CHAPTER 4: The Hidden Truth

"HIIEE! Yamamoto! What happened to your face?" It should be an ordinary day to Tsuna. Meeting with his best friends and going to school together. But seeing his dark-haired friend with a black-eye and swelling —with bandage— on his cheek, his supposed to be ordinary day turned out to be a day for worrying. It looks awful than those times I was training with Reborn. Who could've done this to him?

"Ahaha~ I tripped!" The rain guardian flashes him with his stupid grin.

"Wh- What? Y-You tripped?" I'VE BEEN SLIPING A LOT SINCE THE DAY I WAS BORN BUT I DON'T REMEMBER GETTING THAT! His looks show how much shock he received. He recovered when Gokudera appeared…or not…

"Jyuudaime! Ohayou Gozaimasu!" Then he stares in Yamamoto's face for a few seconds before lounging his arm in Tsuna's shoulders and start walking. "Let's go Jyuudaime! Or else we'll be late for school!"

"W-Wait Gokudera-kun! Didn't you see Yamamoto's…condition?" He doesn't want to say "face" because it might hurt his tall friend.

"Condition..." He stares at the subject from head to toe, then shrugs. "…'s looks the same to me." He starts walking again; practically dragging Tsuna whose shock is beyond repair. Then he looks at Yamamoto who's laughing his ass off. "Oi baseball-idiot! Get your fucking ass moving or we'll be late! Don't drag Jyuudaime with your tardiness!"

"O-o-kay..b-be right there! O-ow! My sides…" He's tearing up while clenching the side of his stomach. R-Really! Gokudera's so unpredictable! I'm expecting him to laugh at me but I didn't imagine that reaction from him! He's really a funny guy!

That's what he thinks so he didn't notice the clench fist forming on the Italian boy's hand…


"WHERE ARE THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS WHO DID THIS TO YOU?" When the last period for morning classes ended, Gokudera instantly pulls Yamamoto outside their classroom up to the stairway where there are "usually" no students passing by. He may not really look like it, but he cares for his friends more than anyone —as much as he doesn't want to admit that the baseball-idiot is one of them— so the thought of someone hurting them enraged him.

"Uh…as I've said to Tsuna, I tripped..." He's confused on why the storm guardian is mad.

"You can't fool me! You won't get this…" Gokudera points at the taller boy's face while his other hand is pressing him to the wall. "…from FALLING! Now tell me and I'll kill them all!"

"Goku-"

"Why are you crowding here and producing noise-pollution herbivores." Hibari's arms are folded while looking at them. He's actually watching them from the beginning on the corner and he chose to show himself when he heard the word "kill".

"Hibari!" Yamamoto's confusion fades away when he saw his beloved skylark. It made him remember what happened yesterday…er…what happened half of the day yesterday.


~Flashback: Yesterday, around 7 p.m. ~

Yamamoto woke up on the cold floor while Hibari is sitting on the couch and holding their book-bags. When the prefect saw him standing up, he throws his bag on his face, stands up and head towards the door.

The cloud guardian looks back and he saw him still in a trance. "Do you want to go home or not? Your dad's probably worried about you. He knows you don't have baseball practice today." He may not look like it, but he really respects Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. Well…not because he accepted their relationship okay? Definitely not. And he knows how much the old man cares for his only son so he's doing his best not to kill the stupid boy.

"Huh? Oh!" The younger boy stands up and just noticed the swelling on his cheek when it started thumping. "Wh- What happened?"

"You tripped." He said simply.

"Eh? …Okay! If you said so!" Then he grabs the older boy's hand and started running.

Hibari was surprised but also starts to run; there are no other people around so it's okay. The taller boy is grinning and laughing as if he's really happy and it's somewhat contagious so he can't help but to smile.

They reached the lockers. When Yamamoto saw his lover's rarely shown and breath-taking smile, he stopped running and so is Hibari. He quickly hugs him tight and whispers to his ear. "Hibari…?"

He returns the hug. "Hmm…?

"I love you…so much…"

"…I know."

The taller boy smiles then he released him from the hug.

But instead of letting go, he grabs Yamamoto's face —careful not to exert force on the swelling part— and kissed him…slowly. As if telling the younger boy that all the time in the world is on their hands. But ironically, it didn't take time until the kissed deepened.

A stomach growl made their lips to pull apart. Yamamoto laughs while Hibari snickers. "Based on how loud the sound was, it looks like I haven't eaten since lunch, right?"

He paused, and then nods. "So let's hurry to your house, I'm kind of hungry myself." This time, it was him who initiated the holding hands.

"I'm back!"

"Sorry for intruding…"

"Ou! Welcome home Takeshi! Hibari-kun!" Tsuyoshi is in the sushi counter and welcomed them with his usual warm smile. But it faded when he saw the condition of his son's face. "What happened to your face?"

"Eh? I tripped!" He flashed his stupid grin to his father so it made the old man worry more.

