A/N Ahoy!
And suddenly they were in middle school, right when canon-ically everything should've started. The next two, maybe three chapters will still be around these years, but you can expect the moment she enters high school, for everything mafia related to ramp up.
We have a some depressing thoughts here (teen angst and all), nothing I want to get too deep in, and the way Tsuna handles it is unusual (I mean normally you just wouldn't act like that, but hey why not).
Of course when dealing with Yamamoto Takeshi, the title has to contain the word 'rain' no? Haha...ha
~Chapter 5 – When it's Raining, Let the Rain Pour
"Hey Taniguchi-senpai, do you know who that is?" Once again Yamamoto found his eyes on her small form, somehow unable to forget the thinness of her wrist or the quiet tone of her voice.
"That?" Taniguchi squinted his eyes, following where the baseball ace was pointing, "Isn't that Dame-Tsuna, Yamamoto?"
"Dame-Tsuna?" The younger echoed, wondering if it was some sort of weird nickname. He knew his senpai wasn't one to pick on people, and the way he said it, so matter-of-factly, didn't really sit right with him.
"Well that's what everyone's been calling her for as long as I can remember." He explained.
"Why?" Takeshi questioned curiously. Wasn't it mean?
"Who knows," His senpai idly threw a ball into the air, catching it with his mitt as he spoke, "Someone must have started it during elementary and it stuck. She's never says anything about it so everyone keeps on using it… not that they would stop even if she did."
"I see…" He watched as she passed someone in the corridor, stumbling as they attempted to trip her. Without making a single fuss she straightened her books and merely moved on, ignoring the obvious snickers of the offenders.
"So what's with the sudden interest?" Taniguchi asked with a raised brow, "Most people either bully her or ignore her. In fact it looks like you didn't even know she existed until now." Whilst his words were said uncaringly, Takeshi couldn't help but feel uneasy with the whole situation.
"I just bumped into her yesterday." He answered vaguely. He recognized those that had walked into her, remember them as normal, friendly guys from the class over. Or at least they had been towards him. "Hey Senpai," Yamamoto began, idly changing the subject, "I feel like I haven't been improving much these days, do you have any tips?"
"You're the last one on this team that needs to improve," The older baseballer replied generously, "But if you're so bothered by it, putting some more effort in couldn't hurt."
"Dame-chan~" Yamamoto felt his head snap around as he heard the voice, eyes widening in disbelief, turning around to see the girl who had been plaguing his thoughts sitting only a few seats behind him. He couldn't believe the fact that they were even in the same class. How could he have not noticed?
"Dame-Tsuna, you should answer when spoken to." A particularly mean looking kid said, when the girl refused to look up from her worn book. The baseball star, as fantastic as his eyesight was, couldn't make out the title, lacking the knowledge to translate the foreign-looking language.
"Maa, maa guys," He raised his voice a bit, not really wanting to be a bystander of such obvious bullying... anymore that is, "We'll be late to our next class if we don't hurry." She pulled out her bookmark, an unusual looking feather, and closed he book shut. Her head tilted up ever so slightly, and he had to wonder if she was looking at him behind her fringe.
"Ah, Yamamoto's right." As if he spoken the magic words their class filed out, chatting amongst one another loudly, with the exception of he and Tsuna. The girl packed up slowly, her fingers fumbling more than once. It seemed her clumsiness wasn't a lie as he watched the girl knock her pencil case over, spilling its contents onto the floor. Forever the helpful classmate, he immediately went to help her.
"P-please don't mind me." Tsuna stuttered out, her voice exactly as he remembered. Gentle and warm, it was a honeyed tone that wasn't quite as airy or high as the other girls, utterly enchanting in it's rareness.
"It's fine," He gave her his best smile, noticing her skin flush red, "Are you alright, Tsuna-chan?"
"Tsuna-chan!?" Her voice reached a fairly high note, and she instantly clamped her hand over her mouth.
"Haha…was that rude of me?" He wondered, "I just figured calling you Dame-Tsuna would be worse, and since I don't actually know your name..."
"Ietsuna, Sawada Ietsuna," The brunette gave, breathing methodically to calm her racing heart. Why was Yamamoto Takeshi, the ever-popular baseball ace, even talking to her? She could feel her face burning, utterly thankful she had her hair to hide behind.
"I think I like saying Tsuna more." Yamamoto commented as he felt the name roll off his tongue. She blushed harder if that were even possible. Quickly Tsuna picked up the rest of her things, ignoring each and every time they touched hands, which was too often for her poor heart.
"Thank you for your help, but we should get going Yamamoto-kun." She stated, running through her words as if she couldn't get away fast enough.
"Hai, Hai." He watched her dash through the doors with a goofy grin, somewhat surprised when she poked her head back in not even seconds later.
