Hungry for Tsuna

A Katekyo Hitman Reborn Fanfiction

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn belongs to Akira Amano

Edited by Mithras151: June 28, 2009

Chapter Summary: Tsuna is having a bad day and Ryohei is not making it any better.

Chapter Thirteen: Ryohei the Unpredictable

As promised, Ryohei had made an extreme recovery. It didn't take the boxer long to get back on his feet. The medical assistants were rather impressed by how fast his health had improved and Yamamoto laughed, saying something about sharing his secret. However, there was no secret. Ryohei's body healed fast only because it couldn't be a hindrance. The reason why he trained so hard, beyond all limits, was because he had to stay strong. Staying in a sick bed didn't suit him either. He had to be moving and this inner restlessness helped push the boxer to better health.

But the result of his swift recovery was due to the boxer's greatest motivation. Every day Tsuna would come in to visit him and Yamamoto. Even though, Tsuna tried to present himself in high spirits, the boxer saw right through the freshman's facade. He knew that Tsuna was very concerned about their condition. So, to spare Tsuna from worrying about him, Ryohei did everything in his power to get back on his feet sooner. If he could relieve Tsuna, then it would be worth it.

So the boxer was once again released in to the halls of Namimori, much to Gokudera's chagrin. It didn't take long for the boxer's life to get back in order. As a matter of fact, he had to make up for the time he lost by training even harder than usual. Colonello, the school's Spartan gym teacher, made sure he didn't slack off one bit. Day and night he trained according to impossible demands. Still, no accomplishments in his training could ever compare to the way Tsuna reacted when he found the boxer roaming the halls once again.

"Sasagawa-san? You've recovered." Tsuna said, happily.

"Un. I told you I would make an extreme recovery."

"Why couldn't you be in an extreme coma?" Gokudera said in the background, turning his nose up in disgust.

"Hey! What was that, tako-head?!" The boxer retorted.

Tsuna touched, Ryohei arm to gain back his attention. Gokudera had angered him slightly, but as soon as the brunette touched his arm, he forgot the reason why he was so heated. The boxer turned to Tsuna and was totally captivated by the warm eyes the other fixed only on him. He watched intently as the smaller boy's lips curved into a gentle smile. "I'm so glad."

And that was all Tsuna had needed to say. Ever since that day, his mind had been replaying that scene over and over again. The boxer didn't find himself getting tired of it either. Rather, the imagery of it increased every time he thought of it. He would notice certain things that would have been totally oblivious to him before the interaction. For instance, the way the light hit Tsuna on his left side, or how crisp his white shirt was that day, or even how the freshman's fingers curled around the curve of his arm magnified the beauty of the moment. Ryohei was never this meticulous in his observation. His mind usually went a mile a minute, and usually what plagued his thoughts was how more extreme he could be and how to make that possible.

Most of his life was training to become stronger, so that he would never lose. His driving force had always been his little sister. Ever since they were kids, Ryohei had been targeted by the older kids making bouts with them were an everyday occurrence. He made sure he never lost to them, because he knew that his little sister would be waiting to walk home with her older brother. However, losing to a kid half their age became too much for his much older opponents. Instead of letting by gones be by gones, they vouched for revenge. One tragic day, a group of upperclassmen held his little sister captive and coaxed him into a fight. Ryohei accepted, already knowing the outcome. But it was the only way he could make sure that his sister was safe. He lost to the older kids and gained the scar near his right eye. Since then, Kyoko had always hated fighting because she could only remember how much her brother was hurt that time.

Even though he knew about his sister's aversion to violence, it couldn't suppress his fighting spirit. He continued to engage in fights but as to not to worry Kyoko, he made sure he grew in strength to defeat any opponent that came his way. Through years of fighting and hiding his wounds from his sister, he managed to find the secret to great strength. Being Extreme…all of the time! And this was how Ryohei gained his motto of "Extreme"; it was only at this level that he could not lose. Surpassing his own potential and fighting as if there was no tomorrow managed to awaken the sleeping lion within him. Unconsciously, Tsuna became his driving force to a speedy recovery. He managed to recover faster than what the doctors expected. Although, Ryohei didn't think of it much at the moment, he was just so ecstatic that he could go back to training. However, it had been his serendipitous meeting of the freshman in the hallway that had made him realize the effect the brunette had on him.

