Enoki Eru wasn't stupid.

He knew that he and his classmates were not, in any way, shape, or form, welcome at this mansion.

He had known it the moment he had stepped through its large double doors, and all eyes had turned on them. He had seen it in the way the servants whispered behind their hands and cast loathful looks upon them.

His classmates hadn't noticed it, as they'd been too busy marvelling at the beauty of the place.

What he hadn't known was why.

At least, not until Sawada Tsunayoshi had stepped through the dining room door, and had announced that he was the heir to this great fortune. And suddenly, everything had clicked into place.

And Eru couldn't find it in himself to be too surprised.

There had always been something...off about Sawada Tsunayoshi.

As if his clumsiness were a costume that didn't quite fit correctly.

But if there was one thing that was absolutely not fake about Sawada, it was his kindness - he was genuinely a very good person, and Eru had no idea how the rest of their classmates (the rest of the schoolmates in fact) could be so mean to him.

Not that he was one to talk.

He was such a coward, he had never said a single nice thing to Sawada, for fear that he would be lumped together with him.

And maybe that was why he was trying so hard now.

He was trying so hard his lungs were burning and his heart was beating frantically.

Lunch had ended an hour ago, and although they had been given some time to rest in order to avoid cramps, Boreen-sensei, or rather the one everyone aroudn here called "Reborn", had wasted no time.

They had been running non-stop for about ten minutes now, and this was somehow only supposed to be considered a warm-up.

He was terrified to see what the actual training would be like.

But at the same time he was almost...excited?

No, that wasn't the right word.

Relieved, maybe?

That was probably it.

He felt somewhat relieved.

Because he knew it didn't really make any sense, but there was a small part of him that hoped that, if he worked hard enough, he could maybe begin to redeem himself.

Eru was so deeply engrossed in these thoughts of shame and redemption, he almost didn't notice the person that had dropped back to run alongside him.

"Enoki-san?" asked a familiar voice, and Eru almost had a heart attack when he noticed that the person that had dropped back to run with him was Sawada Tsuanyoshi.

The brunet was watching Eru with an almost worried expression, and although he had been running for just as long as Eru an the others, he had barely worked up a sweat.

Eru couldn't help but wonder what kind of mosnter he had to be.

"Is there something wrong, Sawada?" asked Enoki between gasping for air, and Sawada's eyebrows furrrowed a bit.

"That's what I shoudl be asking you," replied Tsunayoshi, is voice worried. "You're not having trouble breathing?"

"Breathing?" asked Eru, feeling slightly bemused. "Why would I have trouble breathing?"

Sawada's face flushed red at the question, and he looked down, mumbling something.

"Come again?" Eru said, not hearing properly.

"I just remembered you had asthma when we were younger, is all, and I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," repeated Tsuna, his face red as a tomato as he continued to stubbornly not meet Eru's eyes.

Eru stared at the boy, so completely flabbergasted, he almost stopped running.

Asthma?

"You...you remember?" he asked, completely blown away. "But...I haven't had an asthma attack since our last year of elementary school!"

Tsuna shrugged, finally looking up shyly to meet Eru's gaze.

"Better safe than sorry," he said.

Eru stared for a few seconds more, feeling completely blown away. After all these years, Sawada Tsunayoshi had remembered him?

And then, realizing that Sawada was still waiting for an answer, Eru shook his head to clear it.

"I'm alright," he insisted, smiling at Sawada.

After that, as Sawada left to check up on some other people, Eru felt a glow of warmth towards his smaller classmate.

Sawada really was a genuinely good person.

And so, right then and there, as he re-played the scene in his mind, Enoki Eru resolved to never stand by passively and let others insult Sawada in his resence.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was a great man.

As expected of a tutor of his caliber, Reborn was sitting at a good vantage point to watch the students of Tsunayoshi's class, judging teir athletic abilities and thinking up more effective training schedules for them

Out of the corner of his eye, the small hitman noticed that his stuent had slipped from the front of the class, where he and his guardians were supposed to be leading the class in the exercise.

Now, his Dame student was having a whispered conversation with the slightly nerdy boy, probably reassuring him that he could complete the exercise.

Reborn smirked as he saw the classmate watch after his student as Tsuna went back ahead to his place.

Tsuna had always had that special charisma that just drew people to him.

So this development? Not really out of the ordinary.

What really caught the hitman's attention, however, was the sudden burst of storm flames down on the track.

And the flames belonged to...

Enoki Eru.

SkyGem: Holy shit! Can you guys believe it? First time in over three years that I've updated it! I somehow unconsciously kept postponing this chapter because, in the past years, my writing style has changed so much from what it was when I started this, I was having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. But here it is! Please do review and let me know what you thought, and look forward to next chapter! Hopefully it won't take nearly as long, as it's going to be quite an interesting one. Well, that's it for now! Ciao!