"Luck affects everything; let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it, there will be a fish"

–Ovid

Gokudera didn't want to get up.

He'd gone out into town a couple times since the time he'd met Yamamoto, and everywhere he went there was something there to remind him of him. All he wanted to do was forget about that idiot! And the fact that he might be in love with….

Gokudera shook his head. No, it wasn't true, so there for he wasn't thinking about it. He sighed and rolled over to stare out the window.

The sun was rising, giving a golden tint to the mid-autumn leaves. It made everything look golden and perfect, so opposite of what Gokudera was feeling at the moment that it made him sick to look at.

He needed to get out of town, go away for awhile.

Gokudera liked riding the bus. He couldn't really say why; he just did. It comforted him to sit in those leather seats and just let the bus take him wherever. He liked the feeling of not being in charge of his life for once, and just seeing where the bus would take him. This was what he was doing now. He closed his eyes in comfort, hoping the bus would take him as far away as it could from Namimori.

His peace was shattered in all about five seconds.

"Hey, it's you!"

Gokudera's eyes snapped open. He didn't even need to look at the person. He knew by the voice exactly who it was and that it was calling him. Well shit. He was hoping to get away from it all, but it didn't look like that was happening. He turned his head to look up at Yamamoto who was holding onto one of the bus straps, since the bus was already pretty crowded, and smiling down at him. Gokudera felt his heart skip a beat which caused him to frown as he looked away from Yamamoto's smile. It felt like he was staring into a flashlight.

"It's good to see you!" Yamamoto said, completely shattering Gokudera's attempt to ignore the man. He looked back up warily at Yamamoto and almost growled.

"What are you doing here?" Yamamoto's smile faltered for a split second and that was all it took for Gokudera to feel guilty, even when the smile came right back on.

"Is it illegal for me to take the bus?" Yamamoto joked, moving aside as more people squished onto the bus. Gokudera didn't reply and looked down again, trying to hide his blush of guilt.

"Hey, we could save space if I take your seat and you sit on my lap," Yamamoto suggested out of the blue, as if the whole idea was completely normal.

Gokudera's head shot up, disbelief that this guy could even suggest something like that with a straight face spread all across his features. He searched his face, trying to see if he was joking or not.

"A-are you serious?" Gokudera stuttered, his mouth flapping. Yamamoto looked at him, utterly surprised, before he blushed; as if just realizing what he'd said.

"Ah… um… I-I mean… Y-you don't have to if you don't want to…" Yamamoto was completely flushed now, most likely mentally punching himself for saying something so stupid and embarrassing.

Gokudera looked up at Yamamoto, utterly astonished. That, however, didn't stop the thought floating through his head that Yamamoto was pretty cute when he blushed. Gokudera shook his head angrily, not at all liking where his thought process was going. However, then his brain started thinking, what if he did sit on his lap? It would save space, and didn't Gokudera want to?

Before he could stop his brain, Gokudera found his mouth saying, "Well… okay. It reserves space, after all."

The two stared at each other in disbelief. Even Gokudera was surprised that he'd agreed.

"Umm… o-okay." Yamamoto stood awkwardly and Gokudera wondered what he was waiting for when it came to him. Embarrassed even more, Gokudera did his best to stand up, his face getting buried in people, so that Yamamoto could take his seat. When he did, Gokudera nervously let himself sit back down.

Gokudera could see the crowd fill in the space that Yamamoto had taken before but he was mainly focused on how… comfortable Yamamoto's lap was. Before he realized what he was doing, he leaned back into Yamamoto's chest.

He felt the other flinch and shift before two arms hesitantly wrapped themselves around his waist. Gokudera's eyes widened in surprise as Yamamoto's chin rested on his shoulder blade and Gokudera's head was forcibly leaned back into Yamamoto's shoulder. Gokudera couldn't believe how… natural this all felt. How perfectly their bodies fit together.

He felt people staring at them as he wondered where to put his arms. There wasn't really a comfortable place to put them unless…

Blushing even more, Gokudera hesitantly put his arms so that they rested over Yamamoto's and almost fainted as heat radiated through his body. He was absolutely sure he was going to hyper-ventilate, but this felt too good. Too right. He wasn't even surprised when Yamamoto dug his face into his neck and Gokudera found himself falling asleep.

The last thing that registered in his brain, that he couldn't be sure actually happened or if he was already dreaming, was Yamamoto kissing his neck gently.

Gokudera was jerked awake as Yamamoto stood up. He looked around blurrily, too warm and comfortable to focus just yet.

