Osu. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to review the previous chapter! *bows*
I would like to apologize beforehand for any grammatical errors you may find in the chapter. Please don't mind it.
Now, onwards to part two of Tsuna's first day in the daycare! See you at the bottom!
Chapter Two
Tsuna warily eyed him as the pineapple-haired man gave him an assuring smile as he slid open the door. He didn't notice him side-stepping nor he heard a timid gasp coming from above him when a solid black and white thing suddenly whizzed past the open door and painfully collided right on the brunet's face.
Tsuna only remembered it now whose voice it was from. The only source why he started disliking kids like him – Lambo, the 5-year old kid next door; in other words, the Bovino kid who made his life a living hell.
Tsuna hated his life.
Tsuna grimaced when he could feel a bump on the back of his head forming from the impact of Lambo knocking into him which was resulted of him falling and hitting the back of his head painfully on the shiny marbled floor a few minutes ago.
Tsuna was now sitting on one of the kiddie stools Mukuro had offered to him earlier for him to steady himself for a while. The taller man could probably tell that the brunette is seeing stars from that unexpected scene at the moment and needed to be brought back to reality by being still.
"Uhm… here's water…" a timid voice spoke from above the brunet, shoving her creamy and slender hands out holding a cup of water to Tsuna who in turn looked up and stared at the cup before taking it from the girl and said his thanks with a smile forming on his pink lips.
Tsuna slowly drank the cup empty of its remains as he let his big caramel eyes wander around the room, taking in as much as everything he could see (and observing the kids' behaviors) into his brain before his eyes stopped to the taller man who was squatting down in front of the two boys – a dirty blonde hair with sharp-looking teeth (that Tsuna reminded him of that scary Chihuahua living in his neighborhood barking at him whenever the brunet passed by its lair) and the other having glasses and a white bonnet who looked like he doesn't care about anything else but the yoyos on his hands, a soft and gentle smile placed on his lips; his heterochromatic eyes which Tsuna thought could only show his ill-intentions, were both smiling as he scooped one of the boys up in the air.
Tsuna couldn't take his eyes off of him. How could someone like him who finds entertainment in embarrassing him earlier be so good with the kids, he wondered as he kept on observing the older man.
Tsuna was so lost in staring at Mukuro that he didn't noticed him staring back with an amused glint on his eyes as he stride his way toward him.
"See something you like, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Mukuro kneeled down on one knee and leaned his face closer to the unsuspecting and half-dazed brunet, a lecherous grin on his face.
Upon hearing a deep voice and feeling a soft breath that smells between pineapples and mint fanning somewhere near his face, Tsuna was brought back to his senses and blinked as he find his self staring back at two amusing red and blue eyes. He blinked and blinked until the rusty wheels in his brain started moving and realized whose eyes they were from; his eyes comically grew big and opened his lips to let out a girly shriek, "GAH!" and fell down from the stool in surprise.
"N-Nii-sama! You shouldn't have done that!" exclaimed the girl as she went to the brunet's side, glaring at her older brother.
"Kufufu~" Mukuro laughed, standing up from his position with ease and offered his hand out to the helpless brunet who was glaring daggers at him (which made Mukuro want to tease him more as the younger man looked like a puppy with that expression on his face) but took the offering hand, nonetheless.
"I sincerely apologize, Tsunayoshi-kun. It was not my intention to surprise you." Mukuro said, hoisting up Tsuna from the floor, "You simply were" Mukuro brought his other free hand and gently caressed the brunet's cheek with his thumb, liking the feeling of his soft skin on his callous hand and smirked as he watched the brunet's face turn pink, "amusing to tease."
Tsuna sputtered and turned a thousand shades of red from embarrassment as Mukuro smiled down at him before tugging him forward to the center of the room, "Anyway, let us get you acquainted with the rest of the kids, seeing that you have already known dear Lambo-kun over there~"
I… I hate this man! He's like Reborn! UGH!
Tsuna sighed and let Mukuro guided him as he introduced the kids to him one by one.
