Sotto Capo

Disclaimer: I think it's obvious that I don't own KHR, otherwise Gokudera and Yamamoto would have been hitting the mat in various ways by episode 12.

Pairings/Characters: Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi

Warnings: Gokudera's mouth is really the only thing...

Notes: So, Here I am, relatively new to the KHR Fandom, and already thing is pounding away at my brain and just refusing to go away. It really...I dunno...Stuck me funny that there weren't more fics with this premise (or any at all!) and so I decided to rectify that. I'll make it clear that this story has two versions. Sotto Capo is the less angsty, gen version, Shura is that angsty, yaoi version that Sotto Capo wanted to be.

"That stuff is going to kill you one day..."

"Che." The obligatory response of "like I haven't heard that before" was left hanging in the air as Yamamoto sunk down the wall next to Gokudera, ignoring the warning snarl he received for his efforts.

"...Ne, Gokudera-kun..." He began after several minutes of sitting, watching the sun dip below the horizon. "I don't think Sawada-san's going to appreciate you getting blood all over the fence. People are going to start talking about gangsters living here or something."

"...Shut up." Was the reply, no mention of the joke that had Takeshi grinning faintly.

"This game just keeps getting more dangerous as the days go by, huh? Can you even see out of that eye anymore?" Gokudera sighed and swiped the sleeve of his shirt across the gash that split his left eyebrow in two, momentarily stemming the blood flowing into his eye before it started again.

"It's fine. I only need one eye to see." Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at that, surveying the rest of his comrade's body with a quick glance, taking in a patchwork of white, black and crimson.

"Is Tsuna not home? And what they hell happened to you anyway?"

"...De Gallo..." The first question being neatly avoided by answering the second, Gokudera had named a famiglia that the Vongola were having particular trouble with at the moment.

"Gokudera...Where is Tsuna?" Yamamoto demanded to know, eyebrows furrowing, panic beginning to set in from the air of...nothing-ness that shrouded the other man. He seemed to have completely given up his usual verbal sparring with the other guardian and that was the thing that was bothering Yamamoto most of all, not even his disregard of his injuries. Usually, he would have been answering every one of the questions with an indignant curse and then whipping sticks of dynamite out. The only regular mannerism that he seemed to be retaining in his current state being the cigarette hanging nearly forgotten from the corner of his mouth.

"...Hibari and Sasagawa got there before the fighting got really serious. I don't know where they went, they just left...Hibari isn't answering his phone either." That would explain the mass of electronic components smashed against the wall opposite them.

"So...Unless both Sasagawa-senpai and Hibari-senpai got beaten, which is not likely, Tsuna is safe. Why are you so depressed then? Our team is winning!" Yamamoto exclaimed his usual energy and optimism back in place.

"..." Yamamoto sighed again and stood, sliding his arm under Gokudera's as he did so to pull the other Mafioso to his feet.

"Don't be such a sore loser, if you got beat, then that just means you have to practice harder for the next round. It's not like it's a life or death battle or anything."

The statement finally brought some spark of...something...back into Gokudera's eyes as he was dragged upright. He'd known Yamamoto was dense since they'd allied under Juudaime four years ago, but he'd never heard him talk about what they did as anything less than life or death. Wasn't the fact that he could barely stand proof enough of that for the idiot?!

He flung himself away from Yamamoto and supported himself against the wall, glaring as he tried to catch his breath from the effort.

"...Hayato...?"

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?! Not life or death?! The Varia almost killed us all! And the Millefiore! Did you forget that it's very much a matter of life or death in the future?! 6 years, Yamamoto! Somewhere in there we fail! We lose! Juudaime is dead and the Vongola are hunted like rats!"

So that's what it was..., Yamamoto mused, leaning against the wall opposite the street from Gokudera, appraising the other main again, with a small smile, knowing how much it would irritate him.

"So what exactly happened? How did thugs like the De Gallo manage to beat you this badly? They're a minor family at best; even one guardian should have been able to overpower the lot of them easily." Gokudera narrowed his eyes, at the question. And then there were the times when Yamamoto seemed to understand exactly what was going on and showed signs of his future self as one of the Vongola's top Underbosses. He chose to deflect the question to settle one that had been nagging at his curiosity since they had met.

"Yamamoto...Takeshi...You know what we are don't you? What we do? What Tsuna is and what we are to him?" Replacing his spent cigarette with a fresh one from the blood soaked pack in his blazer pocket.

That airy smile was back and Gokudera resisted the urge to grind his cigarette to shreds between his molars.

"Of course I do! We're team Vongola, Tsuna is our captain and we're his team! We've been playing for years; you think I don't get it by now?"

Gokudera was dumbstruck...no...It was something else...there was no word accurate enough to convey how he felt at that moment. He'd been entirely wrong to assume that there was any part of the present Yamamoto that compared to what he was going to be in 6 years. Maybe it was going to take someone actually dying, right in front of him or by his hand to drive the point home in the baseball idiots head.

Whatever, Gokudera didn't have the time or energy to do it for him.

He hauled himself off the wall and clutched at the gunshot wound in right side, somewhere between his 3rd and 4th ribs and attempted to limp, drag, or crawl himself away from Yamamoto before he was forced to blow the asshole away once and for all.

Yamamoto apparently had other ideas as grabbed Gokudera's arm and flung it around his shoulder, holding lightly around his waist to support his body.

"Asshole...What the hell were you doing?" It came out as much more of a sigh of relief than Gokudera would have liked and Yamamoto chuckled.

"6th Commandment, Hayato..." He looked up at Yamamoto in shock to find that spacey grin back in place.

"..."

"Incidentally, my wife isn't about to give birth or anything, not that I have one anyway, but still. Cosa Nostra comes first. Don't always wait until you're bleeding from every pore before calling for help. Not that you do even then, Sotto Capo."

"Oi! Make-up your mind! Are you stupid or not?! Stop fucking around with me!!" Gokudera growled, struggling in the firm grip that Yamamoto had on him as they made their way slowly in the direction of his family's restaurant.

"I'm not! Everyone knows that using the lingo is appropriate when you're playing an RPG!"

"...Yamamoto!"

"Maa, maa, thrashing around like that is going to aggravate your injuries even more. At least wait until you get cleaned up before you try and blow me to pieces!"

More notes:...Er...Like I said, this was so much angstier in my mind...Apparently Yamamoto had other ideas...I just couldn't do angst with him the first KHR-around...Shura will be closer to the original that I had in mind...I promise...

So...translation notes and things...Sotto Capo refers to an Underboss in a famiglia; The Commandments as Yamamoto quotes refer to those discovered

In November 2007 Sicilian police reported to have found a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo. Similar to the Biblical Ten Commandments, they are thought to be a guideline on how to be a good mobster. So says Wikipedia. The 6th one listed is "Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife's about to give birth." meaning that even though Gokudera likes to take on these things himself, the famiglia is always there for his call. I've never seen anyone bring those up either...