Summary: Yamamoto's been avoiding his birthday for years.
Setting: TYL!Setting, Italy
Pairing: Yamamoto Takeshi/Sawada Tsunayoshi (established relationship)
Author's notes: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAKESHI YAMAMOTO! *throws confetti* This is for you RainMistTakeshi, Yamamoto's biggest fan ever. And also to the famiglia and the new members, I salute you! 8027 fans, thank you once again for your neverending support and loyalty!
These Cages We Called Walls
by ilYamaTsuna7227li
Yamamoto stepped on the chains binding the manacles of his wrists, pulling them up at the same time pushing his feet down as hard as he could. He grunted when the effort yielded no result and then sighed, leaning back against the wall and falling to the floor.
As far as birthday weeks went, this was probably one of his worst.
Granted, it was his fault in the first place, zealously assigning himself to a week-long scouting mission and throwing himself head-first into the enemy famiglia's clutches.
His skills with the sword were definitely not to be trifled with, but he was only just human, and being surrounded by at least twenty Mafioso all with a grade-A flame rings, it was only a matter of time before he was captured.
"Gokudera and the kid definitely won't be pleased." The rain guardian said out loud, looking up at the cracked ceiling. He'd been in his cell for a total of two days. The enemy famiglia was keeping him alive in hopes of turning him against Vongola and using him as a double agent (as though his loyalty to Tsuna was that flimsy). He'd known the brunet for ten years now, no amount of money or power would ever turn his head.
Maybe the enemy famiglia was starting to realize that too, seeing as the food being sent his way were getting less and less as days passed. The last thing he remembered eating was some weird bread and a glass half-filled with water. Being the guardian of calmness and positivity (Ryohei aside), Yamamoto was thankful that he wasn't being tortured or beaten. He'd seen enough mafia movies to know that being hurt in his line of work was always a possibility.
Still, it was hard to be thankful when his stomach was growling loudly and occupying his every thought. The swordsman let out a sigh, looking to the right wall, seeing the two line indents he made on the grimy wall to keep track of his days. By his usual mission records, Vongola would expect him to be done with this mission in at least three days, the longest being seven. The other guardians would start speculating and worrying on the sixth day but would only intervene on the eighth.
Yamamoto quietly resigned himself to the fact that he may still be here on his birthday (which was three days away). Not that he'd ever celebrated it before or anything. He'd always gone through incredible lengths to make people unaware of his birthday or else disappear when they did remember.
It was the day his mother gave birth to him.
It was also the day she died.
He knew it wasn't his fault, his dad had told him that at least enough times already, the words were seared into his heart and he knew his father loved him more than life itself. Still, it did not change the fact that his life was given at the forfeit of his mother's. It may not be his fault (his father blamed the lack of equipment of the hospital, the doctors blamed his mother's declining health) but he'd carry it as if it is. His father needed something to blame, the doctors needed something to blame, and he needed something to blame. So Takeshi would blame himself.
The thought of celebrating on the day his mother died was unappealing to him.
The jingling of keys broke through Yamamoto's thoughts. He looked up just as another suited man came up and opened the door to his cell. The man's face was impassive and cold and Yamamoto found himself straightening, his own neutral mask in place. His eyes scanned for anything to use against his jailor but none came up to him. If his hands and legs weren't chained to the wall and so closely together, he may have used his height as an advantage to escape.
The man looked down at him, his neutral mask slipped into a cruel smile. Yamamoto knew that look and he hardened his own expression.
"Takeshi Yamamoto, sembra che dobbiamo convincere a cambiare la vostra fedeltà in un altro modo (1)." The man said, taking out a Smith and Wesson 642m 38 SPL revolver. Sun flames enveloped the whole gun and Yamamoto pursed his lips, his own rain flames locked away by the chains.
He can barely understand Italian but Yamamoto knew a threat when he heard one. It seemed like he needed to look for something else to be thankful for, because he wouldn't be safe from harm for long.
Yamamoto sat up straight, a sharp smile on his face as he said, "Do your worst."
The rain guardian spit up blood into the toilet at the corner of his cell, after the suited man threw him back in, after hours of pain. They've almost establish something like a routine for the past two days. Yamamoto would get a sorry excuse for a breakfast in the morning, he'd be taken two hours later for the daily questioning, then five hours after for pain tolerance testing, afterwards he'd be brought back to his cell to clean himself up and to eat a sorry excuse for a dinner. After dinner, Yamamoto would try to find a way out, trying to break one of the bars on the window (to use as a weapon), or trying to summon his flame, before finally falling asleep from exhaustion and repeating the day again.
