"Are you ready?" Gokudera squeezed Tsuna's hand comfortingly, but Tsuna could still feel the film of sweat on his lover's clammy hands.
"No," Tsuna replied, not wanting to lie to his best friend. "But we're gonna do this, right?"
"Hayato-kun, why are you so worried about what to wear?" Tsuna asked, sprawled lazily across Gokudera's bed. His arms were behind his head, propping him up just enough so that he could watch his lover anxiously.
Hayato looked back at the brunette and said, "Well, if you must know, I'm going over a friend's house for dinner tonight."
Tsuna smiled and decided to go along with the joke.
"Oh? And what is this friend of yours like?" Tsuna asked, rolling over onto his stomach and resting his chin on the palms of his hands.
"Nothing special. Kinda short, brown hair. Cute kid, though," Hayato teased, holding up yet another one of his black shirts (it was the only color he ever pulled out of his closet.)
"Oh, no!" Tsuna giggled, placing an adorable look of fake sadness on his face. "He might steal you from me."
"Never!" Gokudera walked over to the side of the bed and tackled Tsuna onto it.
"Don't you have to get ready?" Tsuna said, snaking his arms around his partner's neck despite himself.
"Yes," Hayato then placed his lips fiercely on Tsuna's and Tsuna returned it happily.
Tsuna fingered the wool scarf that was wrapped around his neck nervously. What a bad sign, getting a hickey a couple of hours before they were supposed to meet with his parents, although he couldn't really say it was only Gokudera's fault, he'd kissed the bomber back just as excitedly.
"Are you just going to wear that scarf during dinner?" Hayato asked, feeling the wool fibers of the scarf himself.
"Yeah, I have to," Tsuna said. "I'm pretty sure bruises like that won't bode well with my dad."
"I-I'm sorry," Hayato looked embarrassed and his eyes became fixated on the ground.
"No, its not your fault," Tsuna said. He took the silverette's hand in his own again and squeezed it. "But we probably should've been a little less carefree. It feels weird not to be so nervous."
"Yeah," Hayato answered. Another minute or so passed before one of them spoke again.
"You know, we're still standing outside of your house," Gokudera said awkwardly. "Shouldn't we go in soon?"
"Probably," Tsuna sighed.
He took his hand away so he could get his key, but before he could, Gokudera's arms were around him.
"We're going to be fine," he said reassuringly. Tsuna smiled and hugged his boyfriend back, enjoying the familiar smell of tobacco and soap.
"I know," Tsuna said. They stood there for probably another minute or so when Tsuna reluctantly disentangled himself from the Storm guardian and got his key to unlock the door.
They walked in quietly, so quietly that for a second they thought the house was empty, but the next second, another pair of arms were around Hayato.
"Welcome to our home, Hayato-kun!" Sawada Nana said happily, stepping back from the hug and smiling.
"U-Um, thank you," Gokudera was looking at the ground, embarrassed.
"Mom, don't make him uncomfortable," Tsuna was also obviously embarrassed. He looked over at Hayato apologetically. And yet…
"Thank you so very much, Okaa-sama!" Gokudera bowed low. "I'm honored to be welcomed into your home!"
"Hayato…." Tsuna turned to his boyfriend. Here we go again, he had become accustomed to the Storm guardian's exuberance when it came to Tsuna and his family but it still threw him off all the time. "Anyway, is Dad home yet?"
"No, but it won't be long now. Why don't you take Hayato-kun up to your room now and I'll call you down when its time, okay?" Nana smiled and then walked back into the kitchen, waving brightly as she went.
Tsuna and Gokudera stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded.
Then there was a loud, obnoxious laugh and something hit Tsuna hard in the jaw.
"Aha! Tsuna and Ahou-dera are here!" Lambo said jubilantly. "Come to eat another dinner with us, Ahou-dera? You're a freeloader, you know!"
"Lambo…" Tsuna said mildly, all too well knowing what was going to come next.
"Ah, dumb cow! You're so lucky that I'm here for a special reason tonight!" Gokudera said, a vein appearing out of his forehead.
"Heh, oh, really?" Lambo sneered. "You're just scared to fight the great and powerful Lambo-san!"
"Just ignore him," Tsuna said reassuringly as a shadow of rage passed over the silverette's pale face.
"Lambo! Leave Gokudera-sand and Tsuna-san alone!" I-Pin ran up to them and bopped Lambo on the head, although he probably didn't feel it through his large hair. She looked apologetically at the two teenagers and tried to pull Lambo away.
"Let's just go up to my room, 'kay?" Tsuna pulled on Gokudera's elbow and started pulling him away.
"Oh, running away, are you?" Lambo taunted. "Fools! You can never defeat Lambo-san!"
"One day, I'll get you, dumb cow!" Gokudera yelled as he followed Tsuna up the stairs.
Once they were inside of his bedroom, he closed the door behind him and went to sit on his bed. Gokudera followed him and sat next to him, his hand landing over Tsuna's.
"That's the first part," Tsuna said, grasping Gokudera's long, pianist fingers. "But, then, I guess we were never really worried about that anyway."
Tsuna felt Gokudera's hand leave his and then felt those strong arms wrap around him.
"Hayato-kun…" Tsuna felt his face reddening. "We shouldn't. What if someone comes in?"
"I don't care," the Storm guardian said, nuzzling the brunette's back.
"But there are the kids… and my mom…" Tsuna trailed off as Gokudera placed his lips on the back of the Vongola's neck.
"Come on," Hayato said against his neck. "Your mom is going call us when your dad gets here."
"O-Okay," Tsuna turned around in Gokudera's arms and let Gokudera dot kisses on his neck.
"Its hard to kiss you through the scarf," Gokudera said, muffled through the fabric around his neck.
"Yeah…" Tsuna unwound the scarf around his neck and put it down next to him of the bed. Gokudera smiled and wrapped his arms tighter around the small brunette. Tsuna had turned around so that he was leaning against the bed frame and the young bomber dug his face into Tsuna's neck and nuzzled his nose into the crook of his jaw. He let his lips part and Tsuna felt his boyfriend's tongue trace his jaw line tenderly. Tsuna shuddered a little and he snaked his own arms around the silverette's neck.
