Sleeping during class was a habit that Hana had to beat out of Tsuna with a stick—literally. Every time she caught wind of him dozing off, she'd poke his back mercilessly until he stopped. She called it "classical conditioning". He called it "annoying as heck".

But now, not even the stick could really do anything for Tsuna. He barely paid attention to whatever Nezu-sensei was talking about—something…science-y. His mind was just elsewhere. For one thing, Alberta's unexpected, very much un-welcomed morning call looped on repeat in his head. "Aldo will pick you up after school today. You'll be given a more extensive list of duties then."

First off, what the hell? Second, today was Thursday and he had to babysit Takeshi later. Third, seriously, what the hell? Tsuna's leg shook slightly underneath his table, a nervous habit for whenever his thoughts got the better of him. Why would Alberta hire him in the first place? Squalo clearly didn't want anything to do with him and most likely thought of way too many methods on how to kill Tsuna in his sleep. And what about Takeshi? On one hand, Tsuna could tell Alberta to shove it, consequently get fired, and probably be buried alive somewhere as a result; but on the other hand, Tsuna wanted to live and he was pretty sure he was too much of a pansy to really say no.

Sighing mentally, Tsuna rubbed his eyes to get rid of some sleep when a loud voice said, "Sawada!"

He shrieked and fell over his desk if Hana hadn't caught the back of his jacket in time. Immediately the class erupted into laughter.

"Dame-Tsuna is an idiot!"

"Did you hear that scream?"

"It sounds like a girl's!"

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna, are you a girl?"

Nezu-sensei's brow twitched but he didn't really do anything to stop the class's jeers. He narrowed his eyes at Tsuna, making the brunet shrink as he clumsily returned to his seat and mumbled his thanks to Hana. The man did not look amused. "Sawada, answer the question."

Tsuna flushed. Ah, crap. He hadn't been paying attention to anything Nezu-sensei said—then again, his teacher could make cannibalistic elephants sound boring somehow—and was probably going to get ridiculed again any minute. "Ah, um, could you…repeat the question?" he said.

Nezu-sensei pursed his lips. "Can I?"

Oh God, Tsuna wasn't in the mood for this bullshit. But his palms had already turned clammy and his head throbbed with another incoming headache.

"Put your hand down, Kurokawa," Nezu-sensei said. "This question is for Sawada."

Though Tsuna couldn't see her, he was pretty sure Hana was glaring at the man. Even if she was the smartest student in the whole school, Nezu-sensei didn't like her because she was associated with Tsuna. And that sucked. Before Tsuna could meekly ask for Nezu-sensei to repeat the question he probably didn't have an answer to, a voice suddenly spoke through the intercom, "Sawada Tsunayoshi, please report to the main office as soon as possible. Thank you."

A hush fell over the room. Tsuna's eyes flitted around the classroom nervously, his shoulders tense. Did something happen…? Swallowing a small lump in his throat, he stood up from his desk, wincing when his chair scraped noisily against the floor. After he left, he could just imagine what his class would whisper behind his back. Not only was he useless but a troublemaker? Blasphemy. Still though, he was pretty sure he didn't do anything bad…

When he arrived at the principal's office, Tsuna didn't enter for a hot minute. Finally, taking a deep breath, he opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw the other occupant in the room. The principal looked somewhat terrified, only relaxing when Tsuna finally appeared. "Ah, S—Sawada-san," he said, clasping his hands tightly on his desk.

Aldo turned to face the teen, cutting the principal off. "Please come with me, lad. Something urgent has come up."

Tsuna couldn't do anything but say, "Huh?"

Talbot Academy for the Gifted and Talented was… Okay, Tsuna never knew it even existed. Since when had Namimori been so foreign to him? He lived here his whole life and he had never seen or heard of that school. Still, it was large and beautiful, very European with its thick marble and posh gardens and fountain. It was in the middle of nowhere, far off the edge of Kokuyo, and surrounded by tall trees and forestry. There was a slab at the gates with the words Ad Astra Per Aspera. Tsuna didn't understand it.

He looked up at the fancy building, his back aching from the awkward angle. Aldo gripped his shoulder, making him jump, and led him around the school. "This way, lad," he said.

"Why am I here?" Tsuna said suddenly.

"You'll see."

It was quiet. Tsuna couldn't even hear anything from inside the building; the pristine windows were closed shut but he saw a glimpse of the classrooms and a few students with a teacher. Definitely an international school. The fragrance of begonias and chrysanthemums was pleasant but only made Tsuna more nauseous. Aldo's hand was firm on his shoulder and he didn't seem to think about letting go anytime soon.

