A:N: Sorry that it took awhile! I was busy with other affairs going on... (not love affairs, I meant other tasks! _) I was Photoshopping (colouring) a page out of a manga, and boy does that take awhile! My favourite part is how I did the eyes, everything looks so much better coloured than in the original. ^_^ Also, I am creating a Flash about Edgeworth. When I'm finished it'll look great!
My third story! As an update of what I will do in the future, I will finish, type (right now it's written on paper) and send a HibarixBel story, then probably a OCxBel story (a songfic!...I shouldn't write so much about Bel ^_^;), a Legend of Zelda songfic probably...(Though I had an idea originally to do a Flash instead...then I got lazy. XD) and then probably something from another manga (you'll see which one later!), and continue on! Also, I put a poll up on my profile: do you think this story should stay a oneshot, or change to be a threeshot, each chapter being a certain point in time? I got stuck on this myself, but I didn't want separate files stored on my computer, so I went with being a oneshot, but if my readers think otherwise...First 5 answers will judge my decision! Oh, and by the way, if there's any words or phrases in italics, it's usually Tsuna's or Yamamoto's thoughts, or flashbacks, unless it's midway in a non-italics sentence. ^_^ And don't worry if you don't get what happened completely, everything gets explained in the end!
BTW (By The Way), Bishou is pronounced "be-show" instead of "be-shoe", Kaihen is pronounced "guy-hen" and not "guy-hin", and Futotta is pronounced "fu-tot--a (long second syllable, the reason why there's two t's.) and not "fu-tat--a." I'll do this whenever I want to make an OC, so you don't mess up on reading their names!
R&R (Read and Review) and I hope you enjoy yourself with this fic! It's a little on the gloomy and angst side... but you'll smile at the end! (And thanks for actually reading my freetalk! ^_^)
Smiles
Yamamoto could still remember his mom, even after a full 20 years.
He was a young boy at the time, only 4 years old, and his mother always adored how enthusiastic he was- always optimistic, and standing taller than the other kindergarteners, showing off that happiness that no one else had. Yamamoto's mother was always so proud of him, that he could stand out and show everybody how happiness is the best medicine.
The kids at his school were always so glum and even some cried. 4-year-old Yamamoto always had wondered about the spiky-haired boy who was always called "Dame-Tsuna" by the others, because he had no talent at all. He couldn't paint, he couldn't read or write at all, he can't make complete sentences when he speaks, and he couldn't even sing in the right tone when the class was singing the alphabet. The kid was out of the crowd during recess, doodling a messy drawing of his family with chalk on the pavement. Yamamoto thought one day to say something to the loner, even if he had to step out of the crowd of people who he always played baseball (now his favourite sport) with. "What're you doing, Takeshi? That's Dame- Tsuna! Nobody talks with him!" his playmates tried calling him back, but Yamamoto refused, still in a happy state.
"So, what's your name?" Yamamoto said to start up the conversation.
"Tsu… na…" the boy meekly replied. Yamamoto heard that the other couldn't speak well.
"How would you like to play with me for awhile?"
"O.K.…"
And they played catch together, with two baseball gloves and a baseball that Yamamoto brought out. For the first time, Yamamoto had seen Tsuna smile, and he ended up smiling his enormous, gorgeous grin of his right until the bell.
"Hey, want to come to my house?" Yamamoto asked his new friend. "It's actually a restaurant!"
"Mommy," Tsuna asked his mother, Nana, "Can go his house?"
"Sure! It's wonderful that you finally have a friend, Tsu-kun! You've never been so happy until you met Yamamoto-kun! Now, if we could only do something about your speech impediment…"
Yamamoto and Tsuna opened the door and both were greeted by his father, who was cutting up some salmon, and his mother, who was helping prepare the cut fish into little rice balls with seaweed wrapped around it, a.k.a. sushi.
"Yamamoto-kun! How's school today? Did you gain another friend?" Yamamoto's mom was the first to welcome the two boys' presence. She was average looking, with long, wavy black hair, light brown eyes, slim, and she was only a few inches shorter than her husband. She was wearing a tight, light pink T- shirt on with loose navy blue sweatpants, and with plain white sneakers on, obviously working hard in making the sushi. Still, through all that sweat she managed a smile. Yamamoto never forgot that smile, because he knew that they both have the same smile, that special connection.
"Mom, can Tsuna and I go upstairs to watch Sesame Street? Elmo and Big Bird are going to play baseball in this episode!"
"You and your baseball," his mom responded, making another smile and rolling her eyes. "Of course, you're always bringing up baseball to your friends! You must have another interest!"
"… No, I love baseball! I'm the best in the class!" Yamamoto said to oppose his mother's request. "C'mon, Tsuna, let's go upstairs! We're not allowed to be here, at restaurant level."
"Wait!" Yamamoto's father busted out. "We've got to take a picture of your new friend and you, Takeshi!"
"Dad! I don't wanna! You're always taking pictures of all my friends! They're all up on the fireplace upstairs!"
"Okay, fine. We'll make it special by putting your mom in the picture. We don't have any pictures of my little, tiny Bishou here, do I?" Yamamoto's dad put a loving arm around his wife's neck quite easily.
"Come on, I'm not that shorter than you!" Bishou exclaimed while blushing, playfully tossing the arm over her head. "But I'd like to get photographed. I've never got to be in a picture before!"
"Okay, I've got the camera." Yamamoto's father said to the trio about to get photographed. "All ready?"
"Ready!" They all said back.
3… 2… 1… CHEESE! *snap*
"Wow, Mom! You looked the same as me in that photo!"
"That's because we are the same, and don't you forget that."
"Haha , Tsuna, you're barely even smiling in here!
"…sorry…"
"No need to apologize, you look great… Oh, no! Look at the time!" The time was three twenty-eight. "Sesame Street's about to come on! We've gotta go!"
Yamamoto and Tsuna ran up the stairs, and just a second later a customer walked through the doors.
"Yes, sir, how may we help you?" Bishou welcomed the customer in.
"…Mrs. Takeshi, I'm afraid I didn't come here for sushi." The customer said. He was a short, obese man in his late forties, with short, straight black hair, glasses, and a business suit.
"Oh, so you need something else? The washroom, perhaps…?" Yamamoto's mother questioned with a nervous grin now across her face.
"Mrs. Takeshi, you might know that the economy of Japan is falling rapidly, and we need more people having an occupation."
"I know that, and I do have a job, right here a-"
"Also, wives and husbands can't have the same career together. 'They' think it's better for the economy."
"But that's crazy! That's not true! We get enough money at Takesushi!" Bishou had a serious face now.
"But officially, Mrs. Takeshi, you are not employed. The government is giving you a month to find a job besides working at Takesushi, or else we'll force you to sell Mr. Takeshi's and your restaurant, as well as most possessions you own."
"But this is our home! What about little Yamamoto? He's too young to live on the streets! You can't just kick us out like that!"