On the third day, his birthday to be precise, Yamamoto barely blinked awake from his sleep when the door to his cell was opened once more. The rain guardian took a mental observation of his current physical well-being. He's got bruises in places he didn't know existed since the enemy famiglia avoided breaking any of his bones. So, the worst injuries he had were a sprain on his right foot and a deep cut on his chin which he had to sew close by himself with the materials they provided.
Yamamoto grunted, straightening up and carefully arranging his expression to neutrality. He looked up at his captor and noticed that the man's face was pale in fear rather than smug. He raised an eyebrow at the change and opened his mouth to comment.
"Stai zitto (2)!" The man hissed as he took out a key and took the chains from the wall, taking them like they were a leash. In the background, the swordsman could hear explosions and yells. His jailor dragged him up and the rain guardian groaned when he put pressure on his right foot. "Affrettatevi e stand , è cosa inutile (3)!"
"Looks like they came earlier than I thought." Yamamoto grinned, despite the painful way the man was pulling at his chains. He tried to fight back, of course, despite the fact that hunger and his injuries had sapped all of his strength. "Come on, old man, don't tell me you're going to use me as a hostage to get out of this alive." He laughed.
The man gave him an ugly sneer, pulling him out of his tiny cell and dragging him towards a secret passage down the hall. "I know you Vongola cretins," Finally, the man spoke a language Yamamoto undersood. "Your greatest weakness is that you value your comrades too much. You'd let the evilest person live if it meant that none of you would get sacrificed."
Yamamoto grunted at the force of the pull but still, a smile came across his face, "Maa, well you see that's where you're wrong, old man." He said as he maneuvered his hands and did a complicated twist that pulled him away from his captor and allowed him put him in a chokehold with his chains. "You'd call it our greatest weakness, but actually, fighting to keep our comrades alive is what makes us the strongest." He winked.
The man's face turned purple, either from rage or lack of air, he doesn't know. His jailor lifted a gun to his face. He probably decided that having a hostage wasn't worth it after all. "Screw you," The suited man spat angrily, "Die, Vongola-"
But before he could pull the trigger, a gloved hand grabbed the gun and melted it in his jailor's hand. Yamamoto's captor yelped and dropped the gun. He was pulled away from Yamamoto's grasp. No longer having his captor's support to stand, the rain guardian collapsed to the floor but was quickly supported by an arm around his waist.
Yamamoto's captor turned to the person who melted his gun and he paled alarmingly, eyes wide.
Narrowed sunset-colored eyes stared him down and the suited man fell to a kneel in surrender. "Your family has been defeated," The brunet's eyes flared and the man shrieked when his necktie caught on fire. He hurriedly tried to take it off and threw it to the floor, backing up quickly. "I'll be reserving a special punishment for you though."
Two Vongola men came from behind Tsuna to drag the man away. Yamamoto let out a relieved breath, wincing slightly when his boss adjusted his hold and pressed on a bruise on his back. The rain guardian flinched away from the touch behind him, and buried his face on Tsuna's shoulder instead. "Ow."
The young Vongola let out an exasperated sigh, "This is basically your fault, you know." He chastised lightly, adjusting his hold to be more comfortable for his injured guardian, "No one asked you to go running off like that. We get that you don't like the mention of your birthday-" Yamamoto winced and Tsuna just gave him an impatient look. "-but you didn't have to run away like that."
"I heard something about a birthday bash." The rain guardian sighed on his shoulder and Tsuna gave him a disbelieving look. He pinched Yamamoto's side and got another groan of pain. But then the brunet trailed gentle fingers up Yamamoto's side and to his neck which had another bruise. The action made the swordsman shiver.
"We'll talk about that later, for now, you should rest." Tsuna said, softly kissing Yamamoto on the head.
Amber eyes began to droop, the adrenaline rushing out of his system. "No surprise parties, Tsuna." He grumbled.
He felt Tsuna shake his head lightly, "Sleep."
Yamamoto surrendered himself to the darkness.
Yamamoto woke up feeling better for the first time this week. His eyes and body were heavy with sleep and rest- or maybe his body was just heavy because a certain brunet was half sprawled over him, sniffling at his shoulder. The rain guardian blinked, allowing his eyes to get used to the darkness of his room. He looked to the dark curtains and the light coming through. It must be afternoon already- and still his birthday.
The rain guardian covered his eyes, intending to sleep the day away or feign to be too injured to get up on this particular day and maybe for tomorrow too, just in case anyone wanted to greet him tomorrow. (Time zones, you know, distant friends will greet him tomorrow claiming that it's still the 24th where they're at).
