I'm not Afraid
Summary:- 'I'm not afraid. Just because you have a red eye doesn't mean you are a bad person.' Tsuna looked up into the mismatched ones of the teen before him. 'You just have a special eye.' AU. 6927.
Chapter Two
Two weeks later, Namimori Primary.
"O-Ow, stop that, it hurts!"
Ever since that day he stood up to Hibari Kyoya and saved Rokudo Mukuro, he had been getting shoved around a lot more than usual, the girls screaming at him for saving the 'demon child.'
"I can't believe you befriended that thing, Dame-Tsuna!" they screeched, shoving him to the floor before wiping their hands off the wall in disgust. "He'll end up devouring you! Pulling out your eye! He'll kill you!"
"Y-You're wrong! Mukuro-san wouldn't do that!" shouted Tsuna, covering his face when a few coloured pencils were thrown at him. "Mukuro-san didn't do anything wrong! It's not his fault he has a red eye!"
"We're telling you Dame-Tsuna! He's a demon!" they shrieked, before running away from him, chanting something about Tsuna being possessed as they hid in the other room. The only person still standing there was Giotto, who had an irked expression on his face as he kneeled down to help Tsuna up.
"I told you this would happen, didn't I?" said Giotto, letting his younger-by-minutes brother cling to him. "You've just made them hate you more and be scared of you at the same time. They think Mukuro has possessed you since no one has seen him in a while."
"But I'm not possessed!" argued Tsuna, folding his arms and puffing out his cheeks. "I'm Tsuna, Tsuna, Tsuna!"
Giotto ignored him and then walked out the class, bag slung over his shoulder as the bell rang for the next class. Tsuna blinked before sighing, grabbing his stuff up before bolting out the door, feeling cold stares aimed at his back.
"Tsunayoshi, can you stay back? I would like to talk to you," Tsuna raised his head and looked at his teacher questioningly, feeling the students snicker behind him as they exited the room for their lunches.
"I-Is there something you need, sensei?" asked Tsuna tentatively, knowing that usually, when a student is asked to stay behind, they had done something wrong, and Tsuna couldn't tell what he had done wrong this time.
"Well, the kids keep telling me you're running around with a 'demon' child," said the teacher, kneeling down to be eye level with Tsuna. "That child is called Rokudo Mukuro, is he not?"
"Y-Yes, but he's not a demon child!" said Tsuna defensively, folding his arms and puffing out his cheeks as the teacher smiled at him. "Just because he has a red eye doesn't mean he's a demon! Mukuro-san is really nice!"
The teacher blinked before smiling, petting his head and getting back to her feet. Tsuna looked up at her, confused that she had asked such a simple thing before just letting him go, but that was fine with him. As long as he wasn't in trouble, then he was happy.
"Just remember to be careful when hanging around with older children, Tsunayoshi," she said, going back to her computer as Tsuna ran out the room, not really paying attention to her. "Especially children with suspicious backgrounds…"
"Dame-Tsuna and Demon-Mukuro, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the golden carriage!" Tsuna covered his ears, running round in circles as the kids kept chanting that same tune. At some point, he ran past Giotto, but he just stood there, knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything to help his brother as he spoke to his friends.
"I-It's not like that!" squealed Tsuna, falling over all of a sudden and earning a few bursts of laughter as he sat up, looking at his grazed hands and his face was a bright red. Mukuro wasn't like that; Mukuro wouldn't do anything like that to him…!
A whistle sounded across the playground, indicating that a teacher had caught onto what they were doing and they scattered, leaving Tsuna sitting on the ground looking at his hands with a furrowed expression.
When the teacher came to help him, he ran away, not wishing to talk to anyone about what had upset him. It wasn't really the fact that they were making nasty comments about him; it was more that they were making nasty comments about Mukuro. Mukuro never did anything wrong, so he didn't deserve that treatment, right?
The bell rang, but Tsuna ignored it, choosing to run up the grassy hill and sit on the ground, underneath the shady trees as he bowed his head in his knees. The teachers wouldn't notice he was gone, they never did.
"Kufufu~"
Tsuna raised his head, looking round for the source of the chuckle before shaking his head, going back to his foetal position until he heard it again. He moved his head around, his expression growing confused as he heard that oh-so-familiar voice speak.
"Ne, Tsunayoshi-kun, only bad children skip out on their classes~" Tsuna blinked, before looking upwards, seeing the familiar frame of a boy above him, his eye bandaged and wearing a long sleeved jumper, tightened round his neck to hide bruises. But the scrapes on his hands and face were the obvious giveaway that he was in pain.
