Disclaimer: Still don't own KHR

Usual warnings. But now with extra Teenage Anger~

It took me far too long to get his address.

The red-head leapt down the stairs, taking two at a time, heavy footfalls echoing in the silent household. With nothing more than a grunt, he landed in the hallway, a note grasped tightly in his hand – a hastily scrawled out message scribbled on its ivory surface, saying nothing more than 'out with Ryohei'.

Armed with nothing but his satchel and a duo of bentos – bentos that he had quickly thrown together for Ryohei and himself, with one being substantially larger than the other (Alex had learnt that that he had the appetite of a pig, and all the manners of one, very early on) – he slipped in to a pale blue runner's jacket, and exited the building.

The early spring air was refreshing, and surprisingly not cold – making it the perfect condition for a run. Jogging towards the park that Ryohei told him to go to; he looked around for the street name.

Sakura Street… nope, that isn't it… he better not have given me the wrong directions like last time – I didn't even know that Namimori even had a Red Light District.

That was one event that he never wanted to experience again. Nor did he want to think about how Ryohei knew how to get to the Red Light District, of all places. He had to text Tsuna of all people to get him out, as the boxer had turned his phone off.

Careful, Alex read out the street names, taking breaks from his jog to carefully read them out. Avoiding the first path like the plague, the Brit avoided the following two, arriving at the park in a light pant.

It was almost tranquil.

Without a soul in sight, as no-one was out at this time; there was a certain charm to the old playground. The rusty slides, the creaking swing set, even the sanguine monkey bars all added to the rather avant-garde appeal, and Alex could see this place as being a place that he could return to, when it all became too much.

It didn't take a genius to spot the necessary road; Taiyo Street glaring at him like the sun it was named after, the slightly tired teen quickly dashed to the Sasagawa residence - tossing the golden plaque emblazoned with the kanji for 'Sasagawa' a tired glare.

Taking a moment to regain his composure from the mad sprint, all that he could think about was how out of shape he was.

I don't look that much of a mess…do I?

He made an effort to pointedly ignore the nagging voice in his head that said that, yes he looked like a wreck, and that yes, he really should work out more.

After getting his breathing under control, Alex checked the time, struggling momentarily with the sleeve of his jacket. His watch glinted in the morning dusk, and seeing that he had plenty of time to spare, absentmindedly started to brush his hair. With a few light knocks on the door, he waited patiently for someone to answer.

No-one did.

So he tried again.

Still, no-one answered.

Annoyed, he leaned against the door, feeling mutinous.

I really should have expected this; Ryohei has the mind of a sieve. He's probably still in bed, snoring louder than his alarm, cackling evilly about his dastardly plan to make me wait outside after I made the trek over here, like the completely amazing person that I am.

Halfway through his mental rant, he did not notice the heavy footsteps on the other side of the door, left unaware of the fact that his current place of rest had disappeared from behind his back.

But he did notice the fact that he was currently falling at a deceptively high speed, entering a rather loving relationship with the laminated floor of the Sasagawa residence.

Joy. Just what I needed. Our first meeting outside of school to be like this. Him being in nothing but his underwear and me on the floor…just like all my first dates.

Just because he was bemoaning his existence didn't mean that he didn't notice Ryohei's eerily blank face, or that he wasn't going to help him up, forcing him to clamber to his feet pathetically. Steadying himself, he ran the brush that was still in his hand through his hair, trying to get it back into some semblance of order whilst Ryohei worked through whatever dilemma had took root in his mind.

Why is he staring at me like that?

"What? Is there something on my face?" Alex questioned, perturbed by Ryohei's out-of-character actions.

There's totally something on my face, isn't there?

"Why are you at my house, Alex?"

Alex's face soon met the floor, again. Hard.

Sadly enough, Alex just knew that this would be an all too familiar situation with Ryohei around.

The things I put up with.

With a pained grin on his face, he began the lengthy explanation on just why he was there.

"Me you runny runny."

Nailed it.

After getting his composure back together, and forcing Ryohei to get dressed into something decent whilst getting all his stuff ready, they finally got on with what they arranged to do – date.

