CHAPTER 25: PROMISE
"What did you drag me here for?" Gokudera shouted.
Iiya had remained downstairs with everyone else to chat, while Shamal, Tsuna, Yamamoto and Ryohei had forced him up to Tsuna's room, locking the door behind them. The five of them sat around the table, staring at each other while Shamal grinned.
"Why, Hayato, I'm here to give you some advice on women!" He chuckled.
"What kind of advice could you possibly offer, you perverted old man?" Gokudera retorted. "And why did you drag Juudaime into this?"
"Well, Gokudera-kun, Shamal asked us up to give you support…" Tsuna smiled.
The cheeky grin disappeared from Shamal's face promptly, his expression turning into a serious one.
"I saw the way you looked at her, Hayato."
Gokudera looked away from Shamal, indicating that he had hit the nail right on the head. Having watched him grow up, Shamal knew very well when Gokudera was holding something back. And with Iiya leaving tomorrow for Italy, he could only imagine how frustrated he was feeling on the inside.
"Did you say anything to her?"
"No." Gokudera shook his head.
"For real, Octopus Head?" Ryohei exclaimed in shock.
"You should have said something, Gokudera!" Yamamoto agreed. "After everything that's happened, she's leaving tomorrow and you aren't gonna do anything at all?"
"What could I do?" Gokudera grumbled, ruffling his silver hair in annoyance. "Ask her to stay? Ask her to forsake her role as the boss? We both knew she couldn't stay."
"So that's it?" Shamal demanded.
"Calm down!" Tsuna cried, trying to lessen the tension in the room. "We're still gonna keep in contact with Iiya-san, so it's not like Gokudera-kun and Iiya-san will break it off once she leaves for Italy… Plus we're going back to Italy in three years time…"
"It's three years, Hayato…" Shamal shook his head. "And you aren't going to say anything to her? You aren't going to do anything?"
"I already said," Gokudera barked, waving his cigarette at Shamal. "Nothing I say or do will make her stay."
"Well, you could always knock her up and she'd have to stay…" Shamal muttered under his breath jokingly.
"What the hell?" Gokudera shouted, his fist about to slam into Shamal's face, only to be held back by Yamamoto and Ryohei.
Shamal snickered, shaking his head and standing up to leave. "You care about her more than you realise, Hayato."
"Well, what I'm saying is, regardless of whether or not she can stay, there still isn't a point in holding back your feelings when she's going to leave tomorrow!" Shamal shrugged. "If there's something you want to do, do it! Leave her with the best memories for now, until the day you two can be together again."
Once Shamal left the room, Gokudera grumbled, shaking Yamamoto and Ryohei off him. Tsuna paused for a moment, thinking about what Shamal had said to him.
"I think Shamal has a point, Gokudera-kun."
"Juudaime..?"
"Yeah…" Tsuna spoke slowly. "Iiya-san is leaving tomorrow… If there's something you want to express to her, you'll have to do it before she goes… If not you'll have to wait another three years!"
Gokudera contemplated Tsuna's words, thinking about how long it would be before he could see her again. Even though there was a chance that Iiya could come to Japan for leisure or for work, those chances were small, given how unpredictable the future was. The only guarantee he had of seeing her was when Tsuna and his guardians moved back to Italy, three years later, after they had taken care of everything in Japan. Could he really wait till then?
Gokudera remained deep in thought as he held Iiya's hand on the way home. Their boots made crunching sounds against the yellowing leaves on the ground, and the wind blew past them, making soft howling noises. He opened the door to the apartment, walking in listlessly as Iiya followed behind him, taking off her jacket. He sighed as he took his off as well, still thinking about what he should do.
"Hayato?"
He looked up at her, her blue eyes glistening in the moonlight.
"You forgot to switch on the lights."
"Oh!" He jumped, not realising that he had forgotten to do something as simple as that. "Sorry."
Iiya smiled, walking up to him and stroking his hair.
"You're acting strangely."
He looked away from her, averting her gaze.
"It's okay, I'm just teasing you."
Iiya laughed softly before patting him on the cheek.
"I'm going to take a shower now."
She paused once she saw the look on his face, noticing how he had not moved from his spot, almost as if he had been stunned. He appeared to be deep in thought and she cocked her head sideways when he sighed, her eyes widening slightly once he pulled her into a hug.
"I know I can't stop you from leaving."
"Yeah, I know that too."
He had a serious expression on his face as he held her by her shoulders, sending her heart pounding in her chest.
"I don't know how to express what I feel with words, Iiya."
"I know," she nodded, her cheeks flushing madly as his hands ran down her arms, holding her hands in his.
"So…"
Iiya stared at him, rendered completely speechless when she saw the blushing mess before her.
"ARGH FORGET IT!" He shouted, turning away from her bashfully and shoving his hands in his pockets. "What was I thinking, seriously?"
She stared at his back view for a second, watching him get frustrated and run his fingers through his hair, evidently embarrassed.
"Tell me."
Gokudera turned around with hesitation, but relaxed slightly once he noticed her gentle smile radiating towards him.
"I just wish you didn't need to go back."
Iiya rested her head on his shoulder and tried her best to hold back her tears.
"Me too."
"Three years is pretty long."
"Yeah, don't remind me."
Sensing her sadness, he tightened his grip around her and kissed her forehead gently, running his fingers through her hair.
