uploaded on July 18, 2015

As always, thank you for reading this story and reaching this far. Chapter 10 is like a milestone or something!

I'm glad you guys like the weirdness and uniqueness of this AU. It's just too fun to mess with Tsuna, right?

Please enjoy!

Arrival

Tsuna felt better the next day so he decided to go to work, ignoring the minor protests from his mom.

"Are you sure you're okay now, Tsuna-kun? I don't want to overwork my only employee," Uncle Kawahira greeted him at the door of the shop, smiling slightly.

"I'm fine, Uncle Kawahira. Thanks for bringing me home and calling a doctor."

He heard all about it from his mom, Tsuna recalled. This man personally brought him home with a doctor in tow, much to the surprise of his mom. Unfortunately he also recalled a little detail about their talk this morning — Are you sure he's old, Tsu-kun? He doesn't look like it! — his mom's inappropriate words echoed in his head. Well now that his mom mentioned it, Tsuna couldn't unsee it anymore . . . damn that woman.

Uncle Kawahira sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Yesterday was a really lively day, huh?"

Too lively, Tsuna frowned.

"I do have something else to discuss with you," Uncle Kawahira fixed his glasses. "I thought about your suggestion with the drinks menu. What do you think goes well with cake, Tsuna-kun?"

"Um, coffee? Though I prefer tea."

"I agree with both. So I thought of improving our coffee and tea selection."

Tsuna beamed. "Great idea, Uncle Kawahira!"

"I'm glad you like it. Everything's taken care of."

Taken care of? "What happens now? Do we do a trial first?"

Uncle Kawahira's glasses reflected a glint of light. "I'm very confident with our barista's abilities, so a trial menu won't be necessary."

Barista? But they didn't have a barista!

"We do now," the man answered Tsuna's unvoiced question. "You'll meet him on Monday. I figured we also need to add staff if we're going to expand the menu. And with the amount of people yesterday, that certainly cemented this decision."

Tsuna rather thought yesterday was just one, big fluke. On a normal day, Tsuna could count in one hand the amount of customers that enter the shop, and even then not everyone buys something! They had zero sales yesterday for crying out loud. Everybody appeared to make trouble instead! Except maybe Lambo who ordered a cupcake, but Tsuna would never serve him anyway while a fight was going on.

And the barista? Tsuna didn't like what his insides were telling him.

Friday afternoon was uneventful. Tsuna expected something interesting, given how Shouichi and Spanner planned to meet up, but the both of them typed away on their laptops as if oblivious to the rest of the world. Shouichi wasn't kidding when he said they couldn't be distracted while in work mode. They focused on their work for two hours straight until closing time, save for the occassional discussion, eating of cake and drinking of tea, with passing goodbyes about meeting up again on a Tuesday.

Tsuna was on the way home when his phone received mail.

"Coming home for the weekend." It was from Takeshi, as expected.

"Can't wait. See you tomorrow, Takeshi!" Tsuna replied, grinning to himself. He couldn't believe it had been three weeks already. He missed his best friend, but the weird things happening occupied his thoughts most of the time. Now he was relatively free from it (the weekend — no work, no crazy customers) he could relax and hang out with Takeshi.

The reply was almost instantaneous. "Me too. I think I'm too excited."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Tsuna felt something move from behind him, but his intuition hummed with calmness and contentment. Tsuna let it move closer, trusting his instincts.

At the next second, arms snaked from behind, hugging his waist.

"Tsuna!" a cheerful voice greeted him. "Surprise!"

"Takeshi! You're a day early," Tsuna smiled, glancing over his shoulder to look at his best friend.

"Haha, what are you talking about? It's Friday evening. Just a few hours early!"

Tsuna raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you're planning to arrive on Saturday midnight?!"

"Aw, you got me. I can't waste any second." He placed his chin on top of Tsuna's messy mop of hair. "Why don't we try going home like this?"

Tsuna instantly flushed. "T-Takeshi! It looks silly! And besides, don't you have to greet your dad first?"

"He doesn't know I'm here, haha!"

Tsuna's eyes widened. "Then, you mean —

Tsuna felt Takeshi's arms tighten around his body. "Relax, Tsuna. He knows I'm arriving tomorrow but not tonight. By the way, can I sleep over?"

"Ara, Takeshi-kun!" Nana's overly enthusiastic greeting welcomed them as they entered the Sawada residence. Tsuna could already imagine his mom's crazy antics unfolding before him. He swore, as time passed, his mom got crazier by the day! Was it because of age?

"Good evening, Mama! Sorry for the sudden arrival," Takeshi smiled sheepishly at her as he rubbed the back back of his neck.

"Nonsense, Takeshi-kun, you know you're always welcome here. Have you had dinner yet?"