...Well, train, but its close enough to it that it could be. They are almost the same thing: they're alone, spending time together outside, without any outside interference…

"You alright there?" Alex stumbled, knocked out of his reverie by Ryohei slapping into his back.

"I'm fine," Alex coughed out, the force behind the blow surprising him. They've been at it for a while now, and it was starting to confuse the red-head.

"Ryohei… How long does this usually take? Because we have been jogging for quite a while now and we need to go to school today…" He trailed off, pre-occupied with observing the plethora of emotions dash across the boxer's face, before settling on one certain emotion – shock.

The pugilist paled significantly, before doing a 180 and sprinting back the way we came - leaving Alex staring at his back in awe, before he started to follow behind doggedly.

"RY-RYOHEI! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING! WE'LL BE LATE!" Alex cried out at the steadily disappearing figure, speeding up so as to not lose sight of him. He didn't want to guess what would happen if you left him unattended, and he didn't want to risk something incredibly stupid happening – like Ryohei disappearing off the face of the Earth.

"GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL! EXTREME SPEED ENGAGED!" He roared, promptly disappearing around a corner, making what suspiciously sounded like motorcycle noises.

Did he just Brumm-Brumm round that corner?

Blinking the dust out of his eyes, Alex was left wondering why he even associated with the hyper male

How the... HOW THE… WHAT? HOW? HNGHHH. Where did he go? What did he even do? Why is he so fast? I need to catch up to him pronto, otherwise I'll be lost in the middle of Namimori. Not how I want to spend my morning at all.

He picked up the pace, not willing to let him stay out of sight. Sprinting around the corner, he followed the path of destruction left in the wake of Ryohei's rather special brand of recklessness known only as extreme-ness, allowing him to catch up to him.

Eye-sight melted, dissolving into tunnel-vision. All he could see was what was in front of him, leaving it up to his body to keep working, focusing intently on the fact that he has to stick with Ryohei. As a result of this temporary obliviousness, it left him open to acts of pure recklessness and simple stupidity.

In other words he just barely dodged getting hit by a car, the owner spouting expletives that would make him the envy of any sailor.

And shown once again when he ran into Ryohei's stationary back, landing roughly on his backside with a wince.

"Why have you stop-" He started, before roughly being cut off by a large hand over his mouth. All Ryohei did in response was shush him when he started to grumble, and point towards an alleyway.

Inside the alleyway, were a few third-years bullying a few first years, presumably for no reason if the victim's whimpers were anything to go by. The men seemed to be a part of Namimori Middle's Disciplinary Committee; if their armbands were the real things, only cementing the idea of this Disciplinary Committee being the enforcers of a tyrant.

It was pretty obvious, if you knew Ryohei, just what he wanted to do: rush in and save the day. Even Alex knew, and he had only known him for a week. Alex himself would prefer to stay out of it, and let the proper authorities know so that they could sort it out, but if the so-called 'Disciplinary Committee', a service meant to stop bad behaviour like this, is abusing their power by assaulting kids…

This was really not how I wanted to spend my morning.

Surrendering to the fact that they do have to save him – as no one else will, he could only sigh at the inevitability of the situation. Alex lifted his eyes to meet Ryohei's – which were staring at him in silence, waiting for him to come to the same conclusion as he did. Nodding minutely, he waited until Ryohei removed his hand before continuing the conversation.

"We…have to do something about this, don't we?" Alex muttered, wary of making too much noise.

The question was how to go about doing it: to use a pre-emptive strike or a direct confrontation. Pondering this, he analysed the odds of the situation.

Hypothetical situation 'A', they go in guns blazing, taking down as many as possible - giving the kid enough time to get to school. This would most likely cause the most harm to Team Ryohei, but would most likely endear them to him. Then he would go talk about it with the teachers and harm the 'disciplinarians', helping everyone a lot more.

Considering the fact that there are ten men, a surprisingly large amount considering who it is they are targeting, if they are trained they'll have problems. But as it seems that they are not, Alex doubted that they'll be too difficult to dispatch be too much of a problem.

Now for hypothetical situation 'B', in which they take the less-than-honest approach of surprise attacking them whilst they are tormenting the kid. Whilst there will most likely be less injuries, the kid will probably hate them forever, as they just watched as they bullied him violently. The more he thought about it, the less and less right that option seems. They would after all be using the kid to take down the bullies. Mentally crossing off this option, he decided to screw it and let the two of them go all out.