As he jogged extremely to his morning of his classes, he thought of this. Extremely perplexed by how much his mind revolved around the brunette. He had considered Tsuna as a friend. Almost like a little brother, even. But now, he wasn't sure if his feelings were as platonic as he suspected. Perhaps, he liked Tsuna as more than a friend, or even a sibling. Maybe, this foreign feeling Ryohei received whenever his mind projected an image of Tsuna meant something more. But what was this feeling?! Why was he feeling this way?! And why was he feeling this way about Tsuna?! Frustrated by his own thoughts, the boxer roared. "I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND IT, TO THE EXTREME!"

The boxing fanatic's outburst gained him the attention of the busy hall. The hustle and bustle of the hallways were usually full of groggy students, sluggishly making their trip to class but now, the hall was silent and dozens of eyes were focused on the distressed boxer. Slowly, Ryohei calmed down and as soon as this was assessed, the students went back to their original state of sloth.

"You seem a bit confused, sweetie." The Muay Thai specialist came from behind the boxer. Just like everyone else in the hall, he had witnessed the athlete's outburst but unlike the other students who ignored the boxer, Lussuria's interest was piqued. Ryohei was always energetic but he wondered what the source of the other's frustration was. Lussuria was dying to find out this hot piece of gossip.

"Oh, it's the gay guy." Ryohei greeted the familiar face.

Lussuria smiled that the boxer recognized him and then he questioned. "So why are you so rambunctious this fine morning?"

Half listening to the other's words, Ryohei was in his own whirlwind of contemplation. Suddenly, he decided to ask Lussuria, the meaning of his feelings for Tsuna. Maybe he would know what he was feeling. "Hey! You like guys, to the extreme, right?"

"Only if they have a hot body. I have standards, you know." Lussuria agreed.

"Well, how is it like to…to like a guy?!" Ryohei asked without any shame.

There was a pause and after mulling over the boxer's words, he answered. "Are you hitting on me?"

"No! I want to know if I like Sawada!" He admitted strongly.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Lussuria questioned, the name rung a bell.

"Un." Ryohei nodded his head.

All I hear is about this Tsunayoshi kid. Isn't Xanxus-sama going after the same person? I wonder if he knows that Tsuna has so many suitors. Lussuria thought to himself. The Muay Thai fighter was wondering if he should betray the vice president and help Ryohei. Although, he was loyal to Xanxus, he decided to help the boxer because it seemed like Ryohei really needed the help. Plus, Xanxus was still in denial.

"Well?!" The boxer pressed impatiently. Ryohei looked to the other, intently; waiting for the neon green haired student to give him his wisdom. "What does it feel like to like a guy?!"

Lussuria laughed at Ryohei. He couldn't help it. The boxing fanatic's words sounded ridiculous and shameful, but it was as if the boxer wasn't asking such a difficult question. "Well…you should be able to answer that question better than I can, Hun."

The slight blush on his cheeks was proof that the brunette had affected him in that way. The mere thought of him would set him aflame in the worst way. It was a sentiment that the boxer could not describe. And even his fists were unable to translate the feeling for him…for once, these tools of his, were useless.

Lussuria smiled, watching the boxer's cheeks gain a pinkish hue. It was kind of cute but that was beside the point. He offered his advice. "You should tell them how you feel."

"Tell them how I feel?!" The white haired upperclassmen recited incredulously. After thinking of Tsuna this much, he had never thought of going to the brunette and settling these weird feelings. It had never occurred to the boxer that he had that option. And it wasn't his style to hold anything in. He had no problem expressing his other feelings but when it came to something like this…he was at a lost. He looked to Lussuria expectantly. "What should I do?"

"Well, since you're an 'extreme' guy. The best way to sort out your feelings is by action. You're not good at words but you're the type where your actions speak volumes. I can help you with that." Lussuria said knowledgably.

Ryohei was so thankful that someone could help him. "Really?!" The boxer asked, excited.

"Of course, sweetie. It'll give me a good excuse to skip class. History's such a bore." Lussuria replied, already gathering a plan in his head.

Tsuna walked out of the lecture building with a distraught expression. He failed another exam, and though this was a regular occurrence for the freshman, he was still kind of embarrassed that he flunked an exam on his own native language, Japanese. It was a language that he used every day of his life, and even then, he managed to mess up. The brunette felt as if he had failed his people, his country, and even himself. Even the students from foreign countries did way better than he did, and that was an insult. The brunette ultimately felt that he would be "No Good Tsuna" for the rest of life, a failure culturally, academically, and physically.