Soon the sound of cheering kids came from the distance. Tsuna froze. There, in the clearing, was Squalo beating some kid to the ground with a feral look in his eyes. His black uniform was barely ruffled.

"A—Aldo-san," Tsuna croaked. "What…"

"I believe this situation requires your assistance, lad," Aldo said, his face blank in the face of such violence.

Tsuna gaped at him. "Wait, what?" He gestured pathetically at the spectacle, cringing at the other kids cheering Squalo on. "Are you serious? What am I supposed to do?"

"Mitigate the scuffle."

Tsuna felt like tearing his hair out. "Mitigate the—I'm sorry but you brought me here to handle that? Are you crazy? I'm just a babysitter, not some—some nanny or his dad."

"You might want to help that poor boy sooner than later, lad," Aldo drawled, disregarding everything Tsuna just said. "Young Master isn't stopping any time soon and he's only just beginning."

Tsuna cursed at the world. He shouldn't have taken the damn job. Just, what the hell was this? Shuffling forward, Tsuna almost felt like his own legs would snap and force him to tumble. The boy Squalo was beating to the ground soon managed to gain the upper hand and shove him off. He was about Squalo's height, with blond hair and brown eyes. His lips was cut and bleeding and dirt streaked his young face. Something in Tsuna snapped.

Some students looked Tsuna's way curiously. A few whispered amongst themselves while Squalo and the boy continued fighting in the background, oblivious. Tsuna cleared his throat. "Squalo." He winced when his voice cracked.

The boy didn't hear him, or he was probably ignoring him. Tsuna's brow twitched, and he gritted his teeth when Squalo screamed something in Italian at the boy's laughing face. "Squalo!"

Everything came to a standstill. Squalo and the boy finally looked up. Tsuna stepped forward and jerked Squalo up to his feet rather roughly, ignoring the sudden shift in the air; the other kids stopped talking, staring at his back like a pack of wolves. If Squalo was surprised, he didn't voice it. Tsuna scowled, daring him to say anything, before helping the other boy up. "Are you okay?" he said.

The blond boy blinked. Then his bloody lips curled into a small grin. "I'm fine," he said in perfect Japanese. "Who are you?"

Tsuna pushed Squalo in Aldo's direction, not meeting the snarling boy's eyes. "Let's get you patched up."

No one was in the nurse's office, which looked more like a hospital ward. Tsuna vaguely wondered where the rest of the school's funding went to but quickly snapped out of it to disinfect the boy's wounds. Having some experience under his belt, both from when he was bullied and Giotto's friends going at each other like cats and dogs, particularly Alaude and Daemon, he was more than capable around the first-aid kit.

"Dino," the boy suddenly said. "My name is Dino. And you?"

Tsuna glanced at him from the corner of his eye warily. He had a feeling that the kid wasn't exactly normal behind his cheery smile. "Tsuna," he said. "This might sting."

Dino winced when Tsuna dabbed some alcohol-soaked cotton on his cheek. "Are you Squalo's nanny?" He tilted his head, pouting when Tsuna gently gripped his chin to keep him still. "You look like a stick."

Tsuna made a strangled noise. "A what?"

Dino grinned with some good cheer dancing in his bright eyes. "A stick. Does Squalo beat you up, too?"

Sighing, Tsuna placed a band-aid over Dino's cut. "One, I'm not a stick. Two, I'm not his nanny. I'm… Never mind. And three"—he closed the first-aid kit shut—"he doesn't beat me." He was probably much too calm considering the bizarre circumstances and Dino seemed to have caught on.

"You're not like the others," Dino said. "You're still here."

"I wasn't going to leave you wounded," Tsuna said dryly, standing up.

"Not like that." Dino glanced at the mirror across the pale yellow walls and tentatively touched the band-aids on his cheek and nose. "Squalo doesn't like anyone. No one likes anyone here."

Tsuna didn't hide the wariness in his eyes. "Then why are you asking?"

Dino smiled brightly. "I care. Squalo's my friend. It wasn't my fault I lost his knife. I'm clumsy."

Tsuna didn't know what was worse: the fact that Squalo beat Dino over something so small or that he carried a knife in the school. In the end, he didn't say anything.

"Are you going to come again?" Dino said.

"I don't know." Tsuna gestured vaguely at the door. "You can go now. I'm sorry Squalo did that to you."

