A/N: Chapter three is really long, about 4900+ words. I hit a little roadblock (which is why it's a little late), but I started typing stuff and just couldn't stop. I want to thank everyone for their favorites, reviews, and alerts. It makes me so happy to see those. There's also bullying in this chapter, just a warning.

Disclaimer: I own nothing besides those two random ocs I put in this chapter, and I don't even want to claim them.

Chapter o3. It's Okay I'm Here

And you are just a boy
With a scareless defeat
Oh please don't take on the world
Oh don't do it for me

~Little Boy Lost-Larrkin Love

She didn't know how, but Tsuna was slowly getting use to Gokudera being around, though it had only been a week since she 'adopted' him. She secretly calls it adoption because the silver haired delinquent reminds her of a puppy that was only angry because it didn't get enough attention back at its old home. He's happy whenever he sees her, willing to carry out any tasks that she might ask, and keeps most of the bullies away by baring his fangs.

Everyone at school thinks their sudden relationship is odd, even Tsuna thinks it's odd. Some students think they're dating, others think Gokudera is really naïve and doesn't know that Dame-Tsuna is bad luck. Gokudera's crazy fan club thinks that Tsuna brainwashed their Gokudera-sama into hanging out with her. Totally ignoring the fact that Tsuna has no idea how to do hypnotism-she didn't even believe in it. Reborn thinks it's a good way to build up their boss-subordinate relationship, and Nana is just glad her daughter has such a good friend now. And it's a cute boy, so that's an added bonus.

And like anyone finally is getting used to having a person around, Tsuna is genuinely missing the bomber when he leaves for Italy to restock his dynamite. She tries her best not to show it though, knowing she'll never hear the end of it from Reborn, and maybe some of the students. Without him around things are semi-back to normal with everyone talking bad about her, and Tsuna just sighing away her happiness and dealing with it.

On the second day of Gokudera's departure, Tsuna found herself aimlessly wandering around the baseball field. It was a rare coed day in PE, and they had decided to play baseball. With Tsuna being Tsuna, no one wanted her on their team. They used the excuse that the numbers weren't even, which was true. She had to at least walk around the field to feign some activity, so she wouldn't get in trouble for not participating.

The female sighed and kicked a little pebble, taking her mild irritation out on the object. If Gokudera was here, the numbers would be even. Not only that, but he would make sure Tsuna was on his team. It was really hot today too. Tsuna looked up to the sky, and shielded her eyes with her hands. The sun was so bright, it kind of hurt to look in its general direction. Why was she even starting at it anyway? Even she had no clue.

"Hey look out!"

Tsuna turned her head in the direction of the cry, confused. Black soon shrouded her vision, and the next thing she knew she was waking up in the nurse's office. How lovely. She thinks dryly and rubs her head. Might as well have an emergency pack of Advil for whenever a headache appears.

"Oh, you're finally awake." A surprisingly friendly voice speaks up.

Tsuna turns her head, and nearly jumps up when she realizes who it is. Yamamoto Takeshi, the baseball star, and probably the most popular boy at school. And he's looking at Tsuna with those friendly brown eyes and really nice smile. And she really hopes she isn't blushing, because boy, that would be embarrassing. Since Kyoko is the female idol, Yamamoto would definitely be the male one. Needless to say, Tsuna had a silly little crush on him. Actually, she just thought his muscles looked nice in his shirts.

Okay Tsuna, this is not the time to be thinking about things like that. She mentally scolded herself.

"Uh, w-what happened to me?" She somehow finds the voice to speak with.

The baseball star laughs and rubs the back of his neck. "You kind of got hit by the baseball when I threw it, and sort of passed out! I'm really sorry about that!"

Oh, that's why her head hurts so badly. "I-it's fine, I'm used to getting hit with stuff." My head is a magnet for flying projectiles.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. The worse I'll have is a concussion." She sits up despite her dizziness. "Thanks for taking me to the nurse though."

He doesn't seem that convinced, but accepts it anyway. "If you say so, but I think I should at least stay here until the nurse comes."

