Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters used in this story

- Their First Kiss -

It was Sunday, eight in the morning. There was no school and no reason for him to be up early yet here he was wide awake. He was shoved roughly by a throng of arms and legs at seven in the morning. Ever since then he had been trying to fall back to sleep but to no avail. Tsuna watched with bagged eyes as Lambo and Ipin wrestled each other on his bed.

"Lambo, you ate my cookie!"

"Ha ha, too bad!"

They were loud and Tsuna was tired. He hadn't slept much last night. At Reborn's insistence, he had stayed up to finish all his homework. His arms were also tired from all the push ups he did, again at Reborn's insistence. Tsuna saw little chance at having a bit more rest so he pushed himself over the edge of his bed. He did his best to stand up and wobbled towards the door. Another one of Lambo's shrieks filled the room. He could feel a headache forming.

Downstairs at the breakfast table, Tsuna watched as his mother finished handing out the dishes to everybody. Each person had his own equal share of the same food so there should have been no fighting, however that logic didn't apply in this household. Here, every breakfast or any meal at the table meant war. This was the case ever since Reborn joined the family. Ambush attacks were prone to break out from all sides. Tsuna huddled protectively around his portion.

He nibbled warily at one of his sausages. Just then, the sound of tiny footsteps came in a rapid rumble down the stairs. Tsuna tried to look up and watch out for the impending attack, but it was too late. The next thing he knew, he found his face buried in his breakfast.

"Lambo!" he screamed after the toddler dressed in cow-print, who had already jumped out the window with his croissant. An egg, cooked sunny side up, fell from his hair to the floor. Tsuna seethed in anger, but stopped knowing it was useless. As his stomach growled, he followed his mother's instruction to wash himself as she prepared another breakfast for him.

Upstairs, Tsuna spent his time washing his face and hair. Mostly he was staring at the reflection of himself. He could see the darkened skin beneath his eyes. More over, he saw a teenager, 14 years of age, having gone through life and death situations more times than his peers. Yet, why was he letting these 6 year olds and 2 year old walk all over him? Suddenly feeling empowered and fueled by the nagging ache in his head, Tsuna marched down to face his number one tormentor.

Taking a seat down at the table again, Tsuna pondered what displeased look he should give the baby. 'He made me run across town in nothing but boxers last week.' Tsuna remembered the sting of midwinter air on his frozen skin. He conjured up the angriest look he could make, but even before he could shoot it in Reborn's direction, a tiny foot that felt like a textbook had already connected with his chin. Tsuna was sent flying off his chair.

"Stupid Tsuna, what are you daydreaming for."

As he held a hand over his pulsating face, he watched Reborn devour his second breakfast. The power drained from his person and a sense of fear that came from habit washed over him. "Go out and buy me some coffee beans. We're running out," the baby commanded. Tsuna nodded obediently and headed out the door.

-------------

At the marketplace, Tsuna ambled slowly towards the coffee shop. His face still hurt and the walk didn't do any good to lift his spirits. 'Why me…' he repeated as self pity occupied his mind. Just then a familiar voice called out to him.

"Tenth!"

Tsuna didn't need to turn to know who it was. Gokudera trotted the last few steps to stand beside him. "What a pleasant surprise it is to find you here, Tenth." He gave him his usual wide grin. Though anyone would have enjoyed such respectable treatment from another person, Tsuna wasn't happy. He was still angry from this morning and Gokudera's connections to the mafia and Reborn didn't help take his mind off it either.

"What might Tenth be doing out here?" said Gokudera, then his eyes lit up some more. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Tsuna frowned. 'Why is he always like this?' he thought, 'It's obvious I'm not some kind of big shot. If I was a baby wouldn't be ordering me around all day…' He looked up as an idea suddenly came to mind. Probably as a small form of rebellion, he turned his face up so that he and Gokudera were looking eye to eye and said,

"No, but is there anything that I can do for you?"

It took a few good minutes before the grin on Gokudera's face came off. Then the gray green eyes darted side to side as if in confusion. Tsuna watched the movement on Gokudera's face. The lips mimicked the question he had just asked as if confirming its meaning. Then the eyes turned up shyly and Gokudera gave his request.

"C..can you give me a kiss…?"

This time it was Tsuna's turn to be surprised. He turned his eyes away without focus. Suddenly he lost all the anger he had before. Tsuna knew his face must be mirroring the motion that was displayed before on Gokudera's. Yet, somehow deep within him, he could still feel a bit of that spark from the anger he had before. It was flaring at him as if urging him to do it regardless of the insensibility of the request. Before he knew it, he found himself leaning up towards Gokudera's face and before Gokudera could say 'Just kidding', his and Tsuna's lips met.

-------------

Electricity coursed through Gokudera's body the moment he felt the soft warm lips on his. His eyes bulged and his body went into shock. Sure, he had been kissed before, by his sister and by his mother, but this was a little different. He was being kissed by a person whom he had unlimited attraction for.

He was so stunned by the act that he didn't notice when Tsuna abruptly parted from him and ran away through the gawking shoppers without turning back. His eyes watched Tsuna's receding figure down the street, but his mind didn't register what was going on. When he finally snapped awake, there was an eyeful of people staring at him and his tenth, nowhere in sight.

