Disclaimer: I only own Alex so far.

This chapter feels off to me. Like super off. And do you all check my profile to keep up to date with how much of a chapter I've completed, because if you are curious about how far along I am with a chapter just check up there :D,

IMPORTANT: This story follows the Manga mostly, but is influenced also by the Anime. So Yamamoto won't just pop up out of nowhere like a ninja as he did in the Anime. I just thought that this would be important to state here and now.

Also, still hunting for a Beta to check my spelling, punctuation and grammar. I feel like they'll be able to help me with sentence structure immensely. And writing this makes me realise how much I miss first person, as strange as that is.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and remember to PM/put down in a review anything that confuses you.

This could have gone better.

"Ryohei!" Alex all but screamed, diving out of the way of an incoming fist with a surprising deftness, sweat dripping of his brow.

The boxer, too far in his element to respond, could only respond by pressing the attack, jabbing relentlessly at the red-head, who almost looked like he was dancing around the blows. With no verbal response forth-coming, all Alex could do was evade the fists and pray to whatever deity that felt like being charitable at this moment in time to give him something to work with.

If he was just a bit stronger, a bit faster, then he could take advantage of the openings left when Ryohei was recovering. But unfortunately, he was neither – something he would have to remedy quickly, as something tells him that if he continued to associate with Ryohei he'd need to get strong, fast.

Being friends with Ryohei meant that, no matter what, you had to be strong enough to protect yourself.

And that could be from anything really: bullies, heart-ache, and even the world – you had to be prepared to face everything head on. It may seem taxing, but it was certainly worth it; Alex has never had so much fun before in his life, whilst in Namimori, more so than he had ever had back in the U.K.

I wonder what they are doing now, huh? Hopefully having fun.

But now was hardly the time for thoughts like that, so with a sigh he pulled his focus back to the battle at hand. Dancing around a devastating upper-cut, he focused on the sweating boxer in front of him.

The passionate boy was panting slightly, clad only in his boxing gear, but was otherwise showing no other signs of relenting, whilst he himself was feeling the exertion of the fight.

I need to do something soon, before Ryohei breaks me in two with his fists alone.

Alex could see no other option. If Ryohei wasn't going to give him an opening, then Alex would have to make one himself, before he succumbed to fatigue. With a side-step, he evaded a potentially devastating straight (if it had hit, he would have been down), and gripped onto it tightly. Grunting from the exertion, he used the limb as leverage to close the distance between the two of them.

They were so close, that their faces were almost touching. If it was any other situation, Alex would be a blushing mess, but he viciously stomped down the rising flush in favour of getting a hit in on the powerful warrior.

I'm sorry, Ryohei.

Delivering an uppercut to the boy, he could only blink in shock as the fighter barely even flinched in response to the blow. Alex stumbled backwards, the recoil dislodging him, as his hand ached.

Shouldn't have done that…

He knew that he didn't have any upper-body strength, so whilst in theory the blow would have been enough to take someone down, he didn't have the strength to back up the blow.

In the end leaving him in a worse situation than before.

Screw Ryohei, I'm sorry me.

With that, the fight couldn't continue, as his dominant hand was put out of commission - leaving Alex without any method of attacking the boxer.

Well that wasn't completely true. If it was an all-out fight, he would be able to use his legs. But Ryohei was adamant about it being 'fists-only', like in the Boxing tournaments. Even though boxing allowed the use of legs, Alex couldn't convince the boxer otherwise, and you can't win with Ryohei when it came to boxing. Alex's lose was inevitable, much as it pained him to admit, and with a sigh made of both pain and annoyance he fell to his knees, cradling his injured hand.

"Are you alright?" A dull glance was tossed the boxer's way, and Alex didn't even need to say anything to get the message across.

With a furrowed brow, the energetic boxer rushed towards the first aid kit that was left on the side, which was left there just in case of emergencies, like this one. Ryohei settled in front of the kneeling Alex, the boxer-turned-medic wrapped bandages around the Brit's hand, before making a sling that he threaded the smaller classmate's through.

"I'm extremely sorry about this," laughing loudly, Ryohei had quickly turned back to his oblivious self again, "I'm just too extreme."

