I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but I did want to give the disclaimer that I don't know anything about how the Italian school system works, and so I based this off of American schools. I'm sorry for any inaccuracies but that's not what I wanted the main focus of the story to be so I didn't want to get bogged down in research for it and I hope the story is still enjoyable regardless.

Chapter Two

The first week was always the hardest, getting back into the routine of going to school every morning, forcing his brain to retain knowledge that would have little practical use in the real world again, but Bruno was slowly getting back into the swing of things. If nothing else, it was good to be around friends again.

He was glad to see that Giorno and Trish seemed to have accepted Narancia pulling them into their fold. He knew how hard it could be starting at a new school. If he hadn't had Leone with him when he'd moved from the smaller primary school to the high school on the other side of town, he wasn't sure he would have known what to do with himself.

Neither of the new students talked that much, but Bruno did notice that they both began to relax more as the week went on, even Giorno. Around everyone but Leone, anyway. Bruno still wondered what exactly his friend had against the younger boy. He knew Leone tended to hold grudges, but still.

At lunch Thursday, Bruno slumped down next to Fugo who glanced over at him with a look. "You look tired."

Bruno rubbed his eyes. "I was up late finishing homework. I'm just trying to wrap my head around geometry."

"If you need help…"

"I'll let you know, thanks," Bruno replied with a smile. "I did want to try to figure it out for myself first."

"It's mostly memorization, anyway," Leone said.

"Well, I'm actually not doing too badly yet!" Narancia announced proudly as he strode up with his entourage in tow.

"That's great, man!" Mista told him. "We told you you could do it."

"I mean, it's mostly review from last year so far," Narancia shrugged.

"But you remembered it," Bruno pointed out. "That's half the battle."

"So what about you, Giorno, you a math wiz?" Mista asked the blonde.

Giorno looked up, always seeming to be surprised when someone actually addressed him, like he didn't really know what to do. "No, not really."

"What's your favorite subject then?" Trish asked as she picked at her lunch.

Giorno shrugged. "Biology, I guess. I…I like plants and animals. I think they're interesting."

"That's cool, man!" Narancia said. "Wish you were here to help me out when I failed biology."

"Your problem was too many long words that I could not hammer into your head," Fugo reminded him.

Narancia kicked him under the table. "Not all of us are built with dictionaries for brains."

Leone leaned around Bruno to look at Fugo. "We didn't see you after school yesterday; how is the aide job going?"

Fugo shrugged. "It's fine."

Bruno caught a tiny bit of hesitation in his voice but before he could ask, a fight broke out at the other end of the table between Ghiaccio and Formaggio, leading to a tray being upended and a fork being brandished as a weapon before Risotto quickly launched across the table to grab Ghiaccio's wrist before he could use it.

Giorno and Trish were both watching wide-eyed as Mista snorted and shook his head. "Dude's unhinged."

"I heard that, Mista!" Ghiaccio snarled, trying to point the fork in his direction but Risotto relived him of it completely.

"Enough, Ghia, come on, man," the goth grumbled.

"Tell Formaggio not to be a little shit, then!"

"Doubt that will work," Melone commented with a grin.

"You're on thin fucking ice too!" Ghiaccio said and Melone raised his hands innocently.

Leone rolled his eyes and turned back to Bruno. "Hey, you want to come over for dinner tonight? We can work on homework together."

Bruno nodded. "Sure."

Fugo left his lunch half-finished and stood up. Narancia glanced up in surprise. "Where are you going?"

"Signore Pisani asked if I could spend the second half of lunch helping him prep coursework today," Fugo said as he picked up his tray.

"Seriously?" Mista asked. "He won't even let you have lunch now?"

"It's fine; I agreed to do this for extra credit after all," Fugo said a bit tersely. Bruno could tell from the slump of his shoulders and the shadows under his eyes that Fugo was just as tired as he was. He hoped it was just a matter of first week adjustment. He knew it would take a while to get used to it again himself.

When he left, Narancia shook his head. "I sure am glad no one ever expects anything from me. That would suck ass."

Bruno agreed with him silently. He had always hated to see the burden Fugo seemed to think he had to carry because of his family's expectations. Bruno much preferred the thought of a future full of comfortable manual labor and the satisfaction of a hard day's work to the idea of rubbing elbows in higher circles.

Another day was survived though and Bruno went home with Leone after school, more math homework weighing down his backpack.