"I'm afraid we can, Mrs. Takeshi. It's not my order; it's the government of Japan's orders."
"But you are in the government…" Bishou said, confused.
"I'm not directly in the government. I just order things around when 'they' tell me too, kind of like their slave."
Slave… *snicker* Bishou smiled to herself in her thoughts.
But the man must've seen that smile, because the next thing he said was, "I wish you good luck in your search for a new profession."
"Fine, I'd find a job!" Bishou pouted, angry that he'd suddenly announced her need to find one. "And I'll live on! I won't become homeless even if God told me to be!"
Unfortunately, she was wrong. The customer, or should it be visitor walked away, saying under his breath, "I'm sorry, Bishou..."
A few days later, Yamamoto and Tsuna had become the best of friends. They always played catch at recess and always Tsuna would visit Yamamoto's home to be greeted by Bishou and Yamamoto's dad. Tsuna felt happy to have his first friend.
Fifteen days after the incident with the only customer that didn't want to eat sushi (a.k.a. the government 40-year-old man), Tsuna and Yamamoto were playing ball outside in his backyard, which is very separate from the restaurant, so they don't interfere with the customers. Bishou still didn't get a job yet.
Today was Tsuna's 5th birthday, so Bishou and Yamamoto's dad were making tons of sushi for the birthday boy. Bishou loved her "unofficial" work at Takesushi; she can't imagine a different career that's for her.
"Hey, Tsuna, throw the ball to me!" Yamamoto called out to his friend. Yamamoto was in front of the sliding door that leads inside the restaurant. But the door was open, to let in the fresh air.
Tsuna nodded, then said "Okay!", and tossed the ball. But everybody knows that Tsuna has the worst aim in the world, and doesn't know the right amount of force to pass the ball to Yamamoto, so when he threw the ball, it went over Yamamoto's head and into the kitchen!
The ball was bouncing all over the place, knocking everything down. A vase fell, a Japanese scroll flew down, and a painting collapsed. The ball was a great blur of blue whizzing around.
"Honey," Bishou talked with her husband earlier. "It's already half a month, and I still didn't find a job!"
"Bishou, sweetheart, you'll find one, I'm sure of it!" Yamamoto's dad tried to bring some hope into his wife. The couple were still in the kitchen, making sushi for Tsuna's birthday and for the customers there, also. They talked out of boredom and of being tired.
"Do you know what I think? That government guy's telling every single company in Japan to not hire me on purpose! I don't know who that guy is…"
"What'd he look like?" Yamamoto's dad questioned his beloved.
"In his forties, glasses, black hair… Hey…"
"Do you know him?" Yamamoto's dad was curious.
"That guy...Kaihen-kun!?"
Just when Bishou realized who it was, a blue ball zoomed into the kitchen, smashing into random items.
"Watch out, Bishou!" was the last words that Yamamoto's dad could say to her until the ball headed into her direction. The ball hit Bishou in the back of the head, and she plunged forward- right in to a knife stand on the table, all of them sharp-side pointing up.
"BISHOU!" Yamamoto's dad screamed out, and her head landed on the knives.
Yamamoto's dad immediately started to cry, and he took the knives out of the body, tears falling on her bloody wounds. Bishou's eyes were closed, a calm expression on her face. She was dead.
Then suddenly, Yamamoto and Tsuna ran into the kitchen, wondering where their ball had gone.
"Dad, have you," Then he saw his mom on the floor. "MOM! What's happening to her?"
"She's… dead and I know it's hard for you, but please keep calm." Yamamoto's dad tried to reassure his son, even though both of them were crying now.
"What made her dead?" little Yamamoto said in tears. Even Tsuna was starting to cry now, because he didn't know what else to do.
"A ball went by so fast that my cute little Bishou didn't have time to react- the ball hit her and made her fall onto the knife stand."
"Tsuna! You're the one who threw the ball inside! You made Mom dead!" Yamamoto pointed an accusing finger at Tsuna.
"Me no any dead!" Tsuna tried to say through his bawling tears.
"You made her dead! You… you killed her!" Yamamoto finally got the word, and also bawled out.
"You make me threw ball!" Tsuna said weeping.
"Grrrrr…" Yamamoto knew that was true. "I don't know who had done this, but I'm not being your friend anymore! You did it as much as me!"
"NNNNOOOOOO!" Tsuna screamed out an unhappy cry. "I'm not your friend, either! You're being mean to me! MOMMY!" Yamamoto realized that that was the first time Tsuna spoke in a complete sentence.
After Tsuna yelled, his mom came right to his side, as if she heard it even being miles apart. "Tsu-kun! No! Don't cry! Mommy's here! Let's take you home!" She completely missed the dead body.
The next day, Yamamoto's dad and his son arranged a funeral for Bishou, which a lot of people, including Tsuna, came to. Yamamoto's dad tried to cheer up Yamamoto, who was still crying a lot. "Don't worry, Takeshi! If your mom didn't die, then we'll be living on the streets, because she couldn't find an official job…" But Yamamoto just cried harder.
Tsuna got a scolding from his mother to never throw in areas where it's not safe, but tried to calm down her crying son by saying "Hey, Tsu-kun! At least you didn't do it on purpose! And look at you now! You talk normally! I'm proud of you for that."
"Yeah…Yeah, you're right! Yay!" Tsuna said happily through a dried face of tears.
But now I don't have a Mom to tell me things like that… Yamamoto thought after the funeral. Tsuna took away my happiness and I won't forget that!
The two boys ended up hating each other, always avoiding each other, until one event and another ten years later…
Ten Years Later, After the Incident
Tsuna was stuck in a sticky situation again, as usual. Nobody ever picks him to go on a volleyball team in PE class, and he hated it.
So it came to his surprise that Yamamoto came and said, "Just join our team."
"Are you serious Yamamoto?! You don't have to let that loser in." One of his teammates said to persuade Yamamoto again.
But it didn't work. "Don't be so stingy. I just have to keep him from hitting, right?" Yamamoto responded back.
"Well, if Yamamoto is saying so. Alright." Yamamoto had become the most popular guy in school, with all the guys being his friend and all the girls having crushes on him, and still being into baseball even after ten years, he was certainly treated with high dignity and respect. (Except for his grades. In that, he scores in the 60s.)
Tsuna kept wondering on the bench, Even after the death of his mom ten years ago, which I half caused, he's saved me from sitting out of PE class…I wonder, why the sudden friendliness?
Tsuna and Yamamoto's team lost, so then the people on his team told Tsuna to clean the field, because they think it's his fault. They called him "Dame-Tsuna" and "Loser" again, even after the impressive stuff he'd be able to do with the Dying Will Bullet. He hated his life, and now Yamamoto loved his life. Jeez, and to think it was the complete opposite in the past...
"Help has arrived."
