood up every which way and thin shoulders. And he was wearing a school uniform from Namimori Middle School.

"Tsuna, your tutor is here," said Ms. Sawada.

Shoichi gaped.

Tsuna stared.

"W-wait, what?" said the boy who was apparently Shoichi's new student. "But we're the same age! He can't be my tutor!"

Shoichi whole-heartedly agreed.

Somehow, they'd ended up sitting across from one another at a low table.

They were in Tsuna's bedroom. He'd cleaned it up in a rush that morning, but from the way the red-headed kid's eyes lingered on the wrinkled bedspread and the stray socks, he hadn't done it well enough. Not to mention the pile of untouched textbooks on the desk. He realized with a flash of mortification that the desk was dusty. He already felt hot with shame and they hadn't even begun studying.

The two of them stared at one another in uncomfortable silence.

The boy who was supposed to be Tsuna's tutor looked no older than he was himself. He wore thick glasses and had dark red hair that didn't even look like it was dyed. He still looked Japanese though, which was weird enough in itself that Tsuna gave up on figuring him out. He'd rearranged his expression after a few minutes of gaping shock and now looked politely uncertain.

After a few moments, the redhead spoke. "Shall we start by introducing ourselves?"

Tsuna flinched. "Um. Sure."

"I'm Shoichi Irie. I'm a first year at Yumei Private Middle School. You can call me-" he hesitated. "You can call me Shoichi."

Tsuna nodded.

"My name's Tsunayoshi Sawada," he said quietly. "But everyone calls me D- um, Tsuna. I go to Namimori Middle."

"Are you a first year?"

"Y-yes."

"So we're the same age," he said. "Um, is that okay with you?"

No. "It's fine."

"Oh. Okay. So what do you need help with the most?"

Tsuna flushed. "I'm, um, not very good with anything really. B-but math is p-probably my worst subject, so maybe we should start with that."

He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for an exasperated response.

It never came.

Tsuna glanced up. To his relief, Shoichi didn't look annoyed or even impatient. The red-haired boy had pulled out a math workbook from his bag and was flipping through it thoughtfully. Tsuna was surprised to find that it looked familiar.

"Oh!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Your school must use the same textbook as ours."

"Huh, really? That's good, it'll make this easier. We can go back to the assignments from the beginning of the school year and work through them until we figure out what you're struggling with."

"Th-thanks. I'm sorry to be such a bother. I'm sure you'd rather not be here."

Shoichi winced and Tsuna realized he'd gotten it exactly right. Shoichi didn't want to be here, and even though he was being polite, he didn't want anything to do with a worthless, no-good, pathetic kid like Tsuna. He went to Yumei Middle School, so he had to be really smart. He probably had a lot of friends, too.

But Shoichi just shrugged. "I'm sure you'd rather not be here either."

That caught Tsuna by surprise and he laughed hesitantly. "I guess you're right about that."

"But since we're both here, we might as well get started."

"Yeah."

"I'll be coming over every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Before I come over on Friday, I want you to go through the problems in the workbook and circle the ones you don't understand."

"Okay."

"If you have problems with homework on a day I can't come over, just give me a call. Here, I'll write down my phone number," said Shoichi, scrawling the number on the corner of the workbook. "Are you in any clubs or sports? We can schedule around them."

"No." Tsuna felt his ears growing hot with embarrassment. "I'm useless at sports."

"Yeah, me too," Shoichi agreed without a hint of shame. "Well, that makes things easier."

Tsuna smiled tentatively.

"So, before we get started, we should set out some ground rules. I'm going to help you where I can, but you need to do your part too."

"O-Okay."

"I want you to go to school every day and go to every class. I want you to pay attention in class and take notes on what the teacher is saying. If there are example math problems on the board, I want you to copy them down and try to follow the teacher's explanation. Can you do that?"

Shoichi's matter-of-fact tone made it all sound so easy. "Okay."

"Do you ask questions in class when you don't understand the subject?"

Tsuna looked away.

The truth was, he didn't ask questions, not even when he was really confused or the teachers asked whether anyone in the class needed an explanation. The teachers thought he was being impudent on purpose by asking questions on simple things, and the students knew he didn't understand it and mocked him mercilessly for his ignorance.