Gokudera had tried to cheer him up with his passionate encouragements, but he didn't feel like listening to a person who easily got a hundred on all his exams. Not that he was mad at Gokudera for being smart, he just felt as if the silver haired bomber was mocking him. Tsuna knew this was not true, and he was only attacking Gokudera because he was upset with himself. Where was Yamamoto when he needed him? Usually, the baseball fanatic would be there at the bottom of the class with him. It was comforting to know that someone failed as badly at academics as he did. But, even with Yamamoto, the brunette was fooling himself. Yamamoto only received low grades because he never studied, but when he did, he got pretty high scores. Tsuna on the other hand did not benefit from studying. He was just dumb.

Then, as if his day could not have gotten any worse, the brunette paused as he felt a slight tremor. His eyes widen as the vibration grew stronger. He looked around to the other students around him and saw that they were also startled by the shaking of the ground. Could it be an earthquake? Earthquakes were pretty common in Japan and so he wouldn't be surprised if they were experiencing one now. However, his deduction was proven wrong by the booming yell he heard in the distance. The brunette turned to the source of the sound to see a familiar white-haired boxer charging in his direction. "SAWADA!"

His tawny eyes widen as he began to notice the larger picture. The source of the noise and the shaking of the ground were not only from the boxer but, it was applied to the thing that was trailing behind the boxing fanatic.

"Sawada! I brought you flowers!" Ryohei came up to him, giving him a large branch. The brunette's eyes trailed from that single branch to the enormous tree that it was still attached to it. The freshman assumed that the upperclassmen had torn the tree from his roots and dragged it to him. Scared and awed by Ryohei's great strength, looked at the "flowers" that the other have given to him and tried not to run for his life.

No...What you have there is a tree, Sasagawa-san. Tsuna said to himself, not wanting his snide comment to hurt the boxer's feelings. He then slowly smiled, but every muscle in his body tried to hold it in place. "That's very nice of you, Sasagawa-san. But, I'm allergic to those kinds of flowers."

"Oh…" Ryohei replied, disappointingly. And he thought that Tsuna would really like them, too.

"Achoo!" Due to the direct contact of the pollen, Tsuna already got into a fit of sneezes and coughs. And he used his need for anti-histamines to get him out of this horrifying situation. Thanking god that his bad luck had given him allergies.

Tsuna had searched high to low, east to west, from building to building but he couldn't find it. The brunette released an aggravated groan as he turned everything in his room upside down but he could not find it. Mysteriously, his meal card had disappeared, and without it, he would be unable to eat. Of course, he could get another one, but he didn't want to be harassed by the Disciplinary Committee for his insolence. He sighed heavily, losing hope. He would never find it. He left his room, trying to figure out where he could have misplaced it. Unbeknownst to him, Lussuria had stolen his meal card during P.E. class. The brunette leaned on a wall, feeling his angry stomach yelling at him to feed it.

"So hungry…" Tsuna muttered.

"Sawada!" Sasagawa roared from the end of the hallway.

Tsuna's tawny eyes turned to the energetic athlete that was running towards him. "Sasagawa-san?" The freshman questioned. He had seen Ryohei awfully a lot today and usually when he saw the other, something weird would happen afterwards. Tsuna braced himself for the next surprised that Ryohei had brought him.

"I made you lunch!" The boxer presented Tsuna with a black bento box.

"For me?" The brunette asked and he watched as the boxer confirmed this by nodding his head and nudging him to accept it. Reluctantly, the freshman did. He carefully handled the box, afraid that one slip would result in some sort of explosion. Tsuna also took much care in gently opening the box, partially using the top of the bento as a shield. After a few moments of stalling, Tsuna realized that Ryohei's bento was not about to explode or ooze toxic waste. "Thank you so much!"

The bento was neatly packed and sectioned. The bigger portion of the lunch was the white rice. Above the rice were three separate compartments holding a variety of sides. At the upper right corner held three small rolls of tamagoyaki [1]. In the middle compartment, were the ever common wiener octopuses and in the last section were a few slices of sautéed vegetables.

