Ever since her experience with the black-cloaked boy (the possible replica of Gaston), Tsuna felt rather weary. Just thinking about the intimidating boy stalking in the hallways of school was an unpleasant thing to visualize. Really, what kind of person would go around carrying tonfas and demand people if they were granted with permission like some sort of officer? It was as if he believed that the school grounds belonged to him, as if he held an authority over it. Which was ridiculous. Plus, he looked like Gaston! Or how Tsuna imagined Gaston to appear as. Well, the black-cloaked boy was the Japanese version of him.

Tsuna spat into the sink and gargled water. Once she finished brushing her teeth, she changed out of her pajamas and into shorts and a t-shirt. If she had any, she could have worn a dress, but she felt as though she wasn't pretty enough to wear something that wasn't meant for average faces. Though if she decided to wear one her mother would go to the extreme with the style nevertheless.

"Morning," Tsuna said, stifling a yawn. Her mother replied back, only hers was more cheerful. As the daughter sat down, the mother set her breakfast before her. As the girl was about to dig in, she asked, "Do you remember me telling you about this guy with tonfas who was going around inside the school building?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if he had to take lessons during break or something. I mean, he was already wearing his uniform and carried weapons with him, which is kind of bizarre." Tsuna frowned as she chewed her food. "Did I also mention that he was scary?"

"Yes, you did," her mother said with amusement. "I forgot to tell you that he's the president of the Disciplinary Committee. The principal told me that he was rather devoted to his job."

Devoted indeed.

"It could be him patrolling the school in case of delinquents, I think," the woman continued, tapping her chin in thought.

"I don't even think delinquents would want to go back to school," Tsuna muttered.

Her mother shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, I got good news!"

"What is it?"

"Well, last night while I was sorting the mail, I received your father's letter."

She blinked. "Dad?"

"Yup! He wrote that his job is meddlesome, he gets paid so little compared to the amount of workload he gets, sometimes he thinks he would die one day if he continued his job, and that he loves you and me! Isn't that sweet?"

"Regarding to the last part, oh yeah," Tsuna laughed.

Her mother laughed as well. "I think that one day he would come through the door and surprise us with a big hug. And then we would have smiles on our faces and hug him back. But it would happen once he gets a break from work."

"That would be so like Dad." Her father was an exuberant man who stood tall and mighty. He always looked out for his family, concerning of the two females' wellbeing. Sometimes he can be overzealous, revealing his extreme side. Whenever her father behaved in such enthusiastic manner, Tsuna felt as if she needed to crawl inside a cave and hide until he discontinued embarrassing her. To be blatantly true, her father was an imbecile; however, he can be quite clever too. "Did he write when he's coming home?"

"He said that it would be a surprise."

"Then he would definitely do what you predicted he would do."

Her mother smiled. "I hope so."

It was rather silly of Tsuna to cowardly hide away from him whenever he passed by her house. It wasn't as if she would duck below the windowsill whenever the jogging boy appeared; she would increase her focus upon the paragraphs and attempt to ignore him. However, these attempts were sometimes futile; her curiosity of how the orange-hooded boy was improving with his daily workout was becoming more and more overwhelming. There would be times where she would sneak a peek at him, and there would be times where their eyes would meet and she would quickly look away. There would be times where he would grin before and give a small wave. But Tsuna never answered to these gestures; she was trying her best ignoring him.

Why was she trying so desperately again? Well, the orange-hooded boy just waved and smiled at her without any regards. And again, he could be some creeper—which probably explains why he always runs by her house. Hmm…

Well, her reluctance would soon be diminished, and it started ever since her mother said, "Tsu-chan, can you please take this to our neighbor?" Her mother handed her a red Frisbee. "You know, the one with the little boy?"

"What? Where'd that come from?" Tsuna took the toy and gave the woman a puzzled look.

"Apparently, the neighbor's son threw it into our backyard. I saw him peep through the fence and the poor boy didn't know what to do. So I want you to go there and hand it to him."

"Uh, why me?"

"So that you can make friends, duh!"

"Mom, the kid's in elementary school."

"So?"