Tsuna spun around. "Yamamoto!?" Tsuna felt that he should apologize for doing another harmful thing to him-losing at baseball. "Sorry, it's my fault. Just when you let me in the team…"
"Don't worry about it. It's only PE." Yamamoto forgave him. Then he randomly said, "I'm keeping my eye on you!"
Huh? Tsuna thought. He's looking out for me, all this time?
"Aren't you amazing lately? Like in the kendo battle and the volleyball tournament. I've got you checked in my book."
"Oh…uhh…" Oh, man, Tsuna was thinking, he's really been watching over me! He's still angry at me!
"In comparison, I just play baseball like it's all I know." Yamamoto admitted.
So then it came to him now; was Yamamoto...jealous of Tsuna? All along? Tsuna thought he should encourage the baseball lover.
"What're you talking about? It's the baseball skill you have that amazes everyone."
"It's not going that well."
"Huh!?" Tsuna replied. Yamamoto? Not good at baseball? But ten years ago...
BANG!
"Another homerun!" a little Yamamoto yelled as he watched the ball fly to the sky.
"Wish hit like you." 4-year-old Tsuna jumbled out of his mouth.
"Yeah, everybody's gonna wish that. Because they got to see my awesome baseball skills!"
But that was a long time ago... Tsuna thought, but Yamamoto kept the conversation going.
"Lately, no matter how hard I practice, my average is dropping and my fielding is screwing up." Yamamoto had a glum face on, but had the courage to ask the question: "Tsuna, what should I do?"
Tsuna popped out of his daydream. "Eh?" You're asking me?
"Just kidding...Lately, you're so reliable, so I just..." Yamamoto tried to smile, to seem happy instead of sad. He had to...
I've never seen Yamamoto like this, considering giving up baseball after ten full years of it... Tsuna was thinking. I want to give him advice, but...I also don't want him to find out about Reborn. Reborn had recently entered into Tsuna's life, making it more amazing with his Dying Will Bullets, but the baby was also good at figuring out people and their past. This was apparent through Reborn's knowing of Tsuna's title at school and his love interest, Kyoko. Tsuna will never mention these things to anybody, but Reborn noticed them in a flash. If he were to figure out that Yamamoto and Tsuna were friends...
"I guess...more effort...is the way to go...I think..." Bleh, I'm such a liar, Tsuna thought. No way can he believe that...
"Yeah."
"HUH?" Tsuna replied. He accepted the advice?
"Y'know, I thought that was it, too. We agree, as I suspected."
"R-really?"
"Alright! Today, I'm remaining here and practicing like hell. Ahahahahahaha!"
"Hahaha..." Tsuna semi-laughed along with Yamamoto's boasts. I said something good! Would Yamamoto and I become friends now? Is the past behind us?
"Did something good happen?" Reborn questioned Tsuna. Reborn was polishing a gun of his and Tsuna was busy playing videogames, a smile on his face.
"Can you tell?" Tsuna asked the Arcobaleno. Reborn just nodded. "Today a popular kid came to me for advice. Man, what to do..." Yamamoto, why are you jealous of me? There's nothing to be jealous about...
"About that Yamamoto..."
"!!" Tsuna was surprised. "How did you know?" Reborn knows everything.
"Make him your subordinate."
"WHAT? You're going to turn my classmate into a mafia member, too?" Tsuna yelled in disbelief. "Absolutely not! Yamamoto is hot on baseball. I want to help out Yamamoto as a friend!" At least, I think he's my friend...
"You should try getting hot too, for once." Reborn said, and suddenly the gun that Reborn had, a flamethrower, was shot at Tsuna, flames gulfing all around him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Woops. That's the wrong meaning of hot." Reborn said innocently. Too innocently.
The Next Day
"Hey, everyone!" a random male student yelled, barging into the now-disturbed class. "Yamamoto's about to jump off the roof!"
"Yamamoto from our class?" one boy wondered aloud in disbelief.
"Him? That's impossible..." another kid gave a nervous chuckle, obviously worried as well.
"There are good and bad pranks, you know." one girl and her friend agreed that it was a joke he was playing.
But this time, he was serious.
"When he stayed after school practicing yesterday," the same student announced, "he went too far and broke his arm." Then Tsuna realized:
"Effort is the only way." Tsuna gave the inaccurate advice to Yamamoto.
"That's true!" Yamamoto agreed.
No way...It's my fault? Tsuna started worrying.
"Anyway, go to the roof!" one of the crowd yelled, the rest following each other to the roof of Namimori Middle School. The only one who didn't follow was Tsuna, the spiky-haired "loser" who brought Yamamoto to his suicide.
Not again, he was thinking. I've hurt Yamamoto's feelings again...just like last time...
"Tsuna! You're the one who threw the ball inside! You made Mom dead!" Yamamoto pointed an accusing finger at Tsuna.
"Me no any dead!" Tsuna tried to say through his bawling tears.
"You made her dead! You… you killed her!" Yamamoto finally got the word, and also bawled out.
"You make me threw ball!" Tsuna said weeping.
"Grrrrr…" Yamamoto knew that was true. "I don't know who had done this, but I'm not being your friend anymore! You did it as much as me!"
"NNNNOOOOOO!" Tsuna screamed out an unhappy cry. "I'm not your friend, either! You're being mean to me! MOMMY!"
Tsuna stood there, sadly remembering the painful event, until he heard the voice of his favourite girl.
"Tsuna-kun, let's go!" Kyoko encouraged Tsuna out of his daydream.
"Uhh...yeah! A...after I go to the bathroom..." Then the poor 14-year-old tried to make his weak escape out the classroom door, in shame.
"Hey, Yamamoto!" "This isn't funny!" "You're taking it too far!" These were the class' persuasive comments to get the baseball superstar to not jump off the roof.
"Heh. Sorry, but that's not true." Yamamoto replied in a cool manner. "After the baseball god threw me away, I have nothing left."
"NO WAY!" "HE'S SERIOUS?" "That fence is rusty and might fall apart anytime, too!" The boys were surprised and the girls were crying.
Meanwhile, a hyperventilating, anxious Tsuna was behind a wall, very close to the crowd. "WhatshouldIdo? Ishouldn'thavesaidthat." He was talking quickly and quietly. "Ican'tfaceYamamoto..."
Then, out of the blue, a shadow of a baby appeared and talked. "You want to help Yamamoto as a friend, right?" The shadow became flesh and bone. "Then don't run away."
"Reborn!" Tsuna was in joy, but changed when he saw a gun fully loaded with Dying Will Bullets. "Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!" Tsuna was NOT going to embarrass himself by using the Dying Will Bullet to fix this mess! No way!
So Tsuna did the next best thing he was good at: running away from his troubles, only to just get even more of it. When Tsuna ran away from the Arcobaleno, he ran too fast and crashed into somebody! "Owwwwww..." Tsuna rubbed his head, where he got hit.
"Tsuna?" Yamamoto said in curiosity. Then Tsuna realized. He has bumped into Yamamoto!
