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Five years old Tsunayoshi had one friend and they were the best of pals despite their age differences.

"Toji-san!" he called cheerily as he raced with a small backpack on his back into the room at the end of the hall. The wooden floor creaked slightly beneath his feet and he nearly slammed the sliding doors open as he popped into the room.

The owner of the room was sprawled out on the tatami. The dark haired teen's green eyes snapped open and his muscles tensed for a moment.

Tsuna ignored the odd tension as he rocketed himself towards the older boy's chest. He could feel the hard muscles beneath him relaxed and the hand that was aiming to grip his throat went down to catch him in an embrace.

"Watch it," Zenin Toji complained while he laid back on the floor, but he made no attempt to push Tsuna off. "What are you doing here anyways? Isn't your mom going to be worried if you disappear for too long?"

"I told Mama I was going on an adventure with a friend. Mama made me some desserts for me to share with you!" Tsuna announced proudly as he pressed his ear to the other boy's chest. Good, good. Toji-san's heart is beating as strongly as it should. He doesn't smell the rusty scent of blood either. It means that Toji has healed from the wounds Tsuna saw last time. He had lost a lot of blood then and Tsuna was sure he was lying when he said the cuts weren't as deep as they looked.

A dark chuckle came from above him. Tsuna felt a hand ruffling his hair roughly.

"Just be glad that no one comes around these parts of the house. If you get caught it's going to be hassle getting you out."

It was true. No one ever comes near this part of the Zenin house hold. The rooms here were small and dusty while the court yards were rarely taken care of either. The heating system doesn't deliver this far in the winter and it faces the sun directly for most of the day in the summer. It was practically near abandoned since it was so far from the other essentials too. The only saving grace was that it was close to the storage, where the Zenins kept a lot of random objects—both cursed and non-cursed.

That gave Tsuna the opportunity to come and go without people noticing.

"I sneaked in just like you taught me. No one saw me coming."

There was this strange cursed mirror in the storage. It wasn't a very powerful one and the Zenins probably already forgot about it already. It was connected to another one Tsuna found half buried in a worn out shrine behind his elementary school. He had accidentally fell through it one day and ended up meeting Toji-san, who was sent to clean up the place as a punishment for whatever sad excuse the jujutsu sorcerers used just to bully him.

Apparently the mirror will trap people in it but somehow Tsuna was unaffected.

Toji-san said it was because he doesn't have any cursed energy so the mirror doesn't detect him as a potential prey. Tsuna didn't really understand it. Well, the rules of how jujutsu and curses work were hard to understand even for the best of brains so he can't really be blamed.

The hand on his head was softly playing with his hair. Tsuna lifted his head and saw Toji smiling at him with half-closed eyes.

"You told your mom you were going on an adventure?"

Tsuna nodded.

"Alright, let's go find some then." Toji suddenly scooped Tsuna up and headed out of the room.

"Toji-san, I can walk on my own." He kicked his feet and wiggled his body, trying to get himself free from the older teen's iron grip.

"Pipe down, brat. All the good stuff would be gone by the time you get there yourself." Toji was currently holding Tsuna under his arm as they sneaked into the main kitchen for the Zenin Clan. His strides were wide and his pace fast. It was definitely faster than Tsuna could run. There weren't anyone around in the kitchen since there was still a bit of time left until dinner. The ones responsible would be out front prepping the dinning area.

Toji set the kid down when he was sure they would have the kitchen to themselves.

"Alright, eat up," he said while mentioning towards the few prepped dishes already set out. There were some steaming fried chicken on the counter so he snatched a piece into his mouth before popping another one inside Tsuna's.

"Isn't taking things without asking first impolite?" Tsuna huffed while trying to swallow the meat. His tongue burns slightly from how hot it was but it was juice and tender so he didn't want to waste it.

"It's better than eating the left overs. No body will notice anyways." Toji shrugged and folded his hands into the wide sleeves of his kimono. "For people like us with no curse energy, we're like the invisible men."

"Invisible is cool."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, no one notices when we sneak around. It's like we're ninjas." Tsuna took another piece of fried chicken. "It'd be even better if I can have heavenly restriction too."

There was a pause as silence filled the air. Toji bent down and stared at Tsuna in the eyes.

"Why would you want that?" he asked quietly. His lips were pursed into a thin line and the scar on the corner of his mouth made his expression darker than normal.

It didn't scare Tsuna though. "Then I can do all those cool things Toji-san can do! And I won't hurt myself as often so Mama wouldn't have to worry about me as much."

Toji cocked his head to the side suddenly and a grin split across his lips.

"Time to run," he announced.

Tsuna felt a strong tug on his collar and his feet were off the ground before he knew it. Clasping his hands over his mouth to prevent the screams from escaping, Stun giggled silently while the wind rustled against his skin. They were far away from the crime scene before the Zenin Clan members even got close.

Tsuna wrapped an arm around Toji's neck as they hopped from roof top to roof top. The Zenin Clan was a big place and Tsuna hadn't had the chance to explore all of it yet.

They shared the sweets Nana made while sitting outside the storage house. Toji let him held a fly head (he still had no idea where the older boy got it from). Its got creepy beady eyes and soft wings. It tried to punch and bite Tsuna, which nearly caused him to let go. Meanwhile, Toji sat there laughing even as Tsuna yelped for help.

"How come I can see the cursed spirits if I don't have heavenly restriction or curse energy?" He asked while struggling to keep the little monster contained.

"No idea. Maybe you've just been too close to death for too many times." Finally, Toji reached a hand out and grabbed the fly head from Tsuna.

He thought back to the multiple times where he had been chased by a mad dog, fallen off the stairs, got hit in the head by different types of balls. The more he thinks about it, the more it was feeling like the truth.

Toji pinched Tsuna's cheek to pull him back to reality.

"It's getting late. Off you go," he ushered, "and tell your mom I said thanks for the dessert."

Tsuna looked up at him. "Mama wouldn't mind if you come visit sometimes. Then you can compliment her cooking in person."

Truth to be told, she probably thought Toji-san was his imaginary friend.

"Maybe when you get older or when I get the hell out of this dump." Toji scratched his head with a frown. Tsuna knew why he was hesitant, the Zenins weren't exactly kind to him and they sure have some real foul things to say about people without a talent for jujutsu.

"Toji-san," Tsuna jumped and wrapped his arms around the teen's neck. They sat there, against the wall while the setting sun painted a layer of orange hue over everything across the horizon. "I can't do much but I'll always be there when you need me."

"Yeah? Those are some big words for a pipsqueak like you." Toji's tone was lined with a hint of bitterness but his hold around Tsuna was strong and tight.

Five years old Tsunayoshi had one friend. They were the best of pals despite how different they were in appearances, age, and personality.

Nothing was ever going to separate them.

They were almost like a family after all.