"Gokudera-kun?"

The teen quickly flicked his gaze down and winced when Yamamoto's breath hit his face.

Yamamoto was confused for a brief moment before he remembered where he had just been. Oh, the alcohol.

"Uh, what are you still doing out?" Yamamoto began, his hand absently rubbing his neck. He did admit he was glad that Gokudera didn't reek of alcohol either. "Shouldn't you be finishing pages 27-33?" he hoped his laugh was enough to convey his joke.

Gokudera held Yamamoto's gaze for a second before jerking his head away. "It's none of your damn business." That was all he said before he began to stalk off in the general direction of the train station.

Ouch. Even that warm alcohol induced buzz didn't soften the icy insult that left Gokudera's mouth. He never really spoken to him before and Yamamoto assumed that people were just exaggerating about the boy's foul mouth. His smile slipped slightly at the retreating back. That's when Yamamoto noticed the sacks of food hanging form his pale ungloved hands. Checking his phone Yamamoto knew it was too late for any trains to run and Gokudera had a lot of heavy looking bags with him. He shoved his phone in his pocket and jogged to catch up to the retreating silverette.

Gokudera said nothing as his teacher easily kept pace with him. A frown pulled his lips down as Yamamoto's smile grew wider. He really needed a cigarette.

"You know Gokudera-kun. There aren't any more trains running at this hour." Yamamoto began easily.

"Oh really? Thanks I'll keep that in mind idiot."

Yamamoto ignored the insult, figuring he would have to continue to do so if he wanted to talk to Gokudera.

"So how are you getting home Gokudera-kun?"

A quick glance over at his teacher before his eyes stared at the empty street ahead of him. "How's it look like it?"

Yamamoto waited patiently for him to continue, smile never leaving his face. Gokudera sighed.

"I'm gonna walk."

Now that wouldn't do.

"Or I could give my dear student a ride!"

"Fuck off, I don't need charity." Gokudera practically growled at him.

Yamamoto simple laughed at the stubbornness and glanced down at him. "I'm not saying you need it. But it's supposed to snow, you aren't dressed for being out in the cold-" That long sleeve tee shirt was thin and his jeans had holes on the knees and shins. "you have bags to carry and you have homework from some mean ole teacher to do before class tomorrow." All his observations were fair and true and even with Gokudera's bristly attitude he should see the logic in his words.

A silence stretched on between them and Yamamoto was glad he at least hadn't been shot down already. Gokudera's eyes didn't change but his brows were furrowing into an annoyed expression.

A small frustrated sigh escaped Gokudera. "We've never spoken before. Why would you want to help me out?"

Yamamoto knew a small victory when he saw one and proceeded to slip his hand into Gokudera's.

The boy flinched and jumped away from the touch with a rather loud explicative leaving his mouth.

With as much innocence as he could muster Yamamoto cocked his head and held up one of the bags he had successfully slipped out of Gokudera's cold hands. "Calm down Gokudera-kun. Just thought I could help."

Gokudera just stared at the man. Hard. When he finally found words again he turned redder.

"What is wrong with you old man? What do you want from me? Cause if it's anything like what I think you're trying to pull, I know forty-seven moves that could take you down in less than three seconds." And 38 sticks of dynamite on his person (but the more Yamamoto didn't know the better).

Gesturing to the bags in his hand he smiled again. "Mind out of the gutter Gokudera-kun, I really do just want to help."

That earned him another pointed look from green irises.

"No ulterior motives?" He said suspiciously.

"Nope." Another brighter than a streetlamp smile.

Yamamoto watched in amusement as he saw the gears turning in Gokudera's brain. Freezing to death or jumping into a car with a potentially perverted teacher? Tough choices for a seventeen year old.

"Damn it." He finally relented.

Another small victory and the teacher felt that maybe Gokudera was a pretty interesting kid.

They continued on in silence for several minutes and Yamamoto would say that silence was actually not so bad. Gokudera kept his eyes straight ahead, not deviating from his path, determined not to acknowledge his teacher. Most kids would of just accepted the offer and moved on but Gokudera seemed almost pained to accept his help.