It looks normal enough. Tsuna thought to himself as he took a bite of it. At first, nothing happened but gradually the freshman's mouth begun to burn and sizzle. His eyes widened and he shrieked. "Water! Water!"

Six gallons of water later…

"But I thought, Sawada would like my Extreme Hot Sauce." The boxer said innocently. He thought the brunette would like his hot sauce, but unfortunately, he had found that the other was bad with spicy foods. His mouth was too sensitive to the spices; although most of the ingredients in Ryohei's hot sauce were outlawed in twenty countries.

"The point of giving him lunch was to extinguish his hunger not set fire to his mouth, dear." Lussuria sighed heavily. What was with this guy? He was getting simple courting practices all wrong. Lussuria began to wonder if it was truly a good idea to help Ryohei; it seemed as if the boxer were torturing the poor brunette more than trying to convey his feelings for him.

"But it tastes better when your mouth is burning, to the extreme!" Ryohei interjected.

Lussuria raised an eyebrow, "Do you even have any taste buds left?"

After overhearing that Tsuna's homeroom teacher was assigning a book report to the whole class, Lussuria set his last plan in order. The place would be the library, since the brunette would have to go there to select a book, and secondly, it made it a lot easily to ensnare the brunette with this delicious plan he had cooked up. He just hoped that Ryohei wouldn't mess up this plan like all the others.

"Well, Tsu-kun has to fall for this one." Lussuria sighed, thinking that the boxer was hopeless. Every last attempt they had tried had been an utter failure. And though his plans were beautiful and flawless, Ryohei had somehow messed it up by going to extremes. "If not then he's straight and there's no hope for you."

"What?" Ryohei asked, not hearing the flamboyant student correctly.

"Oh nothing." Lussuria smiled innocently. In the corner of his eye, he spotted Tsuna's wild hair and ran off to hide. "Here he comes."

The brunette walked into the library bewildered. It was the first time that he entered such a place since meeting Gokudera, and he had never set foot into one again. In his old school, Tsuna had had bad luck with libraries. It was the best place for the bullies to steal his lunch money, or sometimes, it would be his refuge, when he was about to be beaten up because he didn't give up his lunch money. Either way, his library experiences had never been the best. It was because of this reason that Tsuna feared what would happen upon his entrance to newly established library, due to the other one being damaged.

"Why do we have to do a report?" Tsuna sighed, hating his teacher for assigning a book report. Didn't he know it hurt too much to read? The freshman carefully took out a red book that looked to be of interest, but as he did, the case began to wobble hazardously.

His eyes shifted to the top of the bookshelf and watched as the case began to fall toward him. The brunette's eyes widen as he stood there glued to the floor. "Ah! Did I do that?" He squeaked, thinking that his bad luck was flaring up again.

"Sawada!" Tsuna only heard the other's booming voice and the other's body pushing against his before he was tackled to the floor with a thud. The bookshelf crashed into another but it had not harmed Tsuna or Ryohei. For a few moments, Tsuna stood still as he felt Ryohei's heart pumping against his own panicked heart. The brunette's eyes shot open realizing that the boxer was on top of him, cradling his body. "Are you okay?"

"Sasagawa-san…" Breathed the freshman as he slowly got a hold of what had just transpired. Had Ryohei rescued him? His eyes looked up into worrisome grey eyes of the white haired upperclassmen. He smiled softly and opened his mouth to assured the boxer but he stopped cold, when a sharp sting caught his attention. Tsuna's tawny eyes trailed down his entangled body with the boxer and the rip of his uniform pant came to his eye. Somehow, he had scraped his knee during the rescue.

Ryohei's gray eyes had followed Tsuna's line of sight and when he came upon the wound that Tsuna was given, he panicked.

"Sawada! You're bleeding!" The boxing fanatic exclaimed. That was not part of the plan that Lussuria and himself constructed. Tsuna was supposed to unharmed. He had messed up and badly. Now, Tsuna's life was in danger and he was going to bleed to death!

"It's only a small scratch." Tsuna reassured Ryohei, inspecting the graze on his knee. It really wasn't anything serious. He was sure if he placed a band-aid on it, it will heal in a couple of days.

"Someone call an ambulance!" The boxer screamed in urgency.

It's not that serious! Tsuna thought in his mind, appalled by the frantic boxer's display. Ryohei was almost as bad as Gokudera when he got a paper cut. Except, the boxer wasn't damning paper and the very trees they originated from. Tsuna touched the boxer's arm bringing him back to earth. "It's a small scratch, Sasagawa-san. There's no need to call the paramedics for such a small thing."