She shakes her head. "You don't have to do that. Besides, you have a game to finish. I'm pretty sure they want you back out there." She pauses before speaking again. "I don't really need to be here though." She doesn't add the fact that she had been to the nurse so much that the woman got tired of seeing her. The nurse was the person to suggest that Tsuna carry a pack of Band-Aids wherever she went.

"But you said you might have a concussion."

"I've had worse." Like being shot at every day and kicked and having my pride destroyed by an insane toddler. "I'll be fine, really."

Without waiting for a response, the smaller teen slowly gets out of bed. Her dizziness was gone by now, and all that was left was that irritating headache. She tentatively runs a hand through her hair, wincing slightly when she feels the bump that has already formed. It wasn't bad, but it still hurt quite a bit.

She hears the legs of the chair scratch against the floor, and knows that Yamamoto is following her. He quickly catches up due to his longer strides, and Tsuna feels somewhat awkward to have him walk beside her. They barely know each other, and now he's simply walking next to her like they've been friends for ages. Or maybe that's just Tsuna over analyzing everything and being paranoid again, or maybe he is friendly. An awkward silence stretches between the two as the walk. The field was all the way on the other side of the school, so they would be alone for a while.

"I hope it isn't intruding, but you said you were used to getting hurt right?"

Tsuna nearly jumps at the boy's voice. She almost had forgotten he was there in the first place.

She takes sometime before answering the question, not sure if she should tell him the truth or not. "I get picked on a lot. I'm sure you've seen it, tripping is the big thing that they like to do." She clears her throat. "B-but I get hit too sometimes. It's f-fine though." She adds hastily. "I'm u-use to it, like I said."

Another long silence fills the air. The brunette begins to mentally fret. Yamamoto must think of her as weird, because no normal person should be okay with getting hurt by others. Though she said used to, not okay, she wasn't okay with it. She just didn't know how to stop it especially when she was alone.

"Then how…" The taller of the two asks. "Then how do you deal with problems, like your problems in general. When you know you're failing at something are about to give up."

"Try harder I guess." The words tumble out her mouth faster than she hoped. A strained smile makes its way on her face. "Y-yeah when I feel like I'm failing, I try a little bit harder." Please take my shit advice. I can't even take it.

Her words somehow please the boy, and a smile stretches across his face. "Of course! Why didn't I think about that before? Haha thanks Tsuna!"

"P-please, just don't overwork yourself."

"Don't worry about, I'll be fine."

Tsuna couldn't help but feel like she really didn't say the right thing. She mentally sighed and hoped nothing bad would happen from this.

Finally, the end of the day rolls around. Tsuna finds herself in the bathroom with a couple of other girls. She kept her head low as she washed her hands in the sink; making eye contact might cause problems that she wouldn't want.

"Oi, look, it's Dame-Tsuna." So much for not causing problems.

"You're right, it is." Another chimes in, her voice sounding slightly pleased with the outcome.

Tsuna continues to keep her head down as she dries her hands and tries to exit the bathroom only to have one of the girls trap her with her arm. She immediately stiffens, today was not a good day.

"You know what, I saw you with Takeshi-kun earlier today." The first one speaks again, Tsuna still looks down. This seems to anger the other female, because she roughly grabs Tsuna's small arm and turns her around. She didn't know who this chick was, only that she had too much makeup and perfume on.

"Didn't your mom ever teach you any fucking manners." The girl sneers. "Look at people when they're talking to you."

Tsuna only nods mutely.

"Now, were you or were you not with Yamamoto Takeshi today talking to him?"

"Y-yes." She squeaks and flinches when the other tightens her grip on her arm.

"You dirty little slut." She hisses. "Just because you have Gokudera Hayato practically wrapped around your finger, doesn't mean you can try to seduce our precious Takeshi-kun too!"

"Yumi-san, how does she have the yummy foreign kid wrapped around her fingers like that?" The one holding the door closed ask. They were obviously crazy fangirls that probably belonged to one, or maybe both of the boys' fanclub.