Shoichi took his silence for the admission it was and nodded.

"Okay," he said. "If you don't want to ask questions in class, you don't have to. But if you have a question, make sure you write it down and we can go over it in one of our sessions."

Tsuna nodded in relief.

"I want you to try to do all your homework. Even if you get them wrong, it's better to know what you don't know."

"What?"

"If you do the problems and get them wrong, we can see where you got off track. That way I know what I need to explain to you. Does that make sense?"

It did make sense, and nothing had made sense to Tsuna for a while. "Okay."

"Great. Well, then, let's get started. We'll review each chapter from the workbook. I'll go over it briefly, and then we'll do a few problems from the chapter to see how well you've mastered the concept from the lesson. Do you have a pencil and paper?"

"Oh, I'll run and get some."

"Make sure you have plenty of paper. You'll want to show all of your work."

"All right."

Tsuna fetched the requested materials from his desk and sat down cross-legged opposite Shoichi.

"All set? Then let's begin with chapter one: basic linear functions."

About half an hour later, Shoichi was revising his first impression of the brown-haired teenager. Tsuna was exactly as terrible at math as he'd said he was, no exaggeration. They hadn't gotten more than a few pages into the workbook before he'd timidly requested that they stop and go over the concepts Shoichi introduced.

All the same, it was impossible to dislike him.

He wasn't at all resentful or moody at being taught by a kid no older than himself. He was quiet, almost skittish, and looked as though he expected to be mocked for every little question he asked. A lot of the questions he asked were very basic, but he was clearly trying his very best to understand the material. His expression as he listened was intent and focused.

Plus, well- silly as it sounded to admit it to himself, there was something flattering about being listened to so seriously. Most of his classmates would have told him to quit being a know-it-all, but Tsuna looked almost impressed.

It was already 4:45 when there was a quiet knock on the bedroom door. "Tsu-kun? Irie-kun? I brought you some snacks?"

Tsuna looked up. "Oh, come in."

Ms. Sawada pushed the door open with her foot, bearing a small plate of chocolate cookies. "I thought you boys deserved a treat with all the hard work you've been doing," she said cheerfully. "Would you like some juice as well?"

"Thank you, Ms. Sawada, but I'm fine. The cookies look wonderful, though."

"Thanks, mom," Tsuna said, but he was already working on the next problem. "Hang on, I'm kind of busy."

Ms. Sawada smiled even more brightly at that. "My, what dedication," she said. "Well, don't let me disturb you. If you need anything, just shout. I'm right downstairs."

"Okay," Shoichi said as she left and closed the door behind her. "Tsuna, are you done with the problem?"

"I think so," Tsuna said, but he looked uncertain.

"What answer did you get?"

"Um, twenty-three?"

"No, not quite. Let's go over your work."

They checked the work and found that Tsuna had added instead of subtracting and had forgotten to distribute a negative sign into a set of parentheses.

"It's a basic mistake. You don't need to feel bad about it. Besides, now you'll always be sure to double check for that when you see a negative sign, right?"

"Right," Tsuna mumbled, but it was obvious he felt embarrassed.

"I'm serious," Shoichi insisted. "Everyone's made that mistake before, myself included. It's something you'll just learn to be careful of."

Tsuna hesitated, but nodded determinedly. "Okay."

"Now, we've got about-" Shoichi checked his watch, "-twelve minutes before I have to head home for dinner. We should go over the chapter you're studying in class tomorrow."

It was about twenty minutes before Shoichi left.

"And don't forget to take notes," he said, pulling on his jacket. "And watch your handwriting. And write down your questions."

"I will," promised Tsuna.

"You have my phone number. Use it if you need it."

"Okay."

"Thanks for the cookies, Ms. Sawada."

"Oh, it's no trouble. Thank you for helping Tsu-kun."

The redhead smiled. "No problem."

"So," Tsuna began quietly. "I'll see you on Friday?"

"You can count on it."

And Shoichi left. If he had turned around, he would have had time just before the door closed to see a small, warm smile on Tsuna's face.

Friday, Tsuna thought.