"And Yamamoto-kun," She began, nervously biting on her bottom lip, "Don't push yourself too hard."
He should have listened to her, completely regretting the extra hours after school he had put into training. Ironically, despite his teammate's words, the extra effort had hurt. It seemed in his overzealous practise he was careless enough to have gotten in a small accident. One that, whilst wasn't life-threatening, was bad enough to rob him of his dominant arm for the next few months. A broken arm. It was harmless enough that his father had sent him on his way after a small lecture, angrier at the fact he wouldn't be getting more help around the restaurant. The doctor had called him lucky. His arm would heal perfectly in due time and he could then return to baseball. But he had to question if he even wanted to.
The lack of results and his dropping average made his injury seem like a blessing, an irrefutable excuse that gave him more than enough time to think, to realistically re-evaluate his life. "I might not be able to play again." He had jokingly told his teammates, and through their pity and sympathies he thought he saw something else. Merely days after those words had left his mouth he had lost contact with his team, most of its members forgetting about him as they competed for the freed ace position. These were his friends Takeshi told himself, but while they still smiled back at him, he had never felt so isolated seeing the lack of warmth; of something else in their eyes other than blankness.
Meanwhile, taking a break from athletics had forced him back into the academics of school where he truly despaired. His grades were horrific and he hardly understood a thing they taught. For him it had all been fine so long as he had baseball. So long as he was good at the sport he could overlook how dismal he seemed to be at everything else. Because it was fun, and he had had fun, and it was still fun, wasn't it? But what if he had lost that talent, if he was just stagnating at a child's level, then wasn't he useless? He had tried to imagine his future and nothing seemed to come up. How could even begin to catch up when the work seemed as daunting as climbing up a never ending staircase? In reality the easiest option was to simply stop.
"Get moving, Takeshi." His father levelled him with look, one that made the teen feel like the man knew what was going through his head. He felt a little ashamed, and quickly pushed it all to the furthest parts of his mind.
"Right…" He laughed and smiled. He moved back behind his register, still able enough to man it with his left arm, "Can I help you?"
"Ah, I'll get the usual…" The teen blinked in surprise as the customer finally registered in his mind. It was a bit ridiculous and still a bit weird that he had never noticed her until just a little while ago. A classmate, who was in his homeroom, and even frequented the restaurant enough to warrant 'the usual'.
"Coming right up, Ietsuna-chan." His father replied cheerfully, already halfway through the order, his knife strokes as amazing as ever as they sliced through the fish. There wasn't much to say between the two of them, and the younger Yamamoto was feeling a bit too tired to try and strike up a conversation.
"Are you ok?" She asked. Tsuna didn't meet his eyes, but it still felt as if she was staring at him… or rather through him.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," He patted the white cast solidly, "Doc says it'll fix itself up in no time."
"That's not what I meant." She told him softly, shaking her head with a sigh.
"Here you go!" His father cut in, handing her the bag before shoving his son out from behind the counter, "Go with her Takeshi, and make sure she gets back home safely."
"It's fine really-" She failed to make a hasty retreat and her insistence fell on deft ears.
"Alright." Takeshi replied, trailing after her and out of the store. "Ne, Tsuna-chan," He called after her, "What did you mean before?" She was quiet and for a second he thought maybe she wouldn't answer him.
"You," She struggled to find the words, biting at her bottom lip in frustration, "What's wrong?"
"Nothin-"
"Don't lie to me Yamamoto-kun." The seriousness in her voice stopped his half-formed smile. So he chose to frown instead, feeling a sudden anger rise in him. What did she know? Who was she call him out on his lies? He was fine, whether or not she or his father believed him. "That's better," She continued bringing a finger to tap her lips, "People smile when they're happy and frown when they're not. It's weird if your just smiling all the time, and as tiring as it is for me to watch, it must feel worse."
"I see." His feelings, good or bad, seemed to drain out of him. Yeah, he was feeling a bit more exhausted these days. His face fell into a sort of neutral expression for the rest of the trip, his tensed muscles also loosening slightly.
"We're here." They stopped in front of a modest, two-storied home, and she led him inside without word.
"Welcome home Tsu-chan!" Takeshi looked between Tsuna and her retreating back, to her warm and welcoming mother, "Oh, Takeshi-kun is it?" She fluttered around him, pushing a cup of water into his hands and seating him at the table. They chatted briefly, and he allowed himself to soak in her refreshing enthusiasm before finding his excuse to leave. He really hadn't wanted to, but there was only so long he could intrude for.
"Yamamoto-kun," Tsuna, who had all but left him to fend for himself, showed him to the door, "This is for you." She pressed a cool jar into his hands.
"Lemons?" He eyes it curiously, looking at the yellow slices floating in an amber liquid.
"They're good for fatigue." She told him with a faint hint of red on her cheeks.