A drop of something cold and wet on his nose made Yamamoto's eyes cross. Looking up he saw dozens of little white snowflakes twirling around them. The sight made his eyes slip shut and a grin light up his face. The snow was wonderful. Cold, crisp and refreshing. He could feel energy fill muscles and suddenly Yamamoto felt 14 again. A laugh bubbled from his throat without his consent, just as the sudden as his exclamation of "What do you think of that, Gokudera-kun?"

He heard the irritable tch of his partner and brown eyes snapped open. Taking in the extreme lack of clothing on Gokudera, Yamamoto practically shivered at the thought. The poor kid was going to get frostbite like that. And then he'd probably kill Yamamoto with said frostbitten hands. Yamamoto decided that his student needed some warming up. With his remaining free hand he set about the scarf at his neck.

"Just how far is your car Yamamoto-sensei? Or do you really have one you perv-" Gokudera grounded out before a still warm strip of cotton was draped loosely around his neck and face. Gokudera sputtered and rounded on the teacher.

"W-what are you doing pervert sensei!"

Gokudera thought that Yamamoto's smile was probably more effective at warming people up than his scarf was. It was almost sickening to look at. Who in their right minds was this nice of a guy to someone they hardly knew?

Awkwardly Yamamoto tugged the end of the scarf tighter with one hand. He inspected his work for a moment before glancing at his student's face. Satisfied, he laughed at the look he found on Gokudera's face.

"What a funny face to make Gokudera-kun!" that seemed about the extent of the answer he was going to get for the teacher soldiered ahead through the light sprinkling of snow, answering Gokudera's first question instead. "My car is actually just down that street. I promise."

Gokudera shook his head and refused to meet the teacher's eye. Besides his hands were too full to remove the dark blue scarf around his neck.

And Yamamoto had been right, less than five minutes later the two males were shuffling into his car. Gokudera shook his hair quickly, sending little snowflakes spiraling around the car. The bags of groceries at feet rustled softly as his sneakers rubbed them as he twisted to reach his seatbelt. Yamamoto set about adjusting the heat and vents so they were blasting fully on himself and his student. Automatically Gokudera tucked his hands in his armpits and kept his gaze out the window.

There was silence for several seconds and Yamamoto figured the younger boy wasn't going to speak first so he started with, "Where exactly am I taking you, Gokudera-kun?"

Green eyes stayed glued to the moving world outside. Yamamoto missed the same eyes analyzing him through the car windows reflection.

"The downtown area, South Mizuki St."

A rare frown pulled on Yamamoto's face. "Gokudera-kun, that's a very far way to walk."

That was in the same direction as where Yamamoto lived, except much farther away from the school. They had probably passed each other before. Yamamoto had considered moving closer to school earlier this year, but the rent was just too good where he lived now. He shook his head, that really was a far ways away. Not expecting a response the oldest continued, trying to keep his voice light, "Why are you so far out this way?

He caught the small movement of Gokudera shifting farther into his seat. "You deaf or something? Like I said earlier, none of your damn business."

The laughter that came after his statement startled Gokudera.

"Aha well, I do think I deserve to know. I am driving you home."

A growl warned Yamamoto he was getting to personal.

So Yamamoto pushed the brim of his glasses further up on his nose, deciding to settle in a wait for him to answer. They did have a bit of a drive ahead.

They snow was almost a blanket by the time the teen answered.

"I had business to take care of after dinner."

"With Tsuna-kun?" Yamamoto supplied helpfully.

Gokudera didn't seem as surprised as Yamamoto thought he would be. "So you heard us as we left? Thought you might of."

"You're a sharp kid Gokudera-kun." An fascinated smile slid onto the teacher's face.

The teen shrugged, not impressed with the compliment.

His feet brushed the bags again and Yamamoto blurted out. "Was the food part of your business or from dinner?"

The boy turned to look back at the teacher and seemed ready to give a snarky reply before he thought twice of it and answered.

"Both. Nana gave me some leftovers and I needed to pick up some food anyways." And there were cigarettes and new music books in the bags. But again Yamamoto didn't need to know all that. Unconsciously he tugged the scarf lower, relieving some built up heat, and untucked his hands.

"Hmm" Yamamoto seemed satisfied with the answer and he hummed out a small noise of agreement.

They weren't even half way to Gokudera's house yet.

