Paper Heart

a/n: Hibari's mean in this fic, but, hey, Hibari's not the nicest guy. Sorry! This is my first stab at actually finishing a 6927 fan fiction and I hope you enjoy it.

It was a typical day at Namimori middle school, except for one thing: it was Valentine's Day. The halls were buzzing with excitement as people confessed their love and received messages of appreciation and sincerity. Secret admirers admitted their hidden feelings for their beloveds, and couples kept sneaking out into the courtyard to spend time together, which was the most romantic spot in the whole school.

The second bell had rung, and Tsuna was late for class. He stood, transfixed, in front of his locker holding a small heart-shaped box of chocolates.

"Judaime?" Gokudera's voice called into the brunet's ear. "Come on, Judaime! You're going to be really late!"

But Tsuna did not respond. He just kept staring at the cheap box, his first and only Valentine's day present. It was an annoyingly bright fuchsia and the whole thing was wrapped in taped plastic with a 'one dollar' sticker attached to it.

At this point, Yamamoto pried Gokudera away with a smile, who was currently warning about how Hibari and the prefects would ask for his pass and write him up.

The hallway was empty now. Still mesmerized by the box in his hand, Tsuna clawed at the plastic around it and tore it off, shoving it in his locker. He opened the box and peered inside; one of the chocolates was eaten, and there was a note taped to the bottom of the lid.

Meet me in the courtyard after third period, it read.

Elation immediately filled the Vongola boss's heart when he read that; this could only mean one thing. Someone was going to confess their feelings to him.

Hopefully it was Kyoko. It was probably Haru. Maybe Chrome sent it. It definitely wasn't Bianchi.

As Tsuna mulled over every girl he had ever met, a shiver went up his spine; currently in the same hallway was Mukuro Rokudo. Tsuna gulped. He always got this strange feeling in his gut whenever Mukuro was nearby.

The raven's eyes immediately averted from in front of him to his boss of sorts. His expression complacent, the Mist Guardian made his way over to the boy, taking his hands out of his pockets.

"Uh, hey, Mukuro," Tsuna said as he was approached, trying to relax himself. Mukuro had recently escaped from the Vindice prison yet again, and was hiding at Namimori during daylight hours. The last thing he wanted to do was upset someone that could pull that off.

"Tsunayoshi-kun," the taller boy replied, his eyes widening. "I see you got the valentine."

Tsuna froze as he realized that he was still holding his precious box of chocolate.

"Yeah," the brunet replied, grinning sheepishly. "You wouldn't happen to know who sent it, would you?"

"I do," was the unexpected reply. The blue-haired teen took a step closer, placing one of his hands on the lockers behind Tsuna and trapping the smaller before him.

"Y-you do? Who is it?" Tsuna stammered, not at all liking the sudden turn of events. The feelings in his stomach only intensified as Mukuro leaned in even closer, smiling an actual smile. Which was weird, for him.

"I was going to wait until after third period," he began, his eyes only slits due to the brightness of his smile. "But I guess now's good, too. There's no one here."

Tsuna gulped; he hoped he wasn't about to get beaten up. Or mugged. Or molested.

Mukuro stepped a bit back from the Sky Guardian, drawing himself up to full height. Tsuna held his breath.

"I put the box of chocolates in your locker," the raven announced, his dual-colored eyes staring directly into Tsuna's.

"Huh? Why?" Tsuna asked, confusion evident in his voice. Why would his Guardian do something like that?

"Because, I think it's time I finally told you my feelings." Mukuro inhaled sharply, his former beam now gone. "Tsunayoshi-kun. For a long time now, I've always-"

"Hey, you herbivores," an angry voice then interrupted, followed by the sound of footsteps from highly polished shoes.

Tsuna gulped yet again; Hibari Kyoya was currently advancing towards them, the prefect ribbon pinned to his shirt setting off 'danger' signs in his head.

"Mukuro Rokudo," Hibari growled, his dark eyes scanning the ex-Mafioso in his new Namimori uniform. "I thought I told you not to appear before me at my school."

Tsuna paled; apparently, being in the same family was not enough to soothe the wounds between these two. Mukuro smirked at the prefect.

"You didn't specify what the punishment would be, but I guessed," he replied, laughter tainting his voice. "You'll bite me to death or something. Isn't that it?"

