A/N: This story came out from a plot bunny that I had inside my head for awhile now until the point at which I had to get it down somewhere.

This is my first attempt at a shounen-ai fic. (inspired by dw164 to write some) So please go easy on me and forgive me if things are moving a bit slow on the romance part and if it's not that good.

This fic is AU. Tsuna and Co. are in their first year of high school, which puts them around the age of sixteen. The Arcobaleno's have not been cursed, so everyone is in their normal adult form. (meaning I can insert some adult ColoLal moments!) However, Tsuna is still Vongola Decimo and Reborn is still his tutor. Also, the Vongola rings have not yet been introduced, meaning no guardian roles yet. That will come later on. Oh, and Yamamoto will be a bit...angsty and serious in this one. It'll be awhile until we see his cheerful side, so hope you don't mind.

My focus is currently on another KHR fic right now, so I don't know how often I'll update this one. I guess it'll depend on how many reveiws I get. So, please review and tell me what you think of it!

Chapter 1: Encounter

A figure burst out from the shadows of the night, dashing away from a large mansion at the edge of a peaceful town. The silence of the night was broken by the loud roar of thunder as heavy raindrops started to fall into the earth, soaking the dry ground. The figure didn't seem to mind. He kept on running, fighting his way though the rain. It wasn't until he got under a bridge in the middle of the town that he stopped.

The young man placed his hand on the wall next to him in order to keep his balance, panting. His breathing was unsteady as he stood there, trying to calm down. He stared down at his own hands. What he saw were hands stained with blood.

He thrust them into the flowing river that went underneath the bridge and frantically began to wash them, rubbing his hands against each other even to the point of scratching his own skin with his nails over and over again. All he wanted was to get it off. He wanted them off. It was like this every time. Every time when he finished with one, he was always left with bloodstain hands. The more he did it, the more difficult he found to get rid of it. The blood seemed to have clung onto his skin like leeches, not letting go until it had drain every ounce of life out of him.

After what seemed like a long while, he finally lifted his hands from the cold chilling water. He observed them and to his relief, they were cleaned. He sat back down on the on the grass, trying to relax.

"Yamamoto Takeshi."

Said male shot up from where he was sitting and spun his head around to look at the direction where the voice came from. To his left stood a man in his thirties, holding an umbrella above his head to shield himself from the rain. "They've already went to confirm your work. Mission accomplished, and nicely done as always," the man remarked, giving the younger man in front of him a smile.

Yamamoto looked away. He didn't want to see that smile; a smile of satisfaction over someone else's death. It was caused a disgusting feeling to brew up inside of him. It made him feel sick. Even disgusted of what he himself has done.

"He has been very pleased with your work lately," the man said, still keeping the same smile. "Get some rest. You'll have more work to do later on."

The man then stepped back from underneath the bridge and disappeared into the pouring rain.

Yamamoto threw himself back onto the grass. He has been getting a lot of jobs lately. To the others they were jealous of him, seeing as his skills were so favored by that person. However, for Yamamoto, he just wanted to stop. If he could he would have gotten away from this position long time ago. The reality was that he couldn't and probably never will.

Laying his back against the cold wall, the tired male closed his eyes. The day had completely drained him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wake up."

"…"

"Wake up Dame Tsuna."

"Hn…"

Bang!

"Itai!"

"I told you to wake up."

"There are other ways to wake someone up other than dragging them onto the floor!" Tsuna shouted getting up from the floor and rubbing his chin, which slammed against the side of his bed as he was being dragged downwards. He then looked at the clock. "Reborn, it's 5:30 in the morning! Why'd you wake me up this early?"

"It's for training," the other person answered. He was a tall man in a black suit with a fedora nested on the top of his head, shading his eyes. "I'm giving you one minute to change and get yourself downstairs," Reborn ordered, leaving the room.

Tsuna let out a sigh of exasperation, but got up anyways. He did not want to know what Reborn might do to him if he didn't get ready on time. It had been over a year since his father showed up with this mysterious man named Reborn, who told him that he was to train him in order to prepare him for being the tenth boss of the Vongola, the most powerful mafia family in Italy. At first Tsuna was in utter shock to hear the news and to find out that the reason why his dad had disappeared for years was because of Mafia work. However, no matter how hard he persisted in rejecting his title, Reborn had always managed to drag him into some ridiculously dangerous training. Now it had become part of his normal daily life.

After getting ready, the teen obediently obeyed Reborn, his tutor's instructions and headed outside for a jog around town.

The weather was nice in the early morning. Hardly anyone was up yet, making the town peacefully quiet. Tsuna took a deep breath of the morning's fresh air. He enjoyed feeling the cool breeze brush gently through his hair and against his skin as he jogged. It had been awhile since the last time Reborn gave him an easy training like this. Normally the Spartan tutor of his would set some sort of traps that would turn a passive morning jog into a deadly race across a mine field.

As he came to a bridge in the middle of town, something caught Tsuna's eyes. He came to a halt and stretched his neck to get a better view of a figure that was lying underneath the bridge. The figure looked to be human. Tsuna slid down the grassy slope and ran towards the figure.

When he was directly above the person, Tsuna knelt down to get a closer look. The person had was a young man with spiky black hair and Tsuna blushed a bit at how good looking he was. What surprised Tsuna was that he seemed to be around his age; around sixteen years old.

Embracing the fallen male in his arms, Tsuna tried to call the male back to life by shaking the body. It didn't seem to be working. Tsuna checked the other male's breathing and to his relief, the person was still alive. However, he seemed pretty worn out and weak. His clothes were also wet. He seemed to have spent to who night outside. Tsuna frowned. If he remembered correctly, it was pouring last night.

