Warning: Swearing

Happy reading! :D

Chapter 14

Shield Patch

"No."

"Yes."

"I said no."

"And I said freaking yes, omnivore," Kyoya growled out through gritted teeth. His face was turned in the general direction of Tsuna, who was currently sighing and shaking his head.

"You can't remove the shield patch. It's there to protect the injury-"

"On both eyes?"

"The other eye will move and aggravate it. Please just stay still, Kyoya-kun. Alright?" Tsuna leaned forward in his armchair and pleaded, causing Kyoya to huff and fall back into his bed, muttering something darkly under his breath. Tsuna allowed himself a small smile.

"You know, if you hadn't tried to give the doctor a concussion with the IV drip, he might have been more reasonable when negotiation your freedom of movement." Kyoya scowled-or tried to scowl, at least-and tsked in irritation.

"I woke up unable to see a thing, and the only thing that herbivore could do was pat me on the shoulder. He deserved that concussion." Tsuna's smile faltered slightly, eyes darkening a little as he remembered the incident.

The Cloud guardian had only remained unconscious for one day, even when he was drugged on morphine. The minute he woke up, though, was utter chaos. Despite Tsuna's reassurances and attempted restraints, he had panicked and punched the nearest nurse. Tsuna couldn't forget the initial fright on Kyoya's face-seeing the usually strong and infallible skylark unable to even see on his own was unsettling, but seeing his frustration at the situation was even worse for Tsuna.

Tsuna impulsively leaned forward, reaching forward to grasp his hand. He winced slightly as Kyoya's hand jerked in surprise, sending the IV drip swinging precariously, long translucent wire swinging rhythmically.

"What the hell? Omni-" Kyoya's head snapped in Tsuna's direction, wiggling his fingers to break free of Tsuna's grip. The hand covering his, however, was stubbornly vice-like and refused to let go. "Let go."

"I won't."

"…What?"

"I won't," Tsuna stated firmly, eyes trained straight on Kyoya even though the boy was unable to meet his gaze fully. "I won't let go. I'll definitely find the people that did this to you, and when I do, they'll pay for it."

Kyoya's lips parted slightly in surprise, before he scoffed and turned away. "I don't need your pity."

A soft smile graced Tsuna's lips, and he laughed lightly. "Ah, but I need you. All of you. Much, much more than I would like to admit."

"Umm…" Tsunayoshi looked at the two people standing on the school roof in dismay. "What are you two doing here? Ah! Not that I'm trying to be rude or anything-"

"Are you kidding me?" Hayato scowled and stubbed out his cigarette, while Takeshi chuckled softly and twirled his bamboo sword around in his hands. "Have you idiots completely forgotten about yesterday? What if they come back, hmm? Like hell you can defend yourself." He muttered the last part under his breath, dark scowl ever-present on his face.

Next to him, Tsunayoshi could clearly hear Gokudera's audible gulp. He wasn't feeling too brave himself; Yamamoto was ordered to stay home for the day by the doctors, and if the strong Rain guardian couldn't hold against these enemies, he really wasn't looking forward to facing them again.

Takeshi exhaled softly through his nose before straightening up, amiable smile on his face. "Maa, maa, don't be so grouchy, Haya-chan. If you wanna know, Tsuna asked us to protect you while we're here."

"H-huh? You mean Juudaime's other self…?" Gokudera stuttered out, before he blushed and trailed off, seemingly regretting his decision to speak. Sensing his discomfort, Takeshi grinned encouragingly and quickly continued before his brash comrade could get a word in.

"Haha, yeah! Tsuna's at the hospital now, because of…um, well…"

"Just say it; why are you being half-assed about this?" Hayato frowned and turned to the duo, eyes dark and coldly unforgiving. "Juudaime's there because that Hibari got injured fighting enemies. Enemies who, I might add, came to get you."

"Haya-chan…"

"So while you were sitting around acting useless, our ace got seriously injured and blinded in one eye, fighting enemies who you idiots should have been handling. And now, while we should be with Juudaime supporting him, we're here protecting you guys instead. Are you satisfied now, then?"

An awkward silence hung in the air as Hayato stopped talking, his cold gaze on Tsunayoshi never faltering. Takeshi was opening and closing his mouth, cheerful smile comically frozen in place as he engaged in an internal battle over how to respond.

