******************
"Hey, Gokudera!"
A silver-haired boy flinched and looked darkly over his shoulder at the approaching nuisance.
"Keep it down, idiot. This is supposed to be a library, not a playroom."
The taller teenager trotted up to his companion, a grin spreading across his face.
"Sorry, sorry. I just came up from practice." He draped his arms on top of Gokudera's head, resting his chin on them. He closed his eyes contentedly.
"So, Gokudera. Have you been good today?"
The other boy gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the tall pest.
Idiot.
*******************
Gokudera sighed, leaning back against the smooth bookcase. He peered around the library, past the tables littered casually in the study corner. He peeked through the large window in the alcoves. So far so good.
Gokudera had been attending Nanimori High for about a year now. He had followed his best and only friend Tsuna from grammar school to learn here, and had found it agreeable enough. He was highly anti-social, preferring to keep to the library and himself in general. No one bothered him much, maintaining their distance, and preferring to chat with friendlier people. However, that had changed once he began encountering a certain spiky black-haired annoyance on a regular basis.
Yamamoto was an annoying, boring guy from Gokudera's standpoint. He was a typical jock, who was apparently a fantastic baseball player but got poor grades because he didn't study enough. Lame.
He supposed Yamamoto had been in a few of his classes, but he had never really payed much attention to him. The baseball idiot hung out in the back and relaxed with his friends and the many girls dying for his attention.
Gokudera didn't usually bother with classes much anyway. Too many people and not enough information for 2 hours out of his life. He would usually skip and hang out under a tree with a book and a smoke, and just do his assignments to get a passing grade. The teachers used to hassle him about it, but once they learned he had better grades than the rest of his classmates, they left him alone.
Alone, alone, alone. Gokudera loved his solitude, and people had always given it to him. Relationships were a waste of time, especially trying to repair the one with his annoying cheating father. The disastrous result of the last guy he tried to date was the final straw, and had convinced Gokudera that he was best by himself. So why, why was Yamamoto trying to ruin that?!
It had all started with an innocent remark. A casual retort that spawned weeks of hell for Gokudera.
It began on a Tuesday, two weeks ago. He had actually decided to show up for class, since they were having a guest speaker. It had turned out to be a disappointment, since the man had ended up telling them about the dangers of smoking and other bullshit like that. Gokudera knew the dangers, who the hell didn't, but since everything else in life sucked, he figured he could use a bad habit.
He had been packing up his books, prepared to meet Tsuna on the way home. He had dimly decided to tune into the conversation a few feet behind him.
**************
"Hey, Yamamoto! Learn anything today? I totally zoned out" a short, brow-haired boy asked.
"I learned you shouldn't smoke!" Yamamoto replied, a wide grin stretching across his face.
Gokudera rolled his eyes. Stupid remark, stupid grin, stupid guy. He decided to get out of there before his IQ dropped a few points.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and pushed in his chair. He made it halfway to the door before he heard:
"Does anyone here smoke, anyway? It's so gross!"
"Um... I think Gokudera does..."
His footsteps faltered as he heard himself dragged into his classmates' conversation. His shoulders tensed as he felt the class's eyes watching him. He hated being questioned, especially about smoking.
"Oi, Gokudera! Do you really smoke?" Yamamoto called out.
Gokudera spun on his heels and glared at Yamamoto, who looked back with a grin.
"So what if I do?" Gokudera snapped.
"Well it's very bad for you, ya know. You should really stop." Yamamoto said simply.
Oh, hell no. Gokudera was not about to let himself get talked to like a 5 year old. He grabbed Yamamoto by the shirt and dragged the startled idiot down to his eye level.
"Make. Me." he snarled.
He shoved the dark haired boy backwards, causing Yamamoto to stumble as he hit a desk. Gokudera spun around and stalked out of the room, glowing with rage.
Yamamoto blinked rapidly a few times, staring after the retreating boy. He pulled himself up, wincing slightly. His friends watched anxiously as seconds ticked by. Suddenly, Yamamoto looked back at his them with a mischievous smirk.
*****************
And thus began the weeks of torture. The idiot had decided to make it his life's mission to get Gokudera to quit, since Gokudera had been so kind as to 'ask Yamamoto to make him quit'. Needless to say, Gokudera was not ecstatic about this new development.
