Hello! A super long time ago Thalassa Bara asked me to write about how Takeshi and Hayato met and one day...I decided to do it! This chapter ended up being wayyy longer and wayyy more complex than the first 2 chapters combined

I really like it and I hope you all do as well! (✿´‿`)

*Just as a caution, I made Yamamoto and Gokudera's back stories very non-canon.*


For Thalassa Bara


"Haya-chan..."

Hayato heard a wispy, distant voice call his childhood nickname. It was a name that only his family had referredto him as. He stirred a bit in his sleep, but didn't wake.

The voice chuckled a little at the boy's child-like reaction to being woken up yet didn't stop.

"Hayato...come now..." The mysterious voice tried again, more earnestly this time. In his sleep, Gokudera imagined his eyes being open and seeing his late mother stare at him lovingly.

"M-mom?" He called to her, not believing what he was seeing.

She smiled gently, and though her mouth didn't move, he once again heard the voice call his name, becoming more and more formal.

"Hayato...Gokudera-san..."

"..."

"Hayato Gokudera!"

Gokudera jumped up quickly, the sudden shout bringing him out of his sleep. The beautiful face of his mother and the sound of her blissful voice vanished instantly as reality became potent. Hayato took a second to assess his surroundings, deducing that he was at the campus cafe "The Roasted Bean." Glancing at the wall 2 or 3 booths ahead of him and looking at the clock on it, it was nearly 3:30 pm. Despite the fact that he was sure he'd only stepped in for a cup of coffee before his 2:15 pm class, there he was, waking up to a nearly empty cup of Chamomile tea. Looking then to his left, he saw a very angry looking Haru Miura, clutching her waitress platter across her chest tightly.

"Go-ku-der-a!" She yelled at him loudly, putting emphasis on each syllable of his name. "Would you mind getting the hell up so I can seat a non-loitering, non-class skipping, non-having a tab at a freaking cafe costumer here?!"

"Actually Haru, I would mind. But I wouldn't mind if shut that big ol' yap of yours up! Despite his words, Gokudera rose from the booth and sauntered towards the door, whilst purposely leaving behind his trash.

"Hey-desu! Don't leave your mess, come clean this up!" Haru shouted at the silver-headed boy, but saw it was futile as he began to take out his phone and put in earphones. It wasn't a lot, just a half full cup and a crumbled receipt but it was the principle that mattered.

The customer that had been awaiting his seat watched the whole scene with interest. The one apparently known as Gokudera was approaching him, or rather, the door. He saw Gokudera scrolling through what he assumed was his music, looking for a song to listen to. When he came into an arm's length, the customer outstretched his hand onto Hayato's chest, stopping his progression forward.

"That waitress was asking you to clean up after yourself. Didn't you hear her?" The customer asked innocently, still holding his hand on the other's chest.

The boy stopped scrolling on his phone, seeming peeved, but not acknowledging the hand.

"Oh I did, but I don't speak whiny bitch so I didn't quite understand." And with that Gokudera pushed past his obstacle and stalked out of the door, with loud classical music being heard blasting from his earphones.

As he exited, a door chime echoed throughout the store and the cafe's standard peace swiftly returned.

The customer, known as Yamamoto Takeshi, scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"Touchy..."


"Hmph! The nerve of that man-desu!" Haru complained, having now seated Takeshi and cleared off the booth. "I'm sorry about that sir, what will you be having today?"

"It's alright." Yamamoto smiled gently. "And sir is way too formal, just Takeshi is fine." He smiled kindly again, and looked so open and happy that for a moment Haru envied his soulmate.

"Well you can call me Haru in that case, Takeshi-kun." Haru replied happily, always glad to make a new friend. "Now, what would you like to order?"


Gokudera walked to his dorm, growing bored of the song that was playing and thus paused it. He sighed as he removed his earphones and shoved them into his pocket, even though he knew they'd be tangled later. Continuing to walk, he reached into his other pocket for a piece of nicotine gum, but only found crumbs inside.

"Tsk, this really isn't my day." He said tiredly, as he realized that he'd already used up all of his "nicotine gum money" for the month. He considered stopping by the convenience store...just one pack couldn't interrupt his attempt to quit too badly...could it?

Shaking his head at his own thoughts, he continued forth on his way home.


"Eh?! You're friends with Tsuna-san too-desu?!" Haru asked Takeshi, her voice riddled with surprise.

"Yep, we've known each other for a long time." He smiled at the thought of his dear friend.

"Why haven't I ever heard of you Takeshi-kun?" She tilted her head to the side and put her finger on her lips, thinking back to see if Tsuna had at some point mentioned him to her.