"I'm going to go call my dad real quick," Bruno told him once they got inside and headed off to the kitchen where Leone's sister Sylvia was already back from school, getting a snack.

"Hey, Bruno!" she called, waving.

Bruno smiled back. "Hi, Sylvie, how have you been lately?"

"Oh, you know, surviving—barely," she said with a dramatic sigh. "You and Leo are lucky it's your last year. I'm so sick of the drama."

Bruno smiled wryly as he picked up the phone. "I wish I could say it gets easier in high school."

She groaned and Bruno called his home number. He knew his father probably wouldn't be at the house yet, but he could at least leave a message. Bruno knew he wouldn't worry though, his father knew he could take care of himself and it wasn't exactly rare that he would end up at Leone's house for dinner. Still, Bruno liked to let him know all the same. It just seemed like a courtesy so he knew who to call if he needed Bruno for anything.

After leaving the message, Bruno followed Leone up to his room where they threw their backpacks down as they lounged in the beanbag chairs in one corner. Leone turned on some music quietly in the background and they started looking through the stack of homework.

"I think this year might just do me in," Bruno groaned, shoving his hair out of his face. "I thought the last year was supposed to be the easy one."

"After the first half of the year, yeah, after the teachers stop giving a shit and want to be done as much as we do," Leone muttered as he flipped through the assignments. "Seriously though, who the hell gives an essay assignment in the first week?"

"It's for literature though, you like that."

"Doesn't mean I want to try to guess what Signora Marino wants me to think about a story when I know her interpretation is wrong anyway," Leone muttered. "She always misses the obvious and seems to think everything has deeper meaning when sometimes it just doesn't, and blue is just a color." He shrugged in annoyance. "Whatever, if she marks me off too many times I'll just switch electives."

"Glad I didn't decide to take that one," Bruno muttered, staring at the numbers on his math homework. They started to make even less sense and he sighed, leaning his head back against the wall, looking up at the posters Leone had pinned there. "You ever think…about just dropping out and saying forget it?"

Leone snorted a laugh. "Yeah, but I don't really have that luxury. I need at least a high school diploma to do what I want."

"I don't."

"Then why don't you? You know how worthless it is in the long run."

Bruno shrugged. "I guess because I don't like to let something defeat me. It's just one more year anyway, right? As long as I don't completely flunk geometry, then I'll at least be able to graduate."

Leone grabbed his own math homework and looked over it. "Let's do this together, then I can show you how it works."

They worked until Leone's mother called them down for dinner and Bruno was greeted happily by Leone's parents.

"Good to see you again, Bruno, it's been a while," Signora Abbacchio said with a smile.

"Mom, he was over here like two weeks ago," Leone muttered.

"Well, I'm just saying it's been a while compared to how often you were over during the summer."

"It has been a while, thanks for letting me stay for dinner," Bruno told her cordially.

They sat down to dinner, joined by Sylvia and Signore Abbacchio who nodded to Bruno in greeting.

"How are you boys getting along so far?" he asked.

"Not too bad," Bruno replied with a small smile. "Leone and I were just getting through geometry homework together."

"It is quite a bit to take in," Signora Abbacchio commented, taking a bite before gesturing briefly toward them. "You know, it's a good idea to start looking into universities. Bruno, do you have any ideas about where you'd like to go yet?"

Bruno turned awkwardly toward his plate, knowing she was just making conversation, but also knowing she wouldn't like his answer. Leone's mother meant well, but she had a particular idea of how things were supposed to go and didn't always understand that there were different ways to do things.

"I um…not really," he replied, deciding that was the best route to go. "I'm…still considering options."

"Well, let me know if you need any suggestions," she said kindly. "I'd be happy to help you look into some things."

"Speaking of," Leone's father commented, glancing toward his son. "I met an old school friend the other day myself, and he's now teaching at a highly praised law school. When I told him about you, Leone, he said he would be more than willing to write you a letter of recommendation."

Leone's fork clanked heavily onto his plate. "Dad, I told you I'm not going to law school."

His father sighed, pressing his lips into a displeased line. "Leone, you need to give up on these childish fantasies of being a detective."

"Why? Just because that's not what you wanted to do? It is an actual profession."

"No, because it's unforgiving work with terrible pay. You think you'll make it anywhere in life as a low-level police officer?"

"Not if I had that attitude," Leone muttered

"Leone," his mother chided.