"Eh...ahh...What do I do? What do I do...?" Tsuna was looking all over the place, incredibly scared and worried. Everybody, even Kyoko, looked at him like he was the "loser" all over again.
"If you came to stop me, it's no use." Yamamoto began to say. "You should be able to understand my feelings."
Huh? What's he talking about?
"For someone that's called 'Dame-Tsuna' all the time, you can understand the feeling of preferring to die over failing at everything, right?
"Ahh!" He's talking about...Yamamoto's talking about THAT incident...
"Dame-Tsuna!" The whole class yelled, "Dame-Tsuna! Dame-Tsuna!"
"Shut up!" Tsuna yelled, sobbing. Little Tsuna didn't want his first day of Grade 2 to be like this! The class was repeating it because they were angry. The 7-year-olds thought that Tsuna was cheating in their game (of course he didn't, someone else was the culprit), so because of being a sore sport, they yelled Dame-Tsuna, and they know it was bugging their target. Even Yamamoto was in the crowd!
"Dame-Tsuna! Dame-Tsuna!" Tsuna looked at Yamamoto's ball in his hands (the very same one that killed Bishou) with tears splashing on it. The teacher made the class play games with it just so that they could waste time in the classroom while she "goes to the office to photocopy their lessons tomorrow." The class was unsupervised.
"Stop it! Why are you calling me that? I don't like it!"
"We adore this nickname! It suits you!"
"It doesn't suit me! I can do something!"
"Like what?"
"...I don't know..."
"Dame-Tsuna!"
Then Tsuna got to his breaking point. He threw the ball against the floor hard so that it bounced high up at the ceiling, smashing the lights and creating a blackout for that classroom, and possibly the whole school. All the class screamed in terror of seeing a different darkness other than someone purposely shutting the lights. The blinds were drawn, so the class was chaotic, smashing into things and knocking down supplies. Tsuna was there, sniffling as the ball bounced down, and Yamamoto catches it.
"Dame-Tsuna, don't be reckless..." Tsuna just did an angry pout at him.
Just then, one of the objects that came from a box that a kid crashed into, making it fall and another classmate kicking its contents to various areas, the object came right to Tsuna's feet. It was a pair of scissors. Tsuna grabbed them.
"I can't live with these people! Especially you!" Tsuna pointed an accusing finger at Yamamoto.
"Tsuna, are you doing what I think you're doing...!?"
"Don't worry." Tsuna seriously said, a hint of anger on his face, "I'll tell your mommy you said hi."
At his very last sentence, Tsuna stabbed were he assumed his heart is, bringing the scissors in his body from tip to hilt, and collapsed on the floor, collapsing in a blackout of his own.. Everybody stopped their havoc and looked at the bleeding boy.
"DAME-TSUNA!" everybody cried out. The only one who yelled "Tsuna!" was Yamamoto.
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When Tsuna was finally regaining consciousness, he recognized that he was in the hospital, and he had a bunch of tubes sticking out of his nose and mouth, and the scissors were gone. Tsuna saw that the nose tube lead to a pump of some sort and the mouth one lead to a container full of a brown substance, as he saw through a transparent measuring line at the side of it. Tsuna peered underneath the collar of the hospital gown he was wearing, and saw a tiny scar were the scissors have been. He stopped looking when he heard someone barge in the room, along with a boy. It was the nurse, and...Yamamoto?
"Oh! Thank goodness you're awake!" the nurse said in a happy tone. "Your mom just visited you earlier, she was worried sick!..." at the word "mom", Yamamoto flinched, "...This boy wanted to see you, too, so I brought him over. Can you wait outside, so that I can explain to poor Tsuna what happened these past few days?"
"Sure..." Yamamoto answered meekly, and left the hospital room, shutting the door behind him. Tsuna could tell Yamamoto felt something...was it sadness? Anger? Guilt? His face and eyes weren't giving a clear reading...
"You were unconscious for 5 days." the nurse took a seat on the bed and conversed with the small child. "According to your classmates, when you dropped on the floor, they said a boy named Yamamoto was the one who called 9-1-1. We came to your school right away, and quickly brought you to this hospital. Now that I think about it, your teacher wasn't there. Where were they?"
"Probably still photocopying our lessons..." Tsuna answered back.
"But the electricity was out all over the building. Are you sure that's what she was doing?"
"..."
"Anyway," the nurse continued, "We removed the scissors on the scene but noticed in the ambulance that you weren't breathing, so we put in a tube that's still stuck in your nose now. You punctured one of your lungs. The machine is pumping air in your lungs to breathe. Soon you will be able to breathe on your own." Tsuna let out a weak sigh of relief.
"We had to feed you during your time here by making the food as soft and liquidly as water itself, so it can slide down your throat. You know, you were close to killing yourself, five centimetres to the right and then the blade would meet the heart, causing us more problems. But you will forever have a scar there, a tiny one, on your chest.
"Also, Nana-chan, your mom, has been visiting you every day, waiting for you to wake up. She has a nice and caring soul. Her husband must be very lucky to have her. Besides Nana-chan visiting, that little boy you've seen earlier always comes around without any parent supervision and asks if he can see you. I don't allow him because he's without his parents. I allowed him this time because he wouldn't stop bugging me to come see you!"
"Can you let him in now? Yamamoto?" Tsuna requested.
"Oh! The child who called was him? So you knew each other! Dang, if only I had known..." the nurse was regretting. "He's allowed in anytime! He should've said so if he was a friend of yours, Tsuna!"
Yamamoto? A friend? That'd be a laugh, Tsuna thought.
Just as the nurse left, Yamamoto strolled into the room, and sat beside Tsuna. "Did you really see my mom?"
"...No," Tsuna replied, "I couldn't reach her; all of you guys were keeping me from doing that."
"Consider yourself saved."
Tsuna did not agree. "No, I would've been saved if I've actually died."
"No! I don't want you dead! Suicide is a cowardly way out of this world! Mom taught me that!"
"Oh really..."
"Yes! And there's a life everyone has to live. Why take it away? It's got its weak points, and bad things, but there is good, too! Like you and me!"
"Us? But...we're mortal enemies..."
"Not anymore. I don't want revenge against you because of Mom. That, too, is foolish. I don't want to decide now to become friends, but can we at least not be enemies? I don't want to see any more pain or suffering..."
"...I understand. Okay."
Yamamoto climbed up the bed to give Tsuna a hug, told him that, "Everything's going to be alright," and disappeared out of the hospital room.
"Tsuna? Are you okay?"
Tsuna got out of his daydream once more, and suddenly realized that he was back on the roof, Yamamoto trying to commit suicide. Tsuna had to stop him!
"..." The small, shy 14-year-old was speechless. C'mon, Tsuna, say something! Then Tsuna remembered what Yamamoto had asked him "...You and I are different, so..."
But this statement only got Yamamoto angrier. "How arrogant of the recently awesome 'Tsuna-sama'." Yamamoto's face just got more furious. "So now you're a fine student now as opposed to me!"