"Well, we met in junior-high and became close friends. We were still friends by the first year of high school but the summer after that year, my dad's job, as a sushi chef, took us to Tokyo due to some circumstances. I attended the rest of high school there, but Tsuna and I luckily remained in contact. Now we're reunited at Namimori University!" Yamamoto recalled the memory with a fond expression.

He and Tsuna had been practically best friends for quite a while now. They'd actually made plans to meet up this week and grab lunch or some other meal.

"Oh? Reunited-desu? Is it possible you're crushing on our little tuna?" Haru asked, using her elbow to nudge Takeshi who scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"Eh?! No, not in that way Haru-san!" Yamamoto raised his hands in his defense.

"Haru!" The waitress yelled in protest of the honorifics.

"Haru-chan?"

"Haru!" She pouted a bit and her cheeks became red from frustration.

"Maa, maa Ha-chan...calm down..." Takeshi laughed at their banter and took a bite of the doughnut he ordered.

Haru sighed, "Well at least that's cute-desu."

Finishing a sip of his drink, Takeshi said "Speaking of cute..." He blushed a bit as he seemed to recall previous events. "Who exactly was that silver-headed guy from earlier?"

"Ah," Haru's expression, though she held a smile, became suddenly ominous as if a dark aura was surrounding her. "Are you referring to the silver-headed demon child who terrorizes me constantly down to the fiber of my very being?"

"Eh? Ah, well, yes and no...I believe you called him Gokudera right? He's kind of cute in a way..." Takeshi managed to fight through his surprise of how much Haru apparently disliked the other boy.

"Hahi?! You're strange Takeshi-kun, hmph! I've never heard of any sane person calling Gokudera "cute-desu!" Haru firmly stated, crossing her arms in judgement.

"I think he is, especially how he tries to act all rough and tough like before. That was so cute! It was like a little kid being rebellious against his mom." Yamamoto laughed at the memory of Haru yelling for Gokudera to clean up after himself.

"Not at all-desu! Sheesh, it's not like Haru made him move here..." Haru mumbled a bit, but just loud enough for Takeshi to catch it.

"Oh? He's a transfer student?" Takeshi inquired, ignoring the use of third person.

"Er- well to the country, yes, more like. He moved here from Italy."

"By himself?"

Haru shook her head, indicating a lack of knowledge on the matter. "I've heard rumors about an older sister who's already out of college, but there hasn't been any kind of confirmation-desu. I do know that he prefers to be here than in Italy."

"Hmm, but I didn't hear any kind of accent when he was speaking before...?" Takeshi assumed he would've noted that if he'd noticed it.

"He covers it up, partially because he wants to blend in however it's mainly because he doesn't want people to ask about his background." Haru said matter-of-factly.

"Can I ask how you know all this?" Takeshi asked, slowly taking in the information.

"Because I'm Haru- the supersleuth!" Haru made a peace sign with her right hand and put it so her right eye could be seen through it. "For example from this conversation alone- I know that you are Takeshi! From Tokyo recently due to your father's sushi chef job, and from Namimori much earlier." Haru seemed to proud of the information she'd acquired, but it went unnoticed by Yamamoto, who was still thinking about Gokudera.

"Hmm, what's his full name?" Yamamoto was getting more and more interested by the minute.

"Eh? Oh you're still on him." Haru sighed and could see that he was hooked. "His name is Gokudera Hayato, from Italy."

"That's a nice name..." Yamamoto seemed to start spacing out with blush appearing on his cheeks. "It'd be even nicer if he couldn't see brown..."

"Actually he can't-desu, but it's irrelevant if you can see green." Haru commented.

"He can't?!" Yamamoto shouted in a surprised voice, unusual for his typically calm demeanor. "I-I can't see green!" He yelled again, this time gaining the whispers and stares of other customers and even another worker.

"Haru, you've been over there for quite a while. I don't want to have to start deducting pay from you because of that monkey, er, customer."

"Hahi! Ok Manager Hana-san, I-I'll be done in just a minute-desu!" Haru confirmed with her manager, Hana.

Turning back to Yamamoto with a sigh. "Well, what are you going to do Takeshi-kun?" She asked the still flustered boy.

"I think I want to try and meet up with him, or at least get to know him better." He responded, a little unsure.

"Ok...ah!" Haru came to a realization. She pointed behind her with her thumb. "Hana-san's boyfriend has a class with him! I might be able to get his phone number through her. How about that Takeshi-kun?" Haru smiled heartedly.

"Yeah," Yamamoto smiled sincerely back. "I'd like that."


Finally arriving at his dorm, Gokudera sneezed.

"Hmph, who the hell is talking about me..." He mumbled to himself, as he put in the code to enter the dorm building, muttering about "I'll make them pay for that..." as he made his way to the stairs instead of the elevator. Living only on the second floor, he saw it as a waste of electricity and enjoyed the slight exercise.