What good would it do when trying to explain things to her mother? So Tsuna sighed and went outside. She then looked to her left and then to the right, seeing if a certain boy wearing an orange hoodie was anywhere near. When the coast was clear, she went to the neighbor's house.

"Thank you for that, young lady," said the boy's mom when Tsuna explained that he threw his Frisbee into her backyard. "He came home rather sad; I guess that was the reason why. If you don't mind, could you bring it to him at the park?"

"Oh, not at all," Tsuna said, then wondering why she agreed to go through the trouble.

The woman smiled. "That's awfully kind of you. Thank you so much."

So Tsuna took another visit to the park. On her way to the playground, she took notice of a familiar boy—oh gosh, it's the black-cloaked boy! Tsuna stopped herself from making a peep, seeing the prefect dusting his hands. As she continued to tentatively stroll, she saw a human dog pile next to the black-cloaked boy, the grass splattered with blood and weapons.

Her gut tells her to quickly get away.

Wow. This was her second time seeing the black-cloaked boy and her first time was yesterday. Now relieved to get away from the disturbing scene, she reached to the playground, as she expected, to see the neighbor's son going down the slide. When she handed the toy to him and told him that she was his neighbor, he sneezed and said, "Thank you, lady!" and dashed off.

Her gut then tells her that the sooner she gets away from this place, the better. It wasn't as if everyday you get called lady (she wasn't sure if the kid referred her as old or just lady in general) and nearly get sabotaged by globs of snot. Oh well.

As she turned around, a particular boy wearing an orange hoodie was running by. When he saw her, a smile formed upon his face, and for some reason, Tsuna smiled back.

"Gaston was an inch or so shorter than Boric and had a lesser muscular feature than him; in comparison, he maintained a leaner build with a slightly shorter frame. Gaston's hair and eyes were black whilst Boric's hair and eyes were fair. Gaston was sharp-spoken and cynical whilst Boric had a calmer and brighter disposition. However, they both were orphaned, experimented, and once shared the same cantonment, hence the friendship established. Well, the canniness that Gaston emitted was directed towards Boric, who opened up to him quite quickly.

"The attributes both young men hold contradicted with one another yet were adjacent. Whereas Gaston was dark, Boric was light; Gaston was a lone wolf thriving by independence, Boric was a hawk soaring in liberation; Gaston was a pin, Boric was a cushion; Gaston was bitter; Boric was tangy; Gaston was a glare, Boric was a smirk; Gaston was fury, Boric was nonchalant; Gaston was not pleasant, Boric was pleasant.

"These were the notifications that the coaches had made in the duration of the two's training. In Jillian's case, she merely did not care—so far.

"So far Boric had expressed kindness towards her, but she was still reluctant about fully entrusting Boric. She didn't understand him, and yet he continuously talked to her as if she did. He brought her to his accommodations and welcomed her with ease. How…disorienting. Jillian was beginning to adapt to Gaston's behavior, but with Boric's personality, this might take getting used to," Tsuna read.

Tsuna's mother squealed, "Oh! Boric's my favorite character in the book! He reminds me of your father."

"Really?" She lowered the book and gave her mother a curious stare. "I don't find them alike though."

"Oh, well, Papa has his moments, after all. Sometimes he can be feisty like Gaston in a passionate way." Then she sighed dreamily. "And other times he would go on about his hopes and ambitions. Ah, I just miss those romantic moments!"

Her daughter raised an eyebrow and glanced at the cover of the book. "Sounds like I'm reading a chick-flick," Tsuna commented.

"Don't worry; the school wouldn't choose something that boys couldn't stand reading."

"Makes sense. By the way, do you know what this sentence means?" She pointed a section off the page.

"Which one, Tsu-chan?"

"Here, I'll read it. 'The attributes both young men hold contradicted with one another yet were adjacent.' Do you understand what that means? I don't."

"Well, what it is saying is that the two boys have a couple traits that are opposite, but some could be a little similar. Like when it described how Gaston is a lone wolf and Boric is a free hawk; wolves and hawks are basically the same thing because they are feared by other animals."

"What about Gaston is bitter and Boric is tangy? That's kind of odd."