He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Erm…well…haha…"

"I'm sorry."

Hayato's eyes widened imperceptibly, and Gokudera's and Takeshi's heads immediately snapped towards Tsunayoshi, who was currently staring down at his feet. At his sides, his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were turning a pasty white.

"I-I mean…I'm sorry that he got injured…and…well, I can't do anything. Without Reborn, without my guardians…" Tsunayoshi's voice faltered and he bit his lip. "And to be honest, these new powers and stuff…it's all really frightening. Tha-that's why…that's why I've decided to do my best in training!" His eyes were squeezed shut and he rushed out the last few words, face blushing furiously whilst everyone was staring at him open-mouthedly.

"Juu-Juudaime…!" Gokudera's eyes were practically tearing up in pride at his boss's outburst. Hayato looked unimpressed.

"You mean to say you were going to do a half-assed job before this?" The Storm Guardian deadpanned emotionlessly, causing both Gokudera and Tsunayoshi to stiffen.

"N-nononono! I didn't mean-!" Tsunayoshi held out his arms, shaking his head so violently it looked like it might snap off any second. As the young Decimo frantically protested his innocence, he didn't notice Hayato's eyes softening slightly, until the Storm Guardian sighed in irritation.

"Ok, I get it. Shut up." Tsunayoshi's mouth snapped shut, and a bead of sweat trickled down his face.

"Haya-chan," Takeshi sighed wearily, finally regaining the composure to talk. "That was rude."

"Like I give a damn."

"Maa, maa." Takeshi smiled crookedly. "Well, why don't we have lunch now? I'm sure you're hungry?"

"Ah-" Tsunayoshi glanced back and forth between the two older males nervously, before hesitantly continuing.

"Then let's eat together then."

"Gokudera's house?" Takeshi cocked his head to the side inquisitively, while Hayato's eyes narrowed.

"Um, yeah," Gokudera said softly, not making eye contact with either of them. "Juudaime needs to go to my house to pick up something for school. But," He looked up suddenly. "You don't have to come or anything! It's troublesome and-"

"Haha, what're you saying? 'Course we'll come! We're here to protect you, ne?" Takeshi laughed good-naturedly as they walked past the school gates, attracting curious glances from the other students. Not every day you see two student teachers acting so friendly with the school kids, after all.

"Besides, I kinda wanna see how different you are from our world. Right, Haya-chan?"

Hayato scoffed. "Don't be stupid."

"Um…if it's all right with you, then…" Gokudera stammered and blushed slightly, hands gripping his bag tightly. "Ah! But my mom will be home, so how do I explain-?"

The reaction was instantaneous. Hayato's eyes widened and he spun around to face Gokudera in shock; Takeshi's smile slid off his face in an instant. The temperature seemed to drop almost ten degrees. Gokudera froze, and Tsunayoshi's eyes flickered nervously, as if trying to figure out what just happened.

"What did you say?" Hayato's voice was so soft it was almost a whisper, but it was so chillingly deadly that Gokudera winced and shrunk back.

"A-ano, I just said…that…my mom would be home?"

"Are you fucking playing with me?"

"Hayato," Takeshi stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from lunging forward. His frown seemed out of place, the lines creasing his brow almost unnatural. "Look, calm down."

"How can I calm down? This guy-"

"Right! How about we leave? We're going to Gokudera's house, right?"

"U-um-"

"Excellent! Let us make haste!" With a semi-violent shove, Takeshi pushed a furious Hayato forward, plastering a rather fake smile on his face.

"B-but-"

The Rain Guardian leaned to the side to look over Hayato's shoulder, and Gokudera gulped; that smile on his face went something along the lines of, explain soon or die now.

"H-hai! Juudaime, let's go!"

"Hah? But-?!"

There were many mysteries to be discovered, but the absolving of this particular one, Takeshi thought grimly, was going to be unpleasant.

A/N: School is hell. So naturally the length of updates will be hellish (read:short).

Expect weekly updates from now on. Most short, some long, depending on how much work I'm getting.

I swear the omake is gonna become a running gag in the author's note or something. Like, 'the forever invisible and nonexistent omake'. Jkjk, but really. I'm almost done. I don't know why it's taking so long, it's not even that long == I feel unaccomplished...

R&R!