Hayato ran his tongue slowly down Tsuna's neck until he found the pulse point. He felt the rhythm of the pulse against his lips and he felt that it was almost in time with his own as he started to suck on that one spot.
Tsuna sucked in his breath as he felt the sudden pressure and he felt his lips part slightly as his head rolled back in pleasure. Tsuna knew in the back of his head that this was kind of wrong and inappropriate, but he didn't care. He was going to have another hickey to match the first one, but he could just hide it later with the scarf. This felt too good to stop now.
Gokudera felt satisfied that he had a left a significant mark and lifted his head a little so he could kiss his brunette on the lips. Tsuna kissed him back and he slid down so that he wasn't leaning against the bed frame anymore, he was simply lying on the bed underneath Hayato.
Eventually they both needed to breath so they broke apart, their breathing coming fast and their faces both red.
"H-Hayato-kun… more…" Gokudera nodded, happy that his little boss had come around for him and his lips were curled into a smile when he kissed the brunette again. He let his tongue dance seductively over Tsuna's teeth until the Vongola Tenth opened the gap between his teeth and let the silverette in. Their tongues mingled for a while, mostly just tickling each other until one of them decided to get a little more serious. Neither of them could remember who had started pushing it further, but before either of them knew it, the two tongues were tackling each other against the bottom of the other's mouth and a small string of saliva was forming at the base of their mouths.
Gokudera scooted himself down on the bed so that he could roll over and Tsuna was lying on top of him. Tsuna's let his legs drift apart so he was straddling his boyfriend and their legs were grinding against each other.
Gokudera let his hands leave Tsuna's neck and let one of them travel to the small of his neck and the other dug its way underneath Tsuna's shirt, massaging the brunette's stomach seductively.
Tsuna felt the nervous yet excited feeling bloom in his stomach and he pulled Hayato even closer and kissing him even harder. He also felt something hard moving against his own groin.
"Tsuna!" the door to his room swung open and they both jumped, separating but still lying against each other. Iemitsu was standing in the doorway, the smile on his face disappearing in an instant; his smile was replaced with a look of disgust. That look also disappeared and was again replaced with a furious yet calm face.
Tsuna and Hayato's faces both turned red and they finally let go of each other. Tsuna stared at his father in distress, a long line of drool connecting both of their mouths.
"D-Dad!"
"I'm sorry, it seems like I'm interrupting something," he said flatly, and then left, closing the door behind him with a gentle ferocity.
The two boys just sat there for a second, their faces still red and both of their eyes locked on the closed door, as if Tsuna's father was still standing in it.
Then Tsuna sat up quickly, grabbed a pillow from underneath Hayato, pressed it to his face, and then screamed into it.
"Tsuna… Tsuna, calm down!" Hayato grabbed the pillow from the brunette's grip and put it to the side. When he looked back up at Tsuna, he saw that the Sky guardian's face was streaked with tears.
"Hayato-kun!" Tsuna covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking violently with sobs. "Did you see the look on his face? He totally hates it! He hates it!"
Gokudera sighed and took his little brunette in his arms, hoisting him up and setting him down in his lap. He just sat there with the young Vongola, his arms wrapped around him and his chin resting gently on top of Tsuna's hair. He rubbed his boss's arms tenderly as he listened to him cry.
"Please stop," Hayato said when he couldn't take the sound of his lover in pain anymore. "Please, Tsuna, don't worry."
"How can I not worry?" Tsuna replied nasally, his voice changed due to his crying. He had turned around so that his head was resting on Hayato's chest, but he still wasn't looking at him. "He's probably going to make you leave! Or he's going to yell at you or tell me I can't ever see you again! Hayato-kun, I want to stay with you! I don't wanna be told I can't see you again! I… I-" Tsuna's voice trailed off as Hayato pulled the little Vongola's chin up and kissed him lightly on the lips.
When they finally separated, Hayato spoke. "I know, Tsuna. I don't want that either. I honestly want to stay with you forever and never have to leave this room. I know what your father just saw looked bad and he probably was… shocked…. And there is a chance he's going to make me leave. Hell, he might even try to hurt me-" Tsuna's breath caught and he started to sob again, Hayato winced and cursed himself mentally for distressing his boss. "And he might start yelling at you, or me, or both of us… You know, I'm not really sure what's going to happen. But I do know one thing. If he tells me to leave or starts to yell at you, I'm going to stay by your side."
"Hayato-kun," Tsuna said, looking up again at the Storm Guardian. "But what if he tells me I can't date you anymore."
"Then we'll just keep dating. And if he forces you to break up with me or ignore me, I will follow you everywhere you go and remind you how much I love you until you come back to me," Hayato squeezed the Vongola Decimo against his chest tightly. "I will never let anyone or anything take you away from me."
Tsuna was utterly flabbergasted and touched by what the silverette had said.
"Thank you, Hayato-kun," Tsuna said, wrapping his arms around Gokudera.
"You're welcome. And don't think for one second that I'm not serious. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you stay happy," Hayato said. He nuzzled Tsuna's head lovingly.
"Tsu-kun! Hayato-kun! Dinner's ready!" Nana's voice rang cheerily from below; she probably had no idea what had just happened just a floor above her.
"Well, let's go then," Hayato stood up and turned towards the door, but he stopped. Tsuna's arms were wrapped around his waist and his stomach was stretched from the bed to where his head rested on Gokudera's back. "Tsuna…"
"Hayato-kun, please… just in case you change your mind…" Tsuna squeezed his lover tightly around the waist.
"Not possible," Hayato took Tsuna's hands from around his waist as he turned around and brought them to his lips and kissed them. "I love you so much." He then kissed Tsuna lightly on the lips, not letting go of his hands. "Now let's go, okay?"
"I don't want to, but okay," Tsuna stood up and Hayato slid his hand in between Tsuna's fingers.
"I'm worried, too," Hayato said. "But it's okay because I know that we love each other, right?"
