Chapter 25: Keeping a Good Man Down
The instant Tsuna entered Takesushi, two blurs attached themselves to him.
"哥哥'!" the two cried in unison. I-pin held on tightly to the boy's sweatshirt while Lambo alternated between pounding the small brunette's chest and sobbing full force into the light blue material. Tsuna tightened his hold on them.
"It's okay," said the small brunette softly, gently bouncing the two children. "I'm okay."
"Tsuna I-pin and Lambo 哥哥'," said the little girl in clearer Japanese than Tsuyoshi had heard from the Chinese girl before. "Tsuna not hurt. I-pin Lambo need哥哥'."
Tsuna smiled a kind soft smile that Tsuyoshi was sure would have some women swooning when the boy was taller. The small brunette nodded as he continued to rock the children.
"Hey, Dad. Do you remember Lancia-san?" asked Takeshi, motioning to the tall man that stood behind the two boys. The man bowed politely but kept his attention on the small brunette cradling the two children.
"Of course. We briefly met the last time he was here," said Tsuyoshi as Lambo's loud sobs quieted. The tall man's stance indicated that Lancia was prepared to move and intercept any attack launched against the small brunette and that the tall man had years of experience defending those who were valuable. Tsuyoshi hadn't thought much of the man's protest at being left alone at the shop while Tsuyoshi and the rest went to the hospital, but Tsuyoshi was starting to like what the facts implied. "Do you remember my name?"
"Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, correct?" asked Lancia, shifting his stance in response to the small brunette's movements, adjusting for the different openings Tsuna made as the small brunette rocked and comforted the two children. Tsuyoshi grinned and nodded.
"I see you haven't let him out of your sight," said Fon from his seat on the counter. The sun arcobaleno who had taken a seat next to the martial artist ignored the statement.
"His brother is sick," said the famous hitman. "Apparently, it is a recurring illness. They didn't take the brat to a doctor every time he developed the fever, so it was never recorded."
"And how does that factor into your plans?" asked the martial artist.
"It depends on the diagnosis," said the hitman. "I left Shamal with him."
"And how did you manage that?"
"I used up my favors last time when the brat was shot with more than ten Dying Will bullets," said the hitman a worrying smirk on the cherubic features. Tsuyoshi had little information on the Vongola Dying Will bullet, since the Vongola kept any information highly guarded. But if it made the recipient sick after prolonged use, Tsuyoshi wanted it nowhere near Takeshi or Tsuna. "But then Shamal tried to attack Dame-Tsuna."
"That would have him giving you a few more favors then," said the martial artist calmly. Fon turned to Tsuyoshi. "Are you certain you do not mind if we use the dojo?"
"I planned to take Takeshi to relearn the town," said Tsuyoshi. He should have known that the two would not forget the experienced swordsman's presence. "He has made little headway in his observation skills."
"All with time," said Fon. "And his increased motivation should work to speed up the process."
"It already has," said Tsuyoshi, grinning as he noticed his son's intent interest in the conversation despite Takeshi staying as close as the boy could to Tsuna. Lancia also had his attention on them given the tilt of the tall man's head. So the arcobaleno had planned to broadcast the conversation, but for what end, Tsuyoshi didn't know. The world's greatest hitman had something planned, and it involved Tsuna and probably the Vongola inheritance. The fact Fon would allow the sun arcobaleno to continue whatever the enigmatic hitman had planned gave Tsuyoshi pause, enough not to grab the small brunette and run. Fon would not allow his student to fall under the unnecessary peril that came along with the mafia world. Tsuna deserved better than that.
"Yamamoto-san," whispered the small brunette. The two children had fallen asleep in the boy's arms. Tsuna tilted his head towards the stairs, but Tsuyoshi shook his head. The older man leaned down and carefully unlatched the sleeping children from Tsuna's sweatshirt. The two had slept fitfully last night and had spent nearly all day down in the shop watching the door. For such a young boy, Tsuna had that strange feeling of safety that all guardians of children owned, and in the short time they had known him, the two children had come to depend on it.
"You need to go train," Tsuyoshi answered quietly as he adjusted the children with practiced ease. He now knew why his dear Mako had wanted more children. He locked eyes with Takeshi over Tsuna's head, and the novice swordsman gave a hesitant nod. Tsuyoshi knew that his son did not want to leave the small brunette, but Tsuna would be in the care of his sensei. Fon would allow no harm to come to Tsuna nor would the martial artist allow Tsuna to go off into danger. And if the hitman was half as attached to the small brunette as the sun arcobaleno seemed, then Tsuna was already as safe as possible.