Oh no! Yamamoto thinks that I think I'm better than him! "No!" Tsuna countered back. "That's not it at all! It's because I'm 'No-Good'!"
Now Yamamoto was surprised. Is Tsuna trying to prove a point? "Unlike you, I've never put effort into one single thing...I arrogantly told you "effort" and such, but I've really done nothing! What I said yesterday was a lie...I'm sorry! Saying that you're frustrated that you'd want to die, or you want to die because of a career-ending accident...Unlike you, I've never had those kind of intense thoughts..."
"But Tsuna, what about that time way back in 2nd Grade where even you tried to kill yourself?" People gasped at the memory, and some even fainted at what they remembered.
"That was foolish of me. I wasn't seriously thinking about it." Tsuna admitted. "I didn't know what 'death' completely was. I thought it was a place to go when people were miserable with their lives-in other words, suicide. Now I know that there's more to 'death' besides suicide, and some people killed themselves that were more miserable than me...People who've lost their jobs, and now have to live a pitiful life, just like your mother was about to become..." Yamamoto became wide-eyed at Tsuna's knowledge of that. "And I was about to kill myself just because some nasty classmates were making fun of me. See how foolish my choices are? You even told me yourself seven years ago...Wasn't suicide 'a cowardly act'? And look at you now...
"I know the real world of 'death', and that some people who die don't have the slightest problem in their lives...death is not just 'suicide'. And you're probably thinking now: 'What does this have to do with my suicide?'" That was exactly what Yamamoto was thinking. "Well, there's...everything. You're right now betraying your own words by this foul doing. And you have to realize that life is more than just baseball! Just like I realized that life is more than some people insulting me...you just have to open your eyes to the new things that life can bring. So you, Yamamoto, have not opened your eyes, to yourself and to others. And I thought you did."
"Tsuna...You're so wise..." Yamamoto was in awe.
"What? You think I'm so smart? This is probably the only wise thing I've learned through my lifetime! You want to know the real me? I'm actually a pathetic person who would have regrets while dying, thinking if I'm going to die, then I should've done it with my Dying Will..." Yamamoto was confused at how he experienced death if he's still here, but still let the smaller boy continue. "Thinking it's a waste to die from something like this...That's what I'd probably think if I were dead, and that's what you're going to think in the near future..." Everybody was silent.
"You and I are different this way. I opened my eyes and yours remain shut. So I can't understand your feelings." Tsuna concluded. "Sorry." Oh God, this is awkward...my first time saying something wise... "Later!" Tsuna turned around quickly to run away.
"Tsuna, wait!" Yamamoto grabbed Tsuna's shirt, he wasn't done with him yet! But Tsuna slipped off the ground due to being pulled back, and Tsuna went crashing into Yamamoto-enough force to break the break the fence and send the two falling! Everyone gasped in horror! Tsuna and Yamamoto just slipped off Namimori Middle School!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tsuna and Yamamoto cried out, both panic-stricken. Tsuna was crying rivers of tears all the way down and Yamamoto was shocked at the extreme decrease in height. The students were yelling, too, in fear of what happened to their friend and crush. (You think they'd ever think about Tsuna?)
Meanwhile, a small figure was getting his gun loaded inside the school. "Now it's time for the Dying Will." Reborn shot one of the falling people, namely Tsuna, and he started making his wish.
Yamamoto...I want to save my friend...Tsuna was regretting when dying. Then it happened.
"MID-AIR REBORN!" Tsuna yelled, being ripped out of his body into only his underpants. "SAVE YAMAMOTO WITH MY DYING WILL!" The boy in only his boxers ran up to the other falling one.
"Tsuna!" Yamamoto yelled in shock of being saved. Kyoko glanced over the fence. Tsuna and Yamamoto have not stopped a bit.
"Shit, can't stop!" Tsuna cursed, because he now had Yamamoto in his arms, but they had never even slowed down, not even for a second. "Dammit!"
"Tsuna?" Yamamoto was confused. Was he really going to be saved by Tsuna, of all people?
Reborn saw the crisis that the two were in. How about adding an extra bullet?, he thought. "Additional shot." The bullet went straight into the top of Tsuna's scalp.
"Ah!" Tsuna did not say that for the pain, but for the sudden weird feeling on his head. "My tsumuji (hair whorl), it itches!" Out of the blue, a spring sprang out of Tsuna's head, where the bullet hit. With this, the two boys bounced safely off the ground.
"If you hit the tsumuji," Reborn explained the bullet's effects to no one, "it's the Tsumuji Hair Growth Spring Bullet!" Reborn was feeling proud of saving Tsuna when Tsuna was saving Yamamoto.
"No way!"
"They're safe!"
"That's not possible!"
"Maybe it was a joke of Yamamoto's?"
"...Using wires or something...Yeah..."
"What the hell! And I was seriously worried, too..."
"Tsuna really is a hentai, huh?"
"Let's go, let's go..."
These were the replies of the numerous people who left, being innocent and clueless as to the real story behind this...
Tsuna's Dying Will Flame...died out, leaving a worried Tsuna. "Yamamoto, are you okay?"
"Yeah!" Yamamoto responded. "Tsuna! You're amazing!"
"Huh?"
"Just like you said. I had to do it with my Dying Will."
"!"
"I don't know what I was thinking. Nothing comes out of my idiocy." The attempter was now in a bunch of giggles and laughter, showing the smile he had since he was born.
"Yamamoto!" You've finally opened your eyes! See what I see! The world isn't that small! Thanks, Reborn. I was able to save Yamamoto with my Dying Will. Tsuna has once again became friends with Yamamoto, this time permanently.
But Reborn didn't think that. As he walked into the sunset only one thought was on his mind: Family acquired.
Why me? Why me every time?, Tsuna thought through the corridors, trying to cover himself as much as possible with his arms. The students recognized him and started yelling "Hey, look at that! It's a hentai!" This is so embarrassing!
Kyoko noticed him, and snickered as well, but not at the perverted jokes.
Suddenly, a loud noise startled the students, which was a big footstep. "SAWADA!"
"Y-yes, Principal Futotta?" Tsuna asked, obviously afraid at the big figure standing in front of him.
"Come to my office. NOW."
"Ohhhhhh, Tsuna's in trouble!" The other 14-year-olds yelled. "That's what you get for being a hentai!"
"That's part of the reason." the 50-year-old man answered back.
Eh? Only part of it? But usually it's the whole reason... Before Tsuna could think anymore, the un-jolly old principal lead Tsuna by the hand down the hallway.
WHAT? Why is Yamamoto here? Tsuna thought, as he took a seat right next to the baseball lover inside the principal's office. It was stacked to the top of the rack with papers, papers, and more papers. And underneath a stack of papers was a paper-filled desk. The room was so chocked up with papers that Tsuna and Yamamoto practically stepped on the papers littering the floor.
Finally, the principal took a seat at the desk, and that's when Tsuna noticed the gold-plated nametag on it. Kaihen Futotta? Where have I heard the other part of his name before...?