"You have a good mind, it would be better put to use somewhere else, where it can actually do some good," his father added stiffly.

"I want to help people, not let the bastards who hurt them get back out on the streets while I pocket money!"

Sylvia made a knowing face at her brother before slowly taking a bite of her food, eyes glued to the surroundings.

"You think that's what I do?" Signore Abbacchio demanded, face reddening in fury. "You think anyone will even take you seriously with that ridiculous get-up you always wear?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Leone demanded, fist clenching on the table.

"Language," his mother snapped.

"What, the fact that you make yourself up to look like a delinquent?" his father asked. "You think the police academy will take you in that get-up?"

Leone's lip twisted and he shoved back from the table. "I don't know why I even bother. There's no point in arguing about this shit with you. You are a lawyer after all."

He stormed out of the room, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake.

"Awkward," Sylvia said quietly, taking another bite of food.

Bruno bit his lip and started to scoot back. "Um, I think I'll…"

"Of course," Signora Abbacchio said quickly.

Bruno hurriedly retreated and headed upstairs. Leone wasn't in his room but the light from the bathroom next door was on, and Bruno knocked quietly.

"What?" Leone's voice snapped from inside.

"It's me," he said. "Can I come in?"

There was no answer so Bruno took that as a yes and slipped inside.

Leone was staring at himself in the mirror and Bruno quietly took a seat on the side of the tub.

Finally, Leone inhaled deeply, breaking the silence. "Do I look like a freak to you?"

"No," Bruno said instantly with a shrug. "You look like Leone."

Leone seemed to mull that over for a bit before he said, "It's not like I would even wear the makeup on the job, how stupid do you have to be to think that people can't have two sides to them?"

"I think your parents just want what's best for you," Bruno told him.

Leone snorted. "Well, maybe they don't know what that is."

Bruno's mind went back to his mother, before she left them, convinced he would go with her, convinced that it was the right thing, the only thing that would be good for him. But it hadn't been. He wouldn't have been happy with her. Not like he was with his father in their seaside cottage, his friends nearby, and all the things he had grown up loving.

"No, I don't think they always do," he agreed quietly.

"Growing up fucking sucks, you know?" Leone growled, turning to sit on top of the counter. "Everyone expects you to act like an adult, make adult decisions, but only they know what the right ones are, and how to go about it."

Bruno nodded in sympathy. In many ways, he felt he had grown up too fast, being responsible for himself and even his father a lot of the time since his mother left. He had never resented that, it had just always felt right, but at the same time, he could appreciate what Leone was feeling. There was a part of him that still didn't want to accept growing up and having to seriously decide what to do with his life. As unavoidable as it was.

"We still have the whole year," Bruno pointed out. "A lot of things can change in a year."

"I guess," Leone said and turned to him. "I am going to the police academy," he said firmly. "And I don't care who tries to stop me."

Bruno smiled. "I know. And I think you'll do great there."

Leone drove Bruno back home since it was dark out by the time they had finished their homework. Bruno thanked him as he got out of the car, before leaning back in to grab his bag.

"You can stay the night if you want," he offered kindly.

"Nah," Leone replied with a sigh. "I don't have my school stuff. Besides, if I run away they'll just treat me like I'm even more immature then they already think I am."

"I think your father respects people who stand up to him," Bruno offered. "He knows it takes courage, it's just his job to get his way. An automatic reaction to fight back."

"I guess you're right—you are creepily good at figuring people out." He motioned to his face. "They have it in their heads this means rebellion. I just like the aesthetic."

Bruno grinned at his friend. "I'm sure they'll come around eventually. And if they don't, you know you're always welcome here. My dad won't mind."

Leone nodded gratefully and Bruno headed toward the house, after retrieving his bike from the back of the car.

It was quiet once he got inside, though he could hear the low murmur of the television. He peeked his head into the living room and saw his father asleep on the couch. Bruno left his school bag by the door and quietly went into the room. He turned the TV off and picked up the thick blanket from the back of the couch, laying it gently over his father.

"Goodnight, Papa," he whispered before he headed off to his own room to get some sleep.

One more day before the weekend.

The next morning, Bruno was surprised to find the house empty when he got up, his father's coffee cup already emptied and in the sink. He quickly made lunch and hurried out to the docks to see Paolo getting the boat ready for the day.

"You're up early, Papa," Bruno called.

