Tsuna laughed bitterly at himself. He had promised -to himself- that he would stop. That he would stay strong for them.

No matter how they looked at him, no matter how foul they treated him with either fear or hatred, he had to stay strong.

Keep away from the madness the was slowly enveloping his soul. Lock away the void feeling he would get when he was alone. Either insanity or emptiness was just ready to pounce when he showed even a slight opening in his resolve, and he could not allow that.

Thus, he began to keep himself...distracted. And let's just say that his meaning of 'distracting' is not very healthy. Sure, it helped him save himself mentally, but harmed him physically, very much so. Not many noticed.

Over the 2 years since he had his first kill, Tsuna had gotten good at lying, at deceiving Keeping a fake smile etched on to his face when in the presence of others, even when they usually are very observant, like Fon or Reborn, he had even managed to fool them. He could always sense things now. Whether or not he likes it.

While sitting at his desk, absently staring out the window with blank, emotionless eyes, Tsuna started to question himself, 'Does anybody truly need me?'

With that as a start, the soon-to-be-Vongola-Decimo emerged himself in unpleasant thoughts. It was Summer break and he was all alone, everyone having a excuse of somesort to stay away from the brunette (or brunet, which ever i feel like typing) and he just never left the mansion.

You see, despite the fact that he's always alone and inside, he had slowly gotten a problem of being an insomniac, never sleeping and never knowing between reality and dreams along with never wanting to eat properly. That showed signs that he was even closer to breaking. So in the mean time as he's awake almost 24/7 he needs something to do, something to pass time. And that just so happens to also being his unhealthy obsession of physical pain.

Anywho, back to the story;

While stuck in his usual, strange thoughts, there was a light tap on the door, most likely just the maids or something.

"Come in. The door is open." He stated in a monotone.

Right after he said that, the door slowly opened, revealing none other than a some-what scared Chome. In her hands were a silver platter that had articles of food on top that consisted of 2 sandwhiches - cut in half- a glass of orange juice and a singular apple.

"B-bossu..." she mumbled out meekly, stuttering somewhat.

"Yes?"

Taking a step inside, very cautiously one might say, she inhaled a deep breath before saying,

"H-here's your lunch..." and quickly, she briskly walked to the desk and placed down the tray carefully before silently bowing and as she turned to leave she heard a soft, "Thanks Dokuro-san" unknowing to her that there was -for once in a long time- a slight, real smile that edged at Tsuna's lips.

When he had stopped calling her Chrome, she had no clue. Nor, did she take any notice of it until thinking back later.

Pulling up his sleeve gently, Tsuna checked the time, and sure enough, it read 12:01 PM in Roman letters. Ignoring the faint scars that littered his wrist -ones of red and white- his once again pulled up his sleeve and started on his lunch, a sad smile adorning his facial expression.

Slowly over the weeks he began to break down. And it was only so long before something actually happened.

During one of his 'cutting' sessions in his personal bathroom when it was the last week of break, there was a small knock at the door along with a feeble, "Tsuna?" following it.

"Give me a minute.." the brunette grunted. Scrambling off the floor, flushing the toilet and hurrying to wash his hands and wrists free of the metallic liquid that stained them. Not noticing that he had left the blood-stained towel he used daily was in plain sight, he opened the door to find Skull, another whom had begun to fear him after his first few kills.

"Yes..?" Tsuna asked in a raspy voice due to it's lack of use and the fact his brain was still in a daze from the blood loss.

"Are you...O-okay..?" Skull asked while slowly cringing away little by little. He took notice of the towel and found something off but said nothing. He just averted his gaze to that of Tsunayoshi's and watched it carefully. The brown eyes were dull and had an incomprehensible blankness to them that seemed...unsettling.

"Hnnn...i...i guess so..." Tsuna muttered, swaying somewhat as his mind was turning white and his conscious fading. Skulls eyes furrowed at this. Despite his fear of the Decimo, he didn't feel scared at the moment, at least not of the teen and his power. No. He was more scared of the void look in Tsuna's eyes. The fact that he looked like he had given up on something. Lost something vital to keep him alive.

Skull snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a giggle...a bitter, sad giggle. Or maybe it would be better to say that one could not tell what it meant. Usually, a giggle was a sign of joy or insanity, but this one was neither...or perhaps a little of both.

When Tsuna suddenly fell forwards, Skull caught him now pretty worried of the boy's mental state. Right before Tsuna completely lost conscious he whispered into Skulls ear,

"Ne, can you tell me something?" As the next words that slipped out of the boys mouth, Skull hadn't a clue on what to think.