Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman REBORN! was created by Akira Amano.

Claimer: I own the plot, OC, and his parents

Warnings: AU; boy love

Pairing: OC X Tsuna, Yamamoto X Hibari (if you want

"We need more guys for the Cross Country club."

"I don't know. I'd have to think about it since I like to practice baseball. I want to go in the major leagues, after all!"

Two elementary school students are heading to school together throwing around the idea of joining other sports.

Takeshi Yamamoto had been out jogging before going to baseball practice. He had ended up meeting a current friend of his, Keitaro, just two months prior while he was out jogging as well. Yamamoto has taken to calling his friend by the nickname, Kei, and they often tend to go jogging together as they keep in-shape for Yamamoto's Baseball Club and Kei's Cross Country Club.

Yamamoto and Kei managed to become friends easily, what with Yamamoto's friendly attitude and Kei's laid-back personality. It was so quick because the both of them greatly enjoy exercising and are incredibly passionate about their sports. Kei has been training so that he would be able to keep up with the older guys when he manages to make it to Namimori Middle.

Like Yamamoto, Kei is a bit tall for his age and lean for an elementary school student. He's normally seen with a lazy smile and his movements often look sluggish. Due to his lazy attitude, he often lets his dark blond hair grow enough to cover his eyes and he is then often seen pinning his bangs back on top of his head with pins when he runs. When he feels his hair gets too shaggy he lets his mother cut his hair to be as short as Yamamoto, where he continues his habit of letting his hair grow out all over again.

To keep up with the amount of energy he burns off by jogging in the morning and evening, and being made of mostly muscle, he tends to eat a lot of food during breakfast, lunch and dinner. He has average grades in his classes, and seems to exert himself into learning just enough to be able to continue doing Cross Country without getting in trouble over his grades.

The two boys round a corner as they head to school, and they manage to see a stand set up in front of someone's house. A raven-haired man wearing traditional red Chinese attire is sitting in a chair. His hands have disappeared into his sleeves, and he's sitting Indian-style on his chair. A box sits on the table beside him.

Both of the boys read the print on the box: FREE KITTENS.

The two boys stop curiously, and that's when the man opens his eyes. They hardly notice as those gray irises regard the two for not even a second before a kind smile enters the man's face.

"You boys heading to classes?" he asks friendly enough.

"Yeah," they both answer at the same time, giving a bow of greeting.

"You're giving away free kittens! Are you having any luck giving them away?" Yamamoto asks.

The man glances at the box with an apprehensive look as he says, "Well, I gave most of them away but I'm having trouble with the last two."

"You are?" the raven-haired boy asks.

The adult watches as the two young students pull the box closer and then take a peek into the box.

Sitting inside are two kittens. One seems to be snoozing while the other is shying in the corner.

Yamamoto takes notice of the snoozing kitten. It's got black ears and tail. He notices its hairstyle is much like the owner's own hairstyle. The little kitten seems to be wearing a white button-up shirt with black shorts and suspenders.

The second kitten is a little smaller. Caramel eyes look up at the two boys shyly. His frizzy brown hair makes both Kei and Yamamoto smile down at the little kitten who's wearing a yellow shirt and white shorts.

"They're pretty cool," Kei points out, turning to the man.

"I can't keep the kittens. They were given to me, amongst others. I'm Fon," the adult introduces himself. Kei and Yamamoto also introduce themselves and so Fon asks with a smile, "Would you perhaps like the kittens? I can give you some cat food, litter, and a litter box."

The two boys look at each other with surprise and excitement. Is it really this easy to get a kitten from someone and with the necessities as well? What would their parents say? As it was, Fon said he's having trouble giving these two kittens away. There's something a bit feral about the snoozing kitten, and the other one seems far too shy and smaller than it should be.

"I'll do it," Kei offers. "I want the brown one."

"Oh, that's good to hear!" Fon says with a larger smile. Yamamoto raises his hand and says, "I'll take the black one then!"

After accepting the kittens it was a done deal. Fon led the two boys into his house as he got the things they needed. He explains to the two boys the responsibility of having kittens, what the kittens would need—like shots and such. The boys listened intently, and when they had their things they went to their houses to put it away first.

Neither of them told their parents and so they were back at Fon's house and the kittens were still there. Unfortunately, the brown kitten is cowering in the corner while the black kitten is in the furthest corner and looking to be in a sour mood.

Kei pulls the box toward him and peeks inside. Both kittens look up at him, although the black one seems to disregard his existence after a quick second. Kei murmurs soothing words as he picks up the brown kitten. It flails, obviously not happy with this turn of events. After a few moments of holding this kitten to his chest, it seems to calm down although it still appears to be tense.

"Thanks Fon," Kei says to the raven-haired man. "I'll be sure to take really good care of him. I'll even bring him over sometimes, if you don't mind."

"Ow!" Yamamoto says, causing attention from Kei and Fon to turn on him. Yamamoto shakes his hand, laughing as he says, "The little guy bit me. He's lively!"