"Yeah, I do love you, Hayato," Tsuna whispered and it brought a smile to Gokudera's pale lips.
They sighed simultaneously and they set out down the stairs, which was way too short of a journey for both of them.
They arrived downstairs, hand-in-hand, where Bianchi (goggled) was waiting with the kids. Nana stepped out of the kitchen to announce that dinner would be ready in about five minutes. Iemitsu was nowhere to be found.
"Lambo-san wants to eat candy!" Lambo cried happily, running towards Tsuna, I-Pin following close behind.
"No, Lambo! Maman just made us dinner!" I-Pin shouted back at him. They were now running in a circle around Tsuna's legs.
"I-Pin is a kiss-up! A stupid, tail-headed kiss-up!" Lambo taunted.
I-Pin's face darkened and she glared at the young Bovino.
"Oi, Lambo! Don't be so mean to I-Pin!" Tsuna sighed. His voice sounded like it normally would if he was scolding Lambo, but Hayato heard that it had an extra edge to it.
"Don't tell me what to do, Dame-Tsuna," Lambo made a face at Tsuna and ran off. "Just try and catch me! You too, Ahou-dera!"
"That kid's cruisin' for a bruisin'," Gokudera said, clenching his fists angrily despite the situation they were in.
"Hayato, don't you have other things to be focused on?" Bianchi said smoothly, not looking up towards him. "You're in the presence of your boyfriend's family, are you not? Show some respect."
"And for what reason do you live here again, aneki?" Gokudera replied, annoyed.
"Do I have to smack some sense into that gray head of yours?" Bianchi said through gritted teeth.
"Hayato-kun, please stop," Tsuna said, standing in front of the seething silverette. "It's a battle you can't win."
"Well at least there's one smart person in the relationship," Bianchi said teasingly. "Funny, I just expected this to be an idiot couple." She winked at Tsuna through her goggles.
"Stop making fun of us!" Hayato yelled at his pink-haired sister.
"She's only joking, Hayato-kun, please calm down," Tsuna said patiently, trying to reason with his Storm guardian.
Suddenly, Tsuna felt a sharp tug at his neck and he tumbled backward, gagging. He fell against the arm of the couch behind him and pain shot through his head as his skull hit the hard wood structure of it.
"Tsuna!" Hayato yelled, worried as he watched his boyfriend fall helplessly and smack into the furniture.
"Are you alright?" Bianchi asked.
"Yeah," Tsuna sat up and rubbed his head. As his body shifted and leaned against the bottom of the chair, the wool scarf he was wearing slid from around his neck and into his lap.
"Turn around, son," the deep voice of Iemitsu split through the room like a knife. Tsuna turned around, not as much to comply with his father's request but more to just see what his intentions were. The tassels on the end were tangled in the man's fingers and the middle of the long scarf was grasped in his hands. He was glaring at his son, or rather, his son's neck.
"Get off of the floor," Iemitsu commanded. Tsuna did as he was told. Hayato watched nervously. Iemitsu bent down and inspected his son's bruised neck. His nose curled up in disgust and he turned to Hayato.
Hayato's heart started beating faster, but he swallowed and looked defiantly at the older man.
"Left your mark on him, huh?" he snarled. Hayato's face reddened tremendously and he looked away.
"Dad!" Tsuna shouted in disbelief.
Iemitsu ignored him and left the room.
The entire room was still for the longest time. Gokudera just stared at Tsuna as the brunette's face turned scarlet and his chocolate eyes shined with tears. Bianchi was silent too. There was really nothing anyone really could say.
Eventually, Gokudera walked nervously over and picked up Tsuna's orange wool scarf off of the ground and brushed it off. He then handed it to the smaller boy, who nodded lamely as a thank-you. The young Vongola tied the scarf around his neck, tighter than before and it occurred to Gokudera that he was probably tying it too tight without really realizing it, but he said nothing.
"Hayato," Bianchi finally spoke, the orange goggles upon her face not shielding the sadness that she conveyed from her to both of them.
Nana poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled at her guests, "Dinner's ready. Tsuna, please go tell your father, would you?"
"Actually, I'll go, Maman. This is the boys' special night after all," Bianchi said, crossing her arms and walking down the hall. She glanced back at the two boys briefly.
"I'm so sorry," Tsuna said, trembling a little after Bianchi had left. He showed the signs that he was going to start crying again but Gokudera bent down and hooked Tsuna's chin with his finger, quieting him.
"Don't worry," Gokudera smiled reassuringly even though he was about to cry himself. "You have to be brave," he said, not quite sure if he was addressing Tsuna or himself, so he took a deep breath and corrected himself, "We have to be brave. Okay?"
Tsuna nodded his head sadly and they made their way to the kitchen.
Even though they both felt like shit about this entire ordeal, the spread that Nana had set out for them was incredible. When Nana had said she'd cook a feast she meant it and Tsuna often found himself wondering where they got the funding for their constant feasts.
"Oh, by the way, where's Reborn today?" Tsuna said, as if he gave two flying shits where his infant tutor was.
"He's with me," Iemitsu said testily as he walked into the kitchen, Bianchi following close behind with Reborn in her arms. She looked worried, but as always, the Arcobaleno looked mockingly amused.
Soon, they were all placed respectively around the table, Tsuna and Hayato sitting next to each other, Nana and Iemitsu sitting opposite them, Bianchi at the head of the table with Reborn next to her. Lambo and I-Pin had been sent to spend dinner at Yamamoto's. Tsuna had insisted on such, as he didn't want them around for the inappropriate/possibly explosive/definitely emotionally scarring discussion that would most likely take place at that dinner table.
The dinner was going quietly and Tsuna found himself foolishly (even he himself thought it so) believing that his dad might behave himself. But…
"So you two are dating, huh?" Iemitsu said, not even so much as glancing in the boy's direction.
Tsuna didn't say anything, hoping maybe that the matter would just drop into the silence.
"Are you going to answer me, boy, or just sit there like an idiot?" Iemitsu snapped irritably, still not looking up.
"Yes," Tsuna said, looking down. Hayato looked over at him with a sympathetic expression.