The sushi shop owner (and there was more to than man than just some average restaurant owner) headed up the stairs behind the counter to put the children to bed, and the young black haired teen whose name Lancia had finally confirmed was Takeshi followed the older man.
"This way," said the storm arcobaleno. Lancia followed the small brunette and the two arcobaleno who had chosen to walk beside the small brunette. With such people surrounding the small brunette, the secret of the boy's strength was not all that much a secret. Lancia should be more worried about the boy's status as Vongola heir. While the Ninth had chosen the younger twin, this Tamaki that the small brunette had masqueraded as sounded anything but pleasant. And the tall man was inclined to think that Tsuna would make a better Vongola Decimo (the boy had all the makings of a great famiglia and the strength and personality to hold them together), but if the small brunette never became a mafia don, Lancia would remain with the small brunette. This boy who had risked more than he knew to save Lancia deserved Lancia's respect and loyalty whether or not the small brunette belonged to the dark world of the mafia. And if Lancia could, he would keep that dark world away from the boy, from Tsuna. But the tall man knew the chances of keeping Tsuna away from the mafia had dwindled to slim when the sun arcobaleno took an interest in the boy and then the boy's own unknowing carelessness made the small brunette come to attention of the Vindice. The sun arcobaleno was right. No one lied to the Vindice.
They entered a dojo that was hidden in one of the back rooms of the shop. From the outside, no one would have ever guessed that there was enough space for a room like this one. As Lancia scanned the room for threats, Tsuna ran behind a wooden screen that was set up in one corner (probably so that the small brunette could change into the martial art uniform that he had used when he fought Rokudo Mukuro). A yelp was heard as the boy fell head first behind the screen.
"I didn't think you were the type to hold grudges," said the sun arcobaleno with a smirk that Lancia could barely see from the tall man's position.
"I don't understand what you're implying," said the storm arcobaleno as they headed towards the screen. Behind it, the small brunette lay face down on a cot that wasn't visible from the other side. Strange that it was a cot and not a futon as was usual for Japanese. The amused look on the storm arcobaleno's face and smirk on the sun arcobaleno's made Lancia think, but no. The storm arcobaleno would have been the one who chose a cot instead of a futon, and surely the calm arcobaleno had not meant for the boy to trip and fall onto it.
"That hurt," whispered the small brunette as he pushed himself up. "Fon-sensei, what is thi-Hiiee!"
"You should stay down, Dame Tsuna," said the sun arcobaleno as he stood on the boy's back. The small brunette groaned in obvious pain under the sun arcobaleno's sudden kick and wisely didn't try to get up again.
"W-what d-di—Hiiee!" the small brunette screeched. He closed his eyes and buried his head into the cot and as far as he could from the black pistol pointed at his head. "I-I—I'm sorry! Don't shoot, Reborn!"
"That's better," said the hitman, tilting his fedora up with the pistol's barrel. "I did it because I felt like it."
"Your training today will consist on how to care for your body," said the storm arcobaleno, pulling a sheet out from under the cot. The hitman hopped off the boy's back, and the martial artist threw the sheet over the surprised boy. "If one has gone under strenuous circumstances, one should allow his body to rest before continuing on as before."
"It wouldn't do for the future Vongola Decimo to wear out his body unnecessarily," said the sun arcobaleno.
"B-but Fon-sensei—" said the small brunette, lifting his head.
"Rest, and we will discuss the results of the lesson tomorrow morning," said the storm arcobaleno. Carefully, the storm arcobaleno placed a sleeping monkey on the boy's back. "You must learn this lesson well."
"If you move, I will make sure you do not go against your teachers' orders ever again," said the sun arcobaleno as he placed an unmoving green lizard on the boy's wild hair.
"B-but—" the boy started, but the sun arcobaleno sent the small brunette a dark glare.
"I could always shot you," said the hitman, the pistol back in his hand. The boy instantly stilled. "Good boy. Now close your eyes."
The wide brown eyes flickered to the storm arcobaleno, and the tiny marital artist nodded. Tsuna closed his eyes tightly and caused his face to scrounge up as if in pain. But soon the tightly closed eyes relaxed and the pinched expression on the small brunette's face was replaced by a loose calm.
"Thank you for bringing him here," whispered the storm arcobaleno. Lancia waited for the sun arcobaleno to reply, but the marital artist stared straight at the tall man.
