Growing distance free of explanation,
We're getting deeper in this mess.
Take careful contemplation,
I'd rather be spitting blood
Than have this silence fuck me up.

-The Quiet, Troye Sivan (2015).

Albedo Caelum 06: Fors.

Tsunaoko Sawada stared blandly at the awkwardly shuffling Italian who stood outside the Sawada residence gates the next morning. "How'd you find out where…? No, stupid question. Why're you still here? Thought you'd bolt the first chance you got."

Gokudera scowled, eyes still averted from her own searching ones as he reluctantly answered, "I'm here 'cause I felt like it. And with all the damn detentions you've saddled me with, it's not like I can leave for the next two months... Jyūdaime."

An uneasy frown creased at her eyebrows as she grumbled, "No, don't… don't call me that. Didn't I just tell you that you didn't have to be my minion?" She hated it when people refused to behave within the parameters she privately set for them, when their actions betrayed the mental paradigm she had of them. It never failed to unsettle Tsuna and leave her on the defensive, especially considering that the only way she had gotten this far in this current life was by working with those pre-established expectations. This was almost as bad as the time Kyōya first broke her little mental parameters, but not nearly as painful — considering Gokudera didn't actually bite her like the much younger Kyōya did. It was just… disquieting.

"And I already told you, I'm doing this 'cause I feel like it," the boy growled irritably, disliking having to repeat himself. "You're not what I expected at all, and that…" He huffed before kicking at the cement sidewalk, a frown working itself on his face. "That interests me, I guess, because for a boss, you seem... kinda decent. I mean, there's no assurance you're gonna stay that way, so I'm gonna keep watching to see if you can prove yourself or not."

"Well, any disappoint you get's gonna be on your own head," the blonde answered haltingly after a baffled pause, moving to brush past him and go on her habitual run to the school. "I'm not doin' this to meet your standards, Dummy."

"Which is exactly why you meet them!" he retorted before flushing at the unintentional information he just spilled. He fumbled to fix the mistake, "At least, superficially. Until I figure out if you're faking or not, I won't be leaving you alone."

"…Wh-Whatever," the woman-turned-girl stuttered, feeling herself bristle in agitation. Why won't he just go away and leave me alone? "Just — Just either keep up or get out've the way."

"Roger, Jyūdaime!"

"Qu-Quit it! 'S weird!" Tsuna wailed before running away to put as much distance as she could between herself and her follower, who lived up to his title and chased after his prospective leader.

"Not a chance!"

"Hieeek! Keruberosu's gate isn't closed!"

"I'll take care of it, Jyūdaime!"

"HIIIEEE, PUT THOSE AWAY! Didn't you learn your damn lesson yester — Gah! Don't punt the dog, oh God!"

"Well, how else am I supposed to take care of the rat?!"

"I dunno, glare at it?!"

"Glare at — the fuck you talkin' about? How's that going to do anything?!"

"Shows what you know, Goku-san! Go back to your dragon balls!"

"You can't just insult me and run away!"

"I'm gonna be late, I'll do what I want! Just stop followin' me!"

"Not a chance!"

By the time the both of them made it to school, it turned out that volleyball practice had been canceled anyway, due to the damage parts of the gym had suffered from the 'gas main blowing up from sporadic school renovations'. Gokudera was only spared a quick and violent death by Tetsuya Kusakabe's unknowing intervention when the upperclassman personally came to request Tsuna's help with organizing the school's rushed repair job. Just until more professional builders could come in during the weekend and take care of the rest. Gokudera, along with several other delinquents the Committee nabbed and the more able-bodied [read: not too badly burned] Committee members, spent the hour before school picking up the mess. Tsuna, however, spent most of that time fretting over the vice chairman.

"Most of it is just superficial," the physically older teen assured her. "No worse than a really bad sunburn. I'll have to deal with some blistering and sensitivity for the next few days, but the worst of it should pass by the beginning of next week…" Hopefully by the time Bocchō returns, was left unsaid. Because, ideally, they wanted to ensure that no evidence of this catastrophe remained by the time the Chairman returned.

"Even still, I'm delegatin' you to paperwork duty," Tsuna informed him decisively. "A lot of this's my fault, 'cause of me bein' Heir and all. I can take charge've the Committee after homeroom. Test results just came in, and that's one thing I can't skip out on, unfortunately."

"It's no problem, Tsuna-chan," Tetsuya told her kindly. "Only problem is, what do you want to be done with the transfer student?"

"Nothin' you need to worry about, I'm personally takin' care've it. He'll be joinin' me in class and then will help with Committee duties in order to pay back all the damages rendered… I don't quite trust 'im enough to not keep 'im in sight during school hours yet." Actually, she didn't expect to ever get to the point where she could trust him at all. Tsuna could admit that he was trying to fix his mistake, and credit was given where credit was due in regards to the progress being made with school ground repairs. Beyond that, though? She didn't trust him, and by extension Reborn, not to pull something.