"You two both are in deep, deep, trouble..." The ugly, glasses-wielding man spoke. "Tsuna, haven't I already spoken to you about public disclosure before?"
"Yes...and my mom knows about it as well..." Tsuna blushed.
"And Yamamoto...this is the first time I've heard from you. You were always such a good boy, why, and now you've almost committed suicide. This is so unlike you!"
"...I realize the error of my ways, and will try to avoid that foul act in the future." Yamamoto...
"This...I don't want to see you boys do this kind of...absurd behaviour ever again. I've seen Tsuna's "hentai-showings" one too many times, and I don't want to let this pass on to poor innocent Yamamoto..."
"I'm not that evil!" Tsuna fought back verbally. "Do you really think I am capable of doing such things?!"
"Of course you are!" Principal Futotta yelled back. "After all, you're the one who killed Bishou!"
Tsuna and Yamamoto gasped. Principal Futotta covered his mouth with his hands.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BISHOU/MOM?" both of the teenagers almost screamed.
"Oh...I get it..." Tsuna remembered. "You're the one who went to her funeral 10 years ago, right? You haven't changed much..."
"Yes...It's me...I'm the government guy that had not let Bishou get a job. You remember me, right, Yamamoto?"
"..." Yamamoto was in shock. Bishou, his mom, was stuck financially by this old man! "Why? What relation do you have with Mom?"
Kaihen closed his eyes. "That I can't say right now..." He opened his eyes. "...but soon you will know truly who I am."
"Who ARE you?" Yamamoto tried to force the answer. "Are you some enemy to my mom or something?"
"Let's just say," the principal stated, "that I know very well what job little Tsuna's father is in..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsuna asked.
"Like I said, you'll know when you get older..."
Suddenly, the wall of the office smashed through, Tsuna and Yamamoto covering themselves with only their arms. A helicopter was outside, making a surplus of wind fly into the office, papers fluttering around. Two suspicious grown men were there, and they followed Kaihen Futotta as he ran his escape through the helicopter. Of course, the two younger ones followed right on his tail.
"Wait! We're not done with you yet!" They shouted, but the screams were futile as the principal left them, floating away in the sky.
"Dammit!" Yamamoto cursed. "How does he know you were the one who killed Mom? And how does he know her in the first place?" Tsuna started to cry, but bravely tried to hold back his tears. Sometimes, he still couldn't believe that he was the one who accidently murdered Yamamoto's mom...
A paper flew from the natural wind and hit Yamamoto's face. "What the hell?" Yamamoto grabbed the paper immediately and saw Kaihen Futotta...10 years ago!
"Tsuna! Look at this!" Tsuna stared at the paper, too.
"Kaihen Futotta, 40 Years Old..." Yamamoto read aloud the sheet. "Mafia Member History...Ah, that's it. The guy was in the Mafia? This was probably the cover of a booklet or something..."
Mafia! Tsuna realized. Does Reborn have something to do with this? Or not? Really, why did this guy be in the government and at the same time...or was he really NOT in the government? Was he a mafia member all along? How does he know Yamamoto's-er, Bishou and Dad? I don't know anything anymore... Tsuna collapsed, hands on the floor, crying like he did ten years ago.
"Tsuna? What's wrong?" Yamamoto asked. Tsuna didn't respond, for the rest of the day he was in silence.
Ten Years Later, Twenty Years After The Incident
In the Vongola Castle, defended all around in case of a Millefiore attack, it was night. Most of the Vongola Guardians were sleeping, but not a single one of them slept peacefully. Why?
Tsuna was in a death state, and every single person in that castle was in mourn, regret, anger, every kind of emotion except happiness, until their master finally opened his eyes.
24-year-old Yamamoto was on his bed, in his room. He thought he was the only one who was awake, and the one who got hurt the most from the sudden event. But that was wrong. He just sat there, crying, holding an object in his hand. It was the picture that was taken 20 years ago with Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Bishou.
"So, you're gone, are you now..." Yamamoto tasted the saltiness of tears in his mouth. "Mom and Dad are gone as well...everyone I entirely put my faith, trust and love in is gone!" Another river of wetness streamed down his face.
Yamamoto ran his hand over his chin, where a scar showed itself. "I even have a mark remembering his death...Dad's death..."
Yamamoto and his dad ran, ran and ran. Only the moonlight illuminated were they could go. Both knew they could never return to Takesushi ever again.
There was a voice behind the father and son, emerging from the flames. "Vrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Where is that man?"
"Yamamoto, hide!" The older one ordered the younger. Even though both were burned really badly, Yamamoto didn't give up to the pain and quickly crouched behind a bunch of barrels. Night time has struck, making it hard to see for both the pair and the man.
"Voi! Is that you, Yamamoto?" Squalo walked towards the only figure he could see in the night.
"..." Yamamoto's father remained silent.
"Voi, you're quite the silent one, not saying a thing even after burning your house/restaurant down! Aren't you going to say something in revenge?"
"..." The real Yamamoto could only just watch.
"Whatever! If you're not going to get revenge, then I will! I've been training all along, and now I'll show you what I learned! This is revenge for that battle 10 years ago!"
Then, there was a quick flash of a sword through the air, and through Yamamoto's dad. "Argh!" Yamamoto got nicked by the wide sword and felt pain as well, on his chin and in his heart as he held his jaw and was splashed by a warm fluid. His father died protecting him, before his eyes, and Squalo was the one who killed him. Yamamoto ran from his hiding spot, just as it was turning dawn. At the sudden light, Squalo could see a boy running away, with a dead person that did NOT look like Yamamoto.
"VRRRRRROOOOOOIIIIIII! I killed the wrong guy!" Squalo bellowed in surprise. "Next time, Yamamoto, I'll get you for sure! Don't think you can run forever!"
Yamamoto felt his tears when he ran, all the way to Tsuna's residence. The swordsman slammed on the door with his fists, unaware that it was morning. When the door finally opened, a 24-year-old Tsuna was there, in his night wear, rubbing his sluggish eyes. Yamamoto was still banging on the "door", which was Tsuna's chest. "Ow! Yamamoto, what's wrong? Why is your body burned and your chin bleeding?" Yamamoto stopped his fists.
"Just help me...find somewhere to live..." Yamamoto gasped for air from the long run.
Tsuna looked surprised at first, but smiled, just like his friend has done in the past. "You can live here. I'll heal your wounds and make you live in this huge place all you like!"
"Thank you..." Yamamoto shuttered from the memory, and Tsuna led him inside the Vongola base.
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A Few Days Later
"Hurry! Bring Tenth to the emergency room! He's been shot!" Gokudera yelled when he witnessed just seconds ago a bullet hit Tsuna square in the forehead. Tsuna had just entered the room Gokudera was in and a bullet smashed through the window. Doctors brought the dead-looking man in a stretcher toward the place Gokudera requested, while Yamamoto sat, worried on the small chairs outside while Tsuna was undergoing surgery. Gokudera was right beside him, both consoling each other and both hoping for the best, no matter how unreachable that best is.