"I did nothing to convince him to come here," said Lancia. The boy had decided to come here on his own, with a look that conveyed a deep underlining panic. Whatever Lancia thought about the boy's brother, the tall man hoped that the younger twin would get better soon.
"But you brought him here," said the martial artist, and Lancia heard approval in the tone.
"I could hardly have kept from following him here," said the tall man.
"Not everyone does what they should," said the martial artist. "At least I know that my student risked his life for a worthy cause."
Suddenly, Lancia realized that he had escaped a terrible fate. The wrath of one arcobaleno could cause even the most insane of men to turn into simpering mounds of flesh, but the wrath of two…The tall man could only be grateful to God that the arcobalenos had apparently approved of him. Otherwise, his life would not be worth a pane of non-bulletproof glass.
"Stay here," said the sun arcobaleno, Lancia's decision to obey not completely without fear.
"Going to check on your student?" asked the storm arcobaleno. "I'm sure with Shamal watching over him, he will be fine."
"If Shamal does what he needs to do," said the sun arcobaleno, a flash of dangerous irritation crossing the deceptively cute face, "the brat won't be up and about any time soon."
Kyoko held tightly to the bag in her fists. She hadn't wanted to come disturb Tsuna-kun when he was still recovering, but Hana had insisted on checking on him and Haru had decided that she wanted to meet the boy Kyoko spoke so much about, and here they were in front of Tsuna-kun's house waiting for the door to open.
"Oh, Hana-chan," said a woman whose smile bore a strong resemblance to the one that always made Kyoko blush. "You came to visit Tsu-kun, right? I'm sorry, but Tsu-kun slept over at Takeshi-kun's house yesterday, and he hasn't gotten back yet."
"So Takeshi dragged him over there then," said Hana with a pleased quirk of her lips. "Good. And what about the moronic monkey king?"
Kyoko stared at Hana, surprised by the tall girl's usage of Tamaki's nickname. Hana was always blunt and honest, but she never had turned that bluntness against an adult before. Hana knew when to be blunt and when to be respectful, and Kyoko could only wonder what Tsuna's mother had done to deserve Hana's disrespect.
"Tamaki is doing better," said the woman with a wide smile, as if she hadn't heard the disrespect. "Gokudera-kun brought over an excellent doctor to check on him, and the man insisted on staying overnight to make sure Tamaki was cured."
"So the moronic monkey king's better now," said the Hana. "Not that it really matters, but what was the problem."
"He had a special kind of disease," said the woman. She put a finger to her chin. "It had a strange name…"
"Familial Mediterranean Fever," said a rough voice behind Tsuna's mother. Gokudera came out from behind the woman and scowled. "What are you doing here, wench?"
"Only an idiot monkey would ask a question like that," said Hana, answering the scowl with a flat look. "The question is what are you doing here?"
"He's EXTREMELY keeping an eye on Sawada's injury!" The shout froze Kyoko. She really hoped that she had heard wrong and that her brother was not inside Tsuna-kun's house. An excited smiling face proved her wrong. "Eh? I didn't know you were here, Kyoko! Are you here to make up with your boyfriend?"
"Nii-san! Why are you here?" she asked, hoping that her brother hadn't done anything "extreme" in the house. She didn't think she could look Tsuna-kun in the face if Ryohei had gone off and tried to recruit Tsuna-kun for the boxing club or demanded a spar out of nowhere. That's why she hadn't told Ryohei that Tamaki wasn't her boyfriend anymore. Then Ryohei would drive Tamaki crazy instead of Tsuna-kun. And Tsuna-kun didn't need to know that she had such an embarrassing older brother. Kyoko loved Ryohei dearly, but he had scared more than one boy off with his "extremeness."
"I came to check up on my little brother," said the boxer. Kyoko clutched the bag harder and wanted to hide behind it. Ryohei had decided to adopt Tamaki after the first time the two met and teach the short brunette how to be extreme, even forcing his way into Tamaki's group. Not that Ryohei hung out very much with the group since they were all "unextreme," but he insisted that he would drag the short brunette away from the group and show Tamaki how to live to the extreme. The thought of Ryohei doing the same with Tsuna was exactly why Kyoko had kept the boxer away from the small brunette. "What do you extremely have there?"
"N-nothing," Kyoko said, hiding the bag behind her back.
"It's for Tsuna," said Hana. "And since he isn't here, we'll come back later."
"Hahi? Why couldn't we wait here? He has to come back from his friend's house soon, right?" asked Haru. Gokudera glared at her, and Haru blinked and then glared back. Kyoko wished she had her friend's courage.