"Interesting," Iemitsu said in a tone that implied that he did not find it 'interesting' at all. "For how long?"
"A month and a half," Tsuna murmured down at his still full dinner plate.
"Hmph," Iemitsu grunted. "And no one bothered to tell me?"
"Um… we were kind of keeping it a secret," Tsuna said, his face turning a little pink.
"Why?"
Tsuna finally looked up and stared at his father. To be honest, he didn't really know why. Most likely for the same reason that he didn't tell his own family or most of his friends. He wasn't ashamed, but… scared. He felt Gokudera's hand slide down in between his fingers and squeeze the brunette's small hand tightly.
"I said, 'why', son," Iemitsu growled.
"I don't know, sir, probably just to…"
"So you could hide your shameless relationship from the world?" Iemitsu snapped. Tsuna felt Gokudera flinch the second he did and swallowed.
"No, sir," Tsuna said, trying as hard as he could to keep his voice from cracking.
"I see," Iemitsu said. Another squeeze from Gokudera.
There was another painfully long silence as Iemitsu chewed his food. Even the ever-optimistic Nana sensed the tense atmosphere and looked over at her son worriedly.
"So, have you two done it yet?" Iemitsu said casually, as if he'd just asked how his son's day had been. This is when he finally decided to lift his head and look at his son.
Bianchi and Nana looked incredulously at the man and Reborn chuckled. Tsuna, who had reluctantly taken a sip from his drink sputtered in disbelief and he hacked. He and Hayato's pale complexions reddened in seconds.
"Dad!" Tsuna cried out in horror at his father's accusation. Not that they hadn't thought about it, but…. That wasn't nearly the point! To ask his own son something so… Hayato hadn't taken his hand away but Tsuna wished he had. It had started to tremble furiously. Actually, Tsuna couldn't tell if it was his own hand making Gokudera's shake or maybe it was the both of them at the same time.
"Iemitsu! What are you saying?" Nana yelled incredulously at her husband. Her brown eyes were wide with disgust.
"What are you all freaking out about?" Iemitsu said calmly. "I just asked our son a very simple question. A question that I want an answer to." He turned to Tsuna. The young Vongola's blood ran cold as he felt his father's gaze fall on him and Gokudera. He didn't have to look up to see that he was glaring his iciest glare at both of them. "So?"
Tsuna didn't answer, because he was afraid of what would happen if he opened his mouth.
"Well, son? Answer me. Have you had sex with that boy?" Iemitsu said, pointing his chopsticks at the silverette.
Tsuna muttered something unintelligibly under his breath.
"Huh? Answer me clearly, boy!" the older man barked.
"I said 'That boy has a name'," Tsuna said cautiously, although his voice was shaking. "His name is Hayato."
"And what of it?" Iemitsu spat. "That's not what I asked you."
"So what if we've done it before?" Tsuna exploded, the words coming from his mouth conflicting almost humorously with his tiny, frail stature. "What does it matter to you if I've had sex with him?"
The three others at the table looked uncomfortable, aside from Reborn, who was watching, amused.
"Because I want to know just how much of a faggot that boy has turned you into!" Iemitsu shouted angrily at the Sky guardian.
Tsuna recoiled, as did Hayato, although he hadn't said a word yet. Tsuna's face was twisted into a look of pure disbelief and disgust. He hadn't really just said that, had he? Also, just like that, the bemused smile disappeared from Reborn's face.
"What?" Tsuna asked, his voice shaking even harder.
"I want to know how much of a filthy fag you've been turned into," Iemitsu said.
"I haven't been turned into anything!" Tsuna yelled at him. "Hayato-kun has never done anything that turned me into…." He couldn't even say it. "All I know is that you've just been completely cruel to him." Hayato squeezed his hand again and he couldn't tell if it was a "thank-you" squeeze or a "thank-you but stop before this gets any worse" squeeze.
"And what about you?" Iemitsu turned to Hayato. He flinched under his icy glare. "You haven't said anything yet."
"He doesn't have to answer to you when you're talking to him like that," Tsuna said angrily.
"No, let him answer for himself," Iemitsu said, still looking at the silverette. Bianchi and Nana were just sitting back, watching the scene in disbelief.
"What are you, stupid? A coward?" Iemitsu taunted. The Storm guardian didn't look up, he just stayed silent. "What, the stupid, filthy, little fag boy can't speak for-"
"Iemitsu!" Nana cried.
But she needn't say any more. Tsuna's hand had disentangled itself from Hayato's hand and it streaked upwards and slapped his father in the face.
There was a heavy silence that followed the sound of skin cracking against skin but there was really nothing to insert there. Nana's mouth was hanging open and tears were swimming in her large eyes, eyes that usually were filled with warmth and kindness, but were now empty of anything even resembling such. They were just heavy and sad. Bianchi's hand had subconsciously traveled to her mouth, which she covered to try (without success) to hide the horrified expression that had now taken over her face. Reborn just looked down at the table, a dark shadow resting over his large eyes as his fedora tipped downwards with his gaze.
Meanwhile, Hayato's expression was just that of pure astonishment and horror. His stormy eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. His already pale skin was now a sickly shade of white. This is all my fault, he thought in despair as he watched his little boss pull his hand back to his side.
"Tsuna…" he croaked out the young teen's name in a low mutter.
His boss surprised him by turning to face him with a look of bravery and satisfaction on his face.
"I will not allow anyone to speak to you like that," Tsuna said solidly. "Even if it's my own father." He turned back to his father and glared icily at him with the eyes that could show so many different things. Strength, yet also understanding. Danger, yet also mercy.
"Apologize," Tsuna said coldly. His father was looking down at the table. He had stood up somewhere in the middle of his tirade and his fists were now clenched at his sides. It was obvious that Tsuna's strike had done little to hurt the stronger man, but the emotional damage had already been dealt. "Hayato-kun doesn't deserve any of what you just said to him. Apologize."