A few hours later, Reborn opened the hospital doors. Gokudera and Yamamoto immediately dashed toward the tiny baby. "How's Tsuna/Tenth? Will he be okay? Is he dead?" Reborn just tilted his fedora so it didn't show his bug-like eyes, a sign that he was definitely not content.
"Yamamoto, Gokudera...Tsuna won't wake up for a long time..."
"TENTH IS DEAD!?" Gokudera yelled so loud that astronauts in space could hear him.
"Not dead, Gokudera, calm down." Reborn said. "Tsuna got hit by the Death State bullet, and I believe I know why..."
"Then why?" Yamamoto questioned desperately, but out of the blue Reborn fell on the ground, as if he was weakening.
"Reborn! Are you okay?" Yamamoto and Gokudera said in unison, nobody but them had seen Reborn this meek.
"The 7³..." Reborn sputtered until he finally gave in and calmly let his face fall flat on the floor.
"Reborn! Reborn, are you okay? Reborn!?" The two men were now shaking the baby. But no response.
"What was he talking about? Tri-ni-sette?" Yamamoto asked Gokudera.
"Looks like he's coming..." Gokudera was talking to himself.
"Who's coming? And why don't I know? And why did Reborn die?!" Yamamoto had a lot of unanswered questions.
"...The Millefoire..."
"What? Flower?"
"...Baseball freak, move all your blankets and shit upstairs, you're sleeping in the room next to me. Who knows when they'll finally attack?"
"The Millefoire? Attack?" Yamamoto sounded like he was drunk, so unaware.
"You'll know tomorrow! Now go to sleep!"
That was just a few days ago. Yamamoto knew all about Byakuran, and maybe a mention of Uni, along with the negative 7³ that killed Reborn. Times like this make Yamamoto really want his Vongola ring to fight, all he got was a replica of his Rain Ring, which only produced half as much power as the real product. Today, Yamamoto brought the last of his belongings upstairs, where he found an old photo that he hasn't seen for a long time-his mom, Tsuna, and himself, all happy and smiling, 20 years ago. Since it was night, Yamamoto immediately clutched the photo and ran up the stairs to his adobe, the photo bringing up painful memories of what happened the past 20 years, how he could be happy back then and be so miserable now. Because of this, Yamamoto cried for an hour. It made Gokudera angry next door.
"Hey! Baseball-nut! Pip it down, would ya? I'm trying to sleep!"
"But everyone that I cared for is gone! Mom, Dad, Tsuna..."
"Don't mourn the dead! It's not worth your time! And besides, Tsuna will wake up again! I just know it!"
"What if he doesn't?"
"You can't think that! I'm negative most of the time, but you've gotta stay positive at times like this!"
"...You're only saying that for your "Tenth", aren't you?"
"No! Sure, I'm being strong for Tenth, but you have to be strong for your parents and Tsuna, too!"
"C'mon! Knock it off!" Yamamoto became angry. "You never knew how it felt like to lose both your parents!"
"Now you're the one who needs to knock it off!" Gokudera yelled back. Luckily they were the only ones sleeping on the 3rd floor. "My mother died and I rarely see my father! I don't know if he's dead or not! Don't say I don't know how it feels to lose a parent or two!"
Yamamoto never felt surprised at this, not even feeling bad for saying something that was a lie. All he said was, "Really? And how did they 'die'?"
"My mother died in a car accident five days after my seventh birthday." Gokudera began. "I rarely got to see her as well, since I'm an 'illegal child' of her and all that..." Yamamoto could hear sniffles on the other side of the wall. "My father only came to my recitals and had me feed on those HORRIBLE cookies made by big sis...sometimes back then, I thought my only real father was Shamal. But when he stopped teaching me after I broke my arm, I felt my heart break in two. I felt like I really did have no parents. But when I knew that Shamal left me for the better, three years after, do you know how I felt? Do you know what I was doing?"
"What?"
"Happy. I smiled."
"..."
"I figured out that if my mentor Shamal didn't leave, then I would've never learned what he was teaching me at all. I smiled like I've never smiled..."
"Don't talk to me about smiles!" Yamamoto raised up his voice in a frustrated tone. "It's too painful! Mom smiled so much, and our smiles are the same! That's why every time I see myself smile, I cry! I can't face myself!"
"...Was that the other reason why you committed suicide 10 years ago?"
"No. I almost killed myself for the foolish reason of failing at baseball. Tsuna helped me open my eyes to the world, see that it really isn't so small afterall, so that I wouldn't commit that inacceptable performance that could ruin me forever. That's why I care for him, he truly was a remark..."
"Don't use 'was'," Gokudera corrected him, "use 'is'."
"...truly 'is' a remarkable man." Yamamoto finished.
"I'm glad you think so, too, baseball-no, Yamamoto."
Five minutes have passed in complete silence. The two were thinking about the other, until Yamamoto got the courage to say, "Did you really call me Yamamoto? Not 'baseball-freak', 'baseball-nut' or 'baseball-idiot' anymore?"
"Nope. You're too good a guy to be called like that."
Another minute passed. Yamamoto remembered his mom, and that guy that somehow was in the government, a principal of a school, and in the Mafia at once, an acquaintance of Bishou Takeshi...Kaihen Futotta...
Yamamoto randomly said, "Gokudera, you were in the Mafia since birth?"
"Yep! I know everyone and everything! Though I might've forgotten some names...the really popular people like Mafia bosses are the ones I know really well..."
"Did you ever hear of a person named Kaihen Futotta?"
"Kaihen...Futotta..." Gokudera sounded much like a dictionary finding an entry. "Ah! I know! 'Hide & Find Futotta'!"
"'Hide & Find'?" Yamamoto was confused.
"He's great with disguises! He can pretend to be anybody! He was famous before we were even born!" Gokudera explained in enthusiasm. "He's incredible! Like a magician!"
"What's his background?"
"He was half Italian, half Japanese, like me!"
"No, no! I meant his history! But before that, you said 'was'?"
"Oh! I should've told you! He died a year ago! Poor guy got brain cancer, and his old sixty-nine-year-old body couldn't take it. He only got married once in his life, around twenty-five where he was much more skinnier and handsomer, until 7 years later when he got papers saying to be a member of the Mafia, specializing in creating disguises for himself and for others. His wife divorced him right away, and around that time he started looking bigger and uglier, probably from all that stress. Ever since, he wants to see and make his ex-wife love him again, using the disguises he uses. Though he never succeeded in his personal mission-his ex-wife died before he really had a chance. He wasn't good at it either. I heard he ended up hurting his ex-wife, being a government guy and making her worry a lot about her occupation..."
Yamamoto felt a distant memory coming to the surface. Hasn't he heard this kind of situation before? "When did his ex-wife die?"