"Oh no, you don't." The snuffling between his neck and shoulder turned into a sharp bite that made Yamamoto flinch. Tsuna leaned back and looked him in the eye as his guardian rubbed at the bite mark. The swordsman held his head up to look at his boss. "Ryohei's looked over your injuries and said that you're fine, almost at a hundred percent now. He couldn't cure starvation though and told me to tell you to get some soup in before you start digesting the feast the famiglia prepared for your birthday bash."
At the mention of a birthday bash, Yamamoto let his head fall back on the pillow. He removed his right hand from his neck and had his right arm thrown over his eyes instead, "Let me guess, Gokudera enjoyed organizing everything."
"He lives to torture you." Tsuna hummed. He reached out tentative fingers to the bite mark, rubbing it sheepishly. "You know, you should humor us, even if it's just for today. I don't know what the others' reasons are, but I'm really glad you were born."
Yamamoto's lips pursed, "You know why I don't celebrate."
"Because you grieve instead, yeah, I get it." His boss said, sighing and sitting up. "You've been grieving for a long time."
"If you say it's not my fault-"
"You already know it's not your fault. I don't know if you believe it though, you punish yourself every year-"
"I don't punish myself-" But Yamamoto was cut off when Tsuna grabbed his arm away from his face, forcing him to look into narrowed brown eyes.
"You avoid your friends like the plague, you look guilty when you laugh too much on you own birthday." Tsuna said, "You threw yourself into a week-long mission when you overheard Lambo talking about a birthday bash- how are you not making yourself miserable?"
Yamamoto frowned, trying to pull his arm away but to no avail. He sighed, "I'm just remembering that's all." He murmured.
"You can remember all you want." Tsuna said in a soothing tone, finally softening his hold, "But you can celebrate too. I'm sure your mom would rather you celebrate your birthday with friends and family too."
"I wouldn't know what she would have wanted." Yamamoto said softly, "Never met her…"
Tsuna gave off an impatient huff and flicked his nose making his rain guardian retreat. "She gave up her life to give birth to you." His guardian flinched, "No listen- listen!" He grabbed the swordsman's face and turned it to look at him, "She did that so you could have a life and be happy." He said, "Ten years, Yamamoto Takeshi. Ten years, we've all respected the fact that you didn't want to celebrate your birthday and kept our distance. But we can see that not celebrating it makes you unhappy and that's just stupid. You owe yourself this day, for staying alive this long. You owe it to us, for making us wait so long to celebrate it with you, and you owe it to your mom and dad who were happy that you were born to them. You owe it to them because they want you to be happy and they're happy when you're happy."
Amber eyes stared into sincere auburn ones. The depth of Tsuna's words and the sincerity behind them sometimes made his brown eyes flicker to sunset orange and Yamamoto couldn't help the smile on his face. Tsuna cared so much, it was one of the things he loved about his boss.
The Vongola rain guardian reached out his hands to run them through soft brown locks, "How am I so lucky to have you?" He asked out loud, making the brunet snort, yet his cheeks flushed at the words.
"Some would disagree with you on that." Tsuna said, "I've heard I'm pretty unlucky. Besides, I'm the one who's supposed to be wondering how I got you, of all people."
Yamamoto frowned, one of his hands cupping Tsuna's cheek tenderly, running a thumb at the corner of his mouth. "Don't talk like that. You're wonderful."
The brunet sighed, shoulders slumping as he leaned forward and gave him a chaste peck on the lips. "So are you. But a fact is a fact." He shrugged.
His guardian's frown deepened, "I'll go to the birthday bash if you stop thinking like that." He leaned forward, meeting his forehead with Tsuna's, amber eyes gazing into brown ones seriously, "I'll celebrate my birthday every year if it means you'll see yourself as I see you, Tsuna."
The Vongola boss' smile lit up his eyes. He kissed the tip of Yamamoto's nose. "Now, how can I ever refuse that?" He said as he sat back, "Deal. Now, get up and get dressed, I'm sure everyone's been waiting long enough." He got out of bed.
Yamamoto sat up, his body feeling slightly stiff. He looked at Tsuna uncertainly. As though sensing his unease, the young boss reached out a hand to thread their fingers.
"It'll be okay." Tsuna assured him, "It's not even a big celebration. It's just us and the guardians, Reborn, the girls, I-Pin, and Futa." He said, counting them off with his other hand, "We'll take it slow and I'll make sure the other guardians don't overwhelm you. It'll just be like the usual family gathering."
A smile finally lit up Yamamoto's face a she held up his and Tsuna's intertwined hands, kissing the back of his boss' hand. "Sounds fun."
The brunet nodded, "It is." He pulled Yamamoto up and turned to the large walk-in closet, "Now, I think you'll look good with this blue shirt, don't you agree?"