Suddenly, the brunette was gathered into the other's arms and lifted into the air effortless. The blood rushed to Tsuna's face as he realized that the boxer held him above the floor, bridal style. Ryohei then said sternly, "Then let me take care of it."

"O-okay!" He wasn't going to argue with someone who could pick him up like he weighed as much as a feather. The brunette blushed even more as he realized that everyone's eyes were on them, watching as the boxer carried him out of the library. However, one face that stuck out to Tsuna the most was Lussuria's. Not only was the person oddly dressed but he could see a face of both accomplishment and envy. And Tsuna wondered what Ryohei and he had done to warrant such a gaze. The brunette didn't allow it to get to him too much, since he was too embarrassed by the whole situation.

Tsuna watched as Ryohei tended to his wound. Despite, how boisterous the boxer normally was, Ryohei was actually being serious and quiet. The brunette observed as the other's hands that had been harden from his intense training, lightly touched his skin with a gentleness that Tsuna had thought the other lacked. And even then, Ryohei's eyes weren't glaring with some great flame of intensity but rather, had a soft light of concern. Shockingly, Ryohei was actually being un-extreme. And it was this somber mood that Tsuna realized that there was more to Ryohei than his extremeness. The upperclassman was quite placid.

The brunette's eyes then wandered away from Ryohei, feeling embarrassed for staring at the other for so long. For the most part, Ryohei's room was pretty clean…for a teenage boy. His eyes feel upon trophies, medals and other sporting achievements. There was even training equipment in one corner of the room. The brunette noticed Ryohei's signature boxing gloves on his desk. He also noticed the upperclassmen's school books sitting at the far end of the desk, catching dust. His eyes then fell on a picture of a younger Ryohei and a very cute little girl next to him, which he assumed was Ryohei's younger sister. He looked at the two siblings playing at the beach together and it seemed as if the two were inseparable.

Tsuna then turned back to Ryohei, who was now carefully wrapping a bandage around his knee. He then wondered how Ryohei had learned to do first aid. "Sasagawa-san, where did you learn to do this? Did you take a class?"

The boxer shook his head, his eyes concentrating on making sure the bandage was wrapped properly. He answered. "More like experience."

"Experience?" Tsuna inquired further. Already, Tsuna was imagining what he meant by experience. Perhaps, his little sister would always get into these dangerous situations and before his parents came home, he would fix the injuries. If Kyoko was anything like her brother, then Tsuna could only guess this was true.

"Un. I used to get into a lot of fights when I was younger and so that I didn't worry my little sister. I started to learn how to treat my own injuries." He said, this time looking up at Tsuna. Wondering how the brunette would absorb this information. Would he hate him for his troubled past?

"You sound like an awesome older brother." Tsuna smiled. Although, he didn't agree with fighting, he felt that there had to be a reason why Ryohei did it. And the petite freshman could not overlook Ryohei's concern over his little sister about finding out his secret. Lacking a better word to describe what he thought, he considered the boxer's actions very sweet. "But it must be hard to hide such things from her."

Ryohei didn't want to hide things from his sister, but causing her worry weighed more than the truth. Like Sawada, he couldn't stand that pained look of guilt, sadness, and worry. He wanted to see them both smiling happily, as if nothing had happened. He knew he shouldn't hide it from her but what else was he to do?

Tsuna noticed Ryohei's damper. He didn't have a younger sibling, so he couldn't tell if what Ryohei was doing was right or wrong. However, he was sure Ryohei knew what was best. He then thought of something.

"Sasagawa-san, was that why you recovered so quickly? You didn't want to make me worry?" The brunette asked. He had been wondering about the other's quick recovery for quite some time. Although, he was glad that Ryohei was better, he didn't want the boxer to push himself.

The boxer gazed at Tsuna surprisingly, wondering how the other had found out. He then admitted, "I didn't want you to worry about me! I wanted to see your smile again!"

"Is my smile that important to you?" Tsuna questioned, looking up at Ryohei.

Ryohei nodded. Tsuna's smile was important to him. He had said once that the brunette's smile had reminded him of his sister's smile, but after spending more time with the brunette, he had realized it was much different from his sibling's. Tsuna's smile was much brighter. There was a kind of warmth to his smile, a warmth that had touched his soul numerous times.