"Yea, you're certainly something…" Alex just stared at the laughing teen, biting his lip, less than impressed with his friend's attitude.

"I am, aren't I?" It was like Ryohei had completely ignored the insult, taking it the other way entirely.

"You really know how to make a guy feel good, huh?" Alex fell on his back, staring up at the ceiling in pensive consternation.

Nothing is good enough, is it?

Alex smiled a small, miniscule smile, counting the cracks in the ceiling to avoid the thoughts in his head.

One, will he ever be strong enough.

Two, why does he need to be strong in the first place?

Three, is there any point in even trying to get stronger. It isn't like it mattered; he couldn't even do any damage to Ryohei, even when he put his all into an attack.

Alex just felt like it was pointless, and as un-manly as it was, he could feel tears building up in his eyes.

"Alex, you 'lright?"

The dam didn't just break, it shattered.

Unable to hold it in any more, the wounded boy launched himself at Ryohei, who was quickly becoming flustered around the crying boy.

Awkwardly patting his back, Ryohei tried to shush him, only to fail as the boy's whimpers evolved, transforming into sobs.

Bewildered at the sudden turn of events, all Ryohei could do was act as some twisted anchor as Alex lost himself to his own fears and tears, all whilst wishing his little sister, Kyoko, was here to help him out. He honestly didn't know what to do, as it was one thing to calm down crying maidens, but it was one thing entirely to calm down a crying, hormonal boy.

Rocking the boy like a baby, Ryohei decided to treat this like any other sort of challenge – face it head on, until it fixes itself in the end.

Whilst being rocked to and fro in the boxer's arms, insecurities smashed at his self-esteem, chipping off shard after shard, sliver after meaningful sliver. If possible, he tried to hug Ryohei even tighter then he was already. Trying to smother down the blazing inferno, Ryohei started to shush him like a child.

They lay like that for who knows how long, him crying whilst Ryohei tried his best to comfort him – even if he did not know why exactly he was crying in the first place. Eventually, he calmed down enough to think rationally, and it was with no small amount of mortification that he found himself in this situation.

He, Alex Ivy, was being cradled like a child by a half-naked Ryohei.

This never happened.

"I'm….okay. Well I think I am anyway. I'm sorry…that, y'know, I burst into tears. I honestly don't know what came over me." Alex said, not even bothering to let go of him.

Ryohei just let him, even if he personally believed that crying solves nothing. After all, they had a while to go until school starts for real, so they could use the time to rest. Alex rested in silence, allowing the exuberant boxer to take control of the conversation now that he knew he was okay.

Whilst he was doing so, he came to a sudden realization.

He himself didn't actually know why he wanted to fight.

Alex didn't really have anything to fight for, not in the way Ryohei did.

Ryohei had a dream that he needed to fight for, and whilst he wanted to stay by his side, he didn't need to be able to be strong. Did he? His resolve to fight crumbled, as he realised that he really had no place in a fight. He was just too weak, too frail, to make any sort of difference in the grand scheme of things.

Hiding his confusion with a grin, he released Ryohei from his death grip, stumbling to his feet unsteadily.

"Come on, we should get going now. Who knows how long it will take to get ready for lessons, as you know we absolutely stink," Alex paused, as if something had just occurred to him, "Where exactly are the showers in this place anyway? Please say you have some, as I'm so not sticking around when this place starts stinking like a frat-house."

Nobody want's that.

Ryohei stood up, and gestured to the side of the room carelessly. There, hidden in plain sight, was presumably what Alex was asking for. For some bizarre reason, Alex had never actually seen the room before, always taking showers back at the house, or if he really wanted to treat himself he would have a long bath to soothe the aches and pains in his joints.

"Hurry up," impatient, Ryohei absolutely crushed Alex's hands in his bear paws, dragging him off towards the door, "let's shower already."

What.

"What." Alex twitched, mind short circuiting.

has stopped working. Troubleshoot?

"Isn't that what guys do, shower together?" Ryohei acted as if this was common knowledge, and tossed the redhead that was currently having a meltdown a strange look.

"I…don't believe so, do they?" He was panicking mentally, trying to recall if bathing together was a societal norm in Japan.

He was hoping that no, it wasn't, and that Ryohei was just being his bizarre self again.