Yamamoto quickly figured out that Gokudera secluded himself in the library and began visiting the boy each day. He would come up to Gokudera with that carefree smile and ask if the other boy had 'been good that day'.
Normally, Gokudera would brush him off, but Yamamoto was so damn clingy. He would play with the other boy's hair or rifle through his backpack or sometimes just try to have a conversation. Gokudera snapped at him when he attempted any of these, but Yamamoto claimed that it was to make sure the boy wasn't smoking.
"How the hell does any of that have to do with whether I'm smoking or not?" Gokudera snarled.
"Well, I might find some cigarettes in your bag, or you might slip and say you had a smoke while we're talking." Yamamoto replied cheerfully.
"Well why the fuck do you mess with my hair?!" Gokudera barked, slapping the older boy's hand away from his head.
Yamamoto smiled innocently.
"Makin' sure you don't have ashes in it."
Gokudera didn't buy it, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He had tried hiding, leaving the library early, and even personal threats. Nothing seemed to deter the cheery moron.
He hadn't stopped smoking either, but he was finding it harder to keep it away from Yamamoto. If the idiot found any smokes in his bag, he would confiscate them and throw them away. If he smelt smoke on Gokudera, he would spray him down with cologne, leaving the fuming boy smelling like deer piss all day.
Thus, Gokudera was trying to hide again today, to see if Yamamoto would eventually get the hint. He peered around the bookcase one last time, to make sure the coast was clear. He crept to a remote area of the library, hidden by the bookshelves. His hand hovered over the shelves before finally pulling down a thin book entitled 'The Making of Firearms'. He mused that this might be helpful if Yamamoto kept this 'come bother Gokudera every fucking day' phase going on too long.
He stood there for a few minutes, flipping through the pages, lost in thought. Suddenly tired, Gokudera snapped the book shut and stretched up to put it back.
"Let me help you with that" a voice murmured next to Gokudera's ear. The teen recoiled violently, tripping into the body standing behind him. He whipped around, his face crimson with humiliation.
"Yamamoto you bastard! How long have you been there?!"
Yamamoto grinned down at the boy.
"Bout five minutes. You really get immersed in books, don't you?"
Gokudera didn't dignify that with a reply, opting to shove the book into Yamamoto's face. He grabbed the nearest novel and stalked off to sit at one of the tables.
Yamamoto wandered after the boy, and slid out the chair opposite Gokudera.
"Hey, Gokudera?" he queried, sliding into the seat.
"What." Gokudera sighed, flipping pages aimlessly.
Yamamoto propped his face up with his hands, regarding the other teen curiously.
"Is it true you used to go out with Belphegor?"
Gokudera stiffened. A few seconds passed, then Gokudera began flipping through the pages again. Yamamoto waited a few more moments, and still receiving no reply, prodded the boy. "Well?"
Gokudera slammed his hands on the desk, pushing himself up from his chair. Yamamoto blinked, surprised at the amount of hate radiating from the other teen.
"That's no business of yours." Gokudera snarled.
He got out of his seat and snatched the novel off the table. Yamamoto watched quietly as Gokudera turned and disappeared behind the bookshelves.
Dammit, the idiot was trying his patience. Gokudera shoved the book into place, his fist clenching. He had no fucking business prying into Gokudera's personal life. He didn't want to be reminded about his ex-lover, didn't want to think about what that boy had done to him. He slammed his fist into the bookcase, leaning against his arm. He closed his eyes, willing dark memories away. Fucking Yamamoto.
He barely registered the other boy's presence as he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"The hell do you want." Gokudera hissed, eyes still firmly shut.
His eyes shot open as he felt Yamamoto's strong arms encircling his body. The limbs tightened, drawing Gokudera into a firm hug, and felt a face bury itself in his hair. Gokudera began squirming, his face beet red. "Bastard, what the fuck are you doing?!" The arms squeezed him in response.
A few moments passed, and just when Gokudera was about to bite the bastard, Yamamoto released the other teen. Gokudera spun around, glowering with humiliation. "What was that?!"
Yamamoto looked contentedly at the other teen, a smile playing about his lips.
"Making sure you didn't smell like smoke."
Gokudera sputtered in anger as Yamamoto grinned at him innocently.
"I have to get to the field. I'll see you tomorrow, Gokudera." Yamamoto grabbed his book bag from the floor, then trotted off down the library stairs, leaving a very angry and confused Gokudera behind.