The feeling of euphoria he had suddenly turned completely upside down. 'Oh no…'

'I have just disgraced the tenth…'

A deep feeling of dread settled in his heart. The memory of Tsuna running away repeated in his mind. 'He'll never want to see me again.' Gokudera felt his heart shatter. When he saw a few neighborhood kids stick their tongues at him, he didn't even bother throwing dynamite at them. Instead, with his head down, he stuck his hands into his pockets and sauntered away without any destination.

-------------

It was dusk, almost turning to dark. Gokudera had wandered around Namimori aimlessly throughout the day. By then, he had already played out the several possible outcomes he dreaded to see happen; one of which was getting exiled and sent back to Italy without ever seeing his tenth again. His legs brought him to the entrance of the park.

Suddenly he felt the urge to go in there. After all there was no better place for a man seeking solitude in despair than an empty park at night. He took a few steps inside the park before feeling a familiar presence. Looking up from where he was perched on a swing, Tsuna opened his mouth in surprise. It must have been a miracle; one last wish fulfilled before being packed and sent away forever.

Gokudera got to his knees and bowed so low that his shirt touched the ground. "I apologize for my earlier disrespect!" He then proceeded to bang his head against the dirt ground, but he heard his tenth call out to him. "Stop! Gokudera-kun!" So he listened and got to his feet.

There was a bit of silence as each looked away from the other in embarrassment. Gokudera pondered whether he should sit in the empty swing beside his tenth then opted to do so. It might be the last time he'll ever be this close to his tenth was what he thought. Carefully, he ambled next to Tsuna and sat down in the rattling swing. The movement caused Tsuna to bounce slightly.

"I apologize!" Gokudera said immediately.

"That's fine!" Tsuna replied just as fast.

The exchange caused them to look at each other. Their eyes, wide with nervousness, locked. Silence filled the air as neither knew what to say. After a while, Gokudera felt unnerved by the lack of words when normally they would never have trouble talking to each other. It confirmed his speculation that things would never be the same between them again.

He swallowed a lump in his throat then asked with the steadiest voice he could make. "May I be so bold as to ask what Tenth is doing out here?" Tsuna averted his eyes. A slight blush which appeared quite cute emerged on his ample cheeks. "I..I forgot to buy Reborn's coffee beans. The store closed already so…"

Gokudera rustled in his swing to form a bow. "I'm so sorry, Tenth, for causing you to forget your errand!"

"No no! That wasn't your fault!" Tsuna replied, voice genuine.

"Yes it was. If only I hadn't asked you…if only we hadn't…kissed you would've been better off."

"That's not true."

Gokudera looked up. Tsuna, with his eyes on the ground, seemed ponderous. It was as if the words came out of his mouth before his mind confirmed them. He looked up again. "Gokudera-kun, you did nothing wrong!" Gokudera shook his head in remorse. Tears were glazing his eyes. He was so grateful that his tenth would defend him for his disgraceful act till the very end. Gokudera could see a frown appearing on his tenth's face.

"It's no big deal, just a kiss!"

He could hear the rise in volume of his tenth's voice. Not only had he done something unforgivable, but he was also getting on his tenth's nerves. Teardrops began to bead up in the corners of his eyes.

"Gokudera-kun, kiss me."

Gokudera stared at Tsuna, surprised for the second time of the day. He couldn't do anything except stutter. He watched as Tsuna squeezed his eyes shut and repeat again. "I'm asking you to kiss me. Will you do it?" A lot was going through Gokudera's head. On one hand, he would be doing something very disrespectful, but on the other, it was his tenth's command. Gokudera never fails to follow his tenth's orders. Slowly he began to lean over towards the other boy.

----------------

'This is it,' thought Tsuna. Gokudera was leaning forward for their second kiss. It was what he had asked for, but he had wanted it only because he wanted to prove that the act wasn't as big of a thing as Gokudera was making it out to be. He couldn't stand watching his friend look so sad because of something that he did out of rashness.

Tsuna felt scared, but he knew this was something he must do. Hesitantly, he too leaned over in his swing.

In the space between the two adjacent swings, Gokudera and Tsuna's lips touched for the second time. At first it was just a feeling of soft flesh touching his own, but soon Tsuna found his heart pumping again. This time it wasn't because he was afraid, but because of something else. He just realized that he was kissing the Gokudera-kun. He was kissing the half Italian with stylish hair, who is always so cool and smart.

A flush of color rushed to his cheeks. It was getting hot or more like the warm breath coming out of Gokudera's nose was heating up his face. Involuntarily, Tsuna eased forward some more. Following Gokudera's guide, he tilted his head a bit allowing their mouths to close over each other more properly. The simple act caused a tremendous sensation to wash over him. It was sucking the breath out of him.

Feeling unstable, he reached his hand over to Gokudera for support. As his hand settled onto the back of Gokudera's head, he felt the soft silvery strands tickle him. Gokudera too had his hand on his shoulder, which was no doubt shaking incredibly. Their lip-lock dragged out for so long that he was beginning to swap spit with the other boy, but Tsuna didn't care.

For a long time they stayed that way. Finally, when both realized the need, they released each other and breathed.

- end -

Thanks for reading!