Summary: Once upon a time there was a mechanic called Spanner. One day he bumps into (kind of literally) a boy called Tsuna. What starts out as a simple thing quickly turns complex when they find neither of them is what they first appear to be. AU fic. Pairings: 4827
Aaaahhh….sorry for taking so long to update! I can only give the usual excuses of school and homework and other typically mundane things like that.
Oh yeah, and I totally don't mean to write Uni as such a brat. It just comes out that way, even though I really like her character in the manga. I guess this is my version of her if her life didn't suck cause some homicidal, manipulative, not-very-nice guy was chasing her around. I find that happy children have a tendency to be the most annoying.
So! Finally time for some Spanner/Tsuna! I missed it so…Thanks again for all the awesome reviews!
Chapter Nine
"Is this one good?" Tsuna held up a bicycle chain, obviously a bit worn from some years of use. Spanner eyed it critically, comparing it mentally to the one he had already decided to use.
"Let's keep looking," Spanner said, taking it from Tsuna (at the opposite end, so as to avoid accidental contact). He tossed it into the slowly growing "Possible" pile. The boy nodded and turned back to the heap of still unsorted bicycle parts, shifting through them in search of those not obviously broken, rusted, or otherwise impaired.
When Spanner had tried explaining to the youth that he had yet to collect all the parts needed to complete the bicycle, Tsuna had more than eagerly volunteered to help him. Uni, obviously developing a crush, had volunteered as well, but Spanner had (too) quickly reminded her of her homework. He had lugged down what was left of his hasty collection from his room, insisting Tsuna stay downstairs and giving Uni a look that plainly said "Tell him about the 'accident' and there will be consequences."
He imagined the picture they were making. Himself, the mechanic, crouching next to the tufty-haired youth, both of them bathed in gentle afternoon sunlight. For some reason, flowers and sparkly bubbles seemed to be encroaching as well. Placing these thoughts aside, Spanner was slightly surprised at how enjoyable he found working with Tsuna.
There was a part of him that had always been reluctant to work with others. Blame it on his rather independent childhood or the unfortunate experiences he'd had in college and professionally later on, but Spanner had quickly fallen into the category of "lone wolf." He hadn't even noticed that people had stopped going out of their way to interact with him (except Irie, of course, and Gamma when he was angry). He wondered to himself if he had been lonely. The thought gave him pause.
Was that what this was? Some sort of odd compensation for the years he'd spent focusing on non-oxygen-dependant beings? Tsuna could possibly be a sort of outlet for repressed social interaction, something like a steam valve.
"Will this one work?" Tsuna asked beside him.
"Looks like," Spanner muttered, not really listening. Tsuna smiled happily and placed the part in the smallest pile of "Accepted." He glanced up at Spanner who was giving a slight frown down at the pile. Tsuna's smile dimmed somewhat and his hands hesitated over the pile.
"Spanner…" he began, withdrawing his hands to his lap where they twisted nervously. "This isn't too much work, is it? I mean, you don't have to feel obligated to do this." Spanner snapped back, his head whipping around.
"Nonsense," he said quickly, his lollipop almost falling out of his mouth in his haste to reassure. "It's not just obligation, I really, err…I really like the break from cars. This is like a vacation for me."
Tsuna's expression became admiring, as he said "That's amazing! You must be very good at your job." Spanner coughed in surprise and waved his hand in some form of disagreement. He half-expected Gamma to jump out and start denying the statement vehemently.
"Not especially," he responded though his pleased look seemed to say otherwise.
Tsuna sighed and listlessly picked up a bolt.
"I wish I could do something useful like everyone here," Tsuna continued, looking a bit depressed. "All I'm good for is sitting at home and listening to everyone lecture me."
"You seemed to be helping Uni a lot though," the mechanic observed casually, still struggling to keep his expression straight. Instead of the boy cheering up, he seemed to fall deeper into a black gloom.
"That's only because I went over the material last week with Reborn," he said darkly. "It's middle school level math, you know. And I'm in high school."
"Ah," was all Spanner could think of in response. He stared down at the bicycle parts as black clouds of despair seemed to descend upon the teen.. Finally thinking of something, Spanner cleared his throat.
"I dropped out of college." Tsuna's head shot up and he stared incredulously at the blond man.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Tsuna accused, brows drawing close together. Technically, he was, since Spanner had actually been kicked out of school, but he felt it was close enough that it didn't matter.
"I was there for barely a semester," Spanner continued, with somewhat too proud a tone for the topic to warrant. "And look at me now. I'm a car mechanic and I get to live where I work." Tsuna looked slightly encouraged.
"Aren't both of those things considered low class?" Uni observed, miffed at her forced banishment by Spanner to the corner. Tsuna and Spanner turned to her and she stared innocently back. Spanner wanted to scold her, but suddenly didn't have the energy. The two men reflected on their respective shortcomings and darkness seemed to fall once more.