His hopes and dreams were crushed mercilessly by a nod of all things.

"If I must…" the Brit trailed off, digging his feet into the hard ground. Not that it helped too much, all things considered, and he very quickly found himself dragged, kicking and screaming, through the door.

"No Ryohei, I refuse…" Alex was doing his best owl impression, slowly blinking as he took in the room. The room that, despite what he feared, was made up of separate cubicles – and not with everyone else.

"Oh." Alex muttered under his breath, relaxing slightly.

"You get changed first, I promise I won't look," Ryohei nodded, cheesy grin on his face, "after all, it's not extreme to look."

"You look Ryohei, and I'll tear your soul from your body and feed it to that creep of a disciplinary leader. He certainly bloody needs one."

Suffice to say Ryohei didn't look, and with a surprisingly comfortable air that was in no way at all awkward – no, really, honest – they got themselves ready.

You know, I still can't shake the feeling that Namimori has essentially become Britain 2.0.

Verdigris stared out of the window, smirking at the irony of it all. The day was bleak and dreary, heavy storm clouds building and breaking and building and breaking in the sky. It didn't take a genius to know that soon it would rain, and that this particular storm would be heavy. It left him uneasy, as if something unnatural was occurring.

Japan wasn't exactly known for its rain storms, and if Alex didn't know better he would have said that he brought the clouds with him.

"Alex-san? I don't suppose you could explain what this is, could you?" Mrs Heartoak's accented voice dripped with sarcasm, something that he couldn't help but admire in her.

Mrs Heartoak herself was an American-born woman, who had faced many challenges in her life and came out stronger because of them. Racism, prejudice, sexism – she had withstood it all, and came out a better person because of it.

She was a woman you could respect, formidable yet kind in a 'painful love' sort of way, and was realistic in the way that not many people were.

All these qualities were what made her so respected in Alex's eyes and as a result his favourite teacher. It also helped that she was the teacher of his favourite subject, even if it was the easiest for him by far.

…I feel like I've read one too many introspective fanfictions.

"If you have time to look out of the window, then you can tell the rest of the class just what 'Pathetic Fallacy' is," She asked, her voice hard and unforgiving, asking the question as more of a trap than anything else, "come up here and teach it to us."

Well, shit.

Well, if she wanted to play like that then fair enough. He'd just have to knock her expectations out of the park.

So far in his stay here, they've had very little contact with the other. When he turned up, this class was going over notes for an assessment which, due to him just arriving, he himself did not have to take part in. She was just too busy with her original students that the newcomer was shafted in favour of them.

Determined, Alex took a moment to collect his thoughts. To think back about what he knew about the subject, and to think on the spot what to say. One deep breath later and he was prepared to go, the class having fallen into silence.

With all eyes on him he began his lecture, voice measured and reserved yet so very loud.

"Pathetic Fallacy, is a literary technique utilised by authors young and old, and involves the use of medium as a metaphor for emotions. Mainly found in poetic writing, prime examples of pathetic fallacy involve using the weather, such as the rain to foreshadow sadness, or the sun to highlight something or someone extremely important," taking a deep breath, Alex ignored the eyes on him and continued.

"So if we look outside, we see that it is very cloudy. That in and of itself, if used in a piece of literature, could foreshadow something terrible happening in the near future, or for danger to be on the horizon." Alex would have continued, finally in his element, but was stopped.

"You can sit back down now, Ivy-chan, and can I just say that what you just did was simply remarkable," she praised, an assessing glint in her eyes.

Completely nailed it.

Blushing profusely at the praise, he nodded his head in thanks, not trusting himself to actually speak in case he stuttered out a mess. Normally, he wasn't that vocal, preferring instead to just stay quiet in the back of the class, but Ryohei must be getting to him.

What is he doing anyway?

Alex turned to his right, where Ryohei usually slept in this class.

He seemed to have been asleep throughout the entire thing, using Alex's red bag as a pillow. Shaking his head, he didn't know whether or not to be shocked at the fact that he managed to not be caught by Mrs Heartoak for sleeping in her class or more annoyed by the fact that he slept through his entire lecture.

"Gerrup Ryohei," Alex muttered, trying to wake the sleeping boxer up. The lesson was nearly ending, and they needed to be ready for maths.