"Who are you?" demanded Gokudera.
"I don't have to tell someone who's being rude," Haru said, puffing out her cheeks like she did when she was mad. "You must be the idiot monkey that Hana-chan says bothers Tsuna-kun so much."
"What did you say, stupid woman?" growled the teen.
"You heard me," huffed Haru grabbing Kyoko's hand. "Let's go find your Tsuna-kun, Kyoko-chan. Haru doesn't like hanging out with idiot monkeys."
"You're not going anywhere near Tsuna-sama!" yelled Gokudera, pulling sticks out of his pocket.
"I'm sure Tsuna would be very impressed with you blowing up a defenseless woman," said Hana, and the silver haired teen turned his glare at the tall girl and tucked the sticks back wherever they came from.
"Hey, are you guys planning a party or something?" asked Yamamoto, and the five at the door turned their gazes to the baseball player. "Can I help too?"
"W-we d-d—didn't mean to interrupt," said another voice and directing their attention to the figure standing beside Yamamoto.
"Tsuna-kun!" cried Kyoko, unable to stop herself as she saw that the small brunette was unharmed and standing nervously next to Yamamoto and in front of a tall man Kyoko had never seen before. Kyoko blushed as she noticed the thoughtful look the tall man was sending her. She quickly looked back at Tsuna who was smiling shyly at them.
"So you're Tsuna-kun," said Haru coming right up to Tsuna and looking him over closely. Tsuna was wearing an outfit that Kyoko had not seen on him, but then she barely saw him outside of school. She wanted to hang out with him and Hana, but he was always doing something with Yamamoto and Gokudera. And while Hana sometimes went with the three boys, Kyoko couldn't bring herself to intrude on the boys' activities. But she kind of wished she had. Tsuna-kun looked really good in that martial art uniform. "This uniform is so cool! Where'd you get it?"
"M-my s-sen—sensei gave it to m-me," mumbled Tsuna-kun shrinking under Haru's scrutiny.
"I love the stitching," said Haru circling the small brunette and making Tsuna stiff and fidgety. She grabbed the sleeve and rubbed the material between her fingers.
"Let go of Tsuna-sama," said Gokudera pulling out the sticks again.
"Haru doesn't listen to stupid monkeys," said Haru puffing out her cheeks again. The ponytailed brunette grabbed the sleeve harder, but she looked at her hand and suddenly let the sleeve go. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rumple Tsuna-kun's cool clothes!"
"I-it's o-okay," said Tsuna, not even bothering to straightening the sleeve.
"And who are you?" asked Yamamoto.
"Hahi? Oh, my name's Miura Haru. It's nice to meet you," said the bubbly brunette as she bobbed into a bow.
"Yamamoto Takeshi," said the baseball player with a grin. "You know Tsuna?"
"Huh? No," said Haru. "Kyoko-chan talks about him a lot, so I feel like I already know him."
"She must have talked about him a lot then," said Yamamoto as his grin shifted towards Kyoko. Kyoko blushed.
"A-are y-yo—you Kyoko's friend?" asked Tsuna.
"Haru and Kyoko are cake friends!" said the bubbly brunette, and Kyoko hoped the paper bag didn't rip under her fingernails.
"Cake friends?" scoffed Gokudera. The sticks were gone, probably put away as soon as Haru let go of Tsuna-kun. "What's that? Some stupid club?"
"It's not a stupid club! Haru and Kyoko go…admire cakes every month!" said Haru, barely pausing to keep from blurting out Kyoko's embarrassing cake addiction. "Every second Sunday of the month is Haru and Kyoko's Cake Day!"
"They met last month and have been meeting up every week since, though to hang out not go 'admire' cakes," said Hana. "Today was their cake day, and Haru insisted on coming with us afterwards to meet Tsuna."
"Haru wanted to meet Kyoko's Tsuna-kun!" the bubbly girl agreed, and Kyoko decided that she should have tried to keep Haru away from Tsuna like the light haired brunette did with Ryohei.
"Tsuna-sama is not that dumb girl's anything!" yelled Gokudera clenching his fists harder around the sticks and glaring at Haru again.
"You've returned!" said Ryohei breaking through Gokudera's glare and heading straight for Tsuna. "You took EXTREME care of your big brother!"
"M-m—my big brother?" said Tsuna.
"The normal Sawada would be EXTREMELY grateful if he was awake!" shouted the boxer, and Kyoko wished her brother wasn't so dense as to make glaring at him useless.
