ANNOUNCEMENTS:

With regards to the Christmas Challenge: Hello precious writers, contestants, and reviewers! This has been a very busy year, for some of us, the extension of classes, for others not enough rest... Therefore I have decided to make a very important decision which will hopefully help those writers who needs more time to make the Christmas challenge:

THE DEADLINE OF THE CHALLENGE WILL BE EXTENDED TO THE 31ST OF DECEMBER 2012

Three writers (as per quota and principle of mine) have requested this and it is my books to succumb to their wishes! I hope this means more writers will be joining us on this field and more stories shall be written!

Another thing, if I have not reviewed your fic yet, it means I have yet to read your entry thus, you have to pm me and remind me to do so.

Thank you for your participation! Feel free to pm me for questions.

8027 Drabble

A ghost and a human

Yamamoto didn't know how long he'd been following the brunet.

All he knew was that it started when the 14-year-old brunet had gone to his old house in a dare. The baseball teen had died because he suicided when he broke his arm. His father, broken-hearted and with no one left, moved away to Osaka to start anew and forget the tragedy that had befallen his once perfect family.

Tsuna, as Yamamoto had begun calling him after knowing that his name was a mouthful (Tsunayoshi), had entered his old sushi restaurant-slash-home in order to win a dare that would ensure him friends. Of course, the brunet was sadly, gullible enough to fall for that but then times call for desperate measures as they say.

So, yeah technically Tsuna went in, and found an old ball that Yamamoto owned. By picking it up and taking it with him, he had unknowingly invited a ghost into his life.

So here he was, floating happily next to a sad and depressed Tsuna.

Appearance wise, Yamamoto's host looked like a no-good teen with no friends. Inside, well, he was slightly no-good and yeah...

...he really had no friends.

"Maa, maa! Don't feel too sad about it!" Yamamoto laughed as he expertly spun his body which was leaning against the wind. "Friends won't really help you when you need them."

A flash of his old life entered the athlete's mind.

But then Yamamoto snapped out of it when the brunet beside him sighed.

"I wouldn't even mind having a ghost friend." Tsuna mumbled his thoughts aloud."Or even fake friends. I just want friends."

A heartbroken smile passed those lips and for some reason, even though he was dead, Yamamoto could feel the place where his heart supposedly was throb in pain.

"Tsuna." A hand caressed the cheek of the said teen. "I'd very much like to be your friend. Even if you can't see me, I'll always be there." He smiled a sad smile and kissed the brunet on the forehead.

Brown eyes widened at something cold touched him. He suddenly felt a sense of loneliness and warmth fill his senses.

True to his word, Yamamoto did stick next to Tsuna for the next several years. The brunet had the most interesting life any ghost could possibly imagine.

A few months after Yamamoto promised he'd always be there, a weird baby tutor suddenly came and said Tsuna would become a mafia boss, and the succeeding events after, were just as interesting as well. The athlete had watched as Tsuna made more and more friends and became more and more happy.

He watched with pride as the once lonely and sad teen grew into a fine man of 24-years-old: charismatic, loving, respectable... But no matter how many friends Tsuna made, Yamamoto still knew the brunet more than others.

He knew the Tsuna who had cried when Reborn had forced him to be the Decimo. He knew the Tsuna that grieved when his famiglia fought side-by-side with him for the Vongola position. He knew the Tsuna that had lied awake at night, looking at the night sky wondering what crazy thing would happen next in his life and wondering who would be hurt next because of him.

Yamamoto had been there... Had comforted Tsuna even though the brunet couldn't see him. Had stayed with Tsuna when he had confined himself in his room.

And so now... here they were. Ten years later... Tsuna a strong man loved by all, Yamamoto still the invisible friend-ghost Tsuna didn't know he had, still the same. Still unchanging. Still young.

Still dead.

Yamamoto was by the sill, looking outside the windows of the Vongola mansion with a dazed look. As he had feared, everyone he knew (but didn't know him) was changing, growing older, moving forward, and the athlete was forced to watch them while he remained constant.

"Oi, have you gotten the preparations ready?" Gokudera, the storm guardian and right-hand man of the Vongola, stopped Basil, the rain guardian of the family, who had nodded at him in greeting.

"Ah, hai Gokudera-dono. The engagement party preparations for Sawada-dono are going well." Basil bowed his head formally.

Amber eyes widened at what he had heard.

Engagement preparations? For Tsuna?

"Tch, the turf top is lucky that jyuudaime took a liking to his sister. I still can't accept that he'll be jyuudaime'sbrother-in-law!" The storm grumbled as he walked away with Basil following him.

"Tsuna's getting... married." Yamamoto said as his eyes shadowed and then he smiled sadly. "Of course, he will be. He's 24 after all. He'll settle down and have a family and I..."

I'll still be here.

The young ghost walked towards the boss' room, no longer having the mood to float around. He may look like he was in teens but in the inside he was much older.