…I think situation A will have to work.

Preparing to tell Ryohei the plan, he was too little too late as Ryohei was already attacking the first thug viciously, knocking him out with a powerful uppercut. Turning to the next thug, he threw a couple of jabs before unleashing a punishing haymaker, sending the grunt crashing head first into the wall. Whilst he was doing this, the other thugs were making their way over there to attack him whilst his back was turned.

Not about to let this happen, he looked around for anything to fight with.

Picking up a battered pipe and a trash-can lid to use as a make shift shield, Alex leapt forward to cover his friend. Staring down the closest thug, he didn't have any time to think before he was on him, raining down punches. Manoeuvring around the fist, he bashed the side of the metal lid on the man's face, dazing him and sending him to his knees. Using his bent over body as a spring-board, he leapt into the air and brought the battered pipe down on one of the remaining members head, knocking him clean out.

Oh wow, I'm a bad-ass.

Unfortunately, as he was unused to fighting, he was unable to regain his balance in time, leaving him open to a powerful kick to the stomach from a nearby foe. The air knocked clean out of him, he dropped the pipe in favour of cradling his wounded stomach. If he was alone, this would have spelt the end of him.

But, he wasn't alone, and Ryohei was more than enough to finish the last two guys with a few well-placed punches.

Maybe I'm not so much a bad-ass…

Taking the offered hand, he got up, using Ryohei as support.

Quickly balancing himself, he re-equipped the dropped pipe, wielding it like a short sword. Only two remained from the onslaught, the two unknowns picked off by Ryohei whilst Alex was busy being attacked, showing their true colours as they ran for the hills.

Taking a deep breath inwards in an attempt to alleviate the pain in his gut, he turned his gaze to the awestruck kid. Walking towards him, Ryohei leant down to check if there was anything else wrong with him, other than the light cuts on his arms.

"Hey kid, are you extremely okay?" Ryohei questioned, fretting over the kid's wellbeing, like a muscular mother hen. The kid turned glittering eyes towards him, and suddenly hugged him, crying happy tears into his shoulder.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You were all like 'EXTREME' and she was all like 'BASH' and then you saved her from the bad guys and then you went to check up on her like the hero and the heroine and then I was all kawaiiiiiiiiiiii. Anyway, I need to get to school. Bye extreme dude, bye pretty lady, I'll be sure to tell all my friends about this?" The kid cried out, talking animatedly and mimicking what happened in the fight with humorous body language before dashing off, heading towards his school.

Smiling fondly as the kid faded from sight, he turned to follow Ryohei before freezing.

Wait…

"Ryohei… I have a question."

Ryohei grunted, as if to say 'shoot'.

"Did… Did I just get called a 'pretty lady' by a kid?" Alex asked, almost dreading the answer. Ryohei paused, before a manic grin cost his face, erupting into hysterics.

"HE DID! I'm the EXTREME DUDE, so you must be the PRETTY LADY," the colour drained from his face as Ryohei sunk into even deeper hysterics.

Alex face-planted, landing in an undignified heap on some rubbish.

"I don't want to get up… SO…. EMBARRASSED!" the pipe-toting teen moaned, before being picked up by Ryohei and slung over his shoulder like a pack of potatoes.

"Come, pretty lady, LET THIS EXTREME BOXER CARRY YOU TO SAFETY" Ryohei gallantly roared, before running the rest of the way to his house, Alex pouting the whole way.

Does he still think I'm a girl?

Alex prayed that he hadn't forgotten, being hit on by a creep with a pompadour haircut wasn't something he spent his time actively searching out, and he made enough of a scene for everyone in the nearby vicinity of forever know about his gender.

"Alex-san?"

Sat precariously on the edge of the roof, Alex tilted his head to the side, eying the newcomer in curiosity. Tsuna looked hesitant, almost afraid about being here, his voice wavering on that odd precipice between absolutely petrified and anxious. It was almost as if he was waiting for something completely and utterly horrific to happen any minute now.

"Yea, what is it?" Alex huffed out, speaking in between mouthfuls of rice.

