Marbles

Author Notes: AU (which means Gokudera doesn't call Tsuna 10th or idolize him). I don't own KHR. Friendship, shounen-ai if you want to look at it that way. Typos.

- - -

Tsuna's eyes glittered in delight, as he pressed a small yarn bag against his chest. The smile on his lips reached from ear to ear and his large eyes were glancing at the other children playing in the kindergarten's yard.

It was his first day in the kindergarten and he was eager to run to the other children and make new friends.

"Wait, Tsuna darling."

Tsuna spun around on his heels and looked up at his mother, who knelt in front of him and brushed some dirt off his shoulder. Tsuna shifted nervously away, his face becoming as serious as five years old child's face could be, "Mommy, I'm not a baby."

The brown-haired woman laughed happily and threw her arms around her son, "You've grown into such a handsome young boy!" she exclaimed happily, before pulling away and looking into Tsuna's large brown eyes, "Mommy will be leaving now. Be nice to the other children."

Tsuna nodded his head hastily, before turning around and running to the children, completely forgetting all about his mother. The yarn bag was still pressed against his chest, as he arrived to a sandbox and jumped on it.

He did not notice, as he got angry glances from the other children, who were in the middle of building a sandcastle. He sat down on the sandbox's edge and opened the bag he had been holding and stared at dozen of colorful marbles. With a wide smile he closed the bag and scanned the playground with his playful round eyes.

"Hey."

Tsuna looked over his shoulder at few girls occupying the same sandbox, each one of them narrowing their eyes at him. He blinked and tilted his head to side, "Do you want to play with me?"

"No!" A girl with dark hair said loudly and shook her head, "This is girls' territory! Boys are not allowed here!"

Tsuna stood up immediately and bowed his head down humbly, "I'm sorry!"

The girls stuck up their noses and continued building their sandcastle. Tsuna scratched the back of his head, but after deciding that girls were too fearsome to play with, he started to walk away.

In only few seconds he noticed a three a little bit older boys sit around a circle drawn on the ground and poke their marbles around. Tsuna's expression brightened and he quickly dashed to the boys, wondering if they would let him play with them.

As he reached the boys, he sat down by the circle and smiled his most adorable smile, "I have marbles too! Can I play with you?"

The boys stared at Tsuna for a good while, before exchanging looks and small smirks coming to their features. One of them cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders, "We don't play with amateurs. They are always sore losers."

Tsuna frowned and folded his arms above his chest, while the yarn bag laid on his lap, "I'm not a sore loser!"

The oldest looking boy rolled his eyes and said, "Well, you can play with us." The other two boys gave him a disbelieving look, but he winked his eye at them, "But if you lose, you'll lose all of your marbles as well."

Before even thinking, Tsuna nodded his head and threw his fist in the air, "I don't care! Let's play!"

- - -

Tsuna bit his bottom lip to stop himself from crying. The yarn bag, which had been full of pretty marbles this morning, was now empty. As his eyes became teary, he threw the bag away and sat down under a large tree, which hid him from the other children.

As he thought back, he could not understand what he had done wrong. He had played fair and square, but still he was now with no marbles and no playmates, as the boys had left as soon as they had won all of his marbles.

Tsuna brought his knees up to his chest and pressed his head against them. He inhaled a deep breath, allowing a small sob escape his lips while doing so. Soon a sob after sob crossed his lips, no matter how hard he tried to fight back. And soon he was silently crying over the lost marbles. What would his mother say now, as all of his favorite marbles were gone?

While Tsuna was crying, he did not hear footsteps coming to his direction. He did not even notice someone sitting next to him, until a hand came to his shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Tsuna looked up at the intruder and saw a silver-haired boy around his age, with serious and calm eyes. He sniffed and wiped his eyes to his shirt's sleeve, "I… I lost my marbles…"

The other boy sighed and pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Tsuna. The said one blew his nose and wiped his eyes one more time. The silver-haired one leaned forward and looked into Tsuna's eyes and asked again, "Where did you lose them? Did you drop them to the playground?"

Tsuna shook his head.

"Did you lose them somewhere around this tree then?"

"No…" Tsuna hiccupped weakly, "I was playing… and then…"

The boy sighed once again and shook his head in defeat, "Well then, that's your own fault. The older boys always steal everyone's marbles."

Tsuna pouted and looked away from the boy. Did he not understand how important those marbles were to him. He immediately wiped his eyes again, as he felt another set of tears coming down his cheeks.

"Ugh, what a pain…" The boy mumbled, "…Well, my name's Gokudera Hayato. What's yours?"

"T-Tsuna…" Tsuna replied quietly, his voice shaking a little.

"Alright, Tsuna." Gokudera mumbled, as he stood up and dusted off his pants, "Because you're such a crybaby, I don't feel like playing with you."

Tsuna looked up at the other boy and tried to grab his ankle, "W-wait! Don't go…" he sniffed, as Gokudera managed to escape his grip, "I'm not a crybaby! I'll show you, I can stop crying anytime!"

Gokudera mumbled something about growing up, before walking around the tree and disappearing from Tsuna's sight.

The brown-haired boy bit his bottom lip, not letting himself cry again. He would not cry over someone as stupid as Gokudera.

As he calmed down, he closed his eyes and leaned his back in the tree. And before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

- - -

Something startled Tsuna from his slumber. His eyes opened immediately and he pulled himself away from the tree. He looked up and saw what had woken him up.

"G-Gokudera!" Tsuna mumbled, as he quickly stood up and looked at the other boy.

"Here, I brought back your stupid marbles." Gokudera said, his face bruised and eyes little teary, but very proud of himself. He pushed a bag he was holding in Tsuna's hands and added, "Now you can stop being a crybaby and we can be friends."

Tsuna's eyes widened, as he looked at the bag he had received from the other one. He opened it quickly and saw familiar colorful marbles, which he had thought he had lost forever. He fixed his attention back at Gokudera and regarded the bruise around his eye, "…Gokudera…"

"Don't tell me that you're gonna start crying again!" Gokudera joked, as he patted Tsuna's shoulder, "Don't worry, I showed them who's the boss."

And Tsuna did not doubt Gokudera at all. He smiled and threw his arms around the other boy's neck and laughed happily.

From that day on, no one ever dared to steal Tsuna's marbles again.

- - -

-end.