Hibari growled at this point, revealing his teeth; Tsuna couldn't stop himself from laughing at what he saw.

Hibari Kyoya, master of bite-oriented threats, had gotten braces. Mukuro's triumphant grin faded to one of pity.

"I'd fight you, but you might get my hair caught in your wire," he said, looking somewhat serious. "I'll escort Tsunayoshi-kun back to class."

And with this, Mukuro grabbed Tsuna's arm and rushed down the hallway, trying to get away as quickly as possible from the slowly accumulating ball of rage that was Hibari.

"I wonder when he got those on," the brunet wondered aloud, secretly grateful to his Mist Guardian for saving them. However, it was also the raven's fault that he wasn't in class.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, forget about him," Mukuro then whispered, forcing the petite boy into the staff bathroom behind him.

"Mukuro! What are you doing? This is the ladies' room!" Tsuna complained, but was silenced as he saw the look that met his eyes.

"Listen to me," the blue-haired boy began again, once again drawing a little too closely to Tsuna. "I was going to tell you in the courtyard, but there was a chance you might not come." He sucked in a lungful of air. "I have to say this now."

Tsuna's heartbeat was erratic in his chest as he gazed fervently into the urgent orbs of his peer; Mukuro was acting a little desperate and nervous and, quite frankly, it was freaking Tsuna out. He'd only seen the youth like this one other time before, and that was during their fight in Kuroyo Land. Ever since then, Mukuro had been the one that came in and saved the day, always managing to look cool while he did so.

But now, as he struggled to find the right words in front of Tsuna, he looked like nothing but a troubled teenager. The fact that he would let Tsuna seem him like this was unnerving in itself.

Finally, Mukuro cleared his throat and faced the Vongola again, determination in his expression.

"I like you, Tsunayoshi-kun," he admitted with much difficulty, shoving his hands back in his pockets.

Tsuna frowned. "Okay. I like you, too, when you're not terrorizing me." What was his Mist Guardian trying to say?

"That's not what I mean," Mukuro explained, pushing Tsuna further up against the bathroom's tiled wall. "I'm physically and emotionally attracted to you, Tsunayoshi. I want you to be my Valentine."

Tsuna's head was spinning; was this actually happening? Mukuro like liked him? How could this have happened?

"M-Mukuro!" Tsuna exclaimed, trying to push the larger boy off of him. "But we're both guys, and you're…"

"I'm what, Tsunayoshi?" the raven asked softly, slowly taking his hands out of his pockets.

"You're just not…the type of person I thought would ever like me," Tsuna replied, a bit shocked that he wasn't violently refusing the other man.

"Well, I do," the older continued, resting his hands on the hips of the boy against him and slowly sliding them up, bunching the fabric of Tsuna's shirt as he did so; the brunet shivered, too scared to do anything.

"M-Mukuro…please don't…" the brunet began as the pineapple-haired boy's hand accidentally brushed against the ivory of his now slightly exposed stomach as the raven continued to run his hands up Tsuna's abdomen.

Mukuro's serious expression turned to one of self-satisfaction as he apologetically withdrew his hands. "You feel just like I imagined you would, Tsunayoshi," he breathed, watching as the young Vongola hastily pulled down his shirt once again.

"H-how long have you liked me…like this?" the smaller asked, trying his hardest to not avert his gaze from the blue-haired boy's.

"Almost a year now," Mukuro replied, his face drawing suspiciously closer to Tsuna's. "It's hard for me to hold back with you, Tsunayoshi. That's why I want to ask you a favor."

"W-what?" was the timid reply as he felt Mukuro's hot breath mix with his own, so close was their proximity.

"Do you think you could give me a chance?" the Kokuyo leader asked, his lips hovering mere inches from the amber-eyed boy.

Tsuna's breathing grew shallow as Mukuro drew even closer, his lips almost brushing with his own. Turning his face at the last moment, Mukuro's soft lips pressed against his burning cheek.

"Tsunayoshi," the raven began simply, pulling away. "You don't feel anything for me."

"It's not that," the smaller explained, looking down. "It's just that I don't think I'm ready for something like this yet."

"I see," the red and blue-eyed boy said, backing away considerably from his younger counterpart. "Well, Happy Valentine's Day, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"I need to think about it," the brunet added, not at all liking the depressed tone his family member had adopted.

