Tsuna gnawed on the end of his pencil. His brow furrowed as he stared at the sheet of paper before him. How could such a flimsy thing be so intimidating? He sighed.

Beside him, Hibari absent-mindedly flipped through a picture book. He wasn't reading, of course. The storyline was far beneath him. It simply gave him something to do while he waited for the fresh batch of onigiri. Mmm, home-cooking was indeed the best.

A pained groan tore Hibari's eyes from the Cat and the Hat, as Tsuna flopped lifelessly unto the desk.

"I give up." The boy mourned. "I can't solve problem 2."

"Hopeless." Hibari scoffed, scooting closer to Tsuna and peeking over his shoulder. "The answer is 4."

"Oh?" Tsuna blinked, sitting back up. "Umm, thanks Hibari-san."

"Hopeless Herbivore."

Tsuna twitched. Withholding his caustic reply, he clumsily scratched out a 4 on the paper. He smiled. Happy to be finished with the question, he moved on to the next equation. His cheer steadily diminishing as he learned he did not know the answer. Again.

"Aargh, problem three is so hard!" He cried.

"The answer is 10." Hibari sniffed, returning back to his picture book.

Tsuna looked up at him questioningly but writing in the number nonetheless.

And so the cycle repeated itself.

"Mou, problem 5 is-!"

"The answer is 9."

"Problem 6 is-!"

"It's 3."

"Problem-!"

"7."

"Hibari-san! I didn't even say what problem it is yet!" Tsuna pouted. "Besides, how do you even know? You're reading Suess-sensei (Dr. Suess)!"

"I memorized the equations, of course." Hibari replied blandly.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes in a weak attempt to glare. "If Hibari-san is so smart, why doesn't he teach me how to do the problem?"

Hibari peered over his book. "Why?"

"Why, he asks... Because I need to know how to solve this on my own!"

"Why? You don't need to know. I'm right here beside you. I can give you the answers."

"But what if Hibari-san is not right here beside me? What if there's a test and Hibari-san can't just tell me the answers? Tsu-I can get a really bad grade! Then Mama will get angry."

Hibari rolled his eyes. "It's not like you can actually fail Daycare. It's only supposed to prepare us for when we actually go to school. We don't even get grades."

"Still..."

"Listen, Herbivore. As long as I'm here, you don't need to worry about anything. Got that?"

Tsuna stared openly at Hibari. His shock pitifully obvious before his expression melted into utter adoration. "Hibari-san can be nice after all..."

Hibari twitched. And in one sudden motion, he dropped the book, stood up, and opened the bedroom window.

"A-A-Ah! Wait! Hi-Hibari-san! What are you doing?" Tsuna cried worriedly as Hibari stuck one foot out.

"You pissed me off. I don't like crowding, Herbivore." Hibari huffed, and without another word, leapt unto the nearby tree.

Leaving behind a flustered Tsuna, and a half-finished worksheet.

"Aaah, was it something Tsuna said?"