"Tsuna, you don't have to-"
There was a huge crash as Tsuna was flung backwards, bringing his chair with him, finally landing on the floor as he smacked into the wall behind him. There were also several other loud crashes, as plates and glasses were overturned, as Iemitsu was leaning over the table. His arm was extended and his fist was clenched tightly, so hard that his knuckles were white. But they were also hued a little pink, the exact shade of pink that was forming on Tsuna's cheek.
It took a second for it all to sink in. Hayato spent the next few seconds replaying the moment over and over in his mind as to try to decipher the situation in his head. His little brunette, his boss, his Tsuna had just stood up to his father, commanding him over and over to apologize for what he'd said to Hayato. Then, he'd tried to intervene, but something happened next that….
Hayato's blood ran cold and tears gathered in his green eyes as he realized… Iemitsu had just punched his son. In the face. Hard.
No one moved. The only thing that moved around in that room was the faces of the people in it.
Bianchi and Nana had stood up, as did Gokudera, all of them staring down at the fallen Sky guardian. Nana's face showed nothing but pure agony as she watched a little stream of blood start to trickle from her son's mouth. Bianchi looked from Iemitsu to Tsuna to Gokudera to Reborn and then back to Tsuna. Reborn's face was unreadable, but you didn't have to be a genius to tell that even he was disturbed. Tsuna just had a look of pure shock on his face.
"Tsuna!" Hayato dove from his chair and knelt next to his lover, gently cupping his shoulders and looking down miserably at him. Tsuna's face was still twisted in a look of shock, but a small flicker in Tsuna's eyes told that he recognized Gokudera's presence and that he was somewhat aware of his surroundings. "Are you alright?"
Tsuna didn't answer. But his father did.
"He better damn not be because if he is, I'll have to knock him down again," Iemitsu said, looking scornfully down at his son.
"What?" Hayato turned around, not believing his ears. "You'd hit him again?"
"If that's what it takes to knock some sense into him, then yes, I would," Iemitsu said coldly. "There's got to be something wrong with his head to want to be gay… and with you." Iemitsu said "you" like he was addressing a pile of dirt (if one were to address a pile of dirt.) Anyway, the words cut through Hayato like a knife. Iemitsu had just summarized what Hayato had been wondering for a long time.
Why had Tsuna picked him? He was so cute and innocent, so angelic. What had made him fall for such a loner? An outcast? It felt as if a prince has chosen a mere slave as his lover. But he was too worried about his prince to take pity on himself.
He reached up to the table, grabbed a napkin, and started to dab it under Tsuna's lips. He couldn't stand to look at the blood anymore.
"I go away on important business and I come back to find out that my son is gay with a delinquent?" Iemitsu said, putting on quite a show of himself. "I don't want to have to deal with this!"
"Then don't!" Tsuna had found his voice again and was addressing his father. "Don't deal with this! Just accept it and leave us be!" Tsuna seemed as though he was ready to submit and was reduced to begging.
"No! I won't let you be more of a failure than you already are," Iemitsu said.
"What?" the two boys spoke at the same time.
Iemitsu's anger was flaring now and it was obvious that his rage was at its peak. He turned to Gokudera, " Its your fault that my loser of a son is now even more of an outcast than he was! But I guess it was bound to happen. You know what they say about birds of a feather."
"That's it!" Hayato snapped. He stood up and faced Iemitsu and he looked like he was ready to blow him off the planet. But Tsuna stopped him.
"No," Tsuna said, standing up crookedly. When he stumbled, Gokudera helped him to his feet and acted as a bolster. "Hayato-kun, I want you to go home."
"What? No!" Hayato said almost instantly.
"Yes! You shouldn't have to stay here and listen to this shit he's talking about you," Tsuna glared at his father briefly then turned back to the bomber. "Just go home, okay? I'll talk to you later." Tsuna smiled meekly but there was a pleading in his chestnut crystals that Hayato just couldn't ignore.
"Okay," Hayato said submissively.
"I'll walk you out, dear," Nana said and it was obvious that she was struggling to keep her voice from breaking.
"No, Mom, I'll do it," Tsuna said. He seemed to have regained his balance and walked with the silverette to the door.
Silently, Gokudera put on his jacket (it had started to pour by now and he had no umbrella.
His hand was on the doorknob when he turned to Tsuna. "Tsuna, I-" he meant to apologize. Or maybe he meant to comfort him. He couldn't remember. Everything comprehendible went out of his head as Tsuna wrapped his skinny arms around Gokudera's neck, pulled him close, and kissed him harder than he probably had ever in his entire life. He broke the kiss and moved his head slightly to whisper into Hayato's ear, "I'll call you later. I love you."
And with that, Gokudera left.
It was an hour after he got home before Gokudera got any sort of call. But it wasn't the one he'd been expecting.
"What?" he snapped, not even bothering to sound polite.
"Hello? Hayato-kun?" Sawada Nana's voice played miserably right back to him through the receiver.
"Oh, yes, hello, Okaa-sama," Hayato instantly perked up his voice, although it didn't do much.
"I'm so sorry about…" she trailed off. "But I just want you to know how much Tsuna cares about you. I know he probably tells you but I just wanted to make sure you knew."
This brought tears to Gokudera's eyes. Even when he felt hated, he could always make it better.
"Thank you, Okaa-sama," Gokudera said.
"You're welcome. And just tell Tsuna that he can come home in the morning when this has all settled down," Nana said.
Hayato started. He looked around his dark apartment. He was alone at his home.
"Um, forgive me, Okaa-sama, but isn't Tsuna home with you?" Hayato's voice had started to shake ever so slightly.
"No, I could've sworn…" her voice had filled with panic as she turned and yelled up the stairs, "Bianchi-chan! Is Tsuna in his room?"
Hayato didn't need to hear the reply. His little prince had run away.
"Hayato-kun…" Nana's voice was quivering as it came through the phone. "He's not here. Oh, this is all my fault… I… I-"
"Okaa-sama, I'm going to go find him for you, okay?" Hayato said reassuringly, although he couldn't get his hands to stop shaking. He was so scared that his chest felt tight and his fingers almost vibrated as he pressed the End button on his phone and set it down.
Where could he have gone? Where would he have gone? Hayato put his hand over his mouth. I need to find him.