The girl now identified as Yumi scoffs. "She was probably desperate and fucked him or something. That seems like something as sad as she would do. Isn't that right Dame-Tsuna?" She places her hand on Tsuna's right cheek and makes three long scratches on it with her sharp nails. "Only whores like you would do bad things like that."

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. DON'T CRY. She repeats that mantra over and over in her head as she forces back an onslaught of tears. How dare they make assumptions about her like that just because they were jealous of her? This is why Tsuna absolutely hated being picked on by girls, though they rarely got physically violent, they knew the exact words to use to cut a person down. Like now, being called a slut and whore just because she had finally seemed to make friends who also happened to be the two most pined after guys in school. Why were people so cruel?

Yumi finally releases her vice grip on Tsuna's aching arm. "Now, be a good slut and never even look at those two boys again if you know what's good for you."

She nodded slowly with nothing to say and too afraid to anger the already pissed of girl. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the other girl moved her position from the door. Taking that as a sign she could go, Tsuna bolts out the bathroom and through the halls wanting nothing more than to leave the stupid school behind her. Her tears being flowing automatically and they sting the scratches on her face.

She can't go home like this, not when Reborn and her mom would question her about why she looked the way she did; eyes red and puffy with tear stains on her face. Instead, she wanders around in the park and the surrounding area for a while to calm down. It was there that she saw a most peculiar sight; a little boy clad in cow pajamas was screeching at the ice-cream vender for some ice-cream. He obviously didn't have any money, but seemed to really want some. Against her normal procedures, Tsuna gets up from the swing and walks over to the pair.

"Vanilla! Vanilla! I want vanilla!" She hears the boy screech loudly as she gets closer.

"Excuse me please." She says to the small boy and slightly pushes him out the way with her foot and then looks at the red faced vender. "One vanilla cone please?"

"I hope you have money." The man huffs.

Tsuna pulls out her wallet and smiles. "Y-yes sir, how much is it?"

"Two-hundred yen." The man replies and scoops the ice-cream onto the cone.

After quick exchange, Tsuna is now a proud owner of ice-cream, but only for a moment. Bending down in front of the child that was still there, she gives him the frozen desert.

"H-here you go." She says with a smile and stands back up.

The child looks between her and the ice-cream with confused green eyes that aren't native to the Japanese.

She was hoping for more of a thank you, but instead got stares. She didn't mind though as long as he stopped crying. "Well I have to go now, be safe little guy."

With that, she stands up and begins her trek back home. The brunette is nearly all the way down the street when frantic shouts reach her ears. And her eyes widen to see it was the same child from before running to catch up with her, and finally he does.

"Is there something you need?" She tilts her head to the side.

"I, the Great Lambo-san, would like to recruit you as my faithful servant." The boy declares and puffs out his chest.

Tsuna raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You have showed Lambo-san great kindness, and that will be rewarded by allowing you to become my servant, you should be honored."

Is this his way of thanking me? The teen resists the urge to laugh and instead smiles. "I'm so sorry Lambo-san, but I can't do that."

"And why not!"

"I have other things and people to look after before I become anyone's servant, but thank you though."

For some reason, the boy's eyes fill with tears. "B-but you're the first person that's been nice to me in a l-long time." He sniffs loudly, a few tears escape.

Even though she doesn't like children, Tsuna suddenly feels bad for the boy and quickly scoops him up. "D-don't cry, you said your name was Lambo right? Well nice to meet you. I'm Tsuna."

The contact seems to immediately calm him down and he snuggles closer to the girl, resting his chin on her chest and looks up at her. "Yes, I am the Great Lambo-san; I am five years old, like grape candies, come from the Bonivo Family, and was sent here to assassinate Reborn so I can be the boss."

Tsuna's more than a little shocked to hear all that. Why was a five year old in the mafia, and who in the world told him that killing Reborn would make him the boss of anything? She doesn't want to get mad in front of him, so she strains a smile only to winch remembering her cuts were there.

"You've been crying." The child states nonchalantly and starts fiddling with the bow on Tsuna's uniform.

"Oh and how would you know that?"

"Lambo-san has been around enough crybabies to know one when he sees one, plus your eyes are still kinda red. Why were you crying?"