"Hu-Huh?" But it looks like his son didn't pay any attention to his reaction.

"Oyaji! I'll take a quick shower first before I eat! I don't know why but my muscle pains are kind worst of than when I'm playing baseball." Then Yamamoto looks at his guilty lover. "Hibari! Stay here an eat, I'll be back after I'm done. Real quick! Ja~!" He dashes to the stairs where their real house is and rushes to the bathroom after he placed his bag on his room.

When the prefect saw that the younger boy's already not on sight, he quickly faced Tsuyoshi and bow his head. "I'm sorry Oji-san, it's my fault."

The old man was both puzzled and astounded at the same time. But then he realized what the young man is talking about so he smiles at him when he saw the sincerity on his eyes. "Oh, that…did the two of you had a fight?"

"Uh…something like that."

"I'm sure it's my stupid son's fault?"

"Uhm…yes…"

"Haha! Well, as always, please be more patient with him. He may be like that but I know he loves you so much. "

Tsuyoshi's grin is not like his stupid son's, it's almost like teasing so he can't help but to blush a little.

"I'm back again! Eh? Why are you standing and not eating Hibari?" Then he looks at his father then to Hibari again. "What are the two of you talking about?"

"Takeshi! You sure showered quickly! Haha! Hibari-kun waited for you to finish so he can eat with you."

With that, the skylark takes his seat. He's thankful for the old man's excuse for him but he should have thought of a better one. Now he's blushing even more. Calm down! You're Hibari Kyoya! So you should act like one!

Yamamoto scratches the back of his head while blushing. "Ahaha~ Good thing I showered quickly!"

Then get your ass here, herbivore… He can't say it out loud; after all, he's with the respectful Yamamoto Tsuyoshi.

It looks like Yamamoto heard his lover's silent plea, so he hurriedly sits down beside him.

"Should I drop you home?"

"No need, I don't need company in going home. I'm not a weak herbivore like you."

"A-Ahaha… Well…stay here instead! I admit, I'm weak in bed! Ahaha~"

-sound of metal colliding with gut- They're outside the establishment so it's okay to do his daily routine.

"Ow!" He rubs the damaged part. "I'm just joking! Then! Kiss me and I'll let you go home!"

"…I don't need your permission."

"Please?" He puppy-eyed him.

The prefect looks at him then sighs. "…Fine, if that will make you shut up." He looks at his surroundings first before landing a quick peck on the taller boy's lips. He was about to stand straight when Yamamoto hold his shoulders.

"Uh-Uh. Not so fast." He grins then kisses the smaller boy deeply and passionately, waiting for him to respond. But when the other boy was on the verge of doing what he wants, he stops then let go of his shoulders.

"Wha-"

"Hehe...punishment."

-sound of metal colliding with gut- "Bye." Then he walks away like nothing happened.

When Yamamoto recuperates from the blow, he saw that his lover is almost 15 meters away. "HIBARI! CALL ME WHEN YOU GOT HOME OKAY?" He didn't get any response. But after 20 minutes, he received a call saying, "I'm home. Goodnight" And that's that.


"Hi…bari…" Gokudera grabs Yamamoto's left arm. "Let's go. Jyuudaime's waiting for us."

"Eh? Wai-" But he didn't had the chance to protest because the silver-haired boy starts to half-walk-half-run and basically dragging him. He then gave a glance to Hibari's direction before letting himself to be pulled. "What's wrong? You look pale." He asks when they are about to reach their classroom.

The smaller boy stops and he has the looks of mix irritation, confusion and doubt. But it's more on the latter. "Huh? Oh…nothing… Just…hungry…" Then he released the other boy's arm before inhaling and exhaling deeply and enters the classroom. "Jyuudaime! My deepest apologies for our delay!"

"Gokudera-kun? Where were you? Where's Yamamoto?"

"Oh! Please don't mind him! Now, let's go to the rooftop and eat!"

Tsuna tilt his head. You won't guess at first glance but he has a hyper intuition. Something's wrong with Gokudera… Oh, there's Yamamoto. He smiles then grab his lunchbox.

"Yo! You'll eat without me?" He pouts. He just got over his shocked before he enters the classroom. Gokudera didn't throw him profanities awhile ago and it made him really taken aback. Now that I think about it…he's always like that when faced with Hibari…did something happen between them? I'll remember to ask my Kyo-chan later. But now, food first.

To be continued…


My longest chapter so far! Ahaha~

Aw…there is not much humour on this. Maybe I should change its genre to Romance/Friendship because the latter will be involved a lot on the next chapters.

Oh! And I should introduce other characters. To this point, my characters are only Yamamoto, Hibari, Gokudera, Tsuna, Reborn, Tsuyoshi, classmates and schoolmates. But I'm sure others will appear on the next chapters to come and I'm working on it!

And please criticize me however you can! I'm still new to this but I want to improve myself so I can produce works like our great writers here! ^^

Ja ne~