Tsuna yawned, taking his time as he ambled down the street. He was walking slower than usual, despite already being late to school, and his head bobbed up and down lazily with each step he took.
He seemed to be taking more time appreciating everything around him - taking extra care to read the number plates and mailbox signs of each house he passed. He didn't want to worry about anything today. That included being late: he would think about the consequences later.
He felt strangely nice today. Strangely nice - as in, he felt... Happy. Happy for the first time since the start of middle school. And, above all, satisfied with himself. With life. He finally felt accepted by somebody other than his own mum. He couldn't be too quick to say so, though - his mood dropped a little at this thought. Hibari Kyoya was, despite his own experiences, dangerous and unpredictable - after all - and there was no way to tell what would happen next.
Nevertheless, whatever Kyoya did and said riled him up. Maybe it was just his subconscious overwhelming fear that compelled him to mistake it for a crush. What was it called? It was some kind of psychological phenomenon. He couldn't remember, but he'd overheard Kyoko talking about it one day during class with one of her friends - back when he was totally infatuated with her.
Tsuna slowed his pace, staring at his feet as they took him closer to the school. He'd never even thought of starting to like a person of the same gender - much less, Hibari Kyoya, out of all the people. He found it so comfortable - so easy - he hadn't even thought the slightest of it. Was he supposed to find it weird? He was so confused about the prefect he hadn't even tried to figure himself out first.
Groaning, he closed his eyes and let himself freely walk all over the road, as if it'd help clear up his mind. He still semi-regretted what he'd done yesterday - when he'd touched hands with Kyoya. It was completely uncalled for! And yet...
Tsuna stopped in his tracks, his eyes pointing straight down at his feet. And yet, just thinking about it made him - against his will - feel excited. He felt like a little kid whose favourite show was airing on the TV.
"Morning," a voice suddenly greeted.
Tsuna's eyes widened as he turned around to see Kyoya a metre away, his hand lightly up as if to wave. "M-Morning!" he echoed shakily, feeling the urge to bow.
"It's late. What were you thinking?" he half-scolded - though his tone wasn't as irritated as it would've been if it'd been someone else this was directed to. He paced closer to Tsuna so they were standing side-by-side as they walked to school. The smaller boy's shoulders tensed by reflex.
"I slept in," Tsuna admitted, turning his face away from Kyoya's gaze. For some reason, he felt embarrassed to tell the prefect - especially because Kyoya was usually quite diligent, and he felt as if he had to keep up a reputation when he talked to him. His constant eye-contact was also starting to make him squirm.
"Same here," Kyoya replied. Tsuna looked ahead and nodded thoughtfully.
"I couldn't sleep," he added for good measure. Tsuna forced a smile off his face and gulped it down - the way Kyoya had said it so casually made him feel even more embarrassed. Truthfully, Tsuna couldn't sleep either that night, but he wasn't going to tell Kyoya any time soon. He felt obligated to, but he'd preferred not to sacrifice his own pride for a weak attempt to keep the barely-alive conversation going.
They continued in silence afterwards - but Kyoya's head was a positive mess, and all that mess comprised of was the person beside him right now. He didn't know what he'd been thinking yesterday, but this went to show what little control he had over his actions than he'd thought. He'd tried so many times to clear his head, and all his attempts failed: no matter how much he'd disciplined the people around him, it ended up that he'd forgotten about himself in the process.
Kyoya had only just managed to control his erratic heartbeat when Tsuna touched his hand and uttered those words with that trademark weak voice of his last evening. He'd been so exhilarated he could hardly recall what happened after that - not that it mattered much in the first place.
No matter how much he had tried to suppress his feelings for the boy, he could never stop his eyes from following him. His mind never ceased to think about him, and his body would also respond accordingly. It was painful and especially scary to think somebody had started to almost control him in this way - and unconsciously, too.
Kyoya used to beat himself up for it and constantly question himself, just to confirm his view on the brunette - why did it have to be him? Hibari Kyoya being affected by such a weak pushover by the name of Sawada Tsunayoshi was a joke as much as the done-to-death, "Why did the chicken cross the road?". His pride was the last thing that would accept the way he felt - and losing his pride was the one thing Kyoya couldn't stand.
He was turning desperate, no matter how much he tried to deny it, and begrudgingly, on the brink of turning crazy as well. What happened yesterday only seemed to be throwing oil into the fire.
He felt the need to reconfirm and evaluate the incident though, no matter how tedious it seemed. That was the only way he was to be sure they were going somewhere, and to move forward. He decided he would be patient with Tsuna... Even though being patient wasn't one of his most famous traits - in fact, it didn't seem to exist at all - he decided for the boy, he would make the effort.
When their school came in sight, Kyoya cleared his throat and matched his pace with Tsuna's before halting his steps. "Sawada..." he hesitated slightly, then continued. "Wait."
Tsuna blinked at his words and stopped walking, slowly turning to face Kyoya curiously. "Y-Yeah?" His mouth unwillingly failed him, so he could only spit out that one line.
The silence he was met by afterwards confirmed that Kyoya was going to say something worthwhile, but out of all places, in front of their school gates - ten minutes late - was one he wanted to talk at the least. Also, he would willingly skip class to hear anything Kyoya had wanted to say.