"Because, people are mean sometimes and they want to see others cry." She says before she can actually think about what she said.

"You should kill them if they make you cry. Better yet, I'll do it for you! As my new, and favorite, servant, it's up to me to protect you!"

For some reason, the girl is touched by his little declaration of murder, and freaked out at the same time. "It's okay, they aren't worth it."

His tiny shoulders shrug, "If you say so, but I can still do it if you want me to."

"I'll keep that in mind." She looks up at the sky and notices that it's already dark. "Lambo-kun, do you have a place to stay?"

Tears pool in his eyes again, and she takes that as no.

"How 'bout you stay with me, I'm sure my mom won't mind especially if you need someplace to sleep. How does that sound?"

His cheeks flush happily at the offer and it makes Tsuna smile as well. She didn't feel completely useless knowing that she had helped this child out.

After a fifteen minute walk, Tsuna finds herself at her door, Lambo still in her arms.

"Alright Lambo-kun, what did I say about fighting Reborn?"

The child sighs. "Not to do it, especially if mama is around, keep all grenades and weapons away unless they will be taken and I won't get any candy. Though if I feel threated by Reborn or anyone else, I can use them. Happy now Tsuna-nee?"

She smiles and ruffles his afro. She had spent those fifteen minutes going over simple rules with him. She knew he was in the mafia, and would no doubt have some sort of weaponry on him. It was necessary to deal with the problem before it even started. They were in a semi-safe environment and she didn't want more explosions ruining her room.

Suddenly getting nervous, the teen slowly opens the door and takes off her shoes. "I-I'm home." She calls out.

"Tsu-chan!" her mother's elated voice reaches her ears, and soon after Nana is visible. "I was starting to worry about you, it's already eight did something happen?" Her mother's eyes fall on her scratched cheek for a fleeting second before looking her daughter back in the eyes.

"I g-got held up with something. You see mom, there was this little boy I f-found in the park and he didn't even have enough money for a little ice cream cone. S-so I felt bad and bought him one and while we were talking I learned that he's from really far away and has n-no place to stay." She takes a deep breath. "S-so I was wondering, is it alright if he comes to live with use for some time?"

Nana brings her hands to her mouth, shocked that someone would send a child all out in the world all alone. "Well of course dear, where is he?"

Tsuna turns Lambo in her arms so that he's now facing her mother.

"Oh! He's so cute; I thought he was a little toy. What's your name sweetie?"

"I am the Great Lambo-san!" He replies and even adds that obnoxious laugh of his at the end.

"How precious!" Nana squeals again and takes the child away from the teen. "How about you get you some dinner huh? I bet you're hungry." Nana then looks at her child. "Tsu-chan, Reborn is your room if you want to see him, I'll get Lambo-kun settled in."

Tsuna sighs, but makes her way to her room. She didn't want to see the toddler because he would no doubt hurt her in some way. Not to mention question her about her whereabouts and why those scratches were on her cheeks.

Slowly, she turns the knob to her door and peeks in only to retreat back when a bullet is aimed for her head. How she saw that, was beyond her knowledge. Maybe he didn't want to hurt her, just scare her. And it worked.

"Dame-Tsuna, stop hiding like a coward and get in here." Reborn calls from behind the door.

Sighing again, the girl makes her way in the room and closes the door behind her. Reborn is sitting on her bed drinking what is probably an espresso.

"And where have you been?" The baby ask, his voice sending shivers down her spine. "School ends at three, it takes you fifteen minutes to walk there, but it's eight and you are just showing up with a child from low ranking mafia family no less."

"You know about Lambo?"

Another bullet is aimed for her head, and she flinches. "Answer the question at hand Dame-Tsuna."

"I was at t-the park and sort of lost track of time, and Lambo-kun needed a place to stay."

"Kindhearted, just like him."

"Like who?"

"Giotto, the first boss, he took in all sorts of people no matter their background. He's was very kind."

"Ah I see."

"And those scratches?" He asks without missing a beat.

Tsuna looks down at her feet and wiggles her toes. "I g-got picked on again. No big deal, I'm fine."