A few beats passed before Yamamoto opened his mouth. Again.

"So why didn't you stay with Tsuna-kun? He seems like a good friend."

Tsuna's named seemed to trigger something in Gokudera because suddenly the student rounded on him, mouth set, eyes alight with respect.

"Tsuna is a great person! Always has been and always will be. He did offer me a bed for the night. He and Nana both did!"

At that point Gokudera seemed to realize who he was talking to, instantly sobering up and flicking his eyes back to the window. He continued on much more calmly though he voice was still reverent when talking about Tsuna.

"Tsuna always lets me stay over, but his family came over tonight and there were a lot of children and this one kid in a cow costume was getting on my last nerve. His entire family deserved time together and I had to shop anyways." His green eyes flicked down to the bags by his feet, mouth shifting into an unreadable shape. "It was better if I just left."

Yamamoto digested all of what Gokudera told him slowly. There had to be more than the story because the hurtt look on Gokudera's face was painful to look at and there couldn't be a simple explanation for that expression.

Thinking about his outburst, Yamamoto realized, this was the most expressive he had ever seen Gokudera. None of these different emotions had surfaced while they were in class. He always looked so cold. Sure he would brighten when Tsuna was around and he would laugh at different antics of his classmates but there was always a tint of sadness to him. It had taken three months for Yamamoto to witness any true emotions from the silverette in his passenger seat. Even these darker emotions seemed more genuine than the cold indifference he saw every day in class. Yamamoto had never really been bothered by the lack of emotion before, but now that he had seen there was more than indifference to Gokudera he wanted to know more about him. Curiosity kills cats every day, but at least they satisfy themselves. Then and there Yamamoto decided he wanted to see more, happier, emotions on the students face.

The quiet seemed to make Gokudera shift uncomfortably so Yamamoto smoothly asked, "But was it alright for you to leave so late? Not even little Namimori is safe after dark."

Another shrug rolled off of Gokudera's thin shoulders, rustling the dark blue scarf slightly. "Time got away from me."

Yamamoto noticed the way his student absently twisted one of the many rings adorning his slight fingers. Was that one in the shape of a skull? Actually on further observation, his whole attire was punk and gothic inspired. Far too many belts to be practical, tight holey jeans, black sneakers with a silver skull and crossbones insignia and dark red long sleeve hooded shirt. Yet the kid still looked like a model for a punk rock band. No wonder the teenage girls were practically fawning over him.

Something red and white poking out of Gokudera's pocket caught Yamamoto's eyes.

A small laugh escaped his lips. "Smoking's bad for you, you know?"

A grunt followed and Gokudera flung his head back on the head rest tiredly.

"Do you ever stop laughing? You're like that cow brat."

"I just like to laugh, laughing's my favorite," he quoted happily.

"I don't think that's how the quote goes."

"Artistic licensure then."

"You really are an idiot teacher."

It was Yamamoto's turn to shrug, smile still on his face. "Probably."

A much more comfortable silence settled in the car. Yamamoto didn't even notice when he started softly hummed, happy that the kid seemed more at ease around him. This was a pretty good development from their meeting thirty minutes ago. And this one on one time with Gokudera was far more interesting than Yamamoto had thought it would be.

The silence in the car had stretched on for a good bit so when Gokudera's rough voice broke it Yamamoto almost flinched. Almost.

"So…" he began in what Yamamoto supposed was Gokudera's version of a conversational tone.

Yamamoto simply sat a little straighter and waited.

"What exactly is Takesushi?"

Amber eyes slowly blinked. Once. Twice.

Well. That was unexpected.

"How do you know about that?" he laughed loudly.

"It's written in giant red letters on your car. Kinda hard not to notice."

While Yamamoto was grinning like an idiot, Gokudera simply sighed.

"Only an idiot wouldn't notice that. Is it really surprising that I did?"

Shrugging did nothing to wipe the smile off Yamamoto's face.

"Just thought there would be more important things on your mind than what was written on my car."

Gokudera was going to regret this later but he continued on.

"I wanted to see what I was getting into. For all I know you could have been that much of an idiot to paint 'free puppies' or some shit like that on you ride."