In the end it turned out that Fon had to get a cage for Yamamoto and his kitten because it bit and fought against being picked up. Both boys missed school, but they each went back to their house to let the kittens settle in while their parents were out working. Both vowed to keep this a secret as long as possible. They would be able to prove that they could take care of pets to their parents and there'd be less chance of having to give the kittens back. Neither of the boys wanted that.

Kei's kitten took a while to get settled in on the first day. As soon as the blond set the little guy on the ground it darted under the bed. He tried coaxing it out, but to no avail.

"Come on kitty!" he calls out as he holds out his hand, leaning down to try to see the brown kitten. When nothing happens, he sits down with a sigh. "Man…"

With a snap, he gets a bright idea. Opening up the bag of kitty chow, he puts some in a bowl and then sets it beside the bed and waits. Kei ends up having to wait for five minutes before the little guy comes out.

Apprehensively the little brunet kitten comes out inch-by-inch. Watching Kei, it sits down and starts eating with a blush on its face. Kei chuckles, but slowly reaches out and is able to pat the kitten on its head.

"Tsunayoshi…" Kei says. "I'll call you Tsunayoshi or Tsuna for short. Do you like that?"

Tsuna stares at Kei for a while. Upon having no other signs of dislike, Kei decides he would stick with that name.

"We're gonna be great buds, you and me," Kei says with a soft tone, chuckling.

[][][][][]

It's been years since that fateful day. As it turns out, Yamamoto's father Tsuyoshi had decided he would let his son keep the cat—named Hibari—since Yamamoto had him for at least a week before his father came into Yamamoto's room because the smell of cat.

As for Kei, he only had his kitten for two days before his mother caught him. She'd been working overtime for the past week so she was too tired to deny him the cat after he promised he would take care of Tsuna.

In those few years the cat grew up pretty fast. Tsuna managed to grow out of his shy disposition when it came to Kei and his parents. It took two weeks to coax the brunet out from under the bed and about a month to get him out of Kei's bedroom. It took a few months before Tsuna was able to explore the whole house and get comfortable.

As he grew, it was permitted that he could go outside where Tsuna made friends with a few other neighborhood cats like Gokudera, Chrome, Kyoko, and Ryohei. Kei even took Tsuna to go and visit Yamamoto and Hibari since they were litter-mates. Hibari never took a liking to Tsuna, only once tolerating him being around when the raven-haired cat was settling down for a nap.

Kei's neighbor, Haru, liked to come over with her two cats Kyoko and Ryohei—brother and sister, as it turns out—since she took an immense liking to Tsuna.

"I'm home!" Kei calls into the house after arriving from school.

Tsuna pokes his head out from around the corner of an archway leading into the living room, ears perked, as he answers, "Welcome back, Kei!"

Normally Tsuna is the only one left at home when Kei arrives. His mother works a first shift where she finishes work around five thirty. His father is a pilot so he's often gone and tends to be back home during the weekend every so often.

Kei yawns as he goes into the living room where Tsuna is. He notices that the brunet settles down on some blankets that he set up on the leather recliner, but there are scrape marks on his knees so Kei points at his red knees.

"What happened to your knees?" he asks.

"Oh… ah…" Tsuna fumbles for words as a blush comes out. He covers his face with his hands as he answers as his brown ears lay flat against his head, "I went outside and I tried climbing the wall, but… I couldn't make it."

Normally Tsuna wouldn't react in this way. There has been countless times where the brown cat had gotten into situations like this—countless times, really. There were times where he climbed a wall when he was younger and never made it up. As he got older he managed to climb up, but due to his clumsiness he always fell off the top. There have been too many times where Tsuna has climbed trees and gotten stuck, not able to come down.

The brunet only blushes and tries hiding behind his hands when some guys—who pass by every day at the same time—make fun of him and call him "no-good-Tsuna." Tsuna, with his low self-esteem, accepted that he wasn't that good at doing normal things but he tended to try to hide in his shame when it was pointed out.

Only part of the time was Kei present to defend Tsuna.

The blond pins his bangs over his head as he goes to a bookcase where his parents set some stuff they use often enough. Kei would have to get another haircut soon.

He reaches up and grabs some bandages, alcohol, and cotton balls. Tsuna peeks out in-between his fingers when he hears Kei's footsteps come over, ears picking up to look normal again.

"Give me your leg."

Caramel eyes glance down at the floor as a thin leg stretches out, ankle settling on the coffee table. Kei quietly starts to clean the scabs. Tsuna makes a few sharp intakes of breath when he feels the alcohol touch his wound and scratches, tail twitching restlessly. When Kei sticks the large white bandages onto Tsuna's wounds, he stands up and grabs the remote and turns on the TV, falling back into the usual schedule now.

"Are you hungry? I can make some food," Kei offers as he sits down.

Here, Tsuna perks up as he quickly offers, "Ah, no but… let me make the food!"