"Of course you are." Was that a sigh she heard in his voice, or maybe she was just hearing things. "Dame-Tsuna, you are an annoying handful sometimes. You should tell Gokudera about it, he'll be happy to do away with those girls for you."

"W-what?" She squawked in surprise. "I don't want him to get involve with that stuff, I can handle it."

"Like you did today?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I was there watching it happen." Another sip of espresso. "Quiet the interesting confrontation. Women are quiet vicious."

Caramel eyes looked a bit hurt. "Why didn't you help me, I thought that's why you came here to help me."

"Dame-Tsuna, don't get confused, I came to help you become the tenth boss of the Vongola, not deal with your little school problems. But I will tell you this, out in the mafia world; there are people a million times worse than those girls were. If you let those stupid teenagers get you, then the big dogs of the mafia world eat you up. Now your only choice is to grow some backbone, because no student of mine will be eaten, they become the big dogs. You got that Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna nods dumbly, without much to say.

"Good, now go clean up and eat dinner. I'm tired of seeing you skip meals."

The girl nods again and scurries off to do what has been ordered. The rest of the night goes somewhat smoothly despite Lambo trying to secretly kill Reborn which always leads to failure. By the end of the night, Tsuna is fast asleep in bed with Lambo cuddling close to her. Nana squeals at the sight, and takes a picture to be added in the scrapbook. She always wanted to have a little sibling for her daughter.

The next morning, Tsuna is surprised and a little happy to see that Gokudera is back.

"Jyuudaime, good morning" A bright smile lights up his face when he sees the brunette, but quickly changes into a frown when he sees the bandage on her face. "What happened, did someone hurt you? I'll kill them."

She shakes her head wildly. "N-no, don't kill anyone! I'm fine really. It's j-just a couple of scratches, no big deal."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes of course." She starts pushing him towards the school. "C-come on, we're gonna be late if we stand here talking."

Both of them get to school before the bell rings. Tsuna scopes the crowd for the girls that harassed her yesterday, but decides not to worry about it. Reborn was right; those girls are nothing to what she has to deal with or might have to deal with. Sure they're tiny bit intimidating, but she was more scared of Lambo when he pulled out a grenade than she was of them.

It seems like I'm making some progress. She thinks happily as she sits down in her seat. Just before class starts, there are collective gasps when the door opens. Confused, Tsuna turns her head towards the commotion and sees none other than Yamamoto Takeshi with a cast on his arm.

"Yamamoto-kun, what happened." A concerned girl asks. The whole class parrots her words.

"I broke my arm while practicing last night." The baseball star says forlornly. "I'll have it on for about two months."

More gasps fill the room.

It's entirely my fault. Tsuna mentally groans and places her forehead on the desk. Stupid Dame-Tsuna, what were you thinking telling him stuff like that. You stupid hypocrite.

The entire first half of the day was spent avoiding looking in Yamamoto's general direction. And by the time lunch comes along, the injured boy is gone and Tsuna is learning how to play poker from Gokudera. For some reason, he had a pack of playing cards and neither of them brought a lunch.

"So, if I have these cards, I have a royal flush?" She asks and shows him her hand.

The silver-haired boy pushes his glasses up and looks at the cards. "Close, but you're missing a queen. Jyuudaime is a very fast learner. I expected nothing less."

Tsuna was about to say something back, when all of a sudden someone bursts through the door. "Yamamoto is about to jump off the roof!"

"What! Don't lie about stuff like that."

"I-I'm not! I saw him for myself, everyone's freaking out!"

Everyone then jumped up from their seat and rushed to the roof. Tsuna however, sat there quietly for a few seconds before getting up as well. She really hoped he wasn't doing this just because he broke his arm right? She really felt like all of this was her fault.

She made her way to the roof, Gokudera following dutifully behind her. Because of her small size, she was able to maneuver herself to the front of the crowd. Gokudera just shoved people out of his way including the teachers.

Tentatively, she edges closer the edge of the building. "Y-yamamoto-kun, please don't."

