Title: Liar, liar
Day/Theme: May 24 / Somewhere sunshine burns
Character/Pairing: Kyoko, Tsuna, hints of Kyoko/Tsuna
A/N: I have no idea if I have Kyoko's character right, considering how little she appears. I rather like the ending for this one.
Summary: The truth is all Kyoko needs to survive. It's the one thing Tsuna can't give her.
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"Tsuna!" Kyoko greets, waving, waiting patiently for him to catch up to her. He runs, smiling, panting slightly when he finally comes to a stop.
"Kyoko-chan," he gasps, his lungs exploding as he nearly collapses. "It's...It's...a nice...day...right?"
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" There are a few clouds in the sky, the sun blazing hot on them. It warms her skin, making her almost sleepy.
He's still panting, tired, and she almost pities him. Even she's in better shape.
-x-
Tsuna is, as far as Kyoko knows, weak. Not in the ways that count, but in physical strength. He can't run, can barely lift any weight, and his gym mark is the worst in their school.
Still, he isn't all that bad. He's determined at times, a fire shining bright in his eyes, a fanatic expression on his face as he charges across the floor. At others he's amusing, giving comedic expressions or words.
Sometimes he's terribly kind. She doesn't quite know what she feels then, when he's looking straight in her eyes, his lips a straight line. He's calm and steady and...
She just doesn't know.
-x-
"Kyoko-chan," Tsuna waves, rushing towards her. He's faster this time, jumping two steps at a time. Behind him, Gokudera and Yamamoto chase after. Gokudera is frowning, his face an angry mask, and takes out one of those cigarettes (but they are fatter than normal ones) he likes to smoke. Yamamoto has a quick grin, dodging the other boy's punches.
They're good friends for her brother, just as excitable and wild. Well, maybe not, because if Tsuna has a fire in his eyes at times, her brother has a volcano. He erupts constantly, energy flowing out of him like heat, and nothing can put him out.
"Tsuna." The bell rings, students spilling out of their classrooms. The river approaches them and pulls them apart, a hurried goodbye said before they disappear to in the tide.
-x-
Kyoko's brother is a horrible liar. He's too honest for his own good-real men are honest and have no reason to lie. This is the foundation his boxing club was built on, this is the foundation that he lives his life on.
Likewise, Kyoko lives her life similarly. Ryohei is her hero, in more ways than one.
(She can remember the rough hands, the biting words, the harsh stares. They pulled at her, tossing her around like a storm, until he appeared. Then all she could see was the blood, the ground stained a dark red, the liquid spilling out of him like water, like air, like life.)
She follows him in many things and she thinks she might be better off for that.
She can spot lies easily.
-x-
It happens slowly, as all things do, and when she finds it, there's no turning back.
-x-
Tsuna has wide, brown eyes. Honest eyes, with traces of doubt and worry running through them at times. She likes watching his face, seeing the expressions flicker from one to another. It's like she's flipping through channels, only each one is Tsuna, each one is the boy she greets at school and the one who chased her in his underwear.
They take a golden sheen occasionally, rivers of dawn eclipsing the earth. It's captivating when they change and she can't take her eyes off him. These eyes are different-she doesn't know them at all. They are beautiful and they are odd but she can still see the veins of honesty, the truth hard to hide in them.
It's only in the voice do the lies surface.
-x-
He gets stronger as the weeks and months fly by. She can hardly believe at times this was the boy she first met, the weak boy, his muscles jelly and his body constantly covered in a sheen of sweat.
"Tsuna," He reaches her without a single gasp, the air escaping and entering his body fluidly, and she doesn't know what to say after that. Something seems different about him. He's a little more confident, each step firmly placed. Nothing timid about his entrance, not when he's alone at least.
With his friends, it's an entirely different matter. His face turns almost comical but maybe that's just how he reacts to friendship.
His arms are more defined, she notices, the clothes fitting his form more. He might even be taller.
He might not even be the same boy.
"Hi." He gives her a shy look, something happy and jubilant expressing itself. She has no idea why but it's the face she's come to expect and she's glad it hasn't changed at all.
-x-
The bandages stand out on his skin, little hills criss-crossing his arms and legs. His face is a field of purple and smudges of red stain his clothes.
What happened, Kyoko wonders, for Tsuna and her brother to appear like that? What happened for others in their school to disappear for days, empty seats piling up with homework sheets, only to appear like this? She could count the days they were gone, a tally for each note she wrote and each question she photo-copied.
Tsuna gives her a smile when he catches her staring at him, the white bandages making distinct paths around his neck and hands.
She doesn't want to look but a morbid fascination doesn't let her turn away.
He has thirty-five bandages.
-x-
"This doesn't seem right," Kyoko murmurs as she sits down in her desk. Hana gives her curious look, opening her math book as she does so.
"What doesn't?"
"I don't know. My desk?" She looks at it, at the teacher, at the gulf between them. Something seems wrong with this picture but she can't place it. "I feel further, I suppose. Or my desk feels wrong. Or..."
"..." Hana looks at her own, carefully examining it. Her fingers run lightly along the surface, her face expressionless as she thinks."I...hmm...I think I'm missing a few scratches on this desk." She looks up, looking at Kyoko now. "You might be right."