"I'd run to Italy to find you if I could."
Iiya looked up at him and smiled.
"I'd come back here to see you too... I will if I have free time."
"Then you'd better work hard to make that happen."
Iiya laughed as he tackled her onto the bed, causing them both to fall over. She felt his silver hair dance over her fingers as she pulled him towards her, giving him a kiss on the nose.
"Same to you, Hayato."
Gokudera looked down at her lying in his arms. It was getting late, yet she had not fallen asleep.
"Can't sleep..?"
Iiya shook her head.
"I just don't feel like it."
"Why?"
"We're gonna be apart in less than twenty four hours, and you look too worried..." Iiya reached up to trace his furrowed brows with her fingers.
"No, I don't." He looked away, obviously denying it.
Iiya stared at the cut on his arm, remembering how he had gotten it from about two weeks ago, when they were fighting the Varia members at the wedding. She touched the wound, which was still in the process of healing, and sighed. Gokudera touched the back of her neck, stroking the lines of the character imprinted there.
"Didn't know you had a tattoo there."
"I got it quite long ago. It's the chinese character for 'protect'."
Gokudera's fingers followed the chain around her neck, finding its way to the pendants hanging there, carrying the symbols of the Vongola and DS55.
"Hey, what if you find someone else while I'm away?"
"Idiot! It won't happen," Gokudera shook his head firmly. "You?"
"Not happening on my side either."
She held out her pinky, hooking it with his.
"I promise."
Iiya stood outside the jet, surrounded by the people she had met in Nanimori, including Tsuna and his guardians. She wasn't ready to say her goodbyes to the friends she had made, knowing she would miss every single one of them, but she knew it couldn't be avoided.
"Visit us when you're free, Iiya-chan!" Kyoko smiled.
"Haru can't wait to see you again!" Haru cheered, running forward to hug her, along with I-Pin and Kyoko.
Iiya glanced at Tsuna and his guardians.
"Thanks for everything, guys."
She went to each of them to give them a hug.
"See you all in three years time, I guess."
"See you real soon, Iiya!" Yamamoto laughed.
"Yes! Time will pass extremely quickly!" Ryohei nodded.
"Take care." Chrome smiled.
"I'll be waiting to defeat you properly." Hibari declared.
"Thank you for everything, Iiya-san."
Iiya glanced at Tsuna and smiled back.
"We'll be in touch!" He said.
"Iiya!" Lambo tugged on Iiya's sleeve. "Don't go! Stay and play with Lambo-san!"
"Haha I wish I could, Lambo!" Iiya laughed. "But I have to go back to Italy…"
"Stop it, Stupid Cow!" Gokudera chided him, trying to pull Lambo off her. "You're gonna pull her sleeve off!"
Tsuna noticed something red on Iiya's neck, instinctively pointing at it.
"Eh? What's that, Iiya-san?"
Iiya looked down and panicked immediately, pulling the collar of her jacket back up to cover the red mark. Everyone stared in bewilderment at her reaction, when Shamal smirked and threw his arm around Gokudera.
"Wow, Hayato!" He teased. "You went for it last night, huh?"
"ARGH GET OFF ME, YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN!" Gokudera shouted, pushing Shamal away while blushing furiously.
With that, the last person she had yet to bid farewell to was Gokudera. They stared at each other for a moment, before Iiya decided to break the silence.
"So… This is it, then."
"Yeah."
"Take care of yourself while I'm away."
"Sure."
Iiya shrugged, unsurprised by his one-worded replies. He was starting to look away from her, his hands going into the pockets of his jeans. "As expected." She gave an exasperated laugh and hugged him around his waist.
"Goodbye, Hayato. I'll miss you."
She let go of him and turned around, about to head up the staircase leading to the jet when she felt a hand tug her wrist, spinning her around. She felt two hands grasping her waist and her back, and something soft on her lips. She did not bother to resist, closing her eyes and taking in his scent for the last time, until they had the opportunity to meet again in three years time. Gokudera drew away from her after a while, leaning his forehead against hers and sighing.
"I love you, Iiya." He whispered. "Wait for me."
"Okay," she nodded, her hands running down his hair lovingly. "I'll be waiting for you in Italy then."
"Are you going to respond to my first line or not?" He asked in an annoyed tone, but Iiya knew exactly how he was feeling inside.
"Yeah." She smiled. "I love you too."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Edit: I chose to edit the middle section because after a week upon ending this story, it just didn't sit right with me. And since this story will always be here, I decided to change it. Changing it makes me feel better though, I think it makes the story flow a bit better and links better to the next chapter.
Tomorrow's the final chapter. Omg I can't believe it's already going to end :(
As for what's next... I'm probably going to write something non-linear. There were a lot of aspects I wanted to explore in this story. For one, I wanted to write a chapter on Tsuna and Kyoko but I never got to do that T.T I've actually also considered a triangle between Gokudera, Iiya and Yamamoto, but I have no idea how that would turn out. And more stuff regarding Gokudera and Iiya, and the whole DS55 (I actually wrote their profiles in a separate document). I'll probably start on it once I finish this, or maybe after I return from my holiday?
Thank you for supporting this story so far and reading this chapter :) I hope you've been enjoying this story! Do leave a review if you'd like to give any feedback on this story. Thank you so much and I hope you're looking forward to the final chapter! It's time to give them a nice ending :)