He also had to grow up sometimes.

Entering Tsuna's room through the door, Yamamoto saw just in time Tsuna shivering when he entered. He forced a smileas the brunet looked up in wonder.

"Hey there Tsuna, I'm sorry I was gone for so long. How's the paperwork?" He asked in a false cheerful tone.

Silence.

"Yeah I thought so." Yamamoto sighed and he walked towards the brunet. "I'm sorry Tsuna. I've been living off you like a parasite. Going anywhere you went, being with you even though you wanted to be alone. I've been a nuisance because I thought you needed me but now..."

Now you have a family. You don't need me anymore.

"I guess I'll have to go haunt someone else's mansion, huh?" Yamamoto smiled as though he was in pain.

Goodbye Tsuna.

Brown eyes widened as Tsuna stood up his hand extended. "Wait-!"

Yamamoto stopped in surprise just as the door opened.

"Vongola, I've got your information right here." Lambo said as Tsuna blinked and sat down regaining himself.

"O-Oh, really? T-Thanks Lambo." Tsuna cleared his throat and Yamamoto shook his head, thinking Tsuna had referred to him...

Thinking, wishing, Tsuna could actually see him. He turned to leave again.

"I don't understand you Vongola." Yamamoto heard Lambo say. "Why are you researching about some old sushi restaurant in Namimori?"

Yamamoto froze and he looked up amber eyes wide.

What?

"I'll tell you after you tell me the information you've gathered." Tsuna said with a smile. The lightning guardian shook his head at the boss queer actions

"Yamamoto Tsuyoshi and Takeshi used to live there." Lambo began with a bored voice. "Back when you were a kid or something, Yamamoto Takeshi committed suicide in Namimori and his father left shortly after his death."

Tsuna nodded solemnly at the information. "I see." The brunet took out something from his pocket and Yamamoto's eyes widened. A worn out ball was seen on Tsuna's hand. "Was Yamamoto Takeshi a baseball player?"

"Yes." Lambo said with a raised eyebrow.

A fond smile lit Tsuna's face as he looked at the ball. "I see, so it was Yamamoto-san. You're name was Yamamoto Takeshi."

At that moment, Yamamoto felt his heart that had long stopped, beat again. He walked towards Tsuna, ignoring Lambo who had shivered when he passed.

"My name..." Yamamoto reached out a shaking hand as he cupped Tsuna's face when he was close enough. "You said my name."

Brown eyes widened when the familiar sensation of something gentle and cold caressed his face. Suddenly something began to light up in front of him and in the back of his mind he heard Lambo yell in surprise.

Light was gathering in the place Yamamoto stood, and beautiful amber eyes overflowed with tears as a beatific smile lifted his youthful face. "Tsuna... Tsuna... you actually said my name."

A gasp slipped out of the brunet's lips and to Yamamoto's surprise he saw himself reflected in the brown orbs.

"Y-Yama-" Tsuna said and somewhere behind Tsuna, Lambo was panicking that a weirdo suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of them. "Yamamoto?"

"You can see me?" Amber eyes were shocked but happy. "You can finally see me."

"Y-You... You're the one who has been with me...? I-It was you...?" Tsuna asked and with that question, the athlete realized...

Even though Tsuna couldn't see him, couldn't hear the words of comfort he had said during those lonely nights...

Somehow, the brunet could sense him... Could tell that he was there...

"Yes. For ten years..." Yamamoto smiled gently. "But it looks like this time, I have to go..."

Shocked lit up the boss' face.

For some reason, being with you has made me fulfil whatever it was that had kept me here.

Thank you.

The light surrounding Yamamoto grew brighter and the temporary form he had taken began to vanish.

"N-No, I-I just realized... I j-just met you..." Tsuna said and Yamamoto could see the frightened fourteen year-old teen from long ago.

"Don't worry." Yamamoto leaned forward and to the shock of Tsuna and Lambo, Yamamoto kissed the other on the forehead. "I'll always be here..."

I'll always be next to you.

"Goodbye." Yamamoto smiled for the last time as he burst into balls of light. Blue snow had begun falling down from the ceiling and enveloping the room in a warm glow.

"Don't go." Tsuna whispered as he felt the cold presence he had been feeling for the past ten years vanish. He held out a hand as a blue snowflake landed on it.

A small whisper, a silent confession resounded in Tsuna's mind at the touch.

One last regret.

I love you.

Tsuna closed his hand as he heard Lambo running around his office in a panic, he could hear fast footsteps of his guardians rushing to his office as he closed his eyes, trying to remember, to imprint the image of a smiling, handsome dark-haired teen in his mind.

I love you too.

The last regret of a human and a ghost.

A confession.

Author's note: I have a feeling I shouldn't have posted this story as a bonus XDD I dedicate this to my two sisters, one to the nagging, and the other to the weird person annoying me.