"Lollipop?" Spanner offered to Tsuna in condolence. He nodded desolately and took the sweet. The boy popped it into his mouth and looked surprised for a second.
"My newest flavor," Spanner explained. Tsuna looked pensive and worked the lollipop slowly around his mouth. Spanner forced his eyes up and somewhere to the left of Tsuna's ear.
"It tastes just like green tea," Tsuna said wonderingly. He grinned at Spanner and inexplicably started to laugh. Even odder was that Spanner found himself chuckling as well.
Their good humor lasted well into the afternoon, with Spanner retelling his misadventures in college as they continued through the pile. He had never originally thought of the stories as funny, or even minutely uplifting, but every time Tsuna laughed Spanner found himself grinning as well. Suddenly, school-life hadn't been as miserable as he had thought it was. When he told Tsuna about the applesauce incident, he was delighted to see actual tears of mirth gathering in the corners of the boy's eyes.
"I shouldn't be laughing so much…" Tsuna gasped, clutching his stomach as he tried to calm down. "I mean, it sounds awful and I'd hate for it to happen to me, but…applesauce? Where do you even get that much to fill a whole pool?!" Uni, who had gradually worked her way closer and closer until she was practically sitting in Tsuna's lap, burst out laughing again, which started up the teen as well. Spanner grinned sheepishly and tossed some bolts into a pile. He reached for the next piece, only to find there was none left. Somehow, he hadn't even noticed the passing of time.
He sat back on his heels, announcing "I guess we're done for today." Tsuna and Uni both instantly stopped laughing.
"Already?" Uni asked. "But all we've done is pick out a bunch of parts; shouldn't you start building or something? Tsuna and I can watch!" She grabbed Tsuna's arm, frowning up at Spanner. Tsuna went red as the girl held tightly to him. Spanner realized on the spot that he had never liked that girl and her apparent clinginess. Gamma was obviously neglecting to teach her not to touch other people's important social outlets. Or to respect personal space—which was what Spanner had meant, really.
"It's getting late," the mechanic said, prying the girl off Tsuna. "I'm sure Tsuna has to head home." At this statement, the boy glanced up at the clock on the wall and his eyes seemed to bug out of his skull.
"It's already past four?!" he yelped, clearly in a panic. Uni and Spanner stared in confusion at him as he suddenly jumped up and ran to grab his jacket and bag, muttering frantically to himself. Spanner caught some of the dialogue, which sounded something like "Reborn is going to kill me" repeated over and over.
"If you're in a hurry, I can give you a ride." Tsuna looked at Spanner, then back at the clock, clearly in dilemma.
"I-I wouldn't want you to go out of your way," the boy said, though he was clearly weakening.
"Just wait a minute," was Spanner's reply. He grabbed Uni and headed quickly for the employee lounge.
"Bye, Tsuna!" Uni called behind her. "Come back soon! And call me if you aren't!" Spanner hoped with great fervor that Gamma hadn't heard that. He didn't think the man, overprotective as he was, would be able to handle the thought of his daughter giving out her number to boys.
In the employee lounge he found Tazaru snoozing on the dilapidated couch. He gave Uni a lollipop, pushed her at the man, and grabbed his car keys.
"Tell your dad I'm taking his car," Spanner informed the girl as he walked out. Uni sighed as she sat down on the couch.
"This isn't fair," she complained to Tazaru. "Why does Spanner get to have all the fun?" Tazaru snorted in his sleep as a reply. She sighed again and rested her hand on her chin, twirling the lollipop in her other hand.
A few moments afterward, Gamma stuck his head into the lounge, glancing around.
"Where's Spanner?" he asked Uni. His daughter gave him a strange look.
"He's dropping someone off at home," she said nonchalantly.
Gamma frowned "Doesn't that stupid swirly-hair realize it's still hours before closing? If he thinks he can just waltz out of here and--" He paused when his eyes fell on the key rack and noticed an empty slot.
"Just how is he 'dropping someone off?'" he asked carefully. Uni smiled and popped the sweet in her mouth.
--
In the car, Spanner felt a sudden chill run up his spine.
"I feel bad that I didn't get to say hi to Mosca," Tsuna was saying as he clicked his seatbelt on. Spanner decided to ignore whatever premonition of future bodily harm he was currently feeling and focus on a more pressing problem: driving well the distraction of Tsuna in the seat beside him.
For about the hundredth time, Spanner instructed his eyes to stay on the road. They seemed to experiencing some sort of defect that continuously pulled their gaze towards the youth.
We will crash, he told himself sternly. We will crash and Gamma will come to kill you if you aren't already dead. The added pressure of having the boy he nearly ran over riding in the car was not helping either. To say the least, Spanner was driving at a speed well below the limit. Tsuna seemed to notice this, as did the growing line of cars behind Spanner.
"Err…" Tsuna looked back at the cars and then at Spanner. "It sounds like they're getting kind of mad."
"They can pass if they're in such a hurry," Spanner said calmly, waving the drivers behind him to do just that.