Placing a hand on the stranger's forehead, Tsuna's eyes widen when he felt that it was warmer than it should be. Tsuna started to panic slightly, trying to figure out what to do with the person. He finally decided that it might have been best if he took the guy home and waited until he woke up. He had no idea who this young man was or where he lived and he couldn't just leave him outside in this condition either.

Pulling the other male up and leaning the body against his own, Tsuna supported him and slowly staggered back home with some difficulties. The person was taller than Tsuna was and it made it hard to keep from falling over because of the extra weight.

When Tsuna reached his house, Reborn was standing outside his house with a cup of warm coffee in his hands. He raised a questioning eyebrow at the sight of Tsuna returning so early, especially with an unknown figure.

"Reborn, can you help me get him upstairs to my room? I found him lying by the bridge in the middle of town and he doesn't seem to be feeling well," Tsuna explained to his tutor.

Reborn walked towards the door, opened it and stood next to it.

Tsuna groaned and dragged himself along with the person he was trying to help inside the house. Of course, his Spartan devil tutor would never dirty his hands and waste his energy helping something his poor student had already started.

Once he reached his room on the upper floor, Tsuna carefully laid the unconscious teen on his bed. Tsuna stood next to his bed for a few moments, thinking of what to do next. He should first change this person's clothes into something dry first.

Reaching out his hands, Tsuna grabbed to take off the other teen's black jacket and slid it off his arms and pulled it from underneath his body. Placing it on the floor, Tsuna reached for the male's shirt next and started lifting it up, revealing white skin and a nicely built body. Tsuna felt himself blushing as he stared at the person's body in front of him.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed Tsuna's wrist.

"Hiiii!" Tsuna screamed in surprised, falling down onto the floor.

"Who are you?"

Tsuna looked up and saw that the male he had brought back was awake. He was staring directly at Tsuna with alert eyes.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. I saw you unconscious underneath the bridge and decided to bring you back to my place," Tsuna explained.

The person, stared at Tsuna for a few moments as if to try and search whether Tsuna was telling the truth or not before eventually releasing his hold on Tsuna's wrist.

An awkward silence fell between the two of them for a few seconds before the on the bed started to stand up.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna asked, watching the other teen grabbing his jacket from the floor.

"Leaving."

"You can't leave yet! You're still not feeling well!" Tsuna exclaimed, shooting up from where he was sitting.

The other male didn't seem to be listening to him and walked to the door. Tsuna quickly dashed forward to block the other person's path.

"You should stay here until you are feeling well, or at least until your fever goes down."

"Move."

Tsuna stubbornly shook his head.

The two young men stared at each other for a while until a new person made their entrance.

"Who are you talking to Tsu-kun?" a female voice spoke up. The door behind Tsuna was pushed opened, revealing a woman in her early forties. Her hair was the same shade of brown as Tsuna's. "Is this a friend of; yours?"

"Ah…yeah, he is. He's not feeling very well, so can he stay here for a bit?" Tsuna took the chance to ask his mom, Nana, about it.

"Why of course. I'll go make some soup right now. There nothing better than nice warm soup when you are sick," Nana said, giving her son's 'friend' a smile, before leaving the room.

Once his mom left, Tsuna turned back to face the other person. "So, what's your name?" he asked with a friendly smile.

No answer.

Tsuna's smile faltered a bit. Did he not trust him?

"Um…You can trust me you know. I'm just a normal high school student, who just wants to help you…um…" Tsuna found himself staring at the floor and scratching the back of his neck anxiously, not knowing what to do with the person in front of him. He raised his gaze to look at the other male. He cocked his head to the side, thinking. This person seemed awfully familiar…

"Yamamoto Takeshi…?"

The male in front of him stared at him with a surprised expression.

"You're Yamamoto Takeshi from class 1-A of Namimori Senior High School right?"

"…"

"We went to Namimori Elementary School together too. You were always really popular with everyone and you were also so talented with baseball too!" Tsuna said, thinking back with a smile on his face. "I haven't seen you since middle school. You suddenly dropped out during the first year," Tsuna recalled. He faced the person in front of him. "Did something happen?"

Yamamoto flinched.

"Gomen, I shouldn't have asked that. You don't have to answer," Tsuna quickly said, once sensing that Yamamoto was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"No, it's fine, haha," Yamamoto said, forcing a smile. "It's just a because of family issue, that's all."

"I see," Tsuna said, managing a small smile himself. "Well, it's nice to see you again. Even though we never talked much."

"Yeah…"

"I'm glad you're going to school again."

Yamamoto nodded.

Another silence came between the two once again before Tsuna spoke up.

"Hey, Yamamoto…"

"Hn?"

"You seem a bit different…"

Yamamoto raised a questioning eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He couldn't have noticed…

Tsuna cocked his head to the side, studying the person in front of him. "I don't know…You just seem different…Like…did something happen?"

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened," Yamamoto said, averting Tsuna's gaze. "More importantly, we hardly ever talked to each other before, so how could you know?"

There's just no way. Nobody is supposed to know…

Tsuna looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's just a feeling…Maybe your're right. Sorry for saying something so strange."

"Haha, it's fine," Yamamoto chuckled softly. "Thanks for being willing to take care of me," he added smiling.

That's right. Nobody is supposed to know…

"You're welcome!" Tsuna stated, grinning. "I'm going to see if I can get you my dad's clothes, since mine definitely won't fit you."

"Okay then. Thanks again," Yamamoto said with a friendly smile.

All he had to do was act like this…Just like how things were back then…Just like how he was back then…Nobody will ever see through the him he is now…

When Tsuna left the room, Yamamoto laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Letting out a deep weary sigh, he closed his eyes once again.

Please review and tell me what you think!