He stood up quickly and ran towards the door. He opened the door and was greeted by an unbelievable downpour. Thunder rolled above him as he stepped out into the hall leading to the downstairs of the apartment building.
Hayato's feet pounded against the rain-soaked pavement almost as hard as his own heart pounded in his chest. He wasn't sure exactly why he was scared though. He knew full well how capable Tsuna was and he could easily beat the shit out of anyone who posed a threat to him. But he was so fragile… It felt to Hayato that his boss would need him at a time like this.
Gokudera didn't even flinch when he realized that the feeling was mutual. He needed Tsuna as much as he hoped he would need him back. It wasn't surprising.
He slowed a little as he realized he had no idea where he was going or where to start looking. Not that he wouldn't turn the town upside down looking for Tsuna. He sucked in his breath as visions of his little boss filled his head; sitting alone, scared, ashamed, most likely wet and cold. He saw Tsuna sitting with his head between his knees, hot tears streaming down his fast. His heart ached for his little boss and longed for nothing more than to be able to find him. But where? Where?
He bowed his head angrily as he clenched his fists. He felt it building in his chest as his eyes started to fill with tears and he lifted his head and screamed the name of his beloved. "Tsunaaaaa!"
And as the last, long syllable echoed against the walls of the surrounding buildings, Hayato took off, once again allowing his feet to pound almost painfully against the pavement.
Hayato remembered how it'd been when he and Tsuna had first started dating. Tsuna had confessed to him and he was astounded. Needless to say, however, that that day, Tsuna had made him the happiest boy alive. But with all the thoughts of what could go right, came the thoughts of all the things that could go wrong. What if I bore him? What if I'm too forward? What if he finds someone else? What if he leaves me?
He'd always felt that when he was with Tsuna, that their connection was so strong that those fears seemed stupid. But there was always that lingering doubt. Gokudera always worried that whatever had attracted his prince to him would fade away and Tsuna would just leave, his interest in the silverette thus ended.
What would he do after that? How would he be able to survive without his boss by his side?
Gokudera had now realized that he'd run all over town, his mind swimming with all these thoughts and he'd neglected to search for Tsuna. He cursed himself a million times over in his mind and was about to turn around to run through the town all over again when he spotted the warehouse.
It was dank and gray, virtually unnoticeable, but the fact that Hayato realized that it was unnoticeable made it one hundred times more noticeable. It would blend in no matter what, but the fact that it was raining made the dark stone walls of the building almost seem like camouflage. So what was it that made Gokudera notice this building? Maybe it was the loud rattling the rain made against its metal roof. This building was obviously abandoned, the air about it just screamed, "I am empty." And Gokudera knew that for some reason, he needed to go inside this building. What it was once used for he did not care. Just for some reason, he needed to go inside this building.
The garage door of the large warehouse was cracked ever so slightly, but it was opened and that meant that someone had been inside it at some point in time. He placed his hand on the cold steel and used all of his strength to lift the heavy door upward. The sound of the metal grinding against metal as it opened was deafening and Gokudera flinched.
The lights were of course off, but still Gokudera found himself looking for some means of turning them on. Finding none, he gave up and decided to search around in the dark.
Not really thinking much of it, he called out Tsuna's name. "Tsuna?" His voice again echoed and there was no response. But for some reason, he felt that he needed to call out again. This time louder. "Tsuna!"
Thunder crashed as the name ended and he heard a small, almost inaudible whimper. Hayato jumped as he heard the sound and continued to investigate.
There was a considerably large pile of wooden crates stacked in the corner of the room and they all seemed to gather against the very corner of the wall. But there was in fact a little niche between the crates and the stone wall and this, after peeking between another small space between crates, is where Hayato found Tsuna.
He looked almost exactly as Hayato had imagined him. His entire image was just miserable and if Gokudera hadn't been completely in love with him, he would probably be thinking about how pathetic the Sky guardian looked. His head was hidden but one could easily imagine the expression on his pale face. It was most likely mirroring the expression on Hayato's face.
Even though he knew exactly how Tsuna felt, Gokudera had to admit that there was something beautiful about the brunette right now. His chocolate hair was hanging in his face, obviously damp from the rain, just as Hayato's was. The way his body was leaning against the wall of the warehouse. He looked like a fallen angel, broken and abandoned.
Hayato started to make his way around the large stack of crates and towards Tsuna. He was finally with him and he bent down next to the brunette. Either Tsuna couldn't hear Gokudera's approach over the roar of the rain hitting the metal roof or he was ignoring him because he didn't do so much as flinch. The Storm guardian hoped to God that it was the first one.
Hayato sat there for a second, not sure where to go from here. He finally settled on placing his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, which he did hesitantly. As soon as his hand made contact Tsuna turned around abruptly and threw his arms around the silverette.
Hayato sighed and wrapped his long arms around the smaller boy. At least his boss didn't hate him.
Then Tsuna said something that was muffled against Hayato's shirt.
"What?"
Tsuna lifted his head and looked into Hayato's face with the eyes that conveyed the tales of shattered dreams.
"Break up with me, Hayato-kun," Tsuna said as another stream of tears started down his face.
Hayato's jaw dropped. He couldn't have possibly just said that, right? Hayato's entire world started to crumble before his very eyes.
"I can't stand to see you treated that way. So break up with me and find someone else whose family isn't so despicable," Tsuna said, placing his head back against his lover's chest miserably.
Gokudera sighed again. He sucked in his breath sharply and said, "Why won't you do it?"
Tsuna shook as he answered. "I can't."
"Well, I'm not going to do it," Hayato said. "This isn't the place to talk. Let's go home."
"You better mean your home. I'm not going back there," Tsuna said. Gokudera got up first, then he helped his boss up.
They were walking in silence, Hayato was in front, Tsuna following close behind.
"Hayato-kun?" Tsuna said after a while.
"What?" Hayato said gently.
"Break up with me."
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"But I-" Tsuna suddenly stopped. Hayato stopped too and turned back to look at the brunette. His fists were clenched at his sides and he looked determined. "Fine then, I'll break up with you."