Approaching his single room's door, Gokudera grimaced as he recognized familiar footsteps headed towards him.

"Octopus Head! It was extremely uncool of you to skip class today!"

Hayato began to unlock his door faster, not wanting to talk or even think about how he'd accidentally skipped, since that would lead him to thinking about the whole cafe scene.

Entering immediately and closing the door behind him, Gokudera's door was met with a storm of knocking and shouting from the ever extreme Sasagawa Ryohei.

"Open up right now!" He yelled, not backing off even when other dorm members came out of their rooms to voice their complaints. "You all shut up! I'm helping my underclassmen out!"

"You are the one who needs to shut up, Turf-top." Ryohei stopped his pursuit as he heard what Gokudera said through the door.

"What'd you call me?! Come out here and face me like a man! Right now Octopus Head!" He began knocking loudly once more. Luckily, it seemed that Gokudera's dorm mates had grown tired of all this ruckus, having bought single rooms solely for peace and quiet. Hayato heard Ryohei's shouts of "Hey! Don't throw stuff at your senpai!" and "Respect your elders!"

"Tsk! I'll be back 'Dera! Make sure you come to class next time! That'd be extremely good for your grades!" And with that the footsteps of the loud man faded just as suddenly as they'd come.

Gokudera finally moved from against his closed door and stumbled to his bed with an annoyed huff. Collapsing on it, he reached over into his end table's drawer and was happy to find one more package of his gum. Maybe the world didn't hate him that much.

Putting a piece into his mouth, Hayato laid back and took what felt like his first breath of relaxation today. He regretted not turning on the lights, as he knew he had work to get done but at this point sleep was calling his name in the most loving of voices.

He heard softer footsteps, belonging to the other dorm residents, retreating to their respective rooms and thus everything fell to a blissful silence. Gokudera could count the sounds heard within the room on one hand- his soft smacking of gum, birds chirping outside the window above his bed and people passing every now and then, engaged in small conversations.

Silence and peace of mind washed over Hayato and he couldn't stop his wandering mind.

Dammit...that asshole from the cafe...

Gokudera had seen out of his peripheral that the ballsy customer who blocked his exit had eyes that were the color he couldn't see.

A pastel pink blush began in his cheeks and moved to cover his ears and a bit of his nose.

That fucking jerk...who does he think he is...touching me all of sudden like that...

Hayato had been laying on his back, but then opted to turn onto his side and scrunch into a ball, attempting to escape his own thoughts.

He looked like an idiot...but he was kinda cute too...


Hayato had a dream just like before. It was, of course, about his mother again, but this time it was a memory. A memory from back when he hadn't known who she really was. She'd train and then ask him to play the piano for her, and without any resistance he'd instantly begin playing for hours upon hours. They'd sit at his family's mansion's piano room for most of her visits. Alas, they were only that, "visits." She always had to go.

The scene changed to another memory- the maid's quarters. A young Gokudera crept towards the main house, a sort of lobby connected to two-story cabins that fit two people, three people max. One of the new maids, Arietta, had promised to play with him and she was running late. He surpassed the lobby and traveled along the walkway to her house, expecting her to be there. When he arrived the door was propped open, so he entered. Arrietta was cooking something in the kitchen, likely for herself as anything for their masters was cooked within the mansion kitchen.

"Kiara! The food's done!" She yelled loudly, and Gokudera hid in a nearby closet, although he wasn't quite sure why.

Gokudera noticed that Arietta wasn't wearing her usual black and white maid's outfit. She instead had on slouchy sweatpants and a baggy shirt. He almost gaped, having never seen a maid so informal.

Suddenly a voice shouted from the upstairs. "'kay! I'm coming!" And just like that, footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and another one of the maids appeared, wearing a similarly casual outfit. "Thanks, I was starving and tired- that's a pretty annoying combo.

"No problem...but are you sure that young master Hayato won't mind me skipping our play date?" Arietta asked with concern evident in her voice.

"Puh-please, we all do it once in a while. That's another thing you'll learn under my guidance, newbie. Sometimes we maids have to give ourselves breaks, otherwise they'll work you to death." And with that Kiara began to dig in to the pasta Arietta had made, and made her way to the couch.

Gokudera was shocked to say the least. He had to cover his mouth to muffle the loud gasp of surprise he let out.

"Is that so..." Arietta mumbled as she followed her "friend" to the couch, their backs now facing the closet that Gokudera was peeking out of. "But won't his parents be upset?"

"Hmph! I see you haven't heard." Kiara ate some more of her food and switched on the television.

"Heard? Heard what?"

Kiara looked around a little bit before saying- "It's kind of a taboo topic but...the Mrs. isn't Hayato's biological mother. His biological mother was his piano tutor who passed away last year. She and the master had been having an affair. Hayato never knew and he still doesn't."