Mukuro's weak grin faded back at about fifteen percent of it's original beam. "Thank you, Tsunayoshi-kun, but you don't need to do anything for my sake. I enjoy just watching you, anyway."

"Don't say that," Tsuna began, but Mukuro was already out of the bathroom.

The brunet quickly followed, but his companion was gone; all that prowled the halls was Hibari, giving even water fountains the stink eye.

"Hibari," Tsuna began, feeling as if he had hit rock bottom. "Could I ask you for some advice?"

"No," was the instant answer as the raven whipped out a detention slip from his shirt pocket. Tsuna stared down at the paper dejectedly.

"But, Hibari, I know you could help me," the brunet continued, deciding that it was time to pull out his trump card. "You're going out with Dino, aren't you?"

The prefect froze. His eyes narrowed considerably as he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his famous tonfas, which somehow fit into the narrow crevices of his pants.

"Did that trash tell you that?" he snarled, his grip on his weapon tightening.

"He did," the Vongola responded, crossing his arms across his chest. Hibari said nothing. Then…

"Fine, I'll listen to your stupid problems," he consented, his face softening a bit. "But not because I want to. Just don't go around spreading the word that I'm supposedly with that herbivore."

And so, Tsuna relayed the past ten minutes or so of his life to Hibari, who listened with little to no interest or compassion.

"Well then, weakling," he began once the petite teen was done with his explanation. "It only comes down to one question: what do you think of Rokudo?"

"I don't think about him," Tsuna replied, a frown worn upon his face. "I didn't even know he cared anything about me."

"Then tell him there's no way in a cold hell you'd ever look at him twice," Hibari responded, not so much as batting an eyelash at the cruel string of words that came from his mouth. "Don't let him down easy; he might think there's hope if you act like the soft herbivore you are."

"Hibari! How can you say that? Mukuro's a nice guy!"

"And there you go. That's your real opinion of him," the dark-haired prefect then hissed, advancing towards Tsuna. The brunet back away considerably, hitting his head against the row of lockers behind him. Why did Hibari have to be so cynical?

"I think I've got it now!" the tenth boss began, trying to further escape the teen that was coming towards him, wielding his tonfa. "I have to get to class!"

"You're not going anywhere," Hibari snarled, a smirk worn upon his face. "If I helped you with your problems, you'd let me beat on you, right?"

"That was not the deal! And you didn't help at all!"

"Look, you hamster," the intimidating boy snapped, his dark eyes glaring holes into Tsuna's head. "I don't really think it matters what you think anymore, so go tell Rokudo you hate him."

At this point, the brunet stood up, frowning furiously. "Hibari, you're ridiculous."

And with this, the Vongola head left. The raven shrugged.

Meanwhile, another raven was swinging by himself at the empty public park, an apathetic expression worn on his face.

Maybe he shouldn't have told Tsunayoshi. He bit his thumb; how could he possibly undo his confession?

Mukuro further contemplated this until he heard the soft crunching of leaves coming from behind him; turning to see who had interrupted his mental track, he froze.

Tsuna stood behind him, looking timid yet determined, as he usually did.

"Tsunayoshi," the Mist Guardian began, standing up; his swing gradually rocked to a stop. The petite boy before him slowly sucked in a lungful of the crisp autumn air.

"Mukuro…I have something to tell you," he began, his large, amber eyes averting the blue-haired boy's gaze.

"Yes?" was the anticipating reply.

"I don't know how to say this, but…"

Mukuro's face fell. Tsuna was going to reject him, he just knew it. Without thinking, the taller boy started towards Tsuna, wrapping his arms around the now shocked boy.

"M-Mukuro? What are you-" Tsuna began, but could no longer continue his frame of thought for his mouth was soon muffled with Mukuro's own.

Mukuro pressed his lips onto the younger's gently, finally giving into the desires that had rooted in the back of his mind for so long. Finally he was able to taste those sweet lips, feel the warmth of the other pressed against him.

Tsuna's eyes were wide as he stared into Mukuro's closed ones, his mind blank.

He kissed him. His first kiss.