"Normal?" Tsuna mumbled, as if in shock.
"Sempai," said Yamamoto. "Tsuna's the older one."
Ryohei froze and stared at the baseball player. Finally, he unfroze.
"Fight me other Sawada," said Ryohei.
"Nii-san! You promised you wouldn't fight again," said Kyoko, getting in between the boxer and Tsuna-kun. How could this be happening?
"I'm EXTREMELY not," said Ryohei, getting past Kyoko and wrapping an arm around Tsuna's head. "I EXTREMELY want to spar one EXTREME martial artist to another!"
"I told you sempai," said Yamamoto, a wooden sword that he sometimes carried with him tapping against his shoulder. His hazel eyes had a hard gleam that usually was only for baseball. "You can't fight Tsuna until me and Tsuna finish our fight."
"I EXTREMELY have to spar with this Sawada," said Ryohei.
"Not until after our fight," said Yamamoto, his grin making his words a little less sharp. Why did Kyoko suddenly feel like Ryohei was in danger?
"S-sempai," gasped a voice, and the two turned to look at the turning blue Tsuna. "I-I c-can't b-breathe."
"I'm EXTREMELY sorry," said Ryohei, letting Tsuna go. Tsuna took deep breaths and waved off the boxer's apology.
"Did you stay at Tsuna's house last night, sempai?" asked Yamamoto.
"Like I would let Lawn Head stay the night at Tsuna-sama's house," grumbled Gokudera.
"I EXTREMELY came back this morning," said the boxer doing a fist pump.
"What is all the commotion out here?" asked a man in a white coat, coming out from inside the house. The man's eyes fell on Kyoko, bounced to Hana, and skittered onto Haru. The man grinned a bit too wide, like Mochida did whenever he decided to brush the back of his hand against Kyoko's back or grab her chin. Things like that had stopped when Tamaki had become strong and run around in his boxers. Tamaki, for all his demands, angry tirades, rough grabbing of her hand, and general overbearing demeanor, had never had that terrible look in his eyes. "And who are these cute honeys?"
"Did you do your job, Shamal?" demanded Gokudera, moving to stand in between the man and the girls.
"As if I could get away with not doing it with you and the world famous hitman breathing down my neck," grumbled the man, apparently the doctor Tsuna's mother had mentioned. "Now get out of the way, you're blocking the view."
"H-how's T-T—Tamaki-san?" asked Tsuna-kun. Kyoko smiled at the small brunette's cute stutter. She wondered why he was trying to stop it all of a sudden.
"Fine," said the doctor sullenly as Gokudera refused to move. "He was dying and now he's not."
"He was dying?" asked Hana, her eyebrows lifting and showing her disbelief. Kyoko's gaze flitted back to Tsuna's face. It was an unhealthy shade of white.
"He has Familial Mediterranean Fever," said the doctor trying to peer over the silver haired teen. Gokudera growled something that sounded like "mah-dreh," and the man straightened and looked straight at Tsuna. "It has gone untreated for too long and caused amyloidosis in his kidneys. Thankfully that only caused damage to the glomeruli and produced minimal change disease. With the proper treatment he should be fine, but the minimal change and amyloidosis had been about to progress and cause him to have Nephrotic syndrome. I prescribed him some corticosteroids. He has to be regular in taking them or else it could end in kidney failure, but he should be fine otherwise."
The teens stared at the doctor, and everyone's faces contained mix of confusion and shock. Kyoko had been staring at Tsuna-kun, so she saw his reaction best. His face had stretched taunt, shock plastering his face, and then it had sagged a dark pain entering his expressive brown eyes before they closed.
"But he'll be alright," whispered Tsuna-kun, his eyes still closed. The doctor stared at Tsuna-kun, and the man's gloomy and discomforting face softened into a reluctant understanding.
"I don't like treating men," said the doctor to the closed eyed Tsuna. "But when I treat someone, I do it right."
"S-so h-he'll b-be—"
"As I already said, he'll be fine," said the doctor. Tsuna's lips twitched upwards. Kyoko bit back a gasp as the lips spread into a wide grin that lit up the whole face. And then Tsuna's eyes opened, and Kyoko could not hold back her gasp.
"Thank you," said Tsuna, the bright grin blocking all thought from Kyoko's head. "Tamaki will be fine."
Tamaki was grumpy, but he took the cup anyway. Nana's youngest had been stuck in his room for three days, so it was only natural he was a bit grumpy.