"Gaston, as you know already, has a bitter personality. But as for Boric—he isn't exactly sweet either, but definitely not a bitter person. I think what the authoress was using here was a metaphor to describe the flavors of each character. When you eat something bitter, likely you won't like it. But if you eat something tangy, it's like a fun, rich taste," her mother explained, and then appeared to be satisfied by her answer.

Tsuna nodded. "I guess it says enough about how Gaston is a glare whereas Boric is a smirk," she said. "Obviously, Gaston behaves mostly on his anger and frustration. Boric is…I don't think he's cocky but, well, I don't know much about him."

"I forgot why Boric's a smirk. Something to do with the end of the story, I'm sure." Tsuna's mother smiled. "I guess you have to find out on your own."

She frowned. "There's a problem with that: I'm too impatient to wait for the end."

"Tsu-chan, can you go out and buy me a carton of milk? I forgot to buy some at the store yesterday," her mother said.

"I thought we had enough," Tsuna huffed.

"Sorry! It's all gone. Please, Tsu-chan? I'm busy at the moment." She pouted and swayed side to side.

"All right, I'll go. Again," her daughter sighed. "No need to use the puppy face trick."

The woman smiled brightly. "Thanks Tsu-chan!"

At least it wouldn't seem awkward for her if she does see the orange-hooded boy, anyway. Sure, he was quite a friendly fellow who would openly wave and grin at someone who he doesn't know. Plus, he has a girlfriend—probably. Or perhaps a female friend. A female friend who happened to be very familiar with the orange-hooded boy by her actions: laughing and smiling as if she was having the best date—uh, the best time with her friend. Or boyfriend.

Plus, after returning him a smile this morning, it sort of boosted up her confidence. Smiling at a guy who she doesn't even know? That definitely took her to a whole new level! Though would it be considered as flirting? Tsuna wasn't sure. In her old school, girls would often smile to the guys who they liked. Perhaps in Namimori, it could be considered as a friendly gesture. Perhaps that was the reason why the orange-hooded boy continuously shown her a happy grin. He probably wanted to welcome her to the neighborhood. And besides, why would he flirt with her? He has a pretty girlfriend. Or friend.

Tsuna put on her shoes and a jacket. "I'm off," she called.

"Oh, hold on. You forgot the money," her mother said, walking towards her.

"Oops. I did forget."

"By the way, I also want you to buy bread and bacon."

"Mom! You should keep a shopping list nest time."

"I know, but at least I have you here!"

Tsuna stifled rolling her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, can't imagine you surviving without me," she joked, pocketing the money.

Her mother smiled back and dusted her apron. "And we know how that'll be," she said.

"Well, I'm off. Later, Mom."

"Bye, Tsu-chan!"

By the time the door closed, Tsuna walked quickly until she was at the corner. Then she pulled out her book from her jacket and flipped to the page with the gun wrapper holding its place. "So close," Tsuna sighed. It wasn't that she was completely obsessed with the book; oh no, she just had to finish the chapter with her two favorite supporting characters: Orrick and Knox.

Tsuna, in her head this time, read, ""Yahoo!"

"Knox felt his eye twitch. "Orrick, please, if you don't mind—"

""Yahoo!"

""Orrick!"

"Orrick stopped just to turn around and look at Knox. "Yeah, Knox?"

""I am trying to do my work so shut up!"

""But how can I shut up when I'm having fun? Yahoo!"

"Knox raised an eyebrow. "By rolling stones?"

""Look, you refused to be a distraction for me so I had to find my own way of distraction, okay?" Orrick rolled another stone. "Yahoo!"

"Knox sighed. "How about we visit Boric and Jill?"

""Yahoo!"" she finished. Tsuna smiled, finding Orrick's antics to be as humorous as ever. Once more, she reread the dialogue and visualized Knox being irritated, trying to ignore his younger and energetic partner in vain effort, and Orrick grinning widely, jumping up and down like an excited child, and run around while screaming "Yahoo!"

"Jillian giggled aloud; the trickles of the water tickled her skin. Boric gave a hearty laugh. Again, he brought down his mighty fists into the surface of the water and created a wild splash, and again drenching the girl and her white wings, but she did not care. The way the playful sprays batted her feathers and limbs felt relaxing, and the droplets hanging on her skin and hair released the stressful confusion that she acquired after her stay inside Boric's cramped lodging.