"Yeah, I've picked up a little extra work," his father told him, climbing back onto the dock.

Bruno frowned. "Extra work?"

His father nodded. "A lot of tourists like to go out into the bay or take fishing trips. I thought I would offer my services."

"To tourists?" Bruno asked, incredulous. His father wasn't exactly a people person, one of the reasons he liked fishing so much.

"Only a couple days a week," his father said, then added. "It makes good money."

Bruno's stomach turned slightly. "Are we…in need of extra money? Because I can get a job after school if you…"

"No, Bruno," his father said kindly. "My idea was to have something put away. For you." Bruno blinked up at his father incredulously as he continued. "I always wanted you to have everything you needed, and I never wanted you to think that you couldn't go to university or get a higher education just because we don't have a lot of money."

Bruno stood there, stunned. "But Papa, I don't want to go to university, I'll be perfectly happy working on the boat and in the market with you."

Paolo held up his hand. "Regardless of what you want to do with it, Bruno, I want to put something aside for you. If you don't want to use it for school, then you can buy a car, or a boat, or a house for yourself. I trust you to make your own decisions, I just want to provide for you."

Bruno felt a small lump form in his throat and he quietly stepped forward to hug his father. Paolo seemed slightly surprised and gave him a somewhat awkward pat on the back.

"Thank you, Papa," Bruno said once he got his voice back. "Just…please promise me you won't overwork yourself? You do so much already…"

Paolo gave a small smile. "I think I can stand to ferry a few tourists around. Besides, you know work is good for me."

Bruno smiled and lifted the cooler bag in his hand. "I've got to go get ready, but here's your lunch."

Paolo took it and set it on the docks with the rest of his gear. "Have a good day at school, Bruno."

Giorno sighed as he made his way toward school. His morning hadn't started out great. His backpack—the one he'd had since he started school as a child—had finally decided to give up, leaving all his books to tumble onto the sidewalk.

He'd just finished picking them all up, carrying the heavy stack in his arms, when the sound of a bike behind him had him moving to one side of the sidewalk.

"What happened to your backpack?"

Giorno startled slightly at the voice, realizing that it was Bruno, and that he had stopped his bike right beside him. Giorno looked down at his heavy armload, the crumpled bit of fabric pinned underneath the books. "It…one of the straps broke."

"Not a great start to the day. Here," Bruno motioned to his bike basket. "Put them in here."

Giorno hesitated slightly but couldn't find a reason to refuse so he settled the books into the basket.

"If it's just the strap I might be able to fix it," Bruno offered. "We can go to home ecc to see if the teacher has any needles and thread we can borrow—if Mista doesn't have a sewing kit somewhere in his car."

"It's okay, it's really old. There's not much left to fix," Giorno admitted. "I'll…see if I can get a new one over the weekend I guess." He didn't have much choice, though he dreaded the conversation that would arise if he had to tell his stepfather. Maybe there was still enough left over from his lunch allowance to buy one.

Bruno glanced down at the scrap of nylon and cringed slightly. Giorno didn't blame him. It had already had multiple patch jobs and had been literally hanging on by threads.

"Do you have any plans this weekend?" Bruno asked as they walked along toward the school. "Aside from getting a new backpack, anyway?"

"Oh, not really," Giorno said quietly, then after a long pause, realized he should probably reciprocate. He looked up, mouth opening for a moment before he asked, "What about you?"

Bruno shrugged. "I usually go out on the boat to help my father on the weekends—he's a fisherman, though Narancia's probably already told you that." He laughed.

Giorno gave a small smile. "I do think he mentioned something about that. That sounds nice though." He was trying to remind himself how to have a conversation. It had been so easy having Narancia around as he seemed to always know how to continue a conversation in a way that made Giorno envious. "You live near the ocean then?" he asked lamely. Because of course he did if his father was a fisherman.

But Bruno didn't seem to think he was stupid for asking, he simply nodded. "Mm-hm. In a small cottage not too far from the marina. We have beach days sometimes—you'll have to come next time we get together."

"Oh," Giorno said, surprised. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but decided that the idea of a day on the beach did sound nice even if Bruno was just being polite.

They made it to school and Giorno took his books out of Bruno's basket as the older boy crouched to lock up his bike.

Narancia and Leone soon joined them and then it was time to get to their home rooms.