Something inside of Hayato involuntarily snapped and he exploded.
"Do you really want to do that?" he yelled.
Tsuna looked taken aback but only for a second. The next second, his eyes started filling with tears again as he lower lip started quivering and he started to sob.
Hayato immediately regretted raising his voice to the only one he ever cared about.
"I'm sorry for shouting," Hayato said. "Please don't cry."
"No! I feel terrible. I brought Hayato-kun to my house and he was treated like shit and then I hid from him and now he's angry with me," Tsuna sobbed, bringing his wrists up to rub away the tears. "I'm a horrible person."
"No!" Hayato's response was almost instantaneous. "No, you're not a horrible person. You're wonderful and amazing and you're the best friend I've ever had. And I love you."
"You shouldn't love someone who causes you nothing but grief," Tsuna said weakly.
Hayato walked over to Tsuna and put his arms around him. "I can't help it. I've never met anyone in my entire life whose chosen who they fell in love with. I was just lucky enough that I happened to fall for you."
Tsuna sniffled and put his arms around Hayato's shoulders. The silverette released Tsuna from his embrace and wrapped his arms down underneath his waist. Then he lifted him up gently. He was holding Tsuna like a parent would hold their child.
"Hayato-kun…" Tsuna muttered, a hint of whining in his voice. But Gokudera shushed him and he started walking again.
He had gotten somewhat closer to his house when Tsuna spoke again. "Hayato-kun?"
"Hm?" Hayato couldn't see Tsuna's face, as he was leaning into his chest and his head was laying intimately on the bomber's shoulder.
"Why are you carrying me?" he said, although it was obvious that he didn't really care.
"Two reasons. One, if we stop again, you're gonna end up getting sick. Secondly, I want to be close to you."
Tsuna didn't talk again for the rest of the walk home and just rested his head on Gokudera's shoulder.
"Here, I brought you a towel," Hayato said, tossing the towel to Tsuna and then tying his silver hair into an elastic band.
"Thank you," Tsuna said meekly, looking down as he shook the water from his brown locks.
He was shirtless, as he had been out in the rain for sometime and he was utterly soaked. He'd changed pants and had borrowed a pair of solid pajama pants from Hayato (the pair had been the most generic, as the rest had been dotted with skulls and other visions of darkness and despair.)
Gokudera was also shirtless and was wearing a different pair of pajama pants. He had taken out his contacts and his round spectacles were now perched on his nose.
Gokudera watched his boyfriend sadly; the brunette had stopped drying his hair and had let the towel rest on his head and he was looking down at the floor pitifully.
Hayato walked quietly over to him. "Can I sit next to you, Tsuna?" he said cautiously, careful not to frighten his lover.
"Its your house," Tsuna said coldly and he shrugged. Hayato's heart sank. His boss was really upset, but that much was obvious.
"Tsuna, I'm not going to be able to handle it if you're mad at me, so please tell me what I should do so that can change," Hayato said, smiling weakly in the brunette's direction.
Tsuna didn't say anything. Hayato sighed a little, which made Tsuna jump a little. "Tsuna, please, say something."
Tsuna didn't really say anything and he looked down at his hands, which were twiddling idly in his lap and Tsuna hadn't really noticed until then.
"Tsuna…" there was a pleading in Gokudera's voice that Tsuna just couldn't ignore any longer.
"You're the one who should be mad," Tsuna muttered quietly, more in the direction of his hands than towards his boyfriend.
"What?"
"I said that you should be the one who's mad," Tsuna spoke a little louder and with a little more force than he'd meant to. He even subconsciously added a shake of his head for effect.
Hayato's silver eyebrows rose up in bewilderment, but he didn't say anything, just continued to watch the little brunette.
"I worried endlessly about you meeting my father and as a result I never stopped bitching about it. I made you nervous when I told you everything. I made you scared because you thought I was going to leave you. I brought you to my house and my father treated you like shit and I had to make you leave. And I made you worry when I was hiding in the warehouse," Tsuna couldn't seem to get all of the words out fast enough and he said all of that in one breath. Tears were falling down his pale face again as he caught his breath and continued. "If anything, you should want to break up with me. I'm a horrible boyfriend and a bad friend in general and you always put up with me when you don't have to."
Hayato was stunned. He hadn't thought any of this at all. But if he interrupted the young Vongola now, he'd only protest and try to go on anyway, so he again stayed silent."
"I love you, Hayato-kun," Tsuna said, bringing his hand up to his eye and wiping the tears away. "So much. You're the best friend I ever had and you've done nothing but love me since the day we started going out and this is how I repay you. By making you worried and sad and angry and nervous and…. That's why I want you to break up with me. You don't deserve to be worried or sad all the time. I don't deserve you," Tsuna had started sobbing and shivering yet again. "It makes me sad when you're upset and since I'm the one that's making you upset, that makes me even more sad because I love you so much."
Tsuna suddenly noticed that he was babbling and shut up quickly, but that didn't stop the shaking and the sobbing. He was so scared that he couldn't even look up at the Storm guardian. The silence was deafening and Tsuna just couldn't stand it anymore so he stole a glance up at his lover.
"H-Hayato-kun? Please say something," Tsuna was now the one begging.
But there was still silence as Hayato grabbed Tsuna's wrist and yanked him over and onto his lap. His arms were suddenly wrapped tightly around Tsuna and his lips were pressed hard against the small brunette's.
"Hayato-kun," Tsuna turned his head away from the silverette, causing a look of pain to shadow across the taller boy's face. "Please, I don't want to see you worried anymore."
Hayato kissed him again and then spoke gently against the Vongola's lips, "I'm not worried. I just love you so much that its doubtful that I'll ever break up with you."
"Hayato-kun," tears were gathering again and Tsuna didn't know how to stop them anymore.