"What?!" Arietta's face showed nothing but pure shock. "S-so then he and Lady Bianchi are-?"

"Half siblings, same father different mothers. Lady B's bio-mother found out too." Kiara said with a very indifferent face. "But their marriage wasn't of love anyways so she just demanded millions of euros for "emotional compensation."

"How terrible...a child born of lies and secrets..." Arietta muttered, but Gokudera caught it.

Suddenly the television cut off and came back on as loud static. Neither of the two watching seemed alarmed. In fact they continued their conversation, with their voices becoming high pitched and hoarse.

Speaking in sync with one another, they said- "Yes, yes, so very terrible. I wonder if a child like that-"

The women's heads, with their bodies still facing the television, snapped and completely turned around to look at the young Gokudera directly in the eyes, through the barely even ajar door.

Well, they would have been looking, but where their eyes should've been were instead empty black sockets the size of a golf ball and their skin had become a fiery red that was eating away at some parts of their faces.

"-even deserves love...?" And with their profound inquiry, they pounced over the couch on all fours and flung open the closet's door, heads still turned about. The one who used to be Arietta grabbed him by his collar and opened her mouth wide enough to eat a watermelon whole.

The other one, Kiara, came close and whispered in his ear- "Grazie per il pasto*, Hayato."

And the darkness consumed him.


*Thank you for the meal


Gokudera's eyes shot open and his upper body sprung up quickly. His forehead was sweating profusely and he could feel a headache coming on, along with his throat drying up. He wanted to stand up but his legs were shaky and it was too dark to see properly. The sun had set, a long time ago he assumed, and now there weren't any sounds in the room but his heavy breathing.

He staggered to his feet, grabbing his phone to use it for light as he attempted to make his way to the light switch. Once he'd found and flipped it on, he went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He drank it slowly, a bit dazed.

After he'd had his fill, he thought back to his nightmare.

I guess that did happen today all those years ago...

Hayato set the water on the counter and was about to opt to take a shower and then get some work done, but noticed that he had 2 messages on his phone from his classmate, Lawn-Head. It was currently 2:34 am, but one was from 9:12 pm and said: 'Hey Octopus Head! It's extremely okay for me to give your number to Hana's friend right?! It could help you find your soulmate!'

And the other from 9:14 pm:

'I gave it to her! Make sure you extremely let me know if you guys hit it off!'

"What the hell Ryohei?!" Gokudera thought aloud. "I don't fucking want to find them!" He whispered in a hissing tone. He hadn't even waited ten minutes before he decided to do whatever he wanted! Gokudera threw his phone onto the bed, just barely making it and entered the bathroom to take a semi-relaxing shower before getting some work done.


Yamamoto was still awake, getting a head start on some assignments due later that month. He stopped writing for a moment and stretched, his wrists tired from so much work. Yamamoto glanced at his phone, sitting on the desk. Now that he was in a mood for rational thinking, he thought he might've been a bit too rash and ambitious before. It was just...when he spoke to Gokudera that one time...he hadn't ever felt like that. So he thought there might have been a chance for something to happen between the two. Of course, it never hurts to try, but Takeshi really didn't want to be wrong this time. He thought he could feel a connection of some sort.

Takeshi opted to unlock his phone and open contacts, only to just stare at the newest entry under the letter "G."

'Gokudera Hayato'

It was safe to assume that Gokudera was asleep, Yamamoto concluded, so he'd just tell Gokudera who he was and then he'd wake up to the text. Eagerness got the better of him and he'd typed and sent the message before he even knew it.

T- Good morning Gokudera-san! This is Yamamoto Takeshi...I got your number from your friend's girlfriend's friend* :) Nice to meet you

It was a bit wordy but it would do, Takeshi decided. The reply came faster than he'd expected, since he'd thought he was asleep.

H - who the fuck txt some1 this ealyr and i dont even know u fuck u asshole leave me alone

"Ah..wait w-what?!" Takeshi exclaimed. He was surprised, but he also wanted to laugh. He was such a stereotypical "bad-boy."

T - Please forgive my invasion of privacy Haya-chan! :0 (Can I call you that?) I just wanted to get to know you more, you see... we HAVE met before ;)

T - Also *early

The next reply took a few minutes, and Takeshi was left to wonder if he even was going to respond. But he did:

H - like i said- FUCK YOU...i dont care where i know u from and thats only if ur telling the truth about that becuz:

H - 1)i dont even HAVE any friends

H - 2) no u can NOT EVER call me that or ill kill you

H - 3) ur blocked

At first, Takeshi didn't believe that he'd been blocked. He tried to send another text but he received a text from his service provider that said 'We're sorry but the number +12 3-4567-8910**, is currently unavailable.'