"Don't be." Dino hopped down to his feet, humming in approval when he didn't sway. "It's not you, it's him. He does it all the time."

Before Tsuna could contemplate what Dino meant, the boy suddenly tripped over a small cable and crumpled to the floor in a heap. A chair and the blood pressure machine crashed to the ground just as the door slammed open.

"What the hell?" a man in a white coat said in Italian. "Cavallone, I told you to stay out of here!"

Dino laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, Dr. Shamal." He tried to stand but fell again. "Um, this might take a while."

Squalo didn't talk to Tsuna in the car or at home. Tsuna didn't push him. After calling Tsuyoshi and apologizing for being unable to babysit Takeshi today, he just remained placid in the Superbi's household. None of the servants acknowledged him, as if he had become one of their stony statues, and the day passed by uneventfully. When it was almost dinnertime, Tsuna tossed his homework aside on the large red couch and headed for the kitchen. The cook was nowhere to be seen.

"There's too many words," Takeshi whined over the phone. "I miss numbers now."

Tsuna chuckled, balancing his phone in-between his cheek and shoulder. "Reading can be fun, Takeshi," he said, stirring the risotto broth over the stove. "If you keep practicing, you'll be a pro in time. You can even read to Asari sometimes, too."

As an apology for not watching Takeshi, Tsuna opted to call and help him do his homework over the phone. It wasn't like he was needed during Squalo's lessons anyways.

Takeshi huffed. Pots and dishes clattered in the background, even though Takeshi was in his father's small office in the restaurant. "Asa-nii isn't coming back until next month." Quietly, he said, "You're here though."

You won't leave lingered in the air, unspoken. Tsuna smiled. "I'm here." He could see Takeshi relax at that over the phone. It was an endearing image, if not a bit sad. "Let's continue, okay?"

"Okay!" Tsuna heard Takeshi flip a page. "The dog ran around the fence and le—lea—leaupt?"

"Leapt," Tsuna corrected easily, pouring the risotto into a bowl.

"Leapt."

They went on for a while until Tsuna had to give Squalo dinner and gently chided Takeshi to go to bed, promising to see him next week. Squalo didn't come into the kitchen so Tsuna had to deliver the food to him in the kitchen. Flushed and drenched in more sweat than usual, Squalo just took the bowl from Tsuna's hand and stared at Tsuna's socks, waiting for him to leave.

"You shouldn't have done that," Tsuna said, breaking the brief silence. "That wasn't nice."

Squalo scoffed under his breath. "You don't know what you're talking about, trash."

Tsuna sighed softly. "Look, I don't want to be here as much as you want me to stay. I'm…going to talk to your mom tomorrow and you'll never see me again." He looked at Squalo who tensed but didn't look up. "Isn't that what you want?"

Again, Squalo remained silent. Tsuna left him in the living room and didn't see him for the remainder of the evening, only an empty bowl left in the boy's wake.

"Alright, spill."

Tsuna blinked blearily as Hana plopped down on the chair across from him. The rumors became worse and even crazy now that Tsuna thought about it. But they seemed to only confirm his own suspicions on certain things.

"Spill…?"

Hana narrowed her eyes. "What happened yesterday? You didn't come back."

Kyoko frowned. "Is everything okay, Tsuna-kun?"

Haru nodded, her brows furrowed. "Haru is very worried, desu."

"I'm peachy," was Tsuna's dry response.

He squeaked when Hana flicked his forehead. "No jokes," she said. "We don't have time for that."

"It was just some unexpected thing," Tsuna said, rubbing the sore spot.

"Unexpected thing," Hana repeated, unimpressed. "What thing?"

Kyoko leaned in to whisper almost conspiratorially, "Is it the yakuza? We can go to the police with you."

Tsuna gaped at her, more shocked at the fact that Kyoko dabbled in these kinds of things despite her kind face. "Kyoko-chan!"

Suddenly, everyone in the classroom became quiet. Confused, Tsuna looked up to see what had happened until he paled. Dino stood at the doorway, dressed in his impeccable uniform, with a bright grin. "I found you!" he said.

A/N Before I drown in finals, here's a little update for you peeps. I know I haven't updated in a while but don't worry. Winter break is coming, ahahaha.

"Ad Astra Per Aspera" is Latin for "to the stars through difficulties".

Any kids you'd like to see popping up? :^D

Thank you so much for reading! I hope to see you again in the next chapter.

Have a lovely day~

Little Miss Bunny