AN: Longer. Only took me one day to write. (But I've been playing himitsu-tcg on dreamwidth.)

Song: Iroha's Song by Ginsaku feat. Kagamine Rin

Disclaimer: I honestly own... nothing. The plot's sort of cliche, the characters were manipulated to my liking (but I'm hoping they're not too OOC), I have no musical talent... Wait, I own my OC who actually appears for like two sentences?

Tsuna was there when Yamamoto was about to jump off the building. He was tempted to go forward and offer words of comfort, but Ietsuna managed to get to the ace of the baseball team first. Instead, he hung back and watched as his brother was able to talk Yamamoto out of jumping.

He stayed long enough to see his brother convince Yamamoto to step away and to follow him. Tsuna soon left, waiting for the crowd to disappear before he returned to the rooftop to train with Hibari. (Tsuna was almost certain that Hibari would force him up there, even if the police were investigating.)

Even as he trained, Tsuna couldn't help but be distracted, so when Hibari rushed forward, leaving himself open (perhaps on purpose), and he didn't retaliate, or just dodge, the prefect put a stop to the training, seeming disgruntled about Tsuna's absentmindedness.

"Herbivore."

That one word made Tsuna freeze, and he knew that Hibari was more than just displeased. He didn't need to say anything for Tsuna to get the hint; he waited for Hibari's dismissal before walking away to clear his head.

Tsuna knew the way Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed to gravitate towards his brother was wrong, but he couldn't figure out why. It felt off, like they weren't supposed to be with Ietsuna, but he brushed it off as mild jealousy (which he thought he destroyed when he agreed to be the shadow that supported his brother.)

It didn't matter—Tsuna knew this, but it still bothered him to the point that he had been distracted while fighting Hibari (he could only imagine the bruises he would have tomorrow.)

Just the reminder of fighting Hibari made his side throb—it was unpleasant being hit under the ribs with a metal tonfa. His arms probably would be black and blue by tomorrow, with the way Hibari would dart to the sides and attack from there.

Tsuna didn't find the answer he was looking for, even after hours of pondering. His mother noticed that he wasn't as unobtrusive, and his brother hadn't bothered to see him; Ietsuna was too busy humoring his two friends (followers, his mind supplied) to see that he was acting differently.

Even if his mother noticed, she hadn't said anything (perhaps to give him space), and Reborn was the only one who really said something. "Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said, and Tsuna immediately turned to face the infant. "You should know the answer."

Reborn then hopped off the chair and walked towards Ietsuna's room.

And Tsuna realized that he did know the answer but refused to think of it as anything but delusional wishing. He believed that his brother's new friends should be with him, Dame-Tsuna. He wanted to be their friends, and Tsuna believed that he would be better, that he would treat them with the kindness they deserved, but he pushed these thoughts away.

But it didn't really matter—once he had these thoughts and seriously considered them, it stuck with him. The only time it didn't matter was when Hibari was trying to teach him combat skills through experience.

Tsuna couldn't allow himself to lose concentration—his body ached the morning after his revelation, and that served as his motivation for dodging and countering each strike. Because that was the only moment he could quell his tumultuous thoughts, Tsuna started to anticipate the sessions. (He also knew that it was borderline masochistic considering the injuries he came away with every day.)

Hibari noticed his change in attitude, and took advantage, pressing Tsuna harder and harder, his attacks somehow becoming more relentless, and Tsuna wasn't allowed a chance to catch his breath during training by the end of the week.

"Herbivore, you can do better," Hibari said, not an opinion but an observation.

Tsuna couldn't even respond; he turned his body to avoid the jab towards his stomach, and he retaliated by aiming a punch towards his solar plexus (ignoring the strain it put on his body to be moving a speed that he wasn't built to move at.)

He soon found himself flying back from the impact of Hibari's second tonfa, and he stifled a groan as he realized that he added another bruise to his collection (at least it would be hidden under his uniform this time.) His abdomen already hurt, and Tsuna was certain that it would only get worse.

"Herbivore," Hibari started, and Tsuna nearly groaned as he knew what Hibari was going to talk about. "You aren't trying."

He wanted to retort that he was trying, that Hibari was pushing him too hard, too fast, but Tsuna also knew that it would be fruitless to say anything. Instead, he bowed and apologized, promising to try harder the next time.

Hibari's critical eye was hard to please, but Tsuna persevered to satisfy his mentor if only to gain a small break.

The next training session, Tsuna thought he had considerably improved, and Hibari seemed pleased with his improvements, so he wasn't too shocked with the small break he was given. (In fact, Tsuna had been anticipating the one day he could rest and heal just a bit.)

The morning of his break day, Tsuna met Yamamoto as his house in the morning. Seeing Gokudera there too, he already knew that they were waiting for his brother, Ietsuna; Reborn also knew that, and he went to wake up his brother.

The explosion that followed was a normal occurrence, and Tsuna thought it was horrible that he was used to hearing explosives go off in the morning. (However, that wasn't as bad as walking in his brother's room as Reborn used voltage to wake up Ietsuna.)

Tsuna watched, almost blankly, as Ietsuna ran down the stairs with Reborn shooting at him. If anything, he had to wonder why Reborn was in a bad mood; the hitman didn't usually shoot at his brother like that, and so ecstatically, so Tsuna knew there was something related to the mafia that Reborn was hiding (he eliminated the thought of Reborn hating his brother, as that was evident during their first meeting.)

After Reborn took Ietsuna's breakfast, and he took Tsuna's, the three left the house to go to school. While Tsuna considered skipping school for the day (something told him that the day would go wrong), the idea of Hibari doubling his training menu and Reborn's gun had him running out the door, running past his brothers and his friends and to his class.

He watched as Gokudera and Yamamoto entered the class without his brother, and noticed the dynamics of the relationship changed. It seemed less friendly, as if they had put up the front for his brother, and Tsuna could almost laugh at the irony—his brother, the person who loved violence and deceit, was being deceived by his two closest friends.

But at the same time, he could see that they were completely wrapped around Ietsuna's finger. Ietsuna could tell them to do anything, and they would. And that's what made Tsuna pity the two.

He didn't give them much more attention until lunch time, when they arrived on the rooftop he usually spent his time at.

Tsuna had met another infant—perhaps she was five at most—who attacked him. He knew that being hit by her attack wasn't good, despite its harmless appearance, so he moved from side to side to avoid the attack while slowly moving closer.

Right as he got close, the child seemed to get flustered, and clung to him. That was when Gokudera and Yamamoto arrived, and Reborn popped out of his hiding spot, explaining that the child, an assassin by the name I-Pin, activated her pinzu bomb.

Tsuna panicked, and Hibari decided to arrive at that moment, which didn't really help him. By the time he managed to pry her off his leg, the countdown was down to five, and he threw her at Hibari. Hibari looked unamused, and passed her back.

Still panicking, he threw her towards Gokudera, and noted the countdown was down to three. Gokudera passed it to Yamamoto, marking the countdown to two, and Yamamoto decided to throw I-Pin back at him.

At the last second, he threw her up in the air, and she exploded there.

After she returned to the ground and they cleared up the misunderstanding, Tsuna found that I-Pin was enjoyable, and he liked spending time with her. He liked reading to her, and sometimes with her, and he liked that she was inquisitive and asked him questions over his brother.

Even though I-Pin was hard to understand with her very limited Japanese, and they often hit communication barriers, Tsuna thought that she was extremely bright, and treated her as he would treat any other child her age.

Notes:

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