Before Kei can make any objections, the brunet is up and darting into the kitchen. Kei whines as quietly as he can as he rubs his stomach. There has been a few times where the neko's tried to make food when he was younger but… one time it resulted in food poisoning and another few times where Kei threw up because he couldn't stomach the stuff that Tsuna tried to form into edible food.

It took fifty minutes, but eventually Tsuna calls from the kitchen that he made some ramen. Kei knows that it's been too long, and hopes that the noodles aren't burned. Hesitantly, Kei enters the kitchen to see a bowl set out. He sits down and studies the contents and is surprised.

The broth looks normal, and the noodles look just fine. It looks like normal chicken flavored ramen. There are a few large chunks of vegetables, and Kei sees on the counter the remnants of the chopped-up plants. Normally by this time Tsuna's already managed to eat so that's probably why he made only one bowl-worth of ramen for Kei.

"Ah, this looks good," he says as Tsuna takes a seat and waits.

After putting his hands together and saying, "Itadakimasu," Kei digs into the ramen.

"Urk!"

The blond tried hard not to make a sound, but he couldn't help it. Everything looked good and all, but the broth was incredibly salty that it made the male's mouth feel like a desert. He noticed a few black flecks, and when he had moved the ramen he noticed that the bottom noodles were black and that the bits of black were what appeared to either be burned ramen or pure charcoal. There were a few other choice flaws, but Kei didn't notice them.

"Hie! Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!" Tsuna apologizes as he practically falls over himself to hurry and get some water.

After Kei manages to chug down two cups of water, he turns to Tsuna who's looking at the table in defeat. Green eyes watch the brunet, and it's apparent that Tsuna probably wanted to do something.

He probably wanted to do something correctly. He wanted to prove his self-worth. He wanted to do something to be proud of.

He probably didn't want to be no-good-Tsuna.

"Ah, it wasn't all that bad, really," Kei says weakly as an awkward and forced smile comes onto his face. "It was… salty, yeah, but I took a bite of the noodles and those were good. I liked the vegetables, too."

He hadn't tasted the vegetables because of all the salt.

"Just say it wasn't good…" Tsuna grumbles, setting his head on the table with a loud thud. "I'm no good at this stuff, so it's alright. I understand that I'm not good at doing anything."

"Whoa, wait," Kei starts.

Kei's interrupted when the brunet stands up. Tsuna heads toward the hallway as he says, "I'm just going to go outside…"

Kei stands up and quickly gets a hold of him. The brunet almost falls over, but the blond catches him and then holds him close. Tsuna goes stiff, and Kei awkwardly pats his head, hugging him a bit harder.

"It was really better than you think, Tsuna," Kei says. "You're not no-good-Tsuna, you're just Tsuna. I don't wanna be mean, but this ramen was definitely better than the last few times you've made food, so don't forget that! Just more practice and you'll be a pro at ramen in no time!"

The brunet looks up at the taller teen, his face a bright red. It's been quite a while since he's been pet at all by Kei, so his ears go flat against his head in his nervousness, tail flicking about. Kei gives an encouraging smile down at the brunet, patting his head a few times again. It's obvious he thinks this is a bit awkward, but the fact he's doing it at all shows that he's trying hard to show that Tsuna is more appreciated than initially thought.

Things start sliding toward a bit more awkward as Kei rubs a brown ear. Tsuna's blush deepens its hue. Kei's hand wanders downward, settling on the brunet's cheek. Caramel eyes stare at green ones. Tsuna begins to panic a little as Kei starts leaning down.

The situation is immediately interrupted with a loud knocking at the door. The blond drops his hand and looks away toward where the door would be.

"Kei!" they hear a familiar voice call.

The blond lets go of the smaller male. Tsuna nervously follows, fidgeting with his tan shirt as Kei answers the door and there stands Yamamoto with Hibari behind him in the usual white button-up, black pants, and a uniform-jacket on his shoulders.

"Hey, are you ready for some video games?" Yamamoto asks cheerfully as he comes inside. Today was supposed to be their day off since it's a Friday. Kei laughs as he says, "Yeah, sure thing."

Hibari saunters inside with his nose crinkling as he enters the house and Kei closes the door behind him. The raven-haired neko always came with Yamamoto to Kei's house on Fridays since he obviously didn't like the idea of Yamamoto being in the presence of another cat, even if it's a pushover like Tsuna.

The brunet fidgets nervously by the living room's entryway as he watches Kei and Yamamoto head upstairs to Kei's room. There's still traces of red still leftover in his cheeks as his mind goes over what was about to happen in the kitchen, but Kei is easily acting like nothing of importance was going on.

Hibari stands in front of Tsuna's vision suddenly.

"Hie!" he yelps, ears and tail going on end as he darts out of the way upon getting a glare from the raven-haired male. Hibari's gray eyes watch as the smaller brunet moves out of the way and then he goes into the living room to lie down and take a nap.