Damn it, Takeshi! Look what you did! Yamamoto thought to himself. He'd scared him off! He accidentally put himself in a bad mood, and decided to call it a night and went to bed.


*Takeshi recieved Hayatos number from Haru, who got it from Hana, who got it from Ryohei **The way Japanese phone numbers are written


"Morning Yamamoto! I trust everything went extremely well last night?" Ryohei greeted Yamamoto the next morning, his classmate in the first class of both their days. They were both a little early to the small class so they had a bit of time to chat.

"Maa, well something like that..." He saw Ryohei's confused face and agreed to explain. "He blocked me in the end, I think I might've been too aggressive in my approach-!"

"Bwahahahaha!" Ryohei began to laugh so hard that he had to wipe a tear away.

Yamamoto pouted. "Senpai, it's not that funny. Actually not at all."

"Sorry, sorry I just think 'Dera is so funny at times. Don't worry Yamamoto! He didn't block you." Ryohei grinned at his declaration.

"E-eh? But I tried to send a message and it wouldn't go through..?"

"Ah, that Octopus head, he's not much of a techy, believe it or not. He doesn't know how to block so he just turns off his phone." Ryohei pointed at himself and his huge smile. "Dontcha think he would've blocked me by now!" Then he burst back into his boisterous laughter.

"Haha, man that's extremely funny!" He yelled, earning a few shushes from other students who had entered the room already. "Yeah it should be back on by now, so feel free to text him. But-" Ryohei's eyes narrowed and his voice became unexpectedly low. "If he doesn't want you then that's that. Not everybody wants to find their soulmate right now." His composure then flipped back to it's typical carefree manner. "Now! To catch some extreme 'Zs' before teach gets here!"

"Too late Sasagawa." A pen flew and hit Ryohei directly on his forehead.

"Ah! That was mean Lal-Mirch-sensei!"

"Well you should've..."

Yamamoto blocked out the casual teacher and student banter to think about what he was going to say to Gokudera next. He should probably apologize for last night.

T - I'd like to apologize for yesterday...I think we got off on the wrong foot because of me

... (The '...' represent 2-3 minutes passing)

H - shut up im recording a lecture

...

T - Hey I'm in class too :) What class do you have right now?

...

H - the class i record lectures in now stop textin me ur messin up the audio

...

Takeshi remembered what Ryohei said about being too persistent so he decided to leave it at this...for now.

T - Ok, let's talk after your class then?

...

H - whatever

...

T - Promise :D

...

H - no

...

T - Well, here comes the spam in 5

T - 4

T - 3

H - FINE dammit i promise

Yep he'd leave it at that. Satisfied, Yamamoto tuned back into class and began taking notes.


H - hey

T - Hello! Thanks for keeping your promise! Ya know you never told me what I could call you :)

...

H - i follow my word even though you reply too fast, and i know. thats becuz i didnt want to talk to you

T - Didn't? So you do now?! ;D

...

H - we both know i didnt say that nor mean that

...

T - So Hayato-chan it is!

...

H - no god no

- and whyd ur reply take longer than usual

...

T - Sorry! OTL I'm in a class that's pretty important so my responses might take a little longer than usual (Although I'm glad you were paying attention to me Hayato-chan :3).

H - idiot pay attention to your class we'll talk later

T - Nope, we made a promise :)


Gokudera sighed out loud at his "text buddy's" idiocy. Whoever this guy was, he must be on the verge of dropping out if he was this carefree.

H - what if i stop replying?

...

T - Then I'll have to spam you, in which I'll then give you all my attention instead of some ;) Which wouldn't be so bad since you're so cute...

What the fuck?! Gokudera screamed in his mind. This guy has some big balls to try to flirt with someone he's never even seen or actually talked to before. Especially to call him "cute"of all things.

H - ugh fine i "promise" to talk after your class, im done for today anyways

...

T - Hmm...I don't know Hayato-chan...those quotations are a little off putting

G - :|

G - i promise to talk to you wheen your class is over

T - That's great! I'm looking forward to it! xoxo

Man this guy has problems! Gokudera just stared at the 'xoxo' and decided to believe that it was a fumble as he attempted to press send.

I should probably save his number since we'll be talking more. Gokudera thought to just make it his first name, but wondered if that made them seem too close. Takeshi Yamamoto it is. The contact was added to the already short list of names.

Maybe I should put an emoji...no that's stupid...but I guess it won't hurt to look at what they have that might match him...something idiotic will do. With that, Gokudera began to scan through all the emojis his phone provided. He decided to go with the weird moon with a face. It was creepy, just like how the idiot often came across to him. He chuckled a little about this, feeling sort of giddy about being able to have the boy's name however he wanted it.