"I see…that explains all the things you were doing today." Tsuna replied thoughtfully. Ryohei abandoned his thoughts at the sound of this revelation. It seemed as if the brunette understood the reason he had been going through such lengths. Finally the brunette would know how much he extremely liked him! "How did you know that I was having such a bad day?"

Ryohei couldn't contain his confusion, "Huh?!"

Tsuna looked at the upperclassmen, perplexedly. He then explained, "Well, I thought the flowers, the lunch and even saving me, were to cheer me up."

"Well…actually, Sawada…" Ryohei began to correct Tsuna.

"I appreciate it." Tsuna beamed gratefully at the boxer.

Ryohei swallowed the words he had been about to say. Deciding that it was best not to say them, he refused to ruin the moment. After all, Tsuna was telling him that his efforts today were appreciated, and that alone satisfied him. He just couldn't tell Sawada about how he felt. That would be extremely dumb of him.

Shyness getting the better of him, the brunette brought his attention to his hands. He watched intently as he entwined his fingers together. Slowly, he began to verbalize the reasoning behind his gratitude. "Healing yourself so quickly and even to go through such lengths to make me happy, I really do appreciate everything you have done for me. Today was so terrible. Nothing seemed to go my way and kept getting worse. However, throughout the day…you would come up to me delivering some sort of surprise. At first, I was confused by what you were doing. Maybe even a little scared. But now I know you were doing these things for my benefit. Even now, just talking to you…has made me incredibly happy."

Tsuna was really happy to talk to Ryohei on the same level. Today, he had gained a better understanding of the boxer. He wasn't as rambunctious as he had first perceived, but was instead very kind. The freshman paused in his speech, looking away from his hands and to Ryohei. He then smiled once. "It's almost as if the sun has chased the rain clouds away."

"Sawada." Ryohei said quietly. He didn't know how to take such pleasant words. He was so used to ridicule from others that he didn't know how to accept Tsuna's compliments. He then brushed off the feeling of blood rushing to his cheeks and shouted, "It was nothing, Sawada!"

"Thank you for everything, Sasagawa-san. It really helped me." The brunette said as he got up from Ryohei's bed and giving a slight bow of thanks to the upperclassmen before walking towards the door. Tsuna felt as if he was imposing on the other. Ryohei had done so many things for him and he didn't want to burden the boxing fanatic any further. Tsuna called back to Ryohei, as he opened the door. "I must be getting in your way. I'll see you later."

"See ya!" The boxer replied as he watched Tsuna leave his room. He waited a few moments before sighing heavily to himself. Now how was he going to tell Tsuna that he liked him? Although the brunette greatly appreciated his actions, Tsuna still didn't know how Ryohei felt about him. The boxer was at the brink of extreme depression, when he heard a familiar voice.

"What are you doing?!" The voice inquired.

The boxer took a second to look around the room and then he spotted Lussuria, sitting outside of his window. "Gay guy?" He questioned.

"Are you just going to let him leave like that? Go get him!" The flamboyant student ordered.

Not even questioning how the Muay Thai fighter got on his windowsill, he ran off after Tsuna. Ryohei raced down the hallway in search of the brunette. After sprinting extremely down several flights of stairs, the boxing fanatic spotted the freshman. "Sawada!" He roared, getting the other's attention.

Tsuna jumped at the booming voice. His tawny eyes looked over his shoulder as he watched Ryohei race towards him. By the way Ryohei was acting, the brunette began to wonder if something had happened. As the boxer got within arm's reach, Tsuna started to ask, "Sasagawa-san…what's wrong?"

Ryohei inhaled deeply as he stood in front of the petite freshman. He looked down at Tsuna, who was curiously looking back at him. Here was his final chance to show Tsuna his feelings for him. It was now or never. He couldn't mess this up. The boxer's hands reached out from the brunette and then rested on each side of Tsuna's face, caressing the smaller boy's soft skin. Ryohei could slightly feel the brunette's cheeks heat up from this small contact. Tsuna was blushing as red as a tomato, his eyes unwavering from the athlete before him.