"Actually . . ."

Tsuna beamed. "Just in time too! Uncle Kawahira gave me another cake!" He held up the box.

Nana smiled. "Go on then. Eat your dinner first while I prepare the bath."

"Do you want to take a bath first, Takeshi?" Tsuna mumbled distractedly, placing the box on the dining table.

"Why don't you go together?" Nana suddenly tittered as she disappeared from the kitchen.

Tsuna hid his face. His very, very red and hot face. His mom knew no boundaries.

Takeshi chuckled beside him. "Yeah, why don't we? Just like when we were kids!"

Tsuna wanted to hide under the table. Takeshi knew no boundaries too.

Speaking of no boundaries . . . was it normal to lie down on the bed together while hugging?

"Don't want to sleep yet," Takeshi mumbled beside him, his face buried in the rowdy but fluffy brown hair.

Well, now that Tsuna thought hard about it, it was normal to lie down on the bed together while hugging. At least, between Takeshi and him. He didn't know about other people but it was how they did it ever since, it was comfortable and surprisingly it didn't bother Tsuna much, so everybody won!

"What do you want to do?" Tsuna asked Takeshi's chest.

"A lot of things," Takeshi laughed while letting go of Tsuna, lying flat on his back. "But a lot of those things are not possible."

Tsuna laid on his back too (it was a good thing his bed was spacious enough) and glanced at Takeshi. "Impossible things?"

"Hopefully improbable," Takeshi chuckled.

Tsuna was confused. "But aren't impossible and improbable the same?"

"Maa, I guess."

Takeshi's a little weird sometimes, Tsuna thought, and he decided to let the topic go. "So, anything you want to do that's within the realm of possibility?"

Takeshi grinned. "We could talk about how we can find Mochida's address in Tokyo so we can pay him a visit!"

Tsuna knew that smile. It was one of those signature smiles by Yamamoto Takeshi which promised untold, unpleasant things. And the target would probably be Mochida if he was in the premises.

"Come on, Takeshi. Mochida was just being annoying, like his usual self. Besides, he's in Tokyo anyway! Far enough from Namimori."

"Next time, please tell me immediately and hold him off for at least an hour. I'd like to talk to him."

Tsuna rolled his eyes but he was holding back a smile. "Sure, like I believe you're only going to talk to him."

Takeshi turned to his side again and placed an arm over Tsuna. "Haha, you know me too much, Tsuna."

Tsuna turned to face him. "Of course I do! You're my best friend after all."

"Yeah."

Just before lunch, they decided to go to Takeshi's house so he could reveal his arrival to his dad.

"Pops! I'm home!" Takeshi announced as he slid the door open to Take Sushi. Tsuyoshi was positively beaming but was busy attending to the customers, so no time for hugs and all that. Instead, Takeshi turned to Tsuna. "Let's eat lunch here."

"Sure!" Tsuna would never deny the sushi in Take Sushi. They had the best sushi in town, no doubt about that.

Tsuna found a table for them while Takeshi went around the counter to help out his dad with the sudden surge of customers. Tsuna looked around the restaurant, noting the full venue, when he noticed a group of suited men surrounding a stylish man with wavy, blond hair.

He looked familiar.

Tsuna remembered when their eyes met.

"Tsuna!" the man called out to him, earning curious glances from the other customers. Even Takeshi looked up from making sushi.

In only a few wide strides, the man was already in front of him, their faces only a few centimeters apart. Tsuna scrambled to get away as far as possible but the wall adjacent to their table stopped him.

"How's our cute cashier?" the man grinned and in an instant, Tsuna was glowing a bright red.

"Haha, do you know this guy, Tsuna?"

Tsuna was so flustered he didn't notice Takeshi appear in front of him, effectively setting himself up as a barrier between Tsuna and the older man. Takeshi's back was facing him so Tsuna was unable to see his face, but he could feel Takeshi was tense, and the sushi knife he was holding wasn't very comforting to anyone.

"A-ah," Tsuna answered before any misconceptions arose, "He's Dino-sa —

"Just Dino," the man quickly corrected, not deterred at all with Takeshi's wariness. "Please don't add san, Tsuna! I feel old." He turned to Takeshi. "You're Tsuna's friend?"

"Best friend," Takeshi also corrected, his grip tightening its hold on the sushi knife.

"He's a customer from the cake shop," Tsuna mumbled as he scooted nearer Takeshi's back.

"I see! I remember now, the guy that gave you that card —

Tsuna pulled at Takeshi's shirt before he could say anything else. Okay, so Tsuna liked to share to Takeshi everything that happened at work everyday. That didn't mean Takeshi had to say it out loud! Oh this was just embarrassing!