"Boric grinned and straightened out his back, his tall height into full place. "All right, we should head back. I don't want you to get an illness from our play," he said.

"Jillian's childish smile was an indication to Boric that she still wanted to continue their fun. And he was right. Jillian ducked underneath his elbows and skipped closer to the center of the lake. The young man sighed but the smile remained in place. He decided to humor her by making a fatal attempt of catching the cunning angel." This time, Tsuna visualized a young girl with white wings, flapping water droplets off her feathers and running away from a young man, giggling and having a joyous time. The boy, equally, was having a fun time with the girl, despite her oddities of having wings and being illiterate.

As she continued to read, she stopped to reread another favorable passage. "Knox frowned. "Orrick, it would be best if you—"

""Ah, come on, Knox! You gotta chill out and have fun," Orrick said. He jumped on the sled with Jillian and Boric, and with the sudden weight and force applied upon the sled it caused a push to make it slide downwards. The ride was speeding quickly, making Jillian to giggle in delight and Orrick to cry out a "Yahoo!"

"Orrick's partner sighed, rubbing his temple. "Why do I have to put up with an immature brat," he grumbled to himself. "I wonder…"

""Come on, Knox! You got to try it!" Orrick shouted when he got off the sled. Knox pretended not to hear his partner, only wiping the lenses of his glasses.

""I think he doesn't want to try," Boric said.

""Jeez. What a party pooper. He never wants to try anything fun!" The younger male pouted and crossed his arms. When he saw Jillian eye him curiously and tilting her head, he said, "I bet you think the same way too. Right, Jill?"

"Jillian raised her head, tilting her head to the side. "O-Orr-Orrickuu!" she chirped cheerfully, a grin upon her face.

"Orrick grinned back. "Ha! Jill said my name but not Knox's!" he gloated. "She likes me better!"

""You know that you weren't the first name she said, right?" Boric chuckled, getting off the sled.

""I know, but at least it was my name instead of Knox's."" For an eighteen year old, Orrick was rather eccentric for his age. Tsuna found it to be amusing.

Suddenly, something pelted Tsuna in the gut. Considering how strong the force of the object was used to be thrown, it was strong enough to knock her down to the ground. "Oof!" she cried.

"Whoa! Sorry!" shouted a boy's voice. "Hey, you okay?"

Define 'okay'. "Y-Yeah, I guess so," Tsuna muttered, rubbing her stomach. What just hit her? She glanced down and saw a baseball rolling away from her.

"Oh man, I really am sorry! It was stupid, but there was this really annoying fly that kept buzzing around me, so I thought I could kill it with my bat, but the darn bug wouldn't stay still! So I thought maybe throwing a ball at it could scare it off, but instead it hit you! I'm so sorry!"

"I-I'm okay! Really." She looked up, seeing a boy about her age—probably older (he was rather tall, so she couldn't tell). When she saw dark hair, she instantly recalled the black-cloaked boy, but when her eyes met his concerned gaze the thought of the frightening boy subsided. In fact, now that Tsuna gotten a better view of the face of the boy before her, he was actually cute. Cute enough to make her embarrassed of doing something humiliating in front of him such as tumbling down like an oaf, even if it was him who threw the ball at her.

"That's a relief," he sighed, smiling. "I have to apologize once more. I don't usually ramble off like this, but usually I don't end up hitting girls. Pretty careless of me, huh?"

"Well, d-did you manage to scare the fly away?" she asked.

"Hmm." The boy glanced around, and then his smile grew. "Hey, I guess I did scare it away! Finally." He grabbed her wrist, hoisting her up to her feet. "That bug's been following me everywhere I go."

"O-Oh." Was this the first time a boy had actually intruded her personal space? "Well then, I'm happy f-for you."

"Really? Thanks," he laughed. Then he rubbed his chin. "You know, you look kind of familiar. Do you go to my school, Namimori Middle School?"

