Gokudera cried out in surprise while falling over a computer chair, "WH-WHAT HAPPENED?" His eyes were wide as he looked up at Dino, shocked beyond speech.
Dino sighed, "You're usually the one who gets it the first time Gokudera, do I really have to go through it again? Don't tell me the other guardians are going to be doubly slow on the uptake for this one too. I don't have that much time to waste on Ryohei."
Gokudera just stared up at him from the floor, still in shock, his face changing rapidly from bright red to sheet white.
"J-just tell me who did it.." Gokudera managed to force out, stumbling over his words. "As Tsuna's right hand man it is my fault for not being there to protect him. I will take responsibility for this." Gokudera's face had settled on sheet white as he slowly straightened up to his feet. His eyes were dialated and he looked like he was already half dead.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. This enemy is a formidable one. This family is well known for their new technology developments in the field of defense. They use their flames to produce a shield that is hardened by their signature lightning flames, and laced with sun and cloud flames so no matter how strong the blast is that hits it, the shield will fix itself instantly. Usually the family stays mostly in the shadows, selling minor secrets strategically to other families. In the past, whenever they have taken an offensive, they have been shown to take every precaution. Their strategy is unmatched. The rest of the mafia world is generally just lucky that they don't take the offensive more often." Dino listed off, again, as Gokudera didn't seem to get it the first time.
"Well I can't just sit here!" Gokudera exploded back at him, "They have Tsuna!" His fists clenched at his side and his face darkened. He looked away as his eyes started to burn with tears that wanted to fall.
"H-…how did this happen anyway..." Gokudera whispered. "We were never far away from him, how could they have gotten him…."
"It seems to have been based out of your school," Dino read off of a clipboard. "As far as we can tell, the family begun by pickpocketing Tsuna's '27' mittens out of his school backpack in between classes; that way when they made their move to take him, he wouldn't be able to defend himself with the X-gloves. We caught minimal video footage, Tsuna seemed as though he couldn't do anything. Also, we did see something white in the leader's hands while he was conversing with Tsuna as well as a fair sized box on the floor that seemed to have some kind of flame signature to it. It all happened very quickly."
"so, we never had a chance…" Gokudera replied, still whispering. "stupid Uri, why did you choose just then to run away. I should have been there for him."
Dino shook his head, "I understand how hard this is for you. I will be gathering the other guardians. We will meet in the main conference room of the new base in one hour. Take some time to gather your thoughts and be there. Got it?" Dino tried to sound commanding but Gokudera just nodded numbly.
"…right. I will be there."
"We will discuss the terms of the ransom that we received. It will be difficult to meet. When the guardians show up, try to start explaining it to them so we do not waste time during the actual meeting, going over the basics over and over."
Dino walked away, leaving Gokudera to stare out the window, his thoughts spinning wildly out of control.
"Gokudera-kun, you wanted to meet me up here? Is there something that you need?" Tsuna looked up at him, his wide eyes innocent to the purpose of their meeting.
"Y-yes, well, that is there is something that I wanted to tell you, juudaime." Gokudera would not make eye contact with Tsuna and it was starting to bother him a little.
"Of course, Gokudera-kun, you can tell me anything. Is there a problem?" Tsuna looked up at him, starting to get worried.
"No, no problem, well I hope it won't become a problem, just….give me a minute." Gokudera looked down, "this is very difficult for me."
"Ah, well, you can take your time." Tsuna smiled gently, taking a seat on a nearby concrete barrier. "I am here."
Gokudera paused for a long while, considering the best way to do this. After a little bit of time he finally spoke. "It…it seems that I have fallen in love with you, Tsuna."
Tsuna's eyes widened. He was not expecting that, and Gokudera had not called him Tenth, Juudaime, or Decimo. He must be serious. Tsuna's mind whirled.
Gokudera looked up and saw the shocked look on his beloved boss's face. "J-just let me show you." He pulled out his storm ring. "This is what a normal dying will flame looks like coming from my ring." Red flames came spurting out of his ring, it looked perfectly normal, Tsuna had seen it before.
Gokudera's voice softened, "Now just watch this, please, Tsuna." As Gokudera spoke Tsuna's name, the flame size doubled, throwing red light onto Gokudera's face and body. Tsuna's eyes widened, he had never seen anything like this before.
Gokudera looked up at Tsuna, his face calm and serious, "There is more." The red light danced off of his eyes, the wind from the flames teasing his hair and messing it up in all directions.
"I love you, Tsunayoshi Sawada."
The flames erupted from Gokudera's storm ring, casting a bright red light on the entire area. The wind from the flames making both boys' clothes dance and their hair whip around their faces; it was a resolve that Tsuna had never seen come from his storm guardian before. He had had no idea that spoken words could have such an effect on the size of the flames. What's more, the flames just kept going, they were controlled. Gokudera's resolve was pure and the flames were reacting to it.
Gokudera searched Tsuna's face for a reaction but all he saw was amazement and red light, he wasn't sure if that was what he was looking for. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as Uri flew out of her box. She was reacting to the flames, Gokudera had forgotten about it, of course she would sense the difference, she loved storm flames more than anything and it had been a while since he had last treated her to them. Faster than an untrained eye could follow, Uri latched herself on to Gokudera's wrist, her teeth surrounding the ring, her claws embedded in his lower arm.
Crying out in pain, Gokudera's concentration was broken and the flames disappeared. Uri, upset with her master for taking away the flames, scratched at his face and ran off in the other direction.
As Gokudera ran after Uri, tears started streaming down his face. After all that, Tsuna had said nothing to him. Did he not care for him in return? The tears blurred his vision as he started looking for Uri. 'No good,' he thought, 'if I can't see anything how am I supposed to find that stupid cat.' He sat back, leaning his head against a tree, willing himself to stop crying.
Eventually, he resumed searching for Uri, that was where Dino found him, his eyes hard as he led Gokudera back to the base.
No Uri. No boss.