All in all, there are five kids in the room - Tsuna found out that the two kids who were around Mukuro earlier were his and Chrome's (the girl who gave him a cup of water) adopted brothers; no wonder they look up to the pineapple haired man with respect and after much observation, Tsuna also found out that two boys didn't really liked Chrome, not like she looked like she minded; the Chinese girl with a wide forehead and in Chinese clothes who was standing near Lambo holding a cute-looking male doll was I-pin and the one at the far side corner of the room with his tiny arms crossed against his chest and glaring daggers at whoever came over to invite him to play was Hibari Kyoya.
Tsuna can't help but be fascinated over the lone kid who was so fascinated at watching the birds fly outside instead of making friends with others while wearing an impassive look on his face. I wonder why he looked so lonely, Tsuna wondered as he tugged on Mukuro's sleeve and asked, "Is he always like that, Mukuro-san?" pointing a finger in the direction of Hibari.
Mukuro followed the direction the brunet was pointing at and said, "Yes. He's been like that since he first came here. He's quite a charming little bird but," Mukuro paused, observing the brunet beside him who was staring at the kid with warm and soft eyes then turned his full attention to him when Tsuna didn't hear the taller man finished his sentence, "But…?" asked Tsuna as he leaned his head to the side, adding an effect to his already confused expression shown on his face, "But what, Mukuro-san?"
Mukuro's eyebrow twitched at the innocent display of the younger teen. So cute.
"But, don't get too close to him, Tsunayoshi-kun. He might bite you to death."
"Eh? Bite?"
"Kufufu~ You are so cute, Tsunayoshi-kun~!"
"EHH?!"
Lunch time came and while Chrome went ahead to get their (hers, Mukuro's and Tsuna's) lunches from the staff room, Mukuro and Tsuna were left behind to accompany the children to avoid having the place in a whole mess while they are happily eating their food away.
Tsuna was once again sitting on one of the kiddie stools, leaning his chin on the back of his hand while the other was left dangling atop his knees as he watched the children eat, checking for anyone who might be thinking of something "fun" before letting his eyes stop on the quietest out of all of the kids sitting (still) on the farthest corner of the room.
He looks educated enough, though. Tsuna thought.
"…Are you that interested in him, Tsunayoshi-kun?" Mukuro suddenly spoke.
"H-huh?" Tsuna asked, a confused face on his face as he looked up at Mukuro who was standing beside him, his mismatched eyes were directed to who Tsuna was staring at a few seconds ago – Hibari Kyoya. Oh.
Tsuna contemplated before saying in a soft whisper, "He kind of reminds me of someone."
Mukuro silently observed him from the corner of his eyes for a few seconds then decided to let him off as Chrome came back with a tray of food in hand which she then placed atop the table with ease.
The trio ate in silence for a few minutes until Tsuna decided to cut the awkward silence, "So how long have you guys been working here? I've been living around here but I've never heard about this daycare before."
"The daycare only started when we were offered to live here." Mukuro spoke after cleaning up his plate and added, "That was two years ago."
Tsuna stared at him with confusion in his caramel doe-eyes then to Chrome who was timidly eating her share of food. Mukuro's a fast eater than his sister, apparently. Tsuna thought then he frowned when Mukuro's words struck him like lightning.
"Wait—What do you mean by 'offered to live here'?" Tsuna asked watching Mukuro watching the kids packing their lunch boxes away, "Like what it means, Tsunayoshi-kun." Mukuro said in a lowered voice as he turned his head to look at him and shut him up with a stern look of his eyes.
Tsuna stayed still after that and even when Mukuro ushered the kids to come and play outside, leaving him and Chrome who was quietly putting away the empty lunch boxes.
D-did I ask something I shouldn't have…?
"I-I'm sorry about Nii-sama, Sawada-san. He may be a bit intimidating to you but he's really nice." Chrome softly said as she stood beside him the moment she came back from putting the empty lunch boxes away (probably from somewhere that has a sink), "W-Would you like to lend me a hand with preparing everyone's blanket for nap time later?"
"Ah. Y-yes!"
Him? Nice? What part of him is nice?
"WAH-!" Tsuna exclaimed as the blanket was sudden blown from the other side and straight to his surprised face.