Yea, I must look like the very epitome of sophistication.

"Why did you say to meet up here, of all places?" Tsuna's voice still held that element of fear, "I mean, don't you know that Hibari-san comes here often?"

"Hibari?" Alex tasted the name, as if he had heard that name before.

"…The person that me and Mama told you about?" his voice finally lost that edge, it quickly replaced by exasperation.

Alex just grunted, not really seeing why everyone was afraid of the tyrant. With a careful flick, he moved a few errant strands of copper from his eyesight, returning his thought to the students mingling below.

I can see why the Skylark likes it here so much…

And he really did. The Brit acknowledged the fact that, like his namesakes, he must like being so high above the ground, and with a rueful smirk he wondered if maybe that was why Hibari was so violent, if the rumours were to be believed.

"What a rather sad individual." Alex remarked, ignoring the shocked look on the younger boy's face. "Anyway, how's your day been?"

Tsuna was still staring at him.

"What, have I got something on my face?" A look in his phone's camera later told him that no, nothing was on his face and it was just Tsuna being strange.

"There is something a bit off with you."

…what?

"What is that supposed to mean?" If Alex's voice rose a few octaves neither of them mentioned it.

"…It's probably just a cultural thing."

Alex wondered if he was supposed to just shrug it off, ignore it, to tell his curiosity to just stuff it. It didn't take a genius to see that Tsuna did not want to talk about it.

"So, yea, how has your day been? Get anywhere with that girlfriend of yours?" Thoroughly relishing in the shriek in reply, Alex supposed that he could ignore it, pretend that he hadn't heard what Tsuna said.

"Kyoko is not my girlfriend!"

"How did you know that I was talking about Kyoko-san? And really, Kyoko? No honorifics? You must really be close," the Brit picked up his chopsticks – when did he put them down – returning to the bento he made, "When should I expect the wedding?"

"Who said you were invited?" Was Tsuna's arch response, bewildering the auburn male.

"I did."

"Well you're not. It's family only."

"I'll wedding crash. Don't think that I won't. It'll be like in all them animes – I'll just crash through the stain glass windows, or burst through a wall, hell I'd probably dress up as the priest…and wait Ryohei's invited but I'm not?"

Tsuna just stared at him. Hard. "Who's Ryohei?"

Ales couldn't help but wonder how on Earth he knew more about Tsuna's crush than even Tsuna himself.

"…Are you sure you like this girl? I mean, what has you so attracted to her anyway?" Tsuna paused, as if he was unsure on what made him so attracted to her anyway.

The heavy silence spoke enough.

"She's nice?" Tsuna finally decided on, as if it was the answer to all of his problems.

Just what sort of life has he lived to develop a crush on someone because they were nice?

"…Okay."

"You know, Tsuna, its odd," the chopsticks dropped once more, "the number of stares I get it is unnerving. It's like, I'm something that they have never seen before, and there stares dissect my every move," crimson bento tossed aside, "sometimes, I want to punch their face in. They're all so bloody curious, but do you know how many people have come up to me to talk to me over this last week? No-one. Absolutely no-one," his bitter tone spoke volumes.

Back in the U.K, he wasn't used to such crushing loneliness. He was always popular, to a certain extent, and he never felt that he was ever alone. But here, it sometimes felt like that the only person that was there for him was Ryohei, and Tsuna. Everyone else looked at him as if he was alien, foreign, and to be perfectly honest he hated it with a passion.

"How, how do you cope with it? How do you cope with the loneliness? How do you cope with the thought that people just look at you, not seeing you but instead seeing a goddamn stereotype? You know what they call me? Onee-san. I may be a filthy Gaijin but I know the god-forsaken stereotypes of that particular word." Alex was ranting and for once he really didn't care, held in the throes of some deep-seated anger that had been festering for weeks.

"I've been propositioned four times by guys who just want to look cool by having a foreign girlfriend, asked for a bloody menu by a creepy old man and the teachers look at me as if I'm some death trap waiting to happen." Alex was stopped from continuing by a sharp slap to the face, stunning him momentarily.