Well, he says ready. Alex really meant Ryohei needed to be up to give the teacher some made up excuse to explain his absence.

"Ryohei, you need to get up now and cover for me, I'm going to go hide in the Boxing Club's room." He pleaded to the sleepy boxer.

The boxer was confused, before realising where he was and why he was oh so rudely awakened.

Turning apologetic eyes towards Alex's begging orbs, Ryohei's mind flailed for an answer, before settling on a barely-audible apology. Confused, he stared at the dejected boy, before his mind put the pieces together.

"Sorry Alex, but…we need a partner in sport today." Ryohei half-whispered, half-shouted, looking at the stunned westerner in hope.

"Could you be my EXTREME partner? I would rather have you be my partner than anyone else?" Ryohei asked, hope shining in his eyes.

Alex sat there, pondering on how to answer that. He could say yes, and make Ryohei happy, or say no, and make him dejected.

So, even if he didn't want to, he said yes, not looking forward to the lesson.

Physical education was certainly not his forte, but if Ryohei asked, he might as well go with it. It couldn't be too bad, could it?

With that done, the bell rung, ushering the students to make their way towards the main door. The typical stampede of students burst out the doors, leaving behind only a few stragglers - Ryohei and Alex included.

Picking up their stuff, they made their way towards the exit, only to be stopped by Mrs Heartoak, who waited near the door for the duo.

Or more specifically, Alex.

"Pardon me, but if I could take a moment of your time, I have a small favour to ask." She asked, hands reaching out to grab a slip of paper from her desk.

"I don't suppose you know what this is, do you?" Showing the slip of paper to them, she just sighed, muttered something about it being 'typical', and began to explain just what was on the sheet.

Picking it up, she asked if they knew what was on it. Seeing them both shake their heads in negative, she sighed, before beginning to explain what was exactly on the unknown sheet. However, before she could really begin explaining what was on it, she was cut off by Alex.

"This letter, which you should have been told about, was gifted by me from the Headmaster. These letters are given to people who I deem proficient enough in the subject I teach to go on and to help out the younger years, helping them out and tutoring them in the aspects that they themselves do not understand," she started, watching as Alex stared at her in rapt fascination whilst Ryohei was staring at Alex, who made a fascinating figure. Alex's eyes were making diamonds jealous, sparkling at the prospect of being given such an offer.

"You already know where this is going, don't you," in response, Alex nodded, silent and waiting for her to continue, "I want you, Alex Ivy, to become a tutor for the younger years."

She handed over the unblemished letter to the ecstatic boy, who filled in the gaps with glee. The emerald eyed teen finished it off in record time, passing it back.

Mrs Heartoak scanned the letter, before raising an eyebrow at one of the last question's answers. After spotting where she was looking, Alex felt an encroaching sense of disbelief, which turned into mortification.

Please, don't say she-

"I…didn't realise you were male. I must apologise for that" she apologised, shocked at the revelation.

She did, she so did.

Ryohei guffawed, a response all-too-common when Alex had his gender mistook, and the normally stern teacher soon joined him.

"That… will never get old. I swear…it's too…EXTREME!" Ryohei spat out, managing to get it out before continuing to laugh himself into oblivion.

"Why on Earth do I put up with this?"Alex spat out, before leaving the pair of them behind.

They so totally deserved each-other.

He got half-way to the door before realising that he needed the note to not get in trouble.

You win this time, Ryohei Sasagawa. But prepare for the next round. I won't lose next time, not when my pride is on the line!

"We seriously need to hurry," Alex gasped, forcing the air out of his lungs.

The deadly duo dashed down the hallways, through countless doors and even the courtyard to get to the sports hall.

Panting heavily, Alex stared enviously at Ryohei, due to the fact that he wasn't anywhere near as shattered from the mad dash as Alex was. All he did was laugh and shout something about being 'EXTREME!', and then going on about exercise, drugs and world peace.

…He could have been, for all Alex knew.

Choosing to ignore the athlete in order to save his sanity, he recovered enough to enter the building, being swiftly followed by his current anchor.

What was waiting for them was not anything Alex could have predicted.