"Did you hear?" A noisy voice shouted through the hallways, "Looks like Yamamoto's going to jump off the roof." His statement had students rising from their seats, chattering loudly as they rushed up the stairs, all eager to see what was going on. Tsuna, whilst she didn't think it right or proper to crowd the suicidal teen, couldn't help but find herself lost in the flow of students. In all honesty it wouldn't have taken too much for her to turn around and walk away, but there was a nagging feeling that seemed to not want to go away. Guilt or something else she wasn't quite sure. Recently she couldn't see the gleam of blue that used to linger over his heart… either she couldn't see it or it was gone. And that meant something, what it was though, she hadn't really known until now.
"Hey Yamamoto, this isn't funny."
"You're taking this too far."
"Don't do it."
"Don't jump."
The concerns of the student body sounded like white noise to her. All buzz and no meaning. It was a fragile balance that no one wanted to test, keeping a safe distance and offering ambiguous sympathies. She wasn't one to speak, but she didn't think anyone here could understand what was going through his mind. Yamamoto stood silently, with his back turned to them on the opposite side of the rusted fence, looking out at the expanse of sky in mock peace. She looked up too, it was a beautiful clear sky, an expanse of blue though none of it matched the colour he had lost. She couldn't find it's match in flowers, cloths or paint, and slowly Tsuna realized that if he fell she would never see it again. It was heart wrenching beyond her understanding and she couldn't help but feel what a pity that would be.
"Are you going to jump?" She asked in a clear voice, stepping out of the crowd and away from the warning hisses and grasping hands reaching to pull her back. She could not compare his problems with her own, knowing very little about them, but she had never considered death a viable option.
"Saa, probably." Yamamoto deemed her worthy of his reply, looking over his shoulder in interest. It was the first time anyone had actually asked him about his plans. He hadn't realized when he had climbed over the fence, and had only really considered jumping after waves of students had begun shouting at him to not.
"Well, that's a shame." The girl that had briefly fascinated him came closer, stopping when they were only a few steps apart, "Can I have it then?" Tsuna felt detached from the whole situation, as if the one speaking wasn't her, even though deep down the voice spoke the truth. They hadn't even made it out of school yet, and he was already starting to break. There was a hole in his heart, one that he couldn't fix by himself, and it was like a cracked glass full of water that was quickly flowing out, draining him of his hopes, his dreams, his will to live. And Yamamoto was probably the one who broke it in the first place, carelessly hurtling into an early, meaningless demise.
Ietsuna could see the hole, well she couldn't actually, but her gut told her that it was there. Maybe he was missing pieces, scattered here and there, but she couldn't see those, not at all, so she settled for the next best thing. She reached out and held onto it, carefully but firmly grasping the metaphorical cup in her hands, and not allowing anymore to leak out between her fingers.
"What?" The chattering stopped as everyone seemed to hold their breath. This was Dame-Tsuna, the one they belittled, and the one who currently held all their attentions.
"Your life." A breeze blew past, pushing back her hair, and revealing to Yamamoto the rest of the face he had been so curious about. He wanted to retort, to say something, anything, but that look in her amber eyes had his mouth sewn shut. He knew for a fact that being taller, he was the one looking down at her, and yet she seemed so far above him. "If you don't want it, if you're just going to throw it away," She frowned more upset than angry, "Then I'll take it, because I do," It took a moment for the words to settle in, but when they did there was outrage. She drew shocked shouts from the crowd, of resentment, disbelief, and fury, as they threw a collective tantrum. As for the one who should have felt the most incensed… well he was the only one she really heard, her attention wholly focused on him.
"Really? Ha…ha, haha," He chuckled loudly, his fingers sliding through the holes in the fence to hold himself up. He laughed himself out, emptying all of his pent up emotions with each breath. Tsuna barely caught it, but the flash of blue was unmistakable. She released the breath she had unknowingly been holding, letting her shoulders slump in relief. "I feel like an idiot." Takeshi stated quietly, his words never reaching the sea of murmuring students behind her. "I don't even think I would have jumped," He added glancing down before back to her, "It's actually a bit terrifying over here."
"All the more reason to come back over," She told him with a smile, a smile that came from the deepest parts of her heart, something only reserved for certain people.
"Geez," He turned away from her and tilted his head up, feeling his face heat up even in this situation, "You better take responsibility for this…" He mumbled quietly, keeping it to himself.
A/N Thank you for reading.
I'd like to think if Tsuna was a girl, that she'd have a crush on Takeshi in the beginning, just like how in canon he had a thing for Kyoko.
Let it be known that this will turn out harem-like, though each of her suitors play their own special role for her. (Though i wonder how the split will work. I'd like to try for equality, but I don't think the heart quite works like that...though maybe Ietsuna's does)