Said boy turns his sad gaze on the brunette. "Tsuna, you of all people should understand how I feel. To try so hard only to keep failing." He looked at his broken arm and chuckled bitterly. "It really does seem like the baseballs gods threw me away."

Tsuna slowly began to clench and unclench her fist in thought. "I d-don't understand what you're going through, and I might never."

"Oh really." The boy looks angry and a little hurt. "Well I'm sorry for grouping the great Tsuna-sama with a failure like me then. You're obviously so much greater."

"That's not what I meant!" She snaps back, emotions getting the better of her. "I've never tried hard in my entire life. I just gave up because I saw no point in trying. I'm not good at anything, so what's the point. So when you came to me for advice, I stupidly said something without thinking it over, so I'm sorry about that. But you are good at something and just because you hit a bump in the road, doesn't mean you should kill yourself, that's stupid! What about your family and friends huh? What'll they do when you're gone? A broken arm can heal, but death is irreversible."

Embarrassed with what she just said, Tsuna fiddles with the end of her skirt and looks down at her shoes. How rarely she speaks out like that, and it was in front of the entire school no less. "S-so please take what I said into consideration."

She turns to leave only to feel a sudden weight on her shirt. Holy sh- She is unable to finish that thought because now she's pulled back and about to fall off the roof. Instinctively, she grabs hold of Yamamoto's arm and her other is gripping to the edge as their only lifeline. As one arm is being scraped by the concrete, the other is being painfully pulled on by the extra burden.

"Jyuudaime!" Gokudera's scream cuts through the air and in less than a second, hovering in front of the pair.

"A-ah Gokudera-kun." The brunette looks up at the new arrival. "A little help would be nice."

The silver-head boy immediately grabs the girl's tiny wrist and tries to lift both teenagers up. Tsuna plants her feet on the side of the building and tries to heave herself upward.

"Oi baseball idiot!" Gokudera snaps Yamamoto out of his dazed state. "I really don't give a fuck if you live or not, but if Jyuudaime gets hurts because of you, I will personal deal with you. Now I know your legs are used for something other than running bases, so stop being burden and help."

That seems to do it, and helped the trio out quite a bit. Finally, the two teens are safely on the roof, a little shaken and tired, but safe. Everyone immediately surround Yamamoto and ask if he's okay. Gokudera is pissed about the lack of praise his boss gets for saving his life, but Tsuna just pushes him back to the classroom before he cusses someone out.

"Almost died again I see." Reborn states casually as soon as Tsuna walks through the door that evening.

"Yep." She says simply and takes her shoes off. "Almost feel off the roof. Why'd you ask? Were you there too?"

"Of course I was." The toddler places himself on the girl's shoulder as she walks to her room. "I think you should recruit Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Reborn, he's normal. I can't do that."

"Oh but you can, after all he owes you his life. Like Gokudera and even the cow brat."

The teen rolls her eyes and plops down on her bed. "Gokudera-kun forced his way into my family, and Lambo-kun is only five, he doesn't count."

"When did you get the guts to talk back to me Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn kicks the girl in her head causing her to yelp and pout.

"I'm not; we're having a casual conversation."

Another kick.

"Stop that, besides I have math homework that needs to be done."

"I have the perfect way to help you with that."

That night, the air was filled with explosions, screams of a teenage girl, the laughter of a cow brat, and Nana's home cooking.

A/N: Wow, I hope no one was OOC. And for any mistakes, I have no Beta.

About Tsuna getting picked on; canon-verse, Tsuna's a male, so his bullies focus more on hitting him. When most people hear about girls getting bullied, it's usually by other females and we all know girls can get jealousy really easily and tend to say really mean things. Poor Tsuna, had to deal with obsessed fans. I don't think it'll happen again, as long as the boys are around.

I kinda switched around Tsuna's and Lambo's meeting situation because I liked the thought of them meeting by chance instead of having Lambo burst through the window. And again, no Dying Will Bullet, but I'll have it in future chapters if any of you guys are worried about that.

As you noticed, I had very subtle hints of 8027 in here today, but I still don't know who to pair Tsuna with. Oh well, I'll know by the future arc, if I ever get that far. I plan to though.

Thanks for reading!