"Speaking of 'damages rendered'," the vice chairman brought up grimly, grass strand twirling in an agitated manner, "You need to turn in these forms to the principle to sign. Although the situation has been, ah, classified as a malfunction with the gas and electrical lines in the school from the various school renovations, some of the staff have been trying to lay blame on the Committee. And by some of the staff, I mean —"

"Takeuchi-kyoto," Tsuna hissed, tone absolutely venomous and her expression promising dark things.

"Yes, unfortunately. But seeing as she conveniently doesn't hold any solid proof of the event, we're still in the green."

"She needs to be dealt with."

"Tsuna," Tetsuya groaned. "We can't just 'deal with' everyone who opposes us. It leaves too obvious a trail, you know that. As long as it's just complaints, she's safe from retaliation. We know that; she knows that. Her goal is to goad us into making the first move so she can play the victim and tarnish our credibility."

"I can make it look like an accident."

"Tsuna."

"No one will ever be able to connect it to me."

"Tsuna."

"I have over four years of experience in hiding bodies."

"That's beside the point, Sawada!" The older teen finally cried out in exasperation, throwing up his arms in the air, completely done with the blonde. "We can't do something that drastic; our hands are tied, and you know it! For now, she stays until she makes an active attack against the Hibari name or attempts in interfering with Bocchō's training as a yakuza oyabun."

"…Fine, sorry. I'm just a little stressed. This week's been absolutely insane." A horrendous understatement, but she couldn't exactly say that she felt as if her world was crumbling a little more the longer Kyōya shut her out, not without sounding needy and obsessive (which she kind of was). Tsuna might currently be a wreck, but she wasn't an obvious one. She managed to hold it together with the comforting thought that, while he hadn't forgiven her yet, Kyōya hadn't outright rejected her either. Additionally, she didn't particularly feel like she could go into any great detail about her mafia-tutoring and how she was sure that Reborn-sensei had it out for her.

So, understatement it was.

"Paperwork?" Tetsuya offered.

"…Maybe later today, since I won't be having practice until next Monday at the earliest." She had to fight the urge to glare in the sole Italian's direction, lest she felt the need to start a fight again. "Besides, that's your duty today. Low stress, remember?"

The vice chairman sighed, "Right, right, understood. I would go now. No need to provoke your teachers any more than you already do with your frequent absences and low grades."

Tsuna scoffed but didn't disagree with him, finally taking the proffered forms and turning towards the school, tossing a careless wave over her shoulder, mind already on the conversation awaiting her.

However, she needn't have worried. The vice principal wasn't even present in the office and there was no trouble in getting in to see the principle… But somehow that made the teen more apprehensive than had she been hindered by Takeuchi-Kyoto. The woman was not one to run away from a fight, so for her to not even attempt to fight was utterly disquieting and an indicator that a plot was afoot.

Or Tsuna was just paranoid, but arguably, it wasn't without good reason, given the amount of trouble she had gotten into in the duration of both lifetimes.

So, this meant she actually made it to class on time. It was almost like she was an everyday regular student, if not for the surprised and unreadable looks that she got from her peers. A known delinquent, honestly showing up to class instead of ditching, and it wasn't a test day. And with the rumors going around about the Committee being involved with the damages the school was rendered yesterday, her classmates were understandably wary around her.

Tsuna ignored them and took her usual seat, taking out her notebook and making an account for estimated costs for the repairs as well as a loosely compiled list for the day. Taking note of such things kept most of the important details more or less firmly lodged in her short-term memory. And worked to keep her anxiety under wraps. Kyōya was still absent. The school was still damaged. And Takeuchi-Kyoto was still plotting things. But right now, as long as she kept writing, the problems didn't seem quite so prevalent.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know, an obscenely short chapter after such a long time between updates; it's practically criminal. But it's just a show of good faith that I'm not, in fact, dead and have no intentions to abandon the story... I have just had many (critically important) life-changing events happen at the tail-end of 2016, big enough that I had neither the time or motivation to write.

But I'm not dead, and neither is the story.

I can't promise an exact time frame (you saw what happened last time I tried that;;;) but more stuff will be coming your way... Eventually;;;

So, please, bare with me a little longer. Your patience and understanding mean more than you could ever believe!

Also, I've been taking your criticisms and advice to heart and have been going through the chapters. I'm trying to make them more streamlined and less jargon/lingo heavy. Also, trying very hard to cut back on the exposition and heavy-handed foreshadowing;;

Happy New Year,

Stars.