At least fifty students were up and about, mulling around the centre of the room. The teacher was near the front, taking role call now, shouting out the name of students left right and centre. Bustling through the crowd, Alex used Ryohei as a weapon, cutting the swathe of students in half - also using him as an effective human shield, protecting him from any stray limbs up ahead.

Silently congratulating himself for his ingenious plan, he stuck closer to Ryohei than usual, up until they reached the teachers. Heading towards their P.E teachers, Alex fumbled around in his bag, before pulling out the note that would tell them why they were late.

With that in their possession, they would be safe.

Well, Ryohei would be at least, if the fact that the P.E teacher held a glare capable of melting diamond aimed directly at Alex, as if he was trying to burn a hole through his skull.

With a dismissive shake of his head, he jotted their names down on the register before shredding the poor, defensive note between his hands.

Alex was just glad that it was not him that was being turned into mush by the teacher's grizzled and calloused hand.

He was afraid to ask the volatile teacher just what was going on in the room, so he left it unsaid. Scanning the crowd for familiar faces, he spotted Kyoko nearby. Informing Ryohei, they made their way over to her, eager to see what was going on.

"Kyoko, Kyoko, your extreme onii-san is here to talk to you!" The excitable boy all but whispered to the smiling girl, whose smile only grew wider when she saw that they were together.

Whilst the two talked to each other and caught up, Alex was on his knees, rummaging through his bags. Pulling out a very familiar scarlet blanket, the very same blanket he took from the school's storage cupboards he laid it out on the ground, before sitting down on it in the front row.

He was soon followed by the brother and sister combo, who was still having their conversation. Yawning, he closed his eyes to have a nap.

He probably didn't want to see this anyway.

Sadly, before he could succumb to Morpheus' embrace, he was jolted awake by an irritating flick combo from his two passengers. Glaring them down for daring to interrupt his sleep, he closed his eyes, letting them off the hook.

But once again, before he could sleep he was interrupted by the free-loaders.

"Oi, if you're not going to let me sleep, then get off my blanket. I swear the nerve of some people…" Alex growled out, voice coarse from interrupted slumber.

They just shared the same mischievous glint in their eyes, the only difference being that Kyoko's held a poisonous innocence to it that all but pointed out that she was enjoying it far more than she should be.

The glare faltered long before the family team did, much to their delight and Alex's sorrow.

Sighing, he gave up; it was obvious they were not going to let him sleep.

"Remind me why I'm friends with you two again?" Alex questioned, shaking his head in exasperation.

"It's because you love us." Kyoko sang out, victorious grin juxtaposing her innocent aura, Ryohei's face soon mimicking his younger sister, making him look somewhat…handsome?

Alex set fire to the thought before it continued on – he did not need to be thinking that way about the silver-haired boxer. It was almost as if he could hear his thoughts, as that grin only got wider.

"It's because we are extremely best friends!" Ryohei stage-whispered, completely unaware that everyone could hear them if they wanted to eavesdrop, whilst slinging an arm around his shoulder.

Huffing, Alex was forced to accept it - it wasn't as if he was being given a choice in the matter, letting Kyoko just watch in building glee at the bro-mance. Without skipping a beat, Ryohei continued on with his train of thought, not even noticing the oncoming train-wreck.

"Alex-kun, Tsu-kun will be playing in the volleyball tournament, are you going to support him?" Kyoko asked, effectively crashing through Ryohei's barrage of words, with an almost vindictive happiness. Alex's eyebrow perked at that – his honorary little brother was in a volley ball match?

Ryohei may have lied completely to get me here, but this I have to see.

"Kyoko, obviously I will be supporting Tsuna. I didn't know he played the game though," Alex started, confused, as surely Tsuna would have told him if he was interested in the sport, "Ryohei, at least you'll get to see your man-crush again."

"Tsuna is Extreme." Was Ryohei's sage advice.

"Indeed he is," said Alex dryly, before his attention was caught by something lying on the ground near Kyoko's feet. "What's that?"

"Oh this? This is just something we all made in our art class, to show our support," Kyoko smiled, but it wasn't entirely happy, "normally, I have someone to help me, but she is on holiday abroad with her family."

"Haruka-san?" Ryohei seemed to know her, which shouldn't be surprising.