Hayato backed away but only a few inches. He wanted to stay as close as possible to his Tenth. "I'll admit I was worried at first when it came to your father. Hell, I'm still a little worried right now." Tsuna winced and Gokudera gave him a tight squeeze of assurance and the brunette allowed him to continue. "But that doesn't matter now. I don't want you to ever say anything like that again. Don't you ever doubt for a second how much I love you. You mean more to me than anyone in the entire world and I'm not about to give that up. But…"
Hayato couldn't seem to get the words out of his mouth. He took a deep breath and said the words he'd been dreading. "But if you don't love me anymore, I will break up with you. I'll break up with you only if you can't stand the sight of me and the sound of my voice makes you sick. Only if you can't bear to be in my arms a second longer. But please… don't say that."
The Storm guardian hooked a long finger underneath his boss's chin and tilted it upward so that chestnut crystals were staring into aquamarine jewels. "Okay?"
Hayato didn't really want an answer. He was too scared that his boyfriend would reject him, push him away. But Tsuna didn't do that. Quite the opposite actually.
Tsuna sprung forward, wrapping his arms around Hayato's neck as they tumbled backwards against the bed.
"I would never say anything like that, Hayato-kun! I love you so much!" Tsuna cried into his boyfriend's chest. He lifted his head and laid a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek tenderly.
Hayato didn't expect that at all, but he didn't waste any time responding. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and squeezed him extremely tight.
"I love you too!" he kissed his boss chastely on the mouth and caressed his cheek lovingly.
They just laid there in each other's arms for a while, enjoying the warmth of each other until Tsuna finally spoke.
"Hayato-kun…?" Tsuna spoke hesitantly to his lover, not lifting his head from where it lay in the bomber's chest.
"Hm?" Gokudera's chin was resting lightly on the top of Tsuna's head, cushioned by the pillow of chocolate hair.
"Can you promise me that something like this will never happen again?"
Hayato was silent for a long time and for a second Tsuna thought that he would fall asleep before he got an answer but an answer he did get.
"I wish I could. I wish I could tell you that so bad, Tsuna, but I don't want to lie to you. I have absolutely no way of knowing whether or not this will happen again," Hayato said, placing a ringed hand on top of Tsuna's head.
Tsuna felt his eyes fill with tears again. "W-Why?"
"I don't know," Hayato said. "I don't know why some people don't accept the way we are. I don't know why people don't realize how unfair it is that they hate me for loving you. Its unfair because its so hard for me not to love you. In fact, I think at this point that it would be impossible for me to go back to wherever I was before I loved you. I don't even want to think about that now." At this point he had started stroking Tsuna's hair tenderly. "All I know is that even though some people hate the way we are, that's not going to change how I feel about you. I love you so much and I'm never going to let anyone hurt you like that ever again."
"But you just said that-" Tsuna whimpered slightly as he dug his head even further into Hayato's chest.
"I know what I said. But just because people are going to be that way doesn't mean that I'm not going to protect you from it," Hayato said, lifting Tsuna's head so that they were looking into each other's eyes again. "I will never let anyone hurt you."
They were silent for a time again until Hayato said something. "Tsuna, after I left…" He didn't say anything for a while.
"Hayato-kun?"
"Did he hit you anymore?" Hayato said, looking seriously at his boyfriend.
"…Yeah," Tsuna said. He felt Hayato flinch so he added quickly, "But only a little bit. Like one hit and that was it."
Hayato shook as he lowered his arms to wrap them around Tsuna's waist.
"Where did he hit you?" Hayato whispered almost inaudibly into Tsuna's hair.
"What?"
"Where did your dad hit you?" Hayato lifted his head and he said it forcefully.
"Um… I-I don't think… I don't remember," Tsuna stuttered. It was obvious that he remembered but he didn't want to tell him. He couldn't. No matter how many times they promised each other it would still hurt to hear it.
"Tsuna…" His grasp around the brunette tightened.
"Alright… he just smacked me… a couple times in the face. But I'm fine, really, I promise," Tsuna said. Tsuna plastered a smile on his face and said, "I mean, come on, its no big deal. I've been smacked around a ton ever since I met Reborn, so a little tap from my dad was nothing." He laughed, although nothing he had said in the last few minutes was anything even resembling funny.
But something sudden and wet tapped the side of his cheek and his laughter stopped immediately.
Tsuna lifted his head and he found himself tapped in the face with another drop. He also found that the silverette that was holding him so tightly was crying. He was trembling as tears streaked like comets down his pale face and his teeth were grinding together. His cheeks and the underneath of his eyes were red.
"Hayato-kun, what…?" Tsuna's breath caught in his throat. "What's wrong, Hayato-kun? Please don't cry! D-Did I—"
"No…" Hayato sniffled and tried to compose himself. He rubbed his eyes before continuing. "I just can't stand the fact that I allowed someone to hurt you and it was completely my fault."
"W-What?" Tsuna blushed, realizing what a mistake he'd made. "Wait, that has nothing to do with you… I, um, that is to say, I…"
"Don't try to change what happened. I know that he hit you, so please, don't lie to me and act that it didn't happen."
"Hayato-kun, its fine, really!" Tsuna said. "I'm not pretending it didn't happen, I'm just telling you not to worry about it. Its behind us now. And I don't care that I got hit. All I care about is that I love you and everything is okay now."
Tsuna intertwined his arms through Gokudera's so that his hands rested tightly on his lover's shoulders.
Hayato lifted his own arms and cupped Tsuna's face and looked down at his boss. He looked into Tsuna's brown eyes like he'd never seen anyone more beautiful in his entire life. Then, he lifted his boyfriend's head lightly and kissed him tenderly on the forehead.
A small infant stood in a hotel room on the east side of Namimori, with a young man and an older man, who was weeping openly.
"You're so stupid, Iemitsu," Reborn scoffed, although he smiled to himself, amused.
"Reborn-dono, I don't understand why Master is crying!" Basil said, worry clouding his blue eyes.
"I just wanted to make sure that m-my boy was going to have a he-healthy relationship, but it seems I w-went too far," Iemitsu said, laying his head in his hands.
"So you hit him and called both him and Gokudera 'fags'?"
"Master! How could you do that to Sawada-dono and Gokudera-dono?" Basil cried in disbelief.
"It seems that it all worked out just fine though. They seem to be even closer now than ever," Reborn said, crossing his arms, satisfied.
