I.
It was currently the time between Periods Five and Six for the students at Namimori Middle School and Tae-Il was sitting in his Home Classroom, preparing his things for the next lesson.
"T-Tae-Il-sempai!" One of his fellow classmates barreled into the 2-B classroom with a panicked shout. "Y-Yamamoto just jumped off the school roof near the audio-video room!"
Tae-Il turned from his seat with a slightly surprised expression on his face. "What?! He committed suicide? Or was he fooling around and fell by accident? Does Kyoya know?" The teal-haired teen stood with a sigh. "Ah… I'd better be the one to tell him since such an incident will hurt Namimori's reputation and anger him… Is Yamamoto-kun alright? And have the police and hospital been notified? Has someone told the Nurse? She should be able to provide medical attention until an ambulance arrives… And what about Yamamoto-kun's father? Has he been notified? And-"
"S-Sawada… Sawada also j-jumped with h-him!" The student revealed, closing his eyes and bracing himself for Tae-Il's outburst and shouts for answers. When that didn't happen, the student slowly opened one eye, then the other, to see a completely empty classroom – the second floor window wide open and the curtains swaying gently from the incoming breeze.
II.
As Tae-Il raced towards the end of the building, a million-and-one thoughts and curses were flying about his head.
'What the fuck?! Tsuna 'jumped' off the school's roof?! I don't fucking believe it! There's no way in hell that he's that depressed or suicidal! … Right? No! Of course not! There has to be another fucking explanation for all this! Maybe… maybe it wasn't Tsuna, but just someone that looked like him… there are a few students here that match his body type and hair color…! Or,' here, golden eyes narrowed into slits, 'Or, was this all a part of some nefarious plot to get rid of Tsuna or to get to me or Kyoya? Perhaps his bullies have decided to retaliate and attacked Tsuna? If that's the fucking case…,' Tae-Il growled lowly, 'Someone is going to fucking pay...!'
Tae-Il leapt over some of the shrubbery decorating the school ground and spotted the brunet who was somehow perfectly fine after jumping off a four-story building?
"TSUNA!" The teal-haired teen shouted, skidding to a halt in front of the brunette. "WHO THE FUCK PUSHED YOU OFF THE BUILDING?! I'LL FUCKING MURDER THEM MYSELF AND-!"
"T-Tae-Il…!" Tsuna shot to his feet and began flailing his arms about in a panic. "I-It's not… I'm perfectly fine, I promise, Tae-Il! Yamamoto-kun and I w-were just… just …"
"YAMAMOTO!" Tae-Il snapped his head around and was about to lunge at the younger teen had Tsuna not imposed his body between the two of them. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING DRAGGING TSUNA INTO WHATEVER THE FUCK IT WAS YOU WERE DOING?! IF THERE'S SO MUCH AS A SINGLE SCRATCH ON TSUNA, I'LL-!"
"T-Tae-Il! I'm fine, I'm fine! I'm not hurt at all so just please calm down and-!"
"Oi, Yamamoto!" A student suddenly called out, leaning out of a nearby classroom and drawing the subsequent attention of the three teens. "What the heck have you been doing?! Doing such a reckless stunt just to raise awareness of the suicide rates in Japan… if you and Dam-," the student's eyes settled on the incensed form of Tae-Il and the student quickly covered up his mistake, "-I mean… if you and S-Sawada hadn't executed that stunt perfectly you two would have gotten seriously injured – or worse! What would your old man say and think if that had happened?"
A look of utter shock crossed Yamamoto's features before it transformed into one of shame and guily. "R-Right… Hahaha…! My bad, next time I'll let other people in on the trick that way it's safer!," He said with a shaky grin and laugh – one that, thankfully, put at ease the other student, but did not have the same effect on Tsuna or Tae-Il.
"Good." The student nodded his head with a satisfied expression before turning his attention towards Tsuna. "And you, S-Sawada… put some damn clothes on you pervert! I don't know why you had to pull this stunt off half-naked b-but next time… wear damned some clothes!"
The brunet flushed red in embarrassment and quickly nodded his head. "R-Right! I-I will!"
The student nodded his head once more before ducking back into his classroom and shutting the window.
Silence descended upon the three remaining teens and Tae-Il – who was still exuding an air of anger and rage – clenched his fists and jaw before turning abruptly around, startling both Yamamoto and Tsuna.
"… Tsuna…," the teal-haired teen's voice was quiet and dangerous.
Tsuna's spine stiffened in shock and fear as he anxiously waited for his friend to get angry at him once more and-
Tae-Il let out an enormous sigh; his shoulder's slumping in resignation and bitter acceptance. He was silent for a moment before saying, "… I swear you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days, Tsuna…" The taekwondo practitioner let out a hollow laugh. "Let's… let's get you two cleaned up and into some fresh clothing… and you, Yamamoto-kun," here the teal-haired teen pinned the baseball start with a hard glare, "you are going to have to explain all this to Kyoya and to your father."