Giorno couldn't help feeling some relief once the school day was over. He had managed to survive the first week—even if his backpack hadn't. Small victories, he supposed.

His stomach turned as he walked home, getting closer to the house. The weekends were always worse and he didn't even have school to escape to then. He mostly tried to stay in his room and keep to himself. Keep quiet, not be seen. Just like his mother had taught him all those years ago.

Once he got home, he set his books on the small desk in his room and pulled out his wallet. He carefully counted out what money was left, and knew there was no way it would be enough to get a new backpack. He sighed heavily and decided it was best to just get this over with.

His mother was in the kitchen making herself some coffee when he came in.

"Oh, you're back," she said, sounding almost disappointed.

Giorno held up what was left of the backpack to show her. "This broke today, so I need to get a new one. I was wondering if I could have a little extra money?"

"Did you use everything I gave you already?"

Giorno's hair stood up on the back of his neck as his stepfather came into the room. He hadn't noticed he was home.

"No, it's just…there's not enough left for a new backpack," he said quietly.

"Ungrateful little brat," his stepfather growled. "Don't we do enough for you?"

"He does need a new one," Giorno's mother pointed out almost reluctantly. "Unlike his clothes, it's not actually usable."

Giorno flinched at the mention of his clothes. He remembered asking for new pants when they had grown too short over the summer, but that had been a mistake that had only earned him new reminders never to ask about that kind of thing again.

His stepfather glanced at the bag he still held clutched in his hand and grunted, reaching out to clamp a hand around Giorno's shoulder, shoving him out of the kitchen and into his office. "Fine. I'll get the brat his money."

Giorno stood there awkwardly, watching the man open his lockbox and grab a thin envelope out of it, shoving it toward Giorno. "This is your allowance for next week. You'll have to take the extra out of that because I don't have any more cash for you right now."

"Thanks," Giorno muttered and quickly retreated. At least he had gotten the money, even if he would probably have to skip lunch a couple days next week.

Bruno woke mostly refreshed on Saturday and went out with his father early in the morning to get the best catch. By the time they got back, they had a good haul to take to the market in the morning.

But then Sunday was over too, and the inevitability of school was once again looming over his head. Bruno had never found himself wanting to stay in bed more than he did that day, but forced himself to get up and get it over with.

He plugged away until lunch, when he was greeted by Narancia who was already bemoaning his progress for the year.

"I just can't do this!" he groaned, dropping his head dramatically onto the table.

"What happened to 'I'm doing great so far'?" Mista asked him.

"That was last week when we were still reviewing old stuff," Narancia told him, hauling himself back up to glance pleadingly over the table at Fugo. "Come on, man, everything the teacher said today just went in one ear and out the other. You gotta help me before I fall too far behind again."

Fugo had been quiet all day, and now he looked even more tense as he reached across the table and practically ripped the textbook from under Narancia's folded arms. He scowled. "Narancia, I literally taught you this, don't you remember?"

"No! If I did, I wouldn't be asking, would I, genius?" Narancia snarked.

Fugo practically snarled, slamming the book back onto the table with a clatter of trays that made Giorno and Trish both jump. "Then how many times am I going to have to drive this into your head?! I swear, if you actually paid attention for once, I might actually think it's worth my time to help you!"

"Fugo, he's just asking for help, it's not easy for all of us," Bruno told the blond, furrowing his brow. Fugo did have his anger issues, but this seemed a bit much even for him.

"Yeah, I know—all of you always come to me just because I'm supposedly so smart," Fugo snarled. "Well, I'm done! Figure out your own shit from now on!"

He shoved back from the table and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Holy crap," Mista muttered. "What the hell crawled up his ass?"

Narancia's head was in his hands. "Great, now I really am doomed."

"Oh, give me this."

They all looked up in surprise as Trish snagged the book and flipped through it. "Look, it's not actually that hard, the teacher just sucked at explaining it. Here, let me show you."

Narancia stared at her in disbelief as she grabbed a notebook and pink pen out of her pocket and started one of the problems. "Look. If you set it up like this, then it's a lot easier to understand what you're doing. See what I mean?"

"Yeah…I think I do," Narancia said, shocked.

Trish handed him the notepad. "Then you do the next one."

Bruno smiled as Narancia mumbled over the next problem, earning a small smile of encouragement from Trish as he got it correct.

But Bruno couldn't help but think that something was going on with Fugo, and he needed to figure out what it was.