"No, onii-san, Hana-chan." Kyoko corrected automatically, as if she has done it many times before.

Before they could start a one-sided argument, the hall quieted down, the two teams that everyone was waiting for entering the pitch.

Jumping like cheerleaders on crack, Kyoko and Alex waved their orange banner whilst Ryohei shouted random encouragements nearby.

Go Tsuna! Team 1-A for life let's get it trending.

Unfortunately, Team 1-A was losing, and badly. Tsuna was not in Dying Will mode, so he was practically useless, and despite having a 'so-called' (according to Kyoko) sports prodigy on their team, they couldn't pick up Tsuna's slack.

Despite this however, Team Sasagawa refused to become subdued like the rest of Class 1-A's, and if anything they became even more fervent in their cheering, even if all they got was strange looks in response. The redhead watched as his own team cornered Tsuna, telling him to 'stop not taking it seriously', during the break. Whilst the team was betting back into position, he called out to Tsuna.

Ignoring the teen's curious gaze, he hastily edited the banner, so that now it said 'Go Tsuna' on it, with a cute little emoticon on the side.

It seemed to be just what he needed, and Tsuna walked back into the game with a new found sense of determination.

It you asked Alex what he thought of him then, you would get 'absolutely badass' as a response.

Watching in anticipation, Team Sasagawa awaited the obvious comeback or the return of 'Dying Will' Tsuna. Only to watch as Tsuna seemed to slip backwards whilst walking forward, an impressive yet embarrassing feat.

Oh Tsuna…

Takeshi , the supposed sports-prodigy, turned towards Tsuna and urged him to block the ball.

And jump Tsuna did.

It was almost as if his legs are in Dying Will mode.

Then it clicked. That 'trip' before wasn't so much of a 'trip' as it was a 'push', with the antagonist being Reborn's 'Dying Will Bullet'. Tsuna seemed to soar into the air, rising well above the net, and in the oncoming path of the ball. It collided, bouncing off onto the floor as everyone went further into shock at how he had blocked it.

That poor, poor boy…

"He… He blocked it with a man's most important organ… EXTREME GUY!" It was almost shocking enough to lower Ryohei's voice to almost inaudible levels.

Sensing the boxing club spiel coming a mile away, he tuned Ryohei out in favour of watching the monumental comeback going on right in front of him. The cheers came back, stronger than before, as the team buckled down and destroyed the opposition.

Well, with Tsuna managing to get multiple balls to the crotch. Well, it seemed to work, so whatever floats his boat.

Soon enough, the game was over, with Tsuna's team the victors.

With the match over, Ryohei faded off to the Boxing Club to start training, whilst Alex left him with the promise that he'll be there later.

Walking up to Tsuna, he attempted to start a conversation with the shy boy, only to be cut off by a rude, silver haired boy.

Alex was stunned at the audacity of the boy, and watched in stunned silence as he led Tsuna off, away from the din of the crowd. Following the pair, he chased them until they stopped in an alleyway. Hiding behind some bins, he poked his head over to watch the fight.

Tsuna seemed to be in his dying will form extinguishing dynamite left and right. After extinguishing all the explosives and making the rude brat from before his friend and subordinate, Reborn dropped down from his perch and announced that Tsuna did well, getting his first family member.

Seeing that he had no further place here, he sighed, moving back the way he came.

Tsuna, it seemed, didn't need Alex to protect him anymore. Gokudera (as he called himself) was doing a good enough job as it is, chasing away a few neanderthals that had shown up to pick on Tsuna.

Now, if only he could figure out why that hurt so much?

Chapter 5, Fin.

Bleh. This chapter just seems off to me. Like really super off. I just don't know why, and I can't just hold back this chapter for another day, so here it is.

I may make a few edits here and there, however, but I'll briefly summarize what was added and, if anything was taken out, what was removed.

This chapter, in a nutshell, relationship building, set up for plot and Gokudera Introduction. Next time, methinks, it will be Yamamoto time. That and/or the flame reveal.

Oh yeah, now that reminds me! If you can try and guess what flames he has. If you guess right then I'll type up a one-shot about anything KHR related, so that is a thing xD.

Anyway, thank you for the continued support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter

Signed, HalcyonNight