"Around 20 years ago..."
Wait, that's the exact time... "What was the ex-wife's name?
"I don't know...I believe it began with a B..."
Can it be her? "...Was her name Bishou?"
"Bishou? Well, it starts with a B, but...Wait, that's it! I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure that's it!"
"MOM!?" Yamamoto screamed so loud that it might've woken up somebody a floor higher or lower.
"Mom? Wait, is your mother Bishou?"
"Yes! And she met with her ex-husband twenty years ago that made the last fifteen days of her life miserable, but all he wanted to do was get closer to her once again...did they have any children?" Yamamoto was hoping for a long-lost half-brother or half-sister.
"Not that I know of, it's really unlikely but there is still a possibility..." Yamamoto made a mental note to check around for the last name of "Futotta".
Yamamoto gave a really extreme sigh. "Wow...it's amazing how this all comes together..."
"...Are you going to sleep, Yamamoto?"
"...I'll try."
"...Yamamoto, think about it. Now Bishou is having fun in the second life because her two loving husbands are there with her. Your father probably let himself get killed not just for your protection, but to meet Bishou again after twenty years in his own pain and suffering...that's why you can't cry, because it gets to you to the point of death. Some people won't die no matter how depressing their situation is, while people like Tsuna and you will perform suicide because of one simple reason...like bullying and failing at baseball." Yamamoto was starting to cry. "But you can't let the sadness get to you! When life gets you down, all you have to do is smile!" Yamamoto felt more tears. "And always look at the positive side. Haven't I've been telling you that for the last hour? Now go to sleep-it's 2AM already!" And Yamamoto heard the tick of a night table lamp on the other side of the wall.
"..." Yamamoto ran immediately to the washroom, looked in the big mirror on the wall, and tried his best to smile. It took awhile, sometimes twitching and sometimes a tear or two, but there he had it. A smile, the one he inherited from his mother, was on his face. And he had tears, but tears of joy and success, and he smiled all the way to his bed, sat down, pulled the sheets over him, wiped his fallen tears away, and said only one thing before he drifted into unconsciousness: "It's better to smile than to frown...Isn't it...Mom, Dad, Tsuna?..." And his eyelids closed for the day.
Gokudera smiled that night, because he got to help Yamamoto discover how to smile and forget about the tragic past he has been in. His mom dying at the young age of four, had started everything. Tsuna's attempted suicide when he was seven, that Yamamoto comforted him in the end, and Yamamoto had an attempted suicide of his own at the age of fourteen, until Tsuna saved him, and figuring out that Kaihen Futotta was in disguise as the principal of his school, so that he can watch over Yamamoto as if he was his own kid and wanted Tsuna, the one who killed his ex-wife Bishou, to stay away from his half-son as much as possible. (He probably regretted choosing the wrong disguise and had to make his lovely ex-wife Bishou have stress until she died.) And at twenty-four, his dad dying and Tsuna in a coma until an unknown date where he might open his eyes, became the bearer of stress for Yamamoto (and Gokudera for 'Tenth'.) He hasn't been able to smile at all, especially after seeing the twenty-year-old photo. Gokudera has helped Yamamoto get past the stress and finally smile, even though it was hard for the past baseball star. Gokudera smiled for his accomplishment, and for helping one of his best friends. ("Of course, nobody could replace the Tenth!")
Yamamoto's dad smiled for his wife and kids. Even if he died, he smiles in the next life because he sees his wife that he's never seen for 20 years, and that his precious son is still safe and alive. He now knows about Kaihen Futotta, and acknowledges him now for a fine taste in women!
Kaihen Futotta smiled because of his ex-wife, who he loved every day of his life, and to see her again, after approximate 43 years of divorce. He will do anything, even use his disguises that he made to make her love him again. When she died, Kaihen attended her funeral, and found out that she was murdered by a four-year-old kid named Tsuna! When he later figured out that his half-son and this "Tsuna" were in the same school, he disguised himself as the principal there and made all the students and teachers call him "Mr. Futotta" so that Kaihen doesn't exist, since Bishou called him "Kaihen-kun" instead of "Futotta-kun." Yamamoto and Tsuna got closer to knowing that Kaihen Futotta was in the Mafia, but he escaped with his special helicopter (given to him from the Mafia.) The 14-year-olds still found out that he was in the Mafia, all those sheets in his office were his Mafia Member History, after being in the Mafia for 23 years. He never personally got to see Tsuna and Yamamoto ever again, he died before he could, just like Bishou died before he made her love him again. At least his mission can still continue to try to be accomplished in heaven, if he doesn't fail and be quick on his feet!
Bishou was always a smiler, no matter how dark the situation was. She abhors all kinds of crime, and that's the reason for her divorce to Kaihen Futotta, even though it wasn't his fault that he was invited to join the Mafia. Bishou switched to another husband right away, a childhood friend she's known for years,` and they had only one son, Yamamoto. Bishou loved her husband and her son greatly, and since Yamamoto had her smile, she wanted him to smile, too. She lived a short life, but she made sure it was a joyful one.
Tsuna smiles because...did Tsuna smile that much? He only smiled when everything was nice and peaceful, never when times were tough. Tsuna smiled only when there was an event to smile, but that just meant that he was also really sensitive to a really depressing event as well. Which is not a good way to look at that type of situation. Tsuna never realized that you have to smile no matter what the situation is-Tsuna breaks at the single second of sadness. It was shown in Tsuna's suicide attempt at seven, but seven years later he admits that it was a foolish reason to do that. Did Tsuna learn? Or is he still in the dark in what he did wrong? 24-year-old Tsuna knew his attacker, and what bullet shot him. He was prepared. He knew that he will cause his Guardians grief, but he still agreed to be shot. The question remains, a question Tsuna can't answer himself, whether he awakes or not.
And so finally, what makes Yamamoto happy? What makes Yamamoto smile? His reasons have changed over the years. When he was four, it was peace, like Tsuna's reason to grin. As long as everybody and everything was okay, it was also okay to smile. No wonder they were friends in kindergarten. After his mom died, Yamamoto found it hard to smile, only these fake ones he gives to people in order for them to be proud of him and Yamamoto to be proud of himself. When Tsuna saved him from suicide, Yamamoto found it a slight bit easier to smile, since Tsuna taught him how to again. Ten years later, with two events happening back to back, Yamamoto found it hard to smile again, with Tsuna and his dad gone. Gokudera saved him from going into complete depression. Yamamoto now tries to smile, through the good and the bad, and it seems to brighten everybody who was in a bad state, which his mom was proud of him for. Yamamoto smiles now for everybody, alive, unconscious or dead, and remembers Bishou, his deceased mom, even if it's been a full 20 years.
--THE END--
A:N: (Still can't believe that five days after Gokudera's birthday is my birthday...) Well? It took a LONG time to type, but it's finally done! I hope you enjoyed! Remember to review, and I'll see you in my next fanfiction!
-ChibiSeme597