He didn't even notice that he was being carried until they were off the bus.

When he did, his eyes widened in surprise and he struggled. If he wasn't embarrassed before, which he was, he was completely flushed now. He looked up at Yamamoto, who had this goofy content grin on his face, and hit him lightly in the chest.

"H-hey! You can put me down now!"

Yamamoto flinched, almost jumping three feet into the air. He looked down at Gokudera in shock as if he hadn't even realized that he'd been awake. It took him a moment for what Gokudera had said to register in his brain and he blushed and set Gokudera down on his feet.

Gokudera wobbled for a second before regaining his balance. By then, Yamamoto had already continued walking and Gokudera, having nowhere else to go, followed him. They walked in a silence heavy with awkwardness. Gokudera couldn't believe he'd sat on the lap of his secret crush, no scratch that, of this close-to stranger in public. He glanced up at Yamamoto who seemed to be just as awkward as he was. He looked down again when Yamamoto spoke up.

"Um… I'm sorry if that wasn't your stop, but you were sleeping so peacefully and I didn't want to wake you…" Yamamoto stuttered, pointedly looking in the opposite direction.

"That's okay. I didn't really have a destination in mind anyway," Gokudera answered, also looking in the opposite direction.

"You just ride the bus to see where it takes you?" When Gokudera nodded, Yamamoto turned to look at him thoughtfully.

"I've always wanted to do that. Whenever I feel like getting away from it all, I always think about taking the bus as far as it goes." He laughed, running his hand through his hair. "Never really did it though."

Gokudera agreed with him, but didn't say so out loud. The two continued walking in silence before Yamamoto broke it again.

"H-hey do you want to come eat at my family's restaurant? That was the last bus and you seem kind of tired…"

Gokudera thought about it. He was tired and he was hungry but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be around this awkward atmosphere any longer.

Before he could actually answer though, Yamamoto had stopped and Gokudera looked up at a restaurant entitled Takesushi and figured he didn't have much choice now. He shrugged at Yamamoto and followed him inside.

The restaurant, sushi shop as it turned out, had one of the best décor Gokudera had ever seen. It wasn't fancy, but had bamboo decorations and old fashioned wooden floor boards. It really touched the heart of someone like Gokudera, who couldn't get enough old-fashioned décor to ever be happy. He looked around the place, awed enough to let Yamamoto get away with the amused smirk of laughter he tried to hide.

Gokudera sat at the bar, checking out the wooden ceiling, as Yamamoto went behind the counter. He leaned against it as he waited for Gokudera to stop admiring and order. When he finally did, he ordered salmon toppings and a glass of sake.

"Sorry, but I'll have to see your ID…" Yamamoto looked embarrassed, for who knows what reason, and Gokudera took out his ID to show that he was indeed over legal drinking age. Yamamoto smiled and started to fix his order.

He purposely cut the salmon in front of Gokudera, since that's what most sushi restaurants did to show their quality. Gokudera snorted since it was obvious Yamamoto was trying to show off, and laid his chin on his fist to watch.

By the time Gokudera was done with his meal, he had two glasses of sake in him and he was EXHAUSTED. He leaned drowsily on the counter as Yamamoto served some other customers. He watched through half slit eyes as Yamamoto's old man performed the same show off-y technique that Yamamoto had.

He didn't even know he'd fallen asleep until someone shook his shoulder. He blinked his eyes into focus, for the third time that day, and saw Yamamoto smiling down at him.

"You're free to stay here as long as you'll help me get the guest futon out."

Gokudera wasn't sure what he said in reply, but it must've been some kind of agreement because Yamamoto's smile grew wider and he started heading upstairs. Gokudera grunted and got up from his stool, carrying his wine glass with him, and followed Yamamoto into the genkan where he took off his shoes and headed into the residential area of the building. They climbed up some stairs and Yamamoto held a door open for Gokudera, indicating that he go through.

Gokudera found himself in a room, the walls covered inch-to-inch with baseball posters. The whole room was baseball themed. The blanket had a baseball bat on it, there were player figures sitting on the bookcases, all the books were about baseball, there was baseball equipment in the corner, a signed jersey hung in the corner, hell; the pillow itself was a baseball.

"Is there a single thing in here that isn't baseball themed?" Gokudera snorted, walking fully into the room. Yamamoto laughed and closed the door behind him, walking over to the closet.