"Um, d-do you wanna go into the infirmary or something first...?" Tsuna asked nervously. His words trailed off, and he cupped the back of his neck, shy.
"Let's go, then," Kyoya said almost immediately after. He quickly walked into school gates, trying to cool down his cheeks with cold fingers. He was relieved at Tsuna's suggestion - if he'd spent any more time dwelling there, he might've stumbled on a few words, which never fared well in any situation.
They arrived at the room in record time - though Tsuna found it difficult to match up to the speed Kyoya had been walking at. The nurse scolded them, and they both hastily apologised. When she settled down after a lengthy explanation from Kyoya, they thanked her and headed straight for an empty division.
Exhaling deeply, Kyoya fell onto a stool by a bed. Awkwardly, Tsuna leaned against the bed, facing opposite Kyoya and his hands behind his back. The nurse said she had to go out to talk to someone and that she'd be back in twenty minutes. Kyoya wasted no time.
"Sawada. First of all, can I call you Tsunayoshi?"
Tsuna tried not to laugh, especially since the situation really didn't call for it. "U-Uh- Sure! You can call me 'Tsuna'. Um... J-Just 'Tsuna'." He held out both his hands for emphasis, then dropped them onto his thighs, his face red.
"So..." Kyoya said slowly, "'Tsuna'." He looked up from his palms at Tsuna, then quickly averted his eyes when he found Tsuna had already been looking his way. He was acting like a herbivore, he realised with slight shock and horror - maybe if you hung around herbivores, you'd turn into one yourself, no matter what you were before.
Kyoya gulped, then looked back up at Tsuna, separating his hands and leaning back slightly. "Then you'll call me 'Kyoya'."
"'K-Kyoya'," Tsuna repeated, gaining a small push of confidence after Kyoya started looking straight at him rather than at his hands. He was more used to the straightforward, confident Kyoya, rather than the embarrassed side of him. Not that he disliked him in that state, but rather, he'd spent so long admiring that leaderlike side to himself that it was strange to see him not in that state.
"Alright. I'll get straight to the- Never mind. Sawa-" he sighed here, then restarted, "Tsuna, I'm attracted to you. I should've made it clear to you yesterday. I wanted to ask how you felt."
"U-Uhh..." His voice quietened significantly, as he averted eye contact sharply. Maybe he was being a little too straightforward for his own taste. Breathing in, then out, he tried to meet Kyoya's eyes again but ultimately ended up staring at his shoes. "I like you."
"In what way?"
Tsuna blushed - he didn't know whether or not Kyoya had a sense of shame. "M-More than how much a student would've like his tutor! More than a guy would normally like a-another guy! I... That much... I like you that much."
Unfortunately for Tsuna, his words - that had spilled out of his mouth against his own self-control - made him blush harder and he resisted the urge to crumple himself up on the floor and roll out the window. Kyoya was taken aback by the boy - he apparently had more guts than expected.
The room fell silent after Tsuna's outburst - mainly because Tsuna was too embarrassed to speak, and Kyoya was still in pleasant shock. The background noise from the rustling leaves and occasional bird accompanied Tsuna and his words well, Kyoya noticed, and he felt sleepy all of a sudden. Nevertheless, he finally broke the silence and spoke.
"You're surprising," Kyoya stated, exhaling deeply. He hadn't said anything very significant, or even of any praise, but he didn't feel compelled to - what was it about Tsuna that somehow eased these petty words out? He smiled into his hands, to which, Tsuna gave him a nervous glance.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked shakily - he scolded himself mentally for being such a mess around Kyoya. It seemed as if his mind would never ease around the prefect. He tensed his shoulders and lowered his gaze into his lap.
"You're bolder than I expected," Kyoya said. He reached his hand out slowly, aiming for Tsuna's head so he could gently pet it - but he stopped himself before Tsuna saw him. Gulping quietly, he turns his head - this was a bad situation, especially since the two of them were alone, and the way Tsuna was acting made him seem more vulnerable than usual.
"T-Thanks..." Tsuna said quietly, so much that it was hard to differentiate his words from a whisper to a proper "thank you". He was so overwhelmed he didn't know whether he should've taken Kyoya's statement as praise or discouragement - so he decided to expect the best.
Kyoya smiled momentarily, then stretched his arms out comfortably, looking out the window. The sky was a bright pale blue today. It was uplifting to look at, and Kyoya suddenly felt caught up in a refreshing mood.
"I like you," he said. This gathered Tsuna's attention quickly, and he looked at Kyoya with questioning, surprised eyes. The three words were quick, and rushed out of his mouth like a river, but that didn't change their meaning. He smiled faintly again, allowing Tsuna to see, then opened his hands from the clenched fists they were previously.
"I like you a lot more than a carnivore is entitled to like a herbivore."
A/N: sorry this is kinda late! i rewrote this chapter a number of times but i finally pulled through i'm so glad...
also shameless promoting/advertising but i remade my deviantART account! my username is ~daisos, but i only have two artworks up... one of them is hibari kyoya tho so uhhHhhH