He was currently sitting at the desk provided with the dorm room. The cheap wood creaked underneath his weight as he adjusted to stretch his back from the equally cheap chair.

"Hmm...what should I do until Takesh-."

"..."

What the FUCK self?! Please tell me that you weren't about to imply that you were waiting for that guy?! And calling him by his first name!

"Ugh...self, please get a hold on my life." Gokudera whispered to himself amid his confusion. Speaking of confusion, he realized he hadn't thought about what happened in the cafe for a while. Maybe he was finally getting over it. Though he still couldn't forget the cute guy he'd seen there, often imagining him in his dreams or thinking that he'd passed by him while out. Hayato decided to hone his piano skills on the piano in the dorm's lobby, it always seemed to calm him down when all else failed.

Per usual, he went down the stairs instead of the elevator and was glad to see that the lobby was empty. A lot of classes were still in session after all. Gokudera approached the instrument, and began to just prepare his fingers, simply pressing keys without aiming for a melody. The pianist then proceeded to play a tune that his tutor, and therefore, mother had taught him. It was by another Italian pianist, Ludovico Einaudi, and was played in remembrance of the death of someone great or a loved one.

Gokudera smiled bitterly at the irony of his mother teaching him the song. He cut the song short, not feeling so into in it anymore. He opted to talk a walk, maybe spend a little more money for the month on some nic gum. His life had suddenly gotten stressful and it was getting harder and harder to stay away.

About an hour into his stroll, he recieved a text from the local idiot.

T - I'm back Hayato-chan! Did you miss me? :3

H - no not at all and stop callin me that

T - But it's so cute so it suits you

...

H - ... whatever

T - I'm glad you told me to focus in class, it turned out we were learning a new lesson today! Thanks for looking out for me Haya-chan~ :3

H - do NOT call me 'Haya-chan'

T - Oh I'm sorry :0 Is that only what your close friends call you?

...

H - i don't have any friends i already told you that jeez keep up

T - I remember that! I just didn't believe it, you seem like such an interesting person...

H - well ur the first to think so

T - I'm sure I'm just the first you haven't rejected immediately ;)

...

H - no ur the first

H - trust me

T - Aw am I special? :)

G - yeah eSPECIALly stupid :|

T - ...

T - maybe you should leave the jokes to me Hayato-chan...

H - SHUT THE FUCK UP


From then on, the two texted one another regularly, exchanging how their days went and sometimes even new things they learned in class. They grew close, to the point that they could even talk about personal things that few others knew about them. Such as Hayato's past with his mother and the maids' "private" conversation which had contributed to his issue with soulmates and his attempts to quit smoking. Yamamoto also learned that Hayato moved to Japan in order to get away from his old life, but it evidently followed him here emotionally. Apparently he did in fact have an older sister who was in and out of Japan and Italy constantly so that she could check on her little brother. She'd never liked that he'd moved here by himself as soon as he graduated high school.

Hayato found out that despite his outward manner, everything wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in Takeshi's life. His mother had died when he was at a young age, and his father became downcast and too ambitious to find another love. The woman he did find robbed him of his heart...and all his other possessions. They racked up debt and eventually had to sell the house. Both of the Yamamoto's kicked the woman out but small town Namimori eventually couldn't supply the fast money they needed. Moving to Tokyo was beneficial, as they just managed to afford a place in an office district. The daily lunch rush, early morning/late night stragglers, and tourist who wanted authentic Japanese sushi brought in substantial income. Takeshi ended up having to spend most of his high school years in Tokyo, but wanted to attend Namimori University and then he'd return to help his father with the debt. His father insisted he aimed for baseball, which is where his heart was, but Takeshi was still upset with himself for not catching onto the woman's game before it was too late.

Hayato and Takeshi developed into near best friends, sometimes purchasing drinks from cafes for the other to go and pick up later, but Gokudera still had never seen nor even heard the other boy. Yamamoto claimed that he'd once seen Gokudera, and that Gokudera had seen him, but the timing wasn't good enough for an introduction. Takeshi wasn't even sure how long he'd keep things that way, but he was liking Gokudera more and more everyday and knew that one day- it was all going to boil over. And it did.


A little over 2 months later...


T - Hey Hayato...do you like anyone?

...

H - :| go ahead and take a wild guess, im sure you'll be right

T - Hahaha! Yeah I thought so, you don't seem like the type to go around crushin' on people...

H - well there was this one guy i saw a long time ago at a cafe but it was under some weird circumstances


Takeshi gulped loudly. He was sitting alone in his dorm room, his roommate Lambo most likely out at a party. It was only 5:23 pm, but he never failed to stay out all night long.

It's possible...but also pretty impossible...

T - Hahaha! Is that so?

...

H - yup

T - Hahaha! Oh!