"That's the one," Dino answered for Tsuna, making him blush even redder as he hid behind Takeshi. "But Tsuna, you never did mail or call me. I was kind of expectant! And sad."

"I forgot?" Tsuna tried.

"Well, there's always next time!" he beamed.

Tsuna stared. All he could think of was, that's a really warm and bright smile. It was one of those things his intuition picked up on and told him it was safe, harmless and possibly trustworthy. What made it a bit more special was how fast it made the conclusion with just one smile from this stranger. Surely that had to have some merit? Without further thought, he whispered to Takeshi, "I'm okay. Go on and help your dad."

Takeshi looked over his shoulder to raise his eyebrows at him. "Are you sure?"

"He's not Mochida," Tsuna smiled.

Tsuna saw Takeshi's form relax and upon giving a nod, he looked back at Dino (Tsuna didn't know what kind of face he made) and returned to the counter to help his dad. For some reason, Dino took that as a welcome and sat across Tsuna from the table, his bodyguards posted near. For some other reason, Tsuna didn't mind.

They met Ryohei sometime around afternoon on his daily afternoon jog. The meeting was . . . Tsuna didn't know how to describe it. He wouldn't say it was uncomfortable, nor awkward, since the two actually got along well. Some kind of camaraderie between two sportsmen or something like that. They hung out a lot during middle school even though Ryohei was a high school student.

So Tsuna couldn't describe what the weird feeling was.

Anyway, they were eating ice cream at the park. They sat on a bench with Ryohei on the right of Tsuna, and Takeshi on the left.

"Won't this ruin your meal plan or something?" Tsuna asked Ryohei who was eating his ice cream happily.

"Ice cream will never ruin my diet plan!" Ryohei exclaimed as if Tsuna asked an absurd question.

"Isn't this kind of silly though?" Tsuna laughed, glancing this time to Takeshi. "Grown men eating ice cream."

"Ice cream is for all ages, Tsuna," Takeshi had a serious look on his face that Tsuna didn't know if he said something bad. At least the ice cream girl from across the street, the one who sold them the ice cream, seemed to be content watching them eat, giggling and blushing.

In one big, final bite, Ryohei finished his ice cream along with the cone. "DONE!"

"Already?" They just bought the ice cream three minutes ago!

"You gotta learn how to eat extremely fast, Tsuna!" Ryohei boomed, jumping up from the bench. "More time to do other things!"

"Onii-chan's right," Takeshi grinned, his ice cream also gone. Tsuna wondered where he put it; Tsuna wasn't even halfway done with his. "What do you want to do next?"

"How about we jog?!" Ryohei suggested as he pumped his fists in the air.

"But I'm still eating my ice cream —

"Tsuna, sometimes you're extremely silly!"

"Wha —

"Eating while jogging is never a problem!" And in a split-second, Tsuna was being carried over Ryohei's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It was a wonder his ice cream didn't fall off the cone as he held onto it for dear life. "Let's run, Tsuna!" And then Ryohei ran. With Tsuna on his shoulder.

"HIIEEEEE!"

And then Tsuna saw Ryohei look behind him, at Takeshi who was left behind, and smirked.

Takeshi ran after them.

"Is this some kind of new workout routine?!" Tsuna shouted over to Takeshi who was trailing after them.

"I don't know, but it seems fun!" Takeshi yelled back as he tried to increase his speed, but Ryohei was fast. When Takeshi sped up, he also sped up and the distance was consistent between their varying speeds. Not to mention this guy was carrying him while running!

Tsuna could only eat his ice cream, already resigned to his fate to be hauled around until Ryohei got tired . . . which might be never.

The weekend was over in an instant. Not enough time, Tsuna concluded. He did want to spend more time with Takeshi but it was now Sunday evening. The guy had to return to Kishiki.

When Tsuna went to deliver the weekly cake to the Varia CEO's estate, Takeshi tagged along with him despite Tsuna's misgivings. In the end, when they arrived at the mansion, it was uneventful. The Varia's weirdos — erm, the upper echelon — were away on a business trip. So they only dropped off the cake and left.

Takeshi didn't fail to voice out his disappointment in missing the interesting people while wearing his smile. Tsuna thought it was better that way.

The rest of day was spent hanging out at each other's homes, like how they usually did during their high school days.

But it was now Sunday evening and Takeshi had to go back to his dorm in Kishiki.

After they said their goodbyes, Takeshi boarded the train but not before shouting, "I'll miss you, Tsuna!"

Tsuna hid his face in his hands, trembling. Nevermind the weird stares from the people around him.

It was Monday.

Tsuna entered Kawahira's Baked Goodies, thirty minutes early like the usual, and saw a man wearing the shop's apron on top of his all-black outfit.

"Chaos."