"Then why are you skipping classes, Mukuro-san?" asked Tsuna innocently, watching Mukuro jump down from the tree and choose to sit next to him. "I know you aren't a bad person, yet you skip classes too!"
"Ah, true, true~" chuckled Mukuro, moving his scraped, and bruised, hand to pet Tsuna's head. "Then again, if I were to go to class, I'd only get hassle and twice the amount of beating I would usually get at home~"
"You get beatings at home?" asked Tsuna, blinking cutely as Mukuro slowed his movements of petting his head.
"For losing a fight, I get a beating," said Mukuro thoughtfully, continuing to pet Tsuna's head until those honey-caramel eyes closed. "Father doesn't react well when he sees that I lost, then he punishes me and I'm not allowed to move around freely for a while."
"Is that why I haven't seen you in a while?"
"Yes~"
Tsuna went quiet, thinking as he kept his eyes closed, feeling oddly soothed with the movements of the boy he barely knew. How could people know him as a demon? He was really nice, despite the mischievous voice he tended to pull when around others…, Tsuna just couldn't bring himself to understand.
Slowly, Tsuna raised his hands, causing Mukuro to freeze as he tugged at the bandages surrounding the boy's eye and letting them fall to the ground, staring intently as the eye slowly fluttered open. The dark red eye stared into bright brown ones before Mukuro covered it, shaking his head.
"Do not look at it," said Mukuro softly, causing Tsuna to blink in askance. "I do not want to let one such as you have nightmares over my eye."
"I'm not afraid. Just because you have a red eye doesn't mean you are a bad person,' Tsuna looked up into the mismatched ones of the teen before him. 'You just have a special eye."
Mukuro paused, before letting another chuckle, letting his hand drop from his eye as he blinked it, the red orb watering slightly from lack of use as he looked around. The place was quiet, Sakura blossoms falling from the trees as he let out a yawn.
"I really think you should go to class~" said Mukuro, helping Tsuna to his feet while wincing slightly. "You don't want kids being suspicious of you hanging around me, now do you?"
Tsuna nodded, his face looking happy for a moment before Mukuro nodded towards, starting to walk off once more before Tsuna grabbed his arm, looking at him with a smile on his lips.
"When will I get to see you again, Mukuro-san?" asked Tsuna, still smiling as Mukuro looked at him with his un-matching eyes. "Will it be a long time?"
"I'll see you again whenever you ask me to," replied Mukuro, a smirk dancing across his lips. "Little Tsunayoshi-kun~"
"Can you meet me after school so I don't have to go back to that club?" asked Tsuna pleadingly, pouting cutely as Mukuro actually let a smile cross his lips.
"If that's what you want~" he said, petting Tsuna's head once more. "Just come back here and you'll see me again~"
The bell ran for the day to end, and no one had ever seen Tsuna bolt out the door so fast to go outside. While the students who weren't staying in the school left through the gate, Tsuna ran to the back of the school, panting as he ran up the hill and then stopped, seeing Mukuro lying there, eyes closed and leaning against a tree.
"Mukuro-san?" said the brunette quietly, but the boy didn't stir. He walked over slowly, kneeling down and looking over him, only to see that he had fallen asleep during the time he had been waiting. It made Tsuna feel warm, seeing Mukuro so relaxed.
He sat next to him, playing with the fallen sakura leaves until he heard a stir, turning his head to see mismatched ones staring at him intently.
"You should have woke me up~"
"You looked tired."
Mukuro let out a yawn, sitting up straight and choosing to pet Tsuna on the head once more. It was a nice feeling, just sitting there in silence with the little brunette boy beside him. It was nice not to have someone who was scared of him or someone who would just full out attack him. It was just nice to have some company.
Tsuna just sat quietly, quite happy with the attention that was being given to him as he closed his eyes, unconsciously leaning towards Mukuro and relaxing himself. It was a strange thing the teen to experience, someone who could actually relax fully around him and not be scared. It was something… that he enjoyed experiencing.
Somewhere, on the playgrounds hard concrete, Giotto stood, a soft smile on his face as he looked up. It had been a long time since he had seen Tsuna that happy. Ever since they had started school, it was hard to see Tsuna relax and for the brunette to try and socialize with others. It seems that this Rokudo Mukuro had the good and the bad about him.
Turning round, Giotto played about on his phone, checking the messages that were from their mother, asking how little 'Tsu-chan' was doing. He only had one thing to reply to her:
'Tsuna is happy.'
A/N: I must be in a good mood today owo I keep typing and typing and typing~~ Need to go fix 'MockingBird' now~
Hope you enjoyed the chapter~Does anyone notice what Giotto's role in the story is yet~?
Shanny~