H - stop being weird and just ask what you wanna ask

T - Sorry :( You do know me best after all!

H - that i do ;0 now what is it

T - What were the circumstances that you met that guy under?


If it's possible then...


...

H - er...well i was apparently holding up his seat at the cafe and i made a super unnecessarily big scene about the whole thing

H - looking back it was super petty :/

...

T - Do you remember the name of the place?


If it's possible then...


H - geez Takeshi all in my business much

T - Oh sorry

H - lol im jk

H - wow you seem so sad in that 1 text- it was called the roasted bean

Takeshi's heart had never slowed down as much as it did then and he was sure he was going to die right in that moment. But his brain decided that this would be the absolutely worse time for that- and his heartbeat increased rapidly.

T - Ya know Hayato? I just decided that I wanted to meet you in person. :)

T - As in- right now.

...

H - wtf why now?

T - Because I'm in love with you.

T - And I know it might seem silly to you, to fall in love over text messages from a stolen number and a brief chance meeting but it happened to me. I want to meet you at the benches in the garden across from The Roasted Bean. I'll wait there until midnight if I have to, maybe longer. Whatever it takes to see you tonight, I'm willing. You can't change my mind unless you tell me that you hate me or have never nor wanted to even consider being romantically involved with me. If that's the case then, if you'd allow it, I'd like to remain friends with you. See you soon (maybe?).


What The Fuck What The Fuck What The Fuck?!

Gokudera's mind was racing. He hadn't ever expected something like this to happen so out of the blue! How the hell was he supposed to respond to that?!

H - thats not a good joke

Gokudera tried to send that message but it wouldn't go through and he was led to believe that Takeshi had turned his phone off. Sighing, he figured he had only one option if he wanted to talk to him.


Takeshi sat anxiously awaiting his friend. It had been nearly half an hour since he sent the message for cryin' out loud! The "green" bushes surrounding him were mocking his situation. The wooden bench creaked as Yamamoto adjusted himself, seeming to say 'he ain't coming brah :/ '. However he stiffened as he heard the rubble being walked upon and shuffled behind him. Someone sat down on the bench behind him. They must've had long hair, as Takeshi felt it tickle his neck.

The silence was unnerving. He felt brave from behind the screen, but now his thought to word ratio was betraying him. What to say? What to do? System overload- now shutting down. Rebooting in 5...4...3...2...1... reboot failed.


"You..." Gokudera spoke first. "You're the guy from that time at the cafe, aren't you?"

"...I am." Takeshi's excellent knowledge of Japanese was clearly on display this evening. He heard Gokudera sigh and what sounded like him running a hand through his hair.

"Also the Yamamoto Takeshi I've been texting." Hayato said, as a statement not a question.

"Yeah, I'm him too."

"So then you're Yamamoto Takeshi from the cafe, as well as the man I've been texting all this while, leading him to some way or another fall in love with me."

"That's right as well, you sure are smart...Hayato-chan from the cafe and from Italy."

"Is that so," Gokudera murmured with a smirk, and leaned back so that the back of he and Takeshi's heads were touching. "Because I feel like a huge idiota right now."

Takeshi chuckled. "Ya know, right now you seem so much softer than when we first met."

Still smirking, Gokudera responded. "You try waking up, disoriented in a place that you don't remember falling asleep in, to an annoying acquaintance of yours yelling at you. Then, when you try to leave some cute guy gets an attitude with you. I'm sure you wouldn't be the happiest of campers either."

"Cute?" Takeshi wasn't going to pretend that he didn't hear that, and had to stop himself from giggling about it.

"Yeah dammit, ok? I caught a little bit of your face and thought you were cute." Gokudera admitted

"Hmm, is that so..." Takeshi dwelled on that thought for a bit. It hadn't occured to him that the other would think that he was cute. He'd been so busy thinking that about Gokudera!

The silence came back, and both men took that time to admire the sunset, heads still leaned against one another. It was slow, of course, but it's effects were fast. The birds growing quiet, and the walkways full of less and less conversation, but instead singular footsteps implying the end of the evening classes. Being so close to the cafe, the door bell could be heard ringing repeatedly, happy laughter and small talk following it.

"So...what should I think about the fact that you came here?" Takeshi dared to ask what had been eating at him since Gokudera arrived.

The other boy snorted. "You should be grateful, first of all. I thought for a while about just not showing up and cutting all connections with you."

"Eh? That's a litt-"

"But I decided to come and give you a proper answer. I...I didn't want this to all go to waste. This, meaning...I don't really know. This weird friendship I guess? I've run from everything that was even a little close to this and this time, I don't think I want to." Gokudera took a deep breath, having never been that honest in his life.

Takeshi remained silent, contemplating seemingly every detail in the sky right then. Thus Gokudera felt the need to once again take the verbal lead.