"I'm attending there once break is over," she said. She noticed the bat and ball in his hands and the sports-bag slung over his shoulder. "By any chance you play baseball there during the break?"

"Yeah, I do! How'd you know?"

Tsuna rubbed her arm. "Uh, well, yesterday I went to Namimori Middle to get my uniform and tour around the building. I think you might have noticed me walking in or out the school."

"Now that you mention it, I did see a girl with her mom there. I guess that was you." He scratched his head. "Wow, I sure made a wonderful impression of myself, huh? Don't worry, it won't happen again. Well, I'll see you at school. Maybe we'll be classmates or something."

"O-Oh, yeah! Maybe."

"I gotta you. Catch you sometime, ne?"

Tsuna nodded. "Bye."

The boy grinned. "Later!"

Still weirded out by the turn of events, Tsuna absent-mindedly drifted inside the grocery store. She picked out the needed supply and paid for the items, then headed to her house. On her way there, she took immediate realization: she forgot her book! It must have slipped off of her hands when the baseball boy had knocked her off her feet.

"Oh man!" she cried in a hushed tone, panicked. Tsuna sprinted back to the spot, and when she was there the book was nowhere to be found. "Crap, crap, crap!" Now how was she supposed to find out why Boric's a smirk? This sucks! Plus, how was she supposed to finish her reading assignment? Gah, this was absolutely horrible!

"There you are!" Unconsciously, Tsuna turned to where the voice was coming from, unaware if the shout was directed to her or not.

And actually, it was to her. And the one who called her was the baseball boy! He ran up to her. "I got something from you. I think I accidentally grabbed your book," he said, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, gosh. Thanks!" She took the book from him and smiled back.

"You know, I think there is a bigger chance of us being classmates," he then said. "I was assigned to read the same book!"

"Don't all second-years have to read Journey To The Sun?" Tsuna said, blinking.

"Oh yeah!" He scratched his head and laughed lightly. "I forgot about that. Man, I cannot believe we have to read a book so thick! I didn't even start yet."

"I could give you a brief summary if you want," she offered.

The baseball boy's eyes lit up happily. "Really? Thanks so much!"

Tsuna's smile grew. "Of course." Then she proceeded telling him about the adventures of Jillian. She tried her best to make her summary interesting by using descriptive words. Perhaps this way she might be able to make the boy actually read the book.

And indeed the boy was enchanted. "Wow, I thought it would be really boring, but now it sounds fun."

"I think the book's fun to read, so you should give it a try," she suggested amiably.

"I guess I will." A grin sprouted from his face. "Thanks for that."

She nodded. "No problem. Well, I guess I'll see you around then."

"Yup. Later!"

Today was, well, interesting. She saw the black-cloaked boy again—only finding him to be participating in a showdown and was apparently winning, was called a lady (and wasn't sure if the kid meant that she was old), actually smiled back to the orange-hooded boy, and talked a random cute guy and managed to make him smile! And though she doesn't know his name, she'll see him when school starts.

Tsuna sighed and flopped onto her bed. "Thanks a bunch," she mumbled to the book.

The baseball boy was quite friendly and kind. He was considerate because he was trying to find her to return her book, and that surprised her. Would boys about her age really do deeds such as that? Likely not. He reminded her of Boric, somewhat.

And it was irrelevant, but Tsuna thought the baseball boy and the orange-hooded boy were alike. Of course, the baseball boy was much cuter, but she recognized a few similarities between them. Their hair was cropped short—short enough to not get hair in the way of any sport, they were tall, and obviously athletes. Seeing how the baseball boy played baseball—and nearly took the air out of her—and the orange-hooded boy always jogging—with a possibility of him being into karate due to his bandaged fists, they were strong.

And while comparing the two boys, Tsuna wondered if the orange-hooded boy would be like the jovial boy by personality. Surely he must be! When he smiles, waves, and looks directed at her, surely that would indicate his outgoing and cheery character. At first Tsuna was dismayed that she couldn't identify the jogger's personality, and perhaps his appearance. She thought he could be something like Gaston, but turns out he was not. But now she obtained her curiosity once again, wondering if the orange-hooded boy would be like the baseball boy. Was he laidback and friendly? Who knows.