Yamamoto laughed lightly, placing his arms around the brunet's waist and hooking his chin over the other's shoulder. "Whatever you say, you're the boss after all."
Tsuna smiled to himself.
His birthday bash wasn't as extravagant as Yamamoto had feared. The decorations were mostly handmade and the food were cooked by Haru and Kyoko while Reborn distracted Bianchi (this was his present, he claimed). The guardians bickered amongst themselves, making Yamamoto relax marginally, glad that he wasn't always at the center of attention. It was as Tsuna said, it was just like every other family gathering, only with games and a lot more laughing.
After they ate and played ridiculous games (Yamamoto didn't join in the games, he preferred to watch everyone make a fool of themselves while trying to calm down Ryohei and Gokudera as always), it was finally time for a small gift-giving.
"Really, I'm just glad you guys are here." Yamamoto told them sincerely, "You didn't have to get me anything."
"Too late, we already got you something!" Lambo said, as they started piling their presents in front of the rain guardian.
Yamamoto was about to open his mouth again but Gokudera cut him off, "Jesus Christ, just accept them and say thank you already, idiot!"
"No need to be extremely shy, Yamamoto!: Ryohei yelled, as though Yamamoto wasn't just a few feet away.
"They have a point," Tsuna said as he leaned against his rain guardian's shoulder. "Go ahead, just open them."
The gift-opening, if possible, was even more fun than the birthday lunch and games. Everyone had a running commentary about the gifts, recounting how they got their gift and often, it had a funny story attached to it.
"Now it's my turn." Tsuna said, getting up. Everyone turned to look at their boss. Yamamoto especially, he warily watched Tsuna head to the door. He hoped the brunet didn't get him anything extravagant. "I think I'm confident enough to say that my present is definitely the best so far."
Tsuna opened the door and Yamamoto Tsuyoshi stepped in, grinning widely at his son.
"Takeshi!"
"Dad!" Yamamoto was up from his seat in record time, eyes wide in surprise. He headed towards his father and gave him a hug, "You're in Italy!"
"Of course! I wasn't about to miss my son's birthday! Especially since he finally got enough brain cells to think of celebrating it!" His father said with a raised eyebrow as he patted his son on the back. Yamamoto laughed sheepishly before retreating.
"Yeah, thanks for coming." The rain guardian said in a quiet tone as his father gave him a fond look.
"I wouldn't have missed this for the world, Takeshi." His old man assured him, amber eyes serious. "Besides, I don't think I'm the one you should be thanking." He inclined his head towards Tsuna who was talking with Reborn to give the father and son some space. "This all became possible because of your young man over there."
Yamamoto followed his dad's gaze.
"He's definitely a keeper." Tsuyoshi whispered and then winked, to Yamamoto's embarrassment. "Make sure not to let him get away."
The rain guardian nodded as his father clapped him on the back in approval.
"Well, I'm starving. We'll talk some more after I eat, all right?" His dad said, subtly pushing him in the brunet's direction. Tsuna looked up just as Tsuyoshi headed for the food. He excused himself from Reborn who was being hand fed grapes by Bianchi.
Yamamoto reached out to tangle their fingers just as Tsuna was near enough, before pulling the brunet towards the quiet balcony. Everyone was too busy with their own antics and gave them space.
The young boss closed the balcony door behind them before turning towards his guardian, "So…" He said with a smile, holding out his other hand, so that both hands were holding Yamamoto's, "Not bad, right?"
The swordsman let out a thoughtful hum, gently nudging his nose with Tsuna's, "Not bad. I-" He let out a soft exhale, "It was actually sort of fun."
The brunet chuckled, "I told you so." He let go of Yamamoto's hands to cup his face instead. "Happy birthday, Takeshi." He said quietly.
Yamamoto's eyes closes as he reached up to grab the burnet by his elbows, "Thank you, Tsuna." He whispered, leaning in for a kiss. The brunet smiled tilting his head to meet his lips.
Birthdays were never a big deal for Yamamoto, in fact he'd rather no one mace any deal about it at all. But standing there in the balcony with his famiglia and his dad only several feet away and celebrating his birthday for him, and with Tsuna in his arms, he's started to think that maybe celebrating birthdays weren't that bad after all.
Not when his worst week turned out to be his best and happiest day in the end.
Thank you, mom. Yamamoto thought to the heavens, his arms tightening around Tsuna's waist. For giving birth to me.
The End
Translations: (by google translate)
(1) It seems we must convince you to change your loyalty in another way.
(2) Shut up!
(3) Stand up, you useless thing!
Author's notes: Been really busy, thank you for being patient with me. I have exams again and I don't know when I'll actually have time for anything ever again T_T But thank you, and reviews are appreciated as always!