"Sasagawa-san? What are you do-?" The brunette began to question as he watched his friend lean towards him. But before Tsuna could finish his question, Ryohei had already muted him by sealing his lips with a kiss. The brunette was shocked at first, but this had happened to him so many times before. However, Tsuna just never expected it to be Ryohei. Unconsciously, he just stood as stiff as a board but soon, Tsuna began to be coaxed by the sunny-side of the other's touch. It was as if the warmth of the sun had graced his lips, coasting down his throat to his toes. He relaxed against Ryohei's strong body, allowing the upperclassmen to bequeath him with his affections.

Although, Ryohei seized the opportunity to kiss Tsuna, he didn't have the slightest clue on what he was doing. He had never kissed anyone before. So, Ryohei had no idea of the mechanics that went into the kissing but this didn't stop him. Ryohei just followed his heart, which was telling him to place more pressure on the brunette's bottom lip. This slight change made a strangled moan come from the smaller boy. Very excited, that he had done something right, he increased the intensity of the kiss, causing the brunette's mouth to open slightly. The strong athlete's hands slipped down from Tsuna's face and found the freshman's slender waist, bringing the smaller boy's body closer to his own. Ryohei's kiss was sucking the breath from his lungs, but Tsuna ignored the slight burning sensation in his chest. The boxer had touched a spot that made him want more. Tsuna's toes curled at the feel of both Ryohei's body against his and the boxer's lips delivering him to euphoria. The brunette unconsciously grabbed onto the front of Ryohei's shirt, he was getting light-headed and his knees were becoming weaker, but still, he couldn't bring himself to pull away from the boxer. After, realizing his own lack of air, Ryohei broke the kiss, partially rescuing Tsuna from suffocation.

"Sawada…I like you." Ryohei breathed against Tsuna's lips.

However, the boxer's confession fell upon deafen ears. Tsuna could not hear it. The brunette looked up to the boxer, responding to the sound of his voice but Tsuna was already on another planet. The other's face was flushed pink and his small hands still grasped at Ryohei's uniform holding tight. The brunette then whispered to Ryohei. "S-Sasagawa-san…that's too extreme."

"Sawada!" The white haired athlete yelled as Tsuna sanked to the ground, his legs had turned into jelly due to the boxer's ecstasy-inducing kiss. While boxing fanatic was in a state of distress, the freshman began blissfully mumbling to himself about rainbows and stardust, his eyes glazed over and the biggest smile plastered on his face. It was clear the brunette's mind had broken.

Watching from a corner, Lussuria became horrified at what Ryohei's kiss had done to the freshman. When I said, go get him…I didn't mean to kill him, Hun. Lussuria sighed. Ryohei was truly hopeless.

A few days later…

Tsuna recovered from Ryohei's extreme kiss within a few hours. He had awakened to Gokudera threatening to kill the boxer; however, Tsuna was able to relieve both of his friends' fears at the sight of his wellness. He was fine physically, but on a mental and emotional level, he wasn't so sure. Ryohei had kissed him…the boxer was like an older brother, and yet the upperclassman had kissed him. Not that it was a bad kiss; it was one of the best kisses he had received as of yet. But that was not the point; something was going on with his friends. He was still confused about these feelings towards them. Maybe even slightly afraid.

As the brunette walked down the hallway, this was all he could think of. He didn't know what to do. Should he just ignore the affections he had been receiving, or should he accept them? If he ignored them, then the friendships he had made would not be in jeopardy, but it wouldn't be fair. Yet, if he accepted these feelings, would he have any friends left? And would it be fair to him to go into something so delicate, half-heartedly? Tsuna didn't know what he should do. He had been racking his head around it for days and still no clear answer came to him.

He sighed to himself, wishing for someone he could talk to. He needed someone to which he could talk freely, and that would give him an unbiased opinion. He tried to figure out someone within his small of friends that he could talk with, but every one of his friends had kissed him. He further thought about acquaintances outside of his circle but most of them were very hard to talk to, and he didn't have much trust in them. The more he thought of it, the more his possibilities seem to slim. It was very depressing. Tsuna decided to give up, since all this thinking was giving him a headache.

As Tsuna made his way toward a stairway, he heard a yell and soon after, a body tumbled down to the last step. Coming to a stop, the body laid spread-eagled on the floor at the foot of the stairs. For moments, the person just laid there until he slowly made an attempt to sit up. The brunette then noticed that person was very familiar. The golden blonde hair and the unique tattoo on his right arm.

"Dino-san!" Tsuna called to his friend, rushing to his side to see if there was anything he could do. "Oh my god! Are you alright?"