Tsuna is currently up in the rooftop of the building where he's helping gathering the blankets together with Chrome to be used for the children's nap time later. The wind was so strong that it kept running away from the brunet's reach and made him lose his footing more than once. Too occupied with the task at hand, he didn't notice the soft giggles from the person standing on the other side.
When everything was neatly folded and put away in to a large straw-hat basket, Tsuna took this opportunity to stare at the tall buildings from the distance to the children playing downstairs and secretly eyeing a certain someone with a unique hairstyle while he's at it.
"Ah. Today is Wednesday, right?" Chrome suddenly spoke, a finger on her chin like she just thought of something.
Tsuna looked up from the ground to the girl in thought but before he could answer her question, she turned around before speaking, "Cavallone-san is gonna stop by here soon," leaned down and carried the lightest basket between the two from the ground and added, "Let's go back, Sawada-san" and walked ahead with the brunet in tow.
Cavallone? Where did I hear that name before…
After playing outside, the children went back inside the room (as soon as they were rejuvenated) noisily as ever as they were told to take their seats anywhere on the colorful puzzle mats by Chrome with a brand new storybook in hand.
At the back of the room, behind the five (excluding a lone bird) children who were eager to listen to the pineapple haired man's twin sister, Tsuna was doing his best preparing the children's beddings after the anticipating storytelling. The task at hand wasn't that hard, really, so he was done with it within 10 minutes since he started, and quietly took a seat on one of the bright yellow kiddie stools that was just there and sat, listening to the story with a bored expression on his face.
Not long after, about fifteen minutes or so, Chrome wrapped it up and ended the story with a clap of her slender hands and gleefully exclaimed that it's now nap time, and by the time they wake up, their parents will soon come and take them home.
Of course, Tsuna is happy to know that he'll be able to return home, away from this strange place with these kids that looks like he'll be eaten alive once he let his guard down even just for a bit and especially away from that strange (and not to mention, attractive) pineapple haired man. Come to think of it, where is he? Tsuna pondered as he tilted his head to the side after tucking the last kid (without much hassle, thankfully).
"Your face is too close, herbivore."
Tsuna blinked. Eh? Her…bi…vore…? The brunet turned his head down and found his self staring back at a pool of cold steel-blue orbs. When he realized who it was, he squeaked and moved back, "I-I'm sorry!"
After moments of silence, Tsuna turned around and looked around the room, checking if anyone's still awake, when he found them soundly asleep, he hoisted his self up from his sitting position in front of Hibari and quietly walked to the window, watching as the sky gradually changed color, ignoring the feel of those eyes following his every move and remembering what Mukuro had said to him earlier.
"You look weak and yet you're not."
Tsuna blinked, staring at Hibari like he suddenly grew another head and then he smiled, "And you look strong but you're actually not."
Hibari was beyond shocked. No one had ever dared to talk back to him like that before, even the other kids are too scared to approach him and yet this person before him has just plainly told him that he's weak while he has that annoying smile on his face! What nonsense! Hibari Kyoya is not weak!
The brunet softly chuckled when Hibari glared at him before he tucked himself back to the blankets and forced himself to sleep.
This place isn't so bad, after all.
Meanwhile, a sleek black car was parked nicely in front of the Namimori Daycare lawn and came out a blonde man in his mid twenties wearing a green coat with brownish ruffles on its hood, making him look like he's wearing a scarf with ruffles on his neck.
He stood by the metal gates with confidence in the air.
"I'll be seeing you soon, little brother."
Okay. This chapter is by far, the longest one I've written. Five pages. I've never had five pages for a chapter before. What improvement! *dances* I just hope I could write with the same length in the next chapter. And so *claps* Dino comes next chapter! Unfortunately, I haven't started writing it yet so there's no teaser! *sadface* I already have the gist of it in my head though.
The chapter may seem a bit rushed but oh well. Please blame the fingers! Also, there's a poll in my profile on which character I should write next after next chapter! If you want a specific character to be introduced first, go vote! I'm still considering if I should make an appearance of Gokudera and Yamamoto in the story too, probably just extra characters *cough*
See you next chapter~