"You alright now?" Tsuna smiled, seeing the other males nod. "You know it is best not to think about. These things tend to work themselves out eventually," his smile was eerily similar to his mother, and Alex couldn't help but trust in his words.

"...I'm sorry, Tsuna."

"D-Don't worry."

The silence that followed was, surprisingly, not awkward – and they remained that way until the bell resounded, calling them in.

Teenagers, flocked in droves, rushing out of the school gates in a mad dash to get home. Walking up to the gates, Alex and Ryohei made small talk before they had to part ways, going in separate directions.

Now where's Tsuna?

Waiting for Tsuna to arrive, Alex leaned against the wall, closing his eyes to block out the sun's rays.

Thinking back to the events of this morning, he couldn't help but think he needed a weapon. Alex needed a way to get a weapon, and fast, especially if events like before were common place in Namimori – and he needed to rush in and save the day again.

The only problem was who would sell a short sword and a shield in this era? Guns have pretty much made blades obsolete, because of the painfully true fact that you need no serious training to wield one skilfully - all you need to do is pull the trigger.

He could try and find someone selling a gun, but Alex knew for sure that something like a handgun was just asking for him to shoot himself in the foot.

First things first, he needed to ask around, but no one he knew would have any idea where to look. Tsuna has probably never even seen a weapon before outside of the T.V, Nana is too naïve and Ryohei…is just Ryohei. He uses his fists, so why would he need to know where a weapons shop is?

And that's under the assumption that there even was a weapon shop anywhere. Chances are, they don't even exist, and him actively hunting one down would be both pointless and ineffectual.

Hearing a 'thud' in the distance, he opened his eyes, assuming that the person who tripped was the person he was waiting for - Tsunayoshi Sawada. The brunette's distinct hair answered the question; so with a sigh he made his way over to help him up and on his way. Noticing Alex coming, he smiled in relief before stumbling up to him.

"What exactly are you doing here, Alex-san? Aren't you going with elder Sasagawa-san today?" Tsuna asked, confused by the fact that he stayed behind for him.

"I decided to walk home with you today. After all, I felt kind of sad that I pretty much always ditch you for Ryohei." Alex almost cringed at how bad that sounded, but Tsuna seemed to take no heed to it.

"Thank you" Tsuna murmured, simply grateful to not be alone.

Alex was struck then by just how similar the two of them were. It struck a chord in him, a keening wail, and for the life of him he just couldn't comprehend it. It was depressing just how happy he made Tsuna just by joining him, and he honestly pitied him.

"No problem. I do live with you after all" The conversation died out soon after that statement, ushering in a new, surprisingly comfortable silence as they made their way home.

The walk home was neither long nor tiring, the duo making their way there in a practiced pace. Quickly coming up to the front gate, Alex stopped, pausing momentarily as he thought something over.

"…tutor…" Alex mumbled; face twisting momentarily as he seemed to be grasping at something inside his head. Brightening, he turned to Tsuna, excitement all over his face.

"Tsuna…" He started, staring at Tsuna with a mischievous glint in his eye. Staring back into his eyes reproachfully, Tsuna couldn't help but shiver at the proclamation of doom that followed.

"Do you know what you need?"

"…Yes?" Tsuna was hesitant, warning bells sounding like klaxons in his head, as if the very next statement would bring about the Apocalypse.

"A Tutor."

Chapter 3, Fin~

Line breaks should appear, if they don't then it is the work of evil.

This chapter was beast moded two days ago, and I'm just getting it out today. Also special thanks to The Lazy Bitch and Dark Murcielago for helping me decide on what to keep.

Once more, if there are any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Also, shameless self plug here, but I have another story up called 'Colore della Nebbia', which is a reincarnation ficcy if you're into them.

Review Corner:

The Lazy Bitch: I don't really think that many people like the secretary lol, she isn't really supposed to be a likable character. I essentially put the bitchiest individual I could into the role. But don't worry, she isn't going to be sticking around for long, she is there for that one point in the story. And lol, Alex is being a very cool badass, but that wont really last long - it will all go downhill from here~ ANyway, thank you for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D

So now I do replies to reviews too~

And thanks for the good reception - 4 Reviews/8 Favs/11 Follows - and I hope you continue to enjoy the story :D

Regards, HalcyonNight.