"You can go now," said Tamaki dismissively. Nana grinned at his behavior. She continued to stand next to his bed and watch as he drank the cup. He glared at her and grunted. He stuck out the cup in her direction, and she took it without a word. Tamaki had taken his medicine, the fever had broken last night, and he would be alright. Nana went to the kitchen with a smile that only got wider as the front door opened to reveal her eldest.
"Welcome home, Tsu-kun," said Nana as Tsu-kun smiled back at her. He did have a beautiful smile, and ever since the doctor had come and taken care of Tamaki, it had been brighter than usual. Gokudera and Takeshi entered behind Tsuna along with that man that had taken to following Tsuna everywhere. Reborn had said that the man had been sent to make sure that Tsuna didn't get lost on any more picnics. Nana understood that Tsuna had picked up the man wherever Tsuna had been when the small brunette had ended up in the hospital. She had not wanted to know more. Tsuna was safe, Tamaki was better, and their little family of three (sometimes four) would be alright. Reborn was friends with Iemitsu and had promised that nothing would happen to them, and so far the tutor had kept that promise.
But Nana had also made a promise to herself, to keep a better eye on her Tsu-kun in the future. She didn't want to miss anything important anymore. She didn't want her eldest to feel like he…like he had to be strong for her. Like he couldn't be like Tamaki too. She wanted her eldest to know he was hers too. She had thought he had known, but maybe since it had been so long since Iemitsu had been here, Tsuna had forgotten. But he didn't know, and there she had failed him. She had failed him so much. But she wouldn't do it again. She would show Tsuna to know how important he was to her. How sorry she was to have taken him so easily for granted. How she loved him. She would keep a better eye and make sure he knew and never forgot.
"Tsuna-哥哥'!" cried Fuuta from the kitchen where he had been helping her watch the food and keeping an eye on the front door. The small Italian boy had decided yesterday after going with Tsuna to Takesushi that he wanted to call Tsuna 哥哥' too, making Nana's eldest blush, and Nana had wanted to know why. When Tsuyoshi-san had explained to her that 哥哥' meant big brother, Nana had smiled. Tsuna had always been a wonderful big brother.
"I'm home," said Tsuna as the ten year old attacked the small brunette with a hug. Tsuna returned the hug hesitantly and looked at Nana over Fuuta's head. "How's Tamaki-san?"
"He's grumpy," said Nana. She held up the empty cup. "But he took all his medicine."
"Is he awake?" asked Tsuna. Nana nodded, and her eldest immediately headed up the stairs with Fuuta all but clinging to the small brunette. Tsuna stopped and turned to the two other boys following him.
"U-um, Takeshi, Gokudera, could you see if Mom needs help in the kitchen?" asked Tsuna.
"I could use some help deboning the fish we're having tonight and keeping an eye on the kenchinjiru," said Nana. Gokudera glared up the stairs but headed to the kitchen. Takeshi smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but Tsuna sent the taller brunette a pleading look, and the taller boy's smile disappeared before reappearing quickly as a grin.
"So what kind of fish is it?" asked the baseball player.
"Tuna," said Nana when she was sure the baseball player couldn't see Tsuna's expression. Her eldest pouted and huffed as he continued up the stairs. For the first time, Nana found herself wishing her husband wouldn't tease Tsuna so much. Lancia went up the stairs behind Tsuna, and Nana knew that both her boys would be fine.
The two boys in the kitchen had already set to do their chosen tasks. Gokudera was stirring the thick soup while Takeshi had set down the wooden sword that he carried everywhere nowadays and cut the salmon with a practiced precision. Tsuna had started to execute those same cuts when he fileted fish. All that time with Tsuyoshi-san had done her eldest good.
"Tsuna-sama's not an idiot," said Gokudera keeping his eyes on the soup. "He's going to notice soon."
"Notice what?" asked Takeshi removing the salmon's skeleton and cutting the meat into well sliced filets.
"You've been skipping baseball practices," said Gokudera. Nana moved in between the two boys to check on the rice. The kitchen was comfortably small with two boys in it. She wished there would be two more often.
"I don't have to go," said Takeshi. He threw the unwanted parts of the fish away. Nana handed him another two salmons, glad she had taken the salesman up on that special. She would have a full house for dinner again.
"He's not going to be happy when he finds out," said Gokudera, moving so that Nana could taste the kenchinjiru. It needed a little more flavor.
"Nope," said Takeshi with a grin. He made quick work of the second salmon. "He won't like it at all."