Dino looked to Tsuna and tried to smile as the other approached. He then assured the freshman. "I'm fine...this happens very often"

"Often?" Tsuna repeated.

"Did I say often? I meant very rarely." Dino corrected himself with a nervous laugh. He didn't want Tsuna to think he was a klutz.

"Oh I see." Tsuna was not buying it. He knew that Dino was just as clumsy as he was. He could understand why a cool guy like Dino would want to hide such a flaw, but he didn't think any less of the other. It was part of the blonde's charm and made the other more approachable. That's what made Tsuna so comfortable around Dino. If it wasn't for Dino's clumsiness, he would be too intimidated by his flair to even talk to him.

Dino decided to change the subject. Not because he felt that Tsuna was catching on, but because he never liked to dwell on his flaws. Most of time, he liked to pretend that they were not there at all. He causally asked. "What have you been up to, Tsuna? Haven't seen you around lately."

"My life's been kind of hectic." Tsuna admitted.

Dino nodded his head in agreement, reminiscing about his days as a freshman. "Yea, this school will do that to you."

"But it's still fun." Tsuna voiced, although his school life had been throwing him through loops, he still considered it a lot of fun. "There are a lot of interesting people here."

"But do you know who is the most interesting of them all?" Dino smirked.

Tsuna thought hard about the question Dino posed. He then smiled as he came up with an answer. "Hmmm…the principal, right? I never met him but he sounds like an awesome person."

More like insane, sadistic and condescending! Dino's brain screamed but he didn't utter these opinions to Tsuna. The freshman would find out how truly terrible the principal was on his own. He continued to smile. "He's interesting, too. But the most interesting person in my opinion…" Dino moved closer to Tsuna, slightly leaning close to the freshman's ear. He then whispered smoothly. "Is you."

"Dino-san?" Tsuna blush madly, as he felt the blonde's warm breath tickle against his ear. The sensation sent shivers through his body. The brunette tawny eyes watched as the Dino leaned in to steal a kiss. Yet, Dino's hand slipped forward, making him crash into the smaller boy. Both of their heads collided pretty harshly against each other. At one point, Dino was seeing stars.

"Ow…" Cried Tsuna, as his bashed forehead began throbbing with pain.

"I'm sorry, Tsuna." Dino apologized rubbing his own head. He truly was sorry. Sorry that he was so clumsy. Sorry that he had such a hard head. And sorry that he had fudged up a perfectly golden opportunity.

However, clumsiness was not a new thing to Dino, after of years of living with this horrible curse he had learned to make up for his flaw. The blonde slowly cupped Tsuna's face with his hands making sure that he was well balanced this time. With the brunette's eyes upon him, he shamelessly laid a kiss on the other's forehead. Soothing the searing area with his lips and then sensually trailing down the other's nose and placing a kiss upon the brunette pink lips. Just seeing the brunette's flush face and hearing that soft moan escape the freshman's mouth, made it all worthwhile and also proved that it was the recovery that made the difference.

Chapter Thirteen End

[1] Tamagoyaki- Japanese Omelet

Author's note:

Ryohei was a bit more light hearted than the others however, just because it was a little less serious, doesn't mean that Ryohei was not an important influence to Tsuna or vice versa. I must add that the love scene was really hard to write but, I gathered that it was so hard to write because I really see Ryohei as an older brother to Tsuna. However, I still allowed him his chance. In addition, it was hard to place parallels between Tsuna and Kyoko but, instead of fighting it, I just went with the flow. To me, the couple Tsuna and Kyoko seems like selfcest, they look alike, act alike and you get the picture. However, Kyoko will be one of Tsuna's interests but, for a very short time because I hate this couple. Anyway, Chapter Fourteen is nearly done. Like I said in Yamamoto's chapter, there will be a surprise presented by Byakuran in that chapter. Also expect X27 and 10027 as well as slightly humorous X100 action (these two remind me so much of Fye and Kurogane from TRC, I just couldn't help myself). Thank you for reading this chapter and my previous chapters of this story. Show your love for the story by reviewing my work. Since, Tsuna shouldn't be the only one to receive love. Also, please leave suggestions (Although, it's scary seeing how most of you are on the same wavelength as me) but only if good intentions are behind them. Thank you Mithras151 for checking this chapter!!!