"R-Right…" Yamamoto said – his voice full of dread and trepidation.
III.
"Do you honestly believe the Herbivore's explanation that the whole incident had been a fabricated event to raise awareness for Japan's high suicide rates?"
Tae-Il let out an unimpressed snort and leaned back in his seat, tilting his head back as well to peer at the upside-down image of his cousin. The two were currently in one of the many private living rooms littering the Hibari estate. The room itself was small when compared to the other massive rooms, and was decorated in a mix of traditionally Japanese furnishings and sleek, modern fixtures. Tae-Il was lounging on a plush, leather chair, his legs hanging carelessly over the far armrest.
"Of course not, Kyoya. I'm not a fool, unlike a good majority of our schoolmates."
Hibari let out a hum before leisurely making his way towards a nearby sofa and draping his body over it in the same fashion as Tae-Il. "… My Disciplinary Committee has been slacking in their duties and responsibilities," the dark-haired teen began after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "The fencing encompassing the rooftop should never have been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair and they should have been keeping a closer eye on the mental state of such a prominent student at Namimori…"
Tae-Il snorted once more and crossed his arms over his chest. "Really? Even if your Disciplinary Committee had noticed the signs of depression and neglect in Yamamoto, they wouldn't have done a damn thing. They didn't bother to help protect Tsuna when he was younger – and they knew damn well that he was under our protection – so what makes you think they would've helped Yamamoto? Human beings are selfish, impatient creatures, if they don't get immediate results or satisfaction, they won't bother to do anything."
A low growl made its way out of Hibari's throat as he narrowed his slate-colored eyes at his cousin. "… Are you disrespecting my Committee…?"
"No, Kyoya, I'm not." The teal-haired teen's voice was earnest and true. "Honestly? Your Disciplinary Committee is the best thing that has ever happened to this town. Crime, bullying, and theft rates have all gone down thanks to the watchful eye of your people… what I'm trying to say is that no system is a hundred-percent perfect and infallible. That for all the good that you and your Committee do, you aren't able to watch and protect everyone in town at the same time; it's almost impossible to do so."
"… Is that a challenge?"
"… I guess it is," Tae-Il admitted after a moment of consideration. "With the Transfer Student's recent bombing and Yamamoto's 'suicide' attempt earlier today, people will begin to question the validity and capability of you and your Disciplinary Committee… and as you well know, once cracks form in the foundation of something, it'll only be a matter of time before the whole thing collapses… I hereby challenge you to perfect your Committee so that things like this won't happen again."
A blood-thirsty grin blossomed on Hibari's lips. "I accept your challenge, Carnivore… it's high time that I have a heavier hand in guiding my Committee anyway…"
"Okay… oh, and as always, no need to keep an eye on Tsuna… I'll be in charge of making sure that he doesn't get hurt in any way, shape, or form."
Hibari chuckled humorlessly and retorted, "And a fine job you've been doing of that, Carnivore."
Tae-Il turned his head and glared at his cousin. "I'm not going to force Tsuna to do or tell me anything until he's ready to do so… he's trusted me enough to not question or whine about all my martial art practices and competitions and its high time I extended the same courtesy to him. However," a determined glint appeared in Tae-Il's golden eyes, "once I know what the fuck's going on… I'm not going to let Tsuna get hurt anymore, I swear it!"
IV.
Tae-Il's eye visible twitched in irritation as he stared at the battered, bruised, bloodied, and burned forms of the three younger teens standing before him.
"So… let me get this straight," he began in a somewhat-calm tone of voice, "there was a pack of 'rabid dogs' that – somehow managed to bypass the watchful eye of Kyoya and his Disciplinary Committee and – swarmed the area of the school's swimming pool and chased away the school's Swim Team… they then ran into you three and begged you to help protect the 'sanctity' that was their swimming pool which you three agreed to do… You three then got into a massive fight with these so-called 'rabid dogs' who somehow were able to get their hands – or paws – on machine gun caliber weaponry which these 'rabid dogs' began to assault you three with… In response to this undeniable threat, the three of you fought these 'rabid dogs' with nothing but the clothes on you back and your bare hands…"
"I had my bombs and dynamites too, Bastard," Gokudera growled with a glare.
The teal-haired teen ignored Gokudera's comment and kept his focus on the brunet before him. "Somehow you three managed to not only defeat these 'rabid dogs' but, you then were able to give them all Forever Homes with the members of the Namimori Middle Swim Team who were 'touched' by the loyalty and camaraderie these 'rabid dogs' displayed towards one another and that's how you three got into the state that you are currently in?"
Yamamoto laughed and placed his hands behind his head. "Haha… that sounds about right, Tae-Il-sempai!"
Tae-Il stared blankly at the trio before turning stiffly to survey the damage done to the school and the surrounding area. "… Kyoya is not going to be happy about this…," he muttered blankly, watching as something suddenly burst into flames off in the distance. "Not going to be happy at all…"