"My. It's such a nice day out." Green eyes would lift from the plate that held his breakfast in alarm the moment that he heard the words that left his mother's mouth as the boy would turn to share a look of horror with his father before the taller man would move to immediately scoop up his child, trying to escape with him before his wife could finish her musings and give him the order that the both of them would regret only to pause as he felt that piercing gaze on his back. "Perhaps you should take Ren to the park so he can try making some friends again, Anata?"

Well, Damn.

It would be about a half hour later that the two male members of the Honda family would find themselves standing in the heat of the warm summer morning as they both stared at the playground that was currently filled with the delighted shrieks of the children. The unamused child would stare at his fellow children for all of a moment before he would turn his gaze to his father, green eyes filling with tears immediately as he would force those lips into the cutest pout he could muster, determined to save himself from his fate and using his cuteness to his advantage in a way that he knew would have his father eating out of his palm.

His father thought he was adorable and he was not above using that in his favor if it saved him from being forced to play nice with the other children in this awful heat.

For a moment, he thought he had managed to sway his father into going along with what he wanted yet again only for his hopes to crash and burn a moment later as the man turned around, his brown gaze avoiding Ren's entirely as he would speak. "Oh no. You might be my adorable little boy but I am not letting you have your way again. Your mom got so mad last time when she found out that I took you for ice cream instead of making you stay here and play. Sorry Ren, but you're going to have to play with the kids today. Maybe you'll make friends?"

The silence that greeted his father's hopeful response was enough to make the man falter for a moment before his expression would brighten as he would begin shuffling through the oversized bag he had brought with him, digging through it for a moment before producing a large bag filled with various candies and as he would hand it to the unamused Ren he would smile before ruffling his child's black hair. "Think about it this way Ren, if you make friends this time then maybe your mother won't make us come back here. Try making friends to the best of your ability and if all else fails then bribe them with candy. Kids love candy don't they?"

His only response was silence as Ren would stare at the bag of sweets as though it had done something to personally offend him before he would make his way over to the playground with a soft sigh, mourning the loss of his perfect afternoon. All he had wanted to do was enjoy his day the way he wanted, practicing with his toy bow and arrow until he got as good with the toy as the heroes in his favorite cartoons and movies were with the real thing.

Maybe he would even become as strong as they were one day.

That was the reason why he had no time to waste playing with other children who only wanted to play stupid games like kick-the-can or hide and seek and yet, it did not seem as though he was going to get out of playing with them anytime soon and so, at least for the time being, it seemed as though he was going to have to make the most out of his situation. He would wander around the expanse of the playground as he searched for a group of kids that would likely bother him the least to play with, to no avail.

Most of the children seemed to be interested in eating sand or picking their noses much to Ren's great displeasure.

For a moment he would look down at the bag of candies that his father had given to him, considering what would happen if he simply chose to throw them away and return home on his own without his father. He would greatly consider the potential punishment he would receive as he tried to determine whether or not the punishment would be worth not having to spend another moment in this awful place before the sound of crying would immediately capture his attention and immediately his green eyes would turn to see two slightly older boys terrorizing a boy around his age with spiky brown hair and brown eyes, something that made his eyes narrow slightly.

He hated bullies.

Ren's eyes would narrow for a moment before his mind would immediately come up with a plan as he would approach the three boys, immediately drawing attention to himself as he would speak softly. "What are you two doing over here? Don't you know that there's someone giving out big bags of candy over there at the playground? I just got this big bag of candies from a nice man!" He would hold up the bag of candy as proof of his claim, not missing the way the eyes of the two boys darkened as they looked at his bag of candy. "He was giving out a big bag of candy like this to all of the kids! You better hurry before he runs out! He only had a few left!" It was a moment later that both of the boys would run off towards the playground, shoving and pushing each other out of the way with the promise of candy on their mind and for a moment Ren would simply watch the two boys before sighing and shaking his head as he would turn to the sniffling boy who looked up at him with teary eyes.

Poor thing.

"Hey, it's okay. They're gone now and they're probably going to spend the rest of the day trying to find the candy man I made up so they'll leave you alone." Ren would give the sniffling boy a small smile before turning to walk away only to pause as he felt a small hand grab onto the back of his shirt. A surprised green gaze would turn to meet those pitiful browns and as the boy would continue to look at him with those pitiful browns, his own gaze would soften as he tried to think about what he could do to make him feel better, gaze falling down to the bag of candy a moment later.

Well, it was worth a shot.

"Here. My dad gave this to me to give to people I like. You seem nice enough so you take them. I hope they make you feel better." He would hand the surprised brunette the bag of candy who would look at the bag of candies in absolute shock before giving Ren a small, shy sort of smile, those tears slowly drying up much to the black haired boy's relief. Now if he would just let go of his shirt so he could be on his way, that would be absolutely wonderful.

It was at that moment that his father would choose to wander on over with a long-haired woman who looked remarkably similar to the boy who had a death grip on his shirt and as their attention was turned to the two of them and both adult's eyes would widen, Ren immediately knew that there had been some kind of misunderstanding and a sinking feeling would well up in his chest as those greens would widen.

"Y-You actually made a friend?! Just wait until your mother hears about this! She's going to be so thrilled!" Greens would widen at the mention of the woman that had forced this whole situation on him to begin with before watching with a dumbfounded look as the man would turn to the long-haired woman who had come with him. "Thank you Nana-san. You were right! Your son truly is a miracle worker if he was able to make someone as distant as my Ren want to be friends with him! I don't know how to properly thank you!" The woman, Nana would simply smile warmly before her brown eyes would turn to focus on her own son.

"Did you manage to make a friend Tsu-kun? My, he's such a cute little thing too! What pretty eyes he has!" Ren's gaze would shoot up to meet the kind brown gaze of the woman who smiled sweetly down at him, protests immediately dying on his tongue as he noticed just how happy the woman looked and as his father began talking eagerly with the pretty woman, making arrangements for a future play date he knew that there was no way he was getting out of this. Yet as his gaze fell upon the shy brunette who still had not released his shirt from his grasp, he thought maybe, it might not be a bad idea to have him as a friend after all. At the very least he would get practice hitting moving targets with his bow and arrows.

He had a feeling this boy was the type to attract bullies.

"It looks like we're going to be friends, you and I. Nice to meet you. My name is Ren Honda." The green-eyed boy would look at the other in something akin to amusement as the brunette's eyes widen in shock once again. "And what is your name? Unless it really is Tsu-kun?" He would muse softly, watching the boy carefully as he would shrink back for a moment before he would finally speak.

"M-My name is T-Tsunayoshi. But you can call me Tsu-kun. I-If you want."

Oh, he was cute.

It would be a few moments later that he was picked up, carried securely in his father's arms as the man would finalize a playdate for Ren and Tsuna that would take place at their home tomorrow afternoon and as Ren would gift the other boy a lazy farewell, hand waving carelessly at the shy boy as he was carried away he could not stop the smile that spread across his lips as he was carried home.

Perhaps having a friend wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

Little did he know, just how much trouble said friend was going to cause him in the not-so-distant future.