"Maybe I should have just taken the bus…" Tsuna mumbled. And now along with that eye defect and nervousness, was guilt. Spanner pressed down slightly harder on the gas pedal, suddenly missing the time before he willingly interacted with people. It had been so much less confusing.
"I said it wasn't any trouble," Spanner told the boy. He allowed himself a glance. Every two minutes, he decided. And stop signs or red lights.
"So, where did you say you lived?" Spanner asked, speeding up again once he felt still more confident.
"Ah…" Tsuna hesitated. "Just head towards the business district for now." Spanner nodded and tried to recall where exactly the business district was. Thankfully, he remembered that Shoichi's office was located nearby and headed in that general direction.
"What are you late for?" he ventured to ask. Tsuna shifted in the seat and Spanner found his gaze straying even though the two-minute limit had yet to pass.
"It's not anything specific," the boy said, playing with the hem of his shirt. "It's just that I have this curfew and everyone gets…upset if I'm not home in time."
"Are your parents very strict?" He wanted to reach over and still those ever-moving hands, but that would mean removing his own from the ten and two positions on the steering wheel. It would also probably be considered harassment.
"Something like that…" Some of the depression from earlier manifested on Tsuna's shoulders. The response made Spanner curious, and he wanted to ask about that Reborn man; still, he didn't think it was the best idea, seeing as the first time he had met the man was almost immediately after Spanner's near collision.
A red light allowed Spanner the opportunity to give in to his optical impulses.
"So, are you on summer break like Uni?" he asked, trying not to seem like he was staring. "Typically you'd be in classes around this time, right?" He was mentally going over the list of acceptable topics he had formed the other day. He figured school was the safest one and from the brightening of Tsuna's expression it seemed to be the right one as well.
"Yeah, I'm on summer break, but I still have classes. I don't do too well in school, so the summer gives me a chance to catch up. Plus, I still get to see my friends, since they're all always around."
Cursing the now green light, Spanner commented "Sounds fun." He managed to catch Tsuna's grin before directing his eyes back to the traffic.
"I was telling Yamamoto about Mosca, you know," the boy continued happily. "And he seemed really interested. Gokudera got mad for some reason, but that guy's always angry about something." Spanner had gotten that impression as well.
The buildings had slowly grown in size until now they towered far above the cars, skyscrapers that glinted and flashed in the late afternoon sun. Spanner squinted his eyes and lowered the visor for the car.
"Where exactly is your house then?" he asked, looking a bit suspiciously at the hordes of people in suits that hurried by on the sidewalks.
Gathering up his things, Tsuna said "You can just drop me off here," already reaching for the car handle.
"What, here?" Spanner glanced along the street again, looking for some sign of an apartment complex or residential housing unit, but everything was steel and concrete. Certainly no sign of anywhere Tsuna could call home.
"Are you sure?" he asked, pulling over very slowly. "It's fine if you live a bit farther away, I don't mind driving."
"No, no," Tsuna insisted. "This is perfect." He got out of the car once Spanner had stopped and mounted the sidewalk. Even as he leaned over to say goodbye, Spanner kept his hands firmly on the steering wheel. He was having the oddest feeling that, if let free, they would grab the boy and pull him back into the car.
"Are you-" He cleared his throat then continued. "Are you coming again tomorrow?"
"I don't know," the boy said doubtfully. "Reborn might not like it if I keep going out so many days in a row. He says I'm slacking enough as it is. Oh!" Tsuna seemed to remember something, and kneeled to open his backpack. He pulled out Spanner's jacket, now rather wrinkled from spending the day in a bag.
"S-sorry I didn't wash it," said Tsuna abashedly. "I wasn't too sure how to work the machine." Spanner chomped on the stick of his long finished lollipop and allowed one of his hands to take the clothing. He placed it carefully on the seat that Tsuna had just vacated.
"I'll try to come again soon!" the boy said cheerfully. "Bye then." He stepped back from the curve, and, waving, walked away from the car. Spanner tried to keep sight of the spiky brown head and the bright sweater, but they were so quickly swallowed by the hordes of salary men that he couldn't even tell which direction Tsuna had gone.
He sat back in his chair and found his hand still resting on top of the jacket. When he realized he could still slightly feel the warmth left from Tsuna's body, he snatched it away. Trying to distract himself, he went through his pockets, only to realize he had forgotten to bring any lollipops. Instead, he leaned his forehead on the steering wheel and started to lightly hit his head against it. His earlier fatigue seemed to return with a vengeance and he wondered just how angry Gamma would get if he showed up with a ticket for illegally parking to take a nap.
Slowly, he let his hand rest once again on the jacket, but the seat had cooled quickly. There was twisting in his stomach and buzzing in his ears, but he didn't think it was only due to how tired he was. It was more like a realization, a conclusion he had long since come to but hadn't really wanted to admit. It was all so complicated, and wrong, and yet there was only one thing he wanted.
He really wanted a lollipop.