There was one thing that wasn't baseball themed. It was sitting on Yamamoto's desk, next to a mirror and, surprise surprise, a baseball catalog. It was a framed photo of Yamamoto when he looked to be about ten years younger. He was smiling his usual bright smile and had his arm wrapped around a short kid with spiky brown hair who was also laughing in the photo. They looked to be the best of friends and they shot peace signs at the camera.

"Sorry, I play professional baseball and I was pretty obsessed when I was younger," Yamamoto explained in response to Gokudera's earlier sarcastic question, opening the closet and beckoning Gokudera over to help him with the futon. Gokudera came over and helped him pull it out.

"Is that your friend in that photo over there?" He asked, nodding his head in the general direction of the photograph. Yamamoto developed a sad smile as he looked to see what picture Gokudera was talking about.

"Yeah, that's my friend Tsuna. We used to hang out a lot in middle school," he replied, getting a distant look on his face.

"Don't hang out with him much anymore?"

"Well, he's dead."

"…O-oh." The awkward silence was back again. Gokudera didn't know why he was so bad at talking to people. Every time he opened his mouth he said something to make the other person remember something they'd rather not.

"So you work here part-time?" Gokudera asked in desperation to change the subject, grunting as they had to lift the futon before setting it down onto the ground.

"Yeah, I play baseball in the spring, practice in the winter, and work here in the summer and autumn." Yamamoto's face brightened a little as the topic was taken off Tsuna and back to his work. He went back into the closet to pull out some blankets, which Gokudera also helped set on the bed, and a pillow. Gokudera frowned, since something didn't click right in his mind.

"Wait- I thought you said that your dad was forcing you into marriage because you were a lazy ass? You don't sound like a lazy ass to me," Gokudera remarked, sitting down in a chair as he emptied his wine glass and set it down on the desk.

Yamamoto's eyes suddenly clouded and he looked down at his hands. He didn't respond for a long time, just stared down at his twiddling thumbs. Finally, he looked up and Gokudera could see that he looked like he was about to cry.

"I'm sorry Gokudera… I lied about that… The truth is," Yamamoto paused to swallow and he looked so helpless that Gokudera wanted to go over and hug him, "My dad's going bankrupt. I have to marry a rich girl so that we can pay off our debt."

Gokudera stared at him in shock. The store seemed to be doing fine! And Yamamoto was so happy and upbeat about everything that it was surprising that something like this was going on in his life.

"What about your baseball money?"

"My dad wants me to keep that for myself. He says that if I at least have money if we go bankrupt, then we'll be okay. He doesn't even pay me for working here…" Yamamoto trailed off, staring wide-eyed as Gokudera dug around his wallet. He pulled out as much money that he had on him and shoved it at Yamamoto. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt a strong urge to help the man.

"Gokudera-! I can't take that-" Despite Yamamoto's refusal, Gokudera just growled and continued to shove it towards Yamamoto.

"Just take it! I want to help you-!" Gokudera cut off as Yamamoto grabbed his arm with a sharp hold and shoved the money back at him. He looked him seriously in the eyes, but Gokudera could see that he was grateful for the thought.

"I can't take that."

Gokudera sighed and put the money back in his wallet. Well, at least he could say he tried. But that didn't help his guilty conscious as Yamamoto sat back on the bed in a sad haze. There must be something he could do for him…

Before he could fully process what he was doing, Gokudera was walking towards Yamamoto who was sitting in a depressed slump. Yamamoto jerked in surprise as Gokudera lifted his chin and firmly pressed their lips together.

Yamamoto's lips tasted like salmon and mint and Gokudera felt himself melt into the taste. He leaned into Yamamoto, which seemed o wake him up from his surprise-filled haze since he started kissing Gokudera back. Gokudera's knees gave out as Yamamoto wrapped his arms around his waist and Gokudera fell onto Yamamoto's lap; practically straddling him.

Yamamoto shifted back slightly so that they were both sitting properly on the bed before Gokudera brought his attention back to him. They both had the thought at the same to take it further so that their tongues met in a clashing frenzy.

Gokudera shifted slightly, and he felt Yamamoto's whole body shiver with pleasure. Yamamoto's tongue froze and Gokudera pushed his way into Yamamoto's mouth, exploring anything and everything. Yamamoto groaned slightly and lost to his urge.

Gokudera felt himself being pushed back onto the bed, slightly shocked but let it happen. He completely drowned in pleasure, unable to stop it even when clothes started being thrown onto the floor.

(A/N) I've had so much time to write and upload this week! It's great! This chapter is so much longer than the others which I'm happy about! I seriously think listening to Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi/ Junjou Romantica music while I write this is definitely affecting it somehow xD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Yama's POV next chapter~