"Hmm..." She tries to shake off the feeling Tsuna might have had something to do with this.
-x-
Kyoko hates lies-the truth hurts less than a lie. At least with the truth, there are no questions left unanswered, no puzzles left unsolved. All pieces are known, all parts accounted for, and whether or not she's happier for this is debatable.
He tells her, the truth slipping out like honey, slowly and thickly filing her senses and completing her memories. Everything clicks into place, a sense of order entering her, and she sighs with relief.
Tsuna knows to tell the truth now, she thinks, smiling. She won't have to worry about the late night escapades, the flowering bruises, the odd explosions.
She'll just have to ask and he'll tell her the truth.
Something nags at her, that it's easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar, but she ignores it.
-x-
Strength was the one word Kyoko doubted she could associate with Tsuna. Now, she thinks it fits him perfectly. Especially when his friends, when people, are on the line. Then nothing stops him, a determined look on his face, and she thinks she might like that about him.
Like...maybe a little more than that, but she doesn't know.
Not yet.
-x-
"Tsuna-"
"Sorry," he has a sheepish grin on his face, already turning as he replies, "I'll explain later. I have to go."
"Ok..." She watches him disappear around the corning, his footsteps pounding on the floor. It's only happened three times so far, she thinks. Only three times.
He'll tell her when it all calms down, when the dust settles and he can see where he stands.
She knows it.
-x-
There are new people at the school, people entering and disappearing at random times. They are strange, aliens, and she doesn't think about them much.
Only...only...they have that aura around them, the same one that Tsuna has. The aura that screams power and darkness and something that is a little above her understanding. She wishes she could see past all the smoke, all the intricate illusions, and figure out just what it means. What those arrogant smiles, those confident steps, those proud shoulders mean.
Nothing is clear cut with them, everything bouncing off edges and walls when she tries to probe.
"Just a bunch of exchange students," Tsuna explains, Ryohei nodding in agreement beside him. "I don't know why they are so strange, but..." That look crosses his face, the one that happens when he wants to say something but doesn't.
She doesn't doubt his words, only thinks he might have a good guess at who they could be and he won't tell her.
-x-
"Kyoko?" He looks at her, his fingers trembling, his voice wavering. There is something unguarded about his expression, something in the way he finds it hard to look at her and keeps staring at the point over her shoulder.
"Yes?"
"Uh..." He swallows, her eyes tracing the contours on his neck. "I love you."
"..." She thinks she might love him. How does one ever know if it is love? She doesn't know the answer to that, only thinks this feeling is high, some sort of flying.
It feels like the fire that burns in him, warm and bright. She smiles at him (thank you) and hugs him in response.
(Fire can get you burned)
-x-
There are late night phone calls, a silent buzzer waking him up minutes before she tiredly opens her eyes. He'll whisper, "It's for me," before disappearing into the study, the door closing behind him.
She can barely hear his voice, the undercurrent of worry in his tone making its way through her brain as she fights off the waves of sleep. Turning, she turns on the light and lies there, staring at the ceiling.
The clock ticks five, ten, twenty times, and she finally sits up. Turning to her right, she picks up the book she's been reading lately, a fantasy thriller, and opens a random page.
She's not really reading now, more trying to listen in, but nothing gets past that door.
Nothing.
-x-
He has a habit of randomly disappearing and reappearing, bruises discolouring his body as she wipes a white cream on him. She thinks she might be adept at first aid now, maybe even an expert at it, for all the bandages and ointments she has used on him.
That doesn't seem like a good thing.
The few times she tries to bring it up, tries to find out why is he always sore, always hurt, he shakes his head, giving an apologetic smile.
It's the smile that gets her, always has, and she stops herself for him.
"It's fine," she tells him, tells herself. "I don't need to know yet."
It's fine. She smiles in return, sorrow interlacing with pain, but he doesn't seem to see it.
-x-
This is what she likes about being married:
The sweet kisses, the gentle touches, the morning breakfasts. She likes waking to his warm arms and spending the afternoon with him. His smiles, the evening readings, the fun days.
This is what she hates about being married:
The empty bed, the closed expressions, the cold nights. She hates finding him gone, hates finding him hurt, and hates finding the gifts with small notes saying Sorry.
She hates the lies most of all.
-x-
Tsuna is mostly an honest man. When he forgets her birthday or their anniversary, he admits it. Clean and upfront, he's like that about nearly every subject.
Only when it comes to the mafia does she sometimes catch him lie. He does it a lot, unconsciously and out of habit. Maybe he thinks he's protecting her, blocking the ugly rumours, the horrifying threats, the ominous dangers. Maybe he thinks by keeping her out of the loop, she's safer that way.
She hates that mentality-she needs to know the truth, craves to know it. It's the only security she has in their world of shadows and intrigue.
As long as she knows the truth, she can survive anything.
-x-
It's hard to love Tsuna because he lies to her about his visits, his phone calls, his disappearances. It's hard to love him because she sometimes wakes up to a note or worse, to nothing at all.
This is what Kyoko fears the most-one day she'll wake up to find him gone, forever, and no one knows why.
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