"Then why don't you go back?" asked Gokudera. Nana sprinkled some more black pepper into the vegetable soup and allowed Gokudera to continue to stir. The soup didn't need to be stirred anymore, but the silver haired teen seemed really focused on it, so Nana didn't want to stop him.
"I can't. I'm not on the baseball team anymore," said Takeshi. Nana's hand hovered over the pot's lid, and the woman found herself staring at the tall brunette boy, and from what she could see past the grinning boy, so was Gokudera. They stood like that for a minute as the tall brunette silently sliced the second salmon into the same sort of cuts as the first.
"You quit the baseball team," said Gokudera finally, his voice quieter than normal and his green eyes almost as wide as Tsuna's.
"Yep," said the baseball player, or rather former baseball player. "I wanted more time to learn with Dad."
"Idiot," grumbled Gokudera. The spoon stayed motionless in the soup. "You've been playing baseball and studying the sword. You didn't need to quit baseball."
"Tsuna's not studying anything besides his sensei's Kaze Ryu," said Takeshi, and Nana quickly remembered that the heat on the rice needed to be lowered. "And I couldn't have serious fight if I didn't do the same with the Shigure Soen Ryu."
"Tsuna-sama's Tsuna-sama. He wouldn't like you quitting baseball," said the silver haired teen stirring the soup once and then taking out the spoon.
"He wouldn't," said Takeshi, deboning the last fish. "But we can't always do what he likes. He needs to be able to trust us to back him up."
Gokudera grunted and tossed the spoon in the sink.
"Tell Tsuna-sama that I'll be back later," said Gokudera, leaving the kitchen. Apparently there would be one less person for dinner. Tamaki had been eating more so it was probably for the best. Nana wasn't used to cooking for so many people outside of helping occasionally with Tsuna's bentos and when Iemitsu came home.
"Here you go, Sawada-san," said Takeshi.
"Oh, Takeshi-kun, you don't have to call me that," said Nana. "Just call me Mama."
"You shouldn't worry about your age, Sawada-san," said Takeshi, rubbing the back of his head. "You look really young."
"Silly Takeshi. I'm not asking because it makes me feel old," said Nana. "I just want my son's best friend to call me that."
The hand froze and Takeshi's usually tan face turned a little red. Nana patted his head like she did to her two boys when they looked so cute.
"I don't think your mother would mind if it's just a nickname," said Nana quietly and a little regretfully as the hazel eyes flinched a bit. "And she was Mom, wasn't she?"
Takeshi nodded slightly, and Nana restrained herself from wrapping the boy in her arms. No child should be motherless at such a young age. She closed her eyes to fight back the thought that at least his mother had an excuse, and a fatherless child is equally sad.
"Mama should be okay," said Nana, as she opened her eyes again and gazed into darkened hazel eyes.
"Alright," said the former baseball player, rubbing the back of his head and looking away. His cheeks had that red tint again. "Mama."
Nana couldn't wait to tell Tsuyoshi-san what a cute picture his son could make. She wondered what kind of face Gokudera would make when she told him the same thing.
Leaning against the wall, Tsuna kept himself from sliding onto the floor. He had gone up to check on Tamaki but his younger twin had all but thrown Tsuna out of the room. Tsuna had been happy to see that Tamaki had felt well enough to not want his older brother in the younger twin's room. Tamaki only let Tsuna stay when the younger twin was feeling really bad. Lancia had stayed quietly behind Tsuna, not so much as glaring at Tamaki, for which Tsuna was grateful. Not even Takeshi could have behaved so calmly in the face of an after fever Tamaki. Fuuta however had hidden behind Tsuna in terror. The ten year old had a strange fear of Tamaki, and Tsuna had taken the ten year old to Tsuna's room and shown the blonde boy his manga collection in hopes of calming Fuuta down. Fuuta had made all the manga float as he "ranked" them (Tsuna had freaked out the second time the younger boy had done this because the small brunette had realized that the boy was the one causing the strange phenomenon, and the freak out had earned Tsuna a kick from Reborn who was currently doing some errand elsewhere in Namimori), and then the boy had plopped down beside Tsuna's bed and opened the manga ranked #1, the one about the football running back that was Tsuna's favorite.
After Fuuta had settled down, Tsuna had gone downstairs to see if his mom needed more help, but the unnatural quiet had stopped him from entering the kitchen. He had expected his mother to be humming or Gokudera and Takeshi to be talking (or rather arguing). They had been getting along better since the silver haired teen had been caught swearing lifetime loyalty to Tsuna, which still caused an uneasy feeling to turn Tsuna's stomach but the small brunette couldn't bring himself to ask Gokudera to take it back. He feared that the bomber would misunderstand and take the first plane back to Italy. The point was that with how loud Gokudera was and how chatty his mother was (even when Tsuna didn't want her to be), Tsuna hadn't expected silence in the kitchen. And then Gokudera had whispered the sentence that had Tsuna struggling to remain upright. Takeshi quit baseball.