Feeling somewhat outraged, the tenth angrily pushed the larger boy away from him, turning and running away from the forsaken park. He figured he didn't need to tell his Mist Guardian that he had rejected him anyway.

"Damn," the raven cussed under his breath, realizing the weight of what he had just done. He hadn't meant to force himself on Tsuna; it had just happened.

These thoughts weighing on his mind, Mukuro quickly sprinted after his brunet peer, hoping that he could at least apologize; he was not the kind of person to keep things half-done.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was rushing back to the school, quickly wiping away the forming tears in his eyes.

How could Mukuro have taken his first kiss away from him? He was saving that for someone special, someone he actually liked.

"Herbivore? What's up with you?"

Tsuna ignored Hibari and continued walking to his locker where he was going to get his stuff; he was going home.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you," the prefect growled, whipping out one of his tonfa. He slowly advanced towards the brunet once again, his dark eyes locked on his distraught target.

"Hibari, I'm going home! So leave me alone!" the Vongola explained, sounding much more immature than he had hoped to. More moisture began to gather in his eyes as his vision blurred; all he saw after that was the arm that pinned him to the lockers behind him.

As if he was cursed, something soft and pliant pressed against his agape mouth, except this time it was much more cold. Tsuna forced himself to keep his eyes open and realize what the heck was going on.

Whatever emotion had possessed Hibari to kiss him was turning into anger as the black-haired boy tightly grabbed a fistful of the smaller's hair, slamming his head against the locker behind him.

"Let me guess? You rejected him and he hit you." There was absolutely no inflection in the student's voice. "Or worse- you actually feel sorry for him."

"It's none of your business!" the Sky Guardian retorted assertively, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve. "Now let go of my shoulder so I can leave!"

"Why don't you make-"

"Get away from him, Hibari Kyoya," a familiar voice then uttered coldly. Tsuna looked behind his threatener, trying to get a good look at who was saving him.

It was, as he had expected, Mukuro, looking absolutely livid. Which, at the moment, was much more intimidating than Hibari's cruel braces-adorned sneer.

Unfortunately, the prefect did not budge from his position of trapping Tsuna.

"And if I don't, what are you going to do about it?" he asked sourly, looking the Mist Guardian up and down.

Mukuro didn't reply with words; he merely walked up to Hibari and punched him in the face. Tsuna watched in horror as his Cloud Guardian hit the floor, clutching his now bleeding nose. Mukuro mad a mad dash towards Tsuna, but the fallen boy stuck out his foot at the last minute; the pineapple-haired student fell to the floor as well.

The Vongola X immediately scrambled to help him up and made his way out of the school once again, looking back over his shoulder every two seconds to make sure Hibari wasn't following them.

The two retired by the large sakura tree in the courtyard and stood staring at each other silently for a few awkward seconds.

Mukuro inhaled sharply, his hands going back into his pockets as they had earlier in the bathroom.

"Tsunayoshi-kun," he began in a tentative tone. "I'm sorry about…earlier. I don't know what came over me."

Tsuna hesitated. "I'll forgive you under one condition."

"What is it?" the raven asked, standing his ground as the Sky Guardian came a bit closer to him.

"You let me be your Valentine for today." The brunet paused. "And maybe tomorrow."

Mukuro's eyes widened. "Does this mean you'll give me a chance, Tsunayoshi?" he questioned elatedly, looking the other in the eye.

"I guess," Tsuna muttered as he wrapped his arms around the ex-Mafioso's middle, pressing his face against the elder's army print shirt.

"Look at me, Tsuna," Mukuro then said softly, taking the brunet's face in his hands.

Tsuna obliged, his amber eyes locking on his peer's dual colored orbs; for the second time that day, Mukuro crushed his lips against the younger's, except that this time, Tsuna kissed back.

As he really focused on the feel of the taller boy's mouth against his own, the Vongola head realized that it didn't feel as bad as he had remembered. In fact, it felt sort of right.

After what seemed like only a few seconds, Mukuro pulled away; Tsuna frowned a bit, wishing they could have kissed longer.

"Happy Valentines Day," the blue-haired male said, pushing the younger up against the tree behind him and once again connecting his lips to the brunet's.

Tsuna mentally agreed as he was pushed further into the smooth-barked tree, the dark-haired boy's advances growing steadily more needy.

This was indeed a happy Valentine's Day.