The driver almost chocked on his own spit after that. Gokudera really trusted no one huh? Besides no one was that stupid. He hoped. Trying to ease up his passenger that much more Yamamoto defaulted into joke mode. Which tended to work better when the target was female or at least someone obviously able to take a joke. Gokudera was obviously didn't fit either criteria but Yamamoto seemed to forget or ignored those weak points of his plan.

Half lidded eyes slid over to his passenger and a lopsided grin spread across face. Gokudera blinked against how fucking white his teeth were.

"So if I had painted that across my car, how much coaxing would it take to get you in it?" Yamamoto mentally winced at how stupid he sounded but he figured Gokudera would always make him feel inadequate anyways. Might as well beat him to the punch.

A heartbeat after the shock had set in on Gokudera, he had already pinned Yamamoto's free hand awkwardly behind his back and had a hand covered in rings pulled back ready to punch his overly joking teacher in the face. Anger tinged the tips of his ears and cheeks a dark pink stain.

"Oi, you fucking pervert. What did I say about ulterior motives? All I did was ask about a fucking painting on your car." Gokudera's eyes were enough to freeze anymore words from Yamamoto's lips. He looked absolutely furious and defensive. His mouth was twisted into a snarl and his punching hand was lowering to his pant pockets.

When Gokudera got annoyed from the lack of explanation he twisted Yamamoto's arm harder. Yamamoto winced. This kid knew what would be the most painful.

Yamamoto was truly glad that they were at the edge of town. The whole interaction had caused him to slam on his breaks and skid onto the side of the road. Yamamoto was sure there were jerky tire tracks in the light snow behind them. He had been caught off guard by how quickly the student had reacted to his joke. He had also been surprised by just how violently he had reacted. Yamamoto felt he had hit a nerve; one that not many people knew was there and was probably buried very deep inside of Gokudera. He had only meant to loosen the boy up. Yamamoto winced at how such an offhanded comment had unraveled any truce the two had built up. That meant it was damage control time.

He looked Gokudera directly in the eyes, calm and sincere amber clashing with insulted and furious green. He spoke calmly, slowly, and made sure Gokudera understood exactly how sorry he was that had hurt him.

"I'm sorry Gokudera-kun. I didn't mean anything by it. It was a joke, just a joke. A very, very bad joke. I'm not going to touch you and I'm not going to hurt you." Yamamoto tried to follow any emotion he could as it flashed across Gokudera's face. But the kid was good at hiding whatever was going on in that brain of his though because Yamamoto could only identify the untrusting glint there.

Gokudera remained tense and silent. He didn't feel any threat or ill will coming from his teacher, but he continued to watch those amber eyes watch him. What the hell was Yamamoto thinking?

The snarl slowly slid off of Gokudera's face instead being replaced by a tight lip frown, his hand moved away from the dynamite and lighter in his pocket, but his hand held Yamamoto's arm firmly in place.

A genuine smile found it's way to Yamamoto's face. It wasn't like every other smile the student had saw that night. The amber eyes softened and Gokudera couldn't explain the calm aura enveloping him.

"I'm sorry Gokudera-kun." Yamamoto repeated. "Please forgive your perverted sensei, okay?"

A tense moment later Gokudera had pushed away Yamamoto as if he had burned him and he retreated to the far side of his seat. His face has closed off again, a scowl making it's home on his face, hands clenched by his pockets.

Yamamoto blinked, not moving from his spot. Now he felt like shit. This kid didn't deserve the pain he was obviously in. Not from some strange teacher who he should have been able to trust. Yamamoto opened his mouth to apologize again but was cut off by Gokudera's tense voice. "Drive Yamamoto-sensei."

Knowing whatever he was going to say would simply be ignored Yamamoto leaned back into his seat and pulled back onto the snow covered street.

Damn it.

Getting yourself into trouble already aren't you Yamamoto? Warnings the same as before. Language

Sorry guys. I know that the whole bad joke thing is a little dramatic, but it will make sense. Eventually.

(Also has anyone seen the pebble and the penguin? The song 'look how we get along together' is just like Gokudera and Yamamoto...")

Also thank you to my lovely reviewers theluckyshipper and NanaliJoci. I'm glad they love the idea of a teacher Yamamoto as much as I do. :)