In the last few months, Takeshi had sometimes skipped baseball practice to hang out with Tsuna, or to help Yamamoto-san in the shop on really busy days. Tsuna had helped out too, enjoying making sushi beside his best friend and his best friend's father. But Tsuna had always felt bad that his friend was missing out on the sport Takeshi loved so much. And now…
Gokudera left the kitchen in a hurry, and Tsuna stayed as close to the wall as he could so that the bomber wouldn't see him. The bomber exited the house without noticing Tsuna or Lancia, who had stood quietly in the corner between the stairs and the bathroom. The bomber's single minded determination vaguely worried Tsuna, but the small brunette's mind still reeled at the thought of Takeshi quitting baseball. Sure, the baseball player had skipped practices the last few days, but Tsuna had figured that maybe Takeshi was a bit worried about Tsuna "running off again," as Hana put it. Tsuna had felt guilty about it, but the small brunette had thought that Takeshi would calm down eventually and return to baseball practice.
Tsuna held onto the wall, still feeling his feet slipping. The conversation in the kitchen continued, but Tsuna couldn't concentrate on it further than to think that his mother was indulging in one of her strange habits. Tsuna needed to tell Takeshi to leave, to go back to Takesushi, and never ever speak to Tsuna or his family again. Because then the taller brunette wouldn't give up his beloved baseball for his father's sword.
"It's good that he has given up baseball," said Lancia, and Tsuna nearly narrowed his eyes at the man. Lancia had no idea what baseball meant to Takeshi. How it helped the taller teen remember his mother who only ever got visibly excited about the NPB and the Climax Series. Takeshi treasured those memories with his mother open and smiling. Tsuna had seen the pictures of the long black haired woman with a grin as large as her husband's and son's cheering the Tokyo Swallows onto victory. Takeshi had declared his dream to be a professional baseball player for the Swallows the same day the pictures had been taken.
"He shouldn't…It's his dream," said Tsuna quietly, bowing his head to hide his eyes from the man. "Takeshi loves baseball."
"A sport is not worth a man's life," said the man equally quiet. Tsuna couldn't bring himself to look at the man again. This was all Tsuna's fault. Tsuna should have never allowed Hibari to go fight. The small brunette should have stopped the prefect even if by force. Hibari might have gotten a few nicks and bruises, but the prefect might have listened, been held off for a while longer so that Reborn could have taken care of it. Tsuna should have known that he couldn't have kept his hospital stay a secret. And that Takeshi and the others would…would…like with Gokudera…
"Hey, Tsuna. How's your brother?" asked Takeshi. Tsuna looked up and found himself staring, trying to figure out what the taller teen could be thinking.
"Why?" asked Tsuna, his voice so soft that he could barely hear it. The baseball player (Tsuna refused to think of Takeshi as anything else) dropped the grin that was the taller teen's default, an expression that displayed nothing but pleasure with everyone and everything. His hazel eyes sharpened, and the new expression scared Tsuna with its fierceness. The small brunette had seen that expression, but it had never been directed at the small brunette before.
"I want to finish our fight, Tsuna," said Takeshi. "And I don't want you to hold back."
"W-what?" stammered Tsuna. Both Yamamoto-san and Fon had agreed to delay the two teen's fight for another month, to judge their development then since the first attempt had gone on long enough to accurately judge their current progress. "W-why?"
"To answer your question," said Takeshi, his grin back on his face. "We'll fight three days from now alright?"
"B-but what about Fon-sensei and Yamamoto-san?"
"Dad knows I wanted this, and I don't think Fon would mind."
"B-but—"
"Tsuna," said Takeshi. That expression flashed across his face. "Fight me."
"O-okay," said Tsuna, unable to stop himself. He didn't understand. How would a spar answer Tsuna's question? And what about baseball? Suddenly a thought struck Tsuna, and he pushed himself off the wall and stared straight into the bright hazel eyes. The warmth began to hum under his skin. "On one condition."
"Sure," said Takeshi, his eyes narrow despite the grin decorating his face.
"When I win, you return to the baseball club," said Tsuna, and Takeshi's eyes smiled.
"All right."