He spoke so quietly, a near whisper, and Yamamoto might have missed it if he'd been one notch lower.

"Do really you think we could be soulmates?"

...

Yamamoto chuckled, which evolved into a full-on laugh. When he was done, he sighed heavily and finally spoke.

"I don't even think I care at this point. I'm too in love with you to let anything stop me."

"That's a bold thing to say."

"Well, I'm a man of my word too."

"I noticed-"

Apparently someone nearby had decided that it was the perfect time to start a party in the courtyard next to the garden. They blasted some sort of English rap song that Hayato and Takeshi both doubted they even understood.

"To each their own, right?" Takeshi said, sensing that he and Gokudera were thinking the same thing.

"Hmph, definitely." Hayato agreed.

"I suppose we should wrap this up then, if we don't want to get caught up in the night life. It's Friday after all." Yamamoto knew that even though most shops were closed, the campus would soon light up with life.

"...I suppose your're right." Hayato agreed once more. He heard Yamamoto stand up and stretch, however he remained sitting and slouched over so that his elbows met his thighs and his eyes, the bushes directly in front of him.

From his low field of vision, Gokudera saw a low waist and legs come into view. They weren't facing him, but his left.

Takeshi whistled. "Yup, nature's been gray for far too long. It's about that time indeed."

Gokudera's eyes instinctively darted to the right when Yamamoto's face came into his view. "Y-yeah you're too good looking, this isn't gonna work." And in his attempt to bypass Yamamoto and leave- his arm was grabbed and and he was pulled into a tight embrace.

"Hey! What's the big ide-!"


"Ha? You can't see green?" The woman, who's name Takeshi didn't bother to remember, asked to make sure she'd heard him correctly.

"Yup that's right!" Takeshi beamed, enjoying whenever he was able to talk about his soulmate.

His smile dropped however, when his father's "girlfriend" began to cackle wickedly.

"And just where do you expect to find someone around here with green eyes!?" She laughed even harder at the thought. "Or- or do you expect someone to come to this rinky-dink town just to be with a brat like you?!"

She stood from the overly priced chair she'd had imported and shoved him out of the way. Before she exited the room, she turned around to face him, smirking at his half open mouth and otherwise face of disbelief.

"Here's a tip babydoll, soulmates don't and have never existed." Her face then morphed into a cheery school-girl look. "Especially not for trash like you! Au revoir!*"


*Goodbye in French


It was as if water had been poured over a wet canvas.

The trees and the bushes and the grass and the stems of flowers were all drained of their dull grayness and were blessed with this new, energetic color. Takeshi couldn't draw himself away from his, clearly, soulmate's eyes. The green was pulling him in deeper and deeper and he didn't even want to get out.

Hayato was just as astonished. For just a moment, he glanced at the bench behind him, then at Takeshi's shoes, and then the bark of the trees. However, he was ultimately drawn back to Yamamoto's eyes. Those damn eyes. They were lovingly brown and were currently wide in surprise.

The grip on Gokudera lightened.

"Oh..." Was all the boy said as Yamamoto's arms released him and fell to his side.

Then he grinned.

And then he grinned even harder.

His grin was broken by high pitch giggles. Giggle giggles. It was as if he was a child again and this was his first time being tickled. He couldn't stop and every time he tried to, he'd look at Gokudera and just start back up again.

"W-what's so funny?" Hayato asked out of pure confusion.

"N-nothing but-!" Takeshi burst into laughter once more.

"Tsk, I'm leaving then." Gokudera turned around but his shoulder was instantly grabbed and he was spun around.

"Wait I'm sorry! It's just, I've never felt this giddy before. I'm just so happy you exist, Hayato-chan." Takeshi got down on one knee and took hold of Gokudera's hand, causing him to blush more than he'd ever like to admit.

"Thank you for existing, Hayato." Yamamoto kissed the hand while making eye contact with Hayato, who was about to pull away and run for it- but didn't.

Instead he sighed deeply and quit trying to suppress his blush, allowing it to spread from ear to ear. He mumbled something like "I'm glad you exist too." and took a seat on the bench, whilst admiring it's color.

Yamamoto joined him, still holding his hand, and pulled Gokudera closer to him.

The two experienced their first comfortable silence, aside from the party nearby, and simply enjoyed the moment.

Silence, however is always destined to be broken and Yamamoto whispered:

"I want to know everything about you."

"Ok," Gokudera smiled. "Soulmate."


Three people watched soulmates talk through the bushes. One, a silver-headed loud mouth. The other, a brown-haired matchmaker. The last, a black-haired spectator who evidently made this all possible.

"Mission- success!"


Wow this was so long! I just couldn't stop writing...hope you enjoyed and please leave reviews! (✿◠‿◠)