Chapter Twelve – A Glint of Steel
"Oh." The noise that Tsuna made was soft and barely audible, but his next words croaked louder. "Oh, shit."
A shaking hand lifted to his neck, fingers brushing a slim protrusion of metal that was embedded under his skin. The warm, slickness of blood poured over his fingertips and, like a puppet that had had its strings cut, he was crumbling to the floor.
Ken cackled in an ugly manner as Gokudera made a high-pitched noise of distress and darted to Tsuna's side, fingers hovering over the needle.
"Carotid artery," Chikusa murmured, hands lowering slowly. "Fatal injury."
"Nice shot!" Ken grinned, elbowing his counterpart, but Chikusa simply frowned.
"We weren't meant to kill anyone, Ken," Chikusa reprimanded quietly, stepping away from his exuberant partner.
"But it's a bonus, right?!"
As Chikusa heard Tsuna gurgle over the blood in his mouth, at Gokudera's soft, unheard but soothing words as he clasped the Decimo's hand, Chikusa wasn't so sure.
The stark contrast of the blood against Tsuna's pale skin seemed to stick in his mind and then abruptly faded away. Chikusa couldn't even remember what he had been doing as Ken slung an arm around his shoulder, chattering aimlessly as he guided him the other way.
(Not too much later, when they became unlikely allies against a force much greater and more threatening, Ken would remember the memory of laughing at someone else's undue suffering with a bitter taste in his mouth.
Chikusa didn't know how to beg for forgiveness when memories of a death from his hands returned to him, he who had suffered and watched as others died and had vowed to never take a life, but Tsuna had simply smiled on the day that he had remembered and accepted him all the same. It still took days for his trembling hands to be able to touch a weapon again, regardless of the circumstances.)
"I had heard there had been an escape," Reborn murmured. "I didn't realise they would reach here so soon, or target Tsuna immediately."
Absentmindedly, he twirled the bloodstained needle between his fingers as Tsuna rested in the bed before him, Gokudera perched on the edge and dabbing blood away from Tsuna's collar. Then he passed the needle to Leon, who flickered a tongue at the tip of it and immediately scampered into Reborn's shirt.
"Poisoned, too."
"So at least the Tenth didn't suffer," Gokudera said softly, his lips barely moving. "But I couldn't stop him from being ki-ki – "
"If it makes it easier for you, call it an injury," Reborn advised, tucking the needle into his sleeve and away from sight. Even as he watched, Tsuna shuddered all of a sudden, and then his chest began to rise and fall with soft breaths.
Gokudera settled back with his bloodied cloth and watched reverently as Tsuna made a soft snuffling noise and rolled into a position on his side as if to get comfortable in sleep.
Not even a minute later, Tsuna was opening his eyes, revealing a sliver of orange that briefly startled Reborn before his eyes faded back to their normal colour and Tsuna's eyes opened fully, a look of panic chasing across his face.
"It's okay," Gokudera said immediately. "You're home now. They left after you were injured."
Tsuna's fingers moved to his neck almost, but Gokudera caught his hand in his own.
"Everything is okay now," Gokudera repeated, insistently pressing Tsuna's hand back to the mattress, his other arm lifting to curl around Tsuna's shoulders to help him sit up.
"Do you remember what happened?" Reborn interjected.
"We went to see the people that attacked Ryohei," Tsuna said slowly, voice croaking softly before he cleared his throat. "And then – " and Reborn watched as Gokudera grimaced as Tsuna's hand continued twitching in his, a desperation to touch where the wound had once been.
"Gokudera, are you okay?" Tsuna eventually asked and Gokudera tried his best not to lose his composure.
"As he said, they left after your injury," Reborn interrupted, and then gently bopped Tsuna on the top of the head. "A mafia boss should always be aware of his surroundings. While it is unlikely for you to be left by your subordinates, you should always know how to take care of yourself when others aren't there!"
Before Tsuna could reply or complain, Yamamoto stuck his head through the doorway and cheerfully exclaimed, "Tsuna! You're awake!"
As he eased into the bedroom, Tsuna noticed he had a tray holding a plate of sandwiches and a glass of water, cold enough for condensation to bead on the side of it.
"You missed lunch, so I helped your mum clean up and then made some sandwiches for you. I'd've made sushi, but we're not in the right place for that!"
"Y-Yamamoto-kun?" Tsuna asked.
"He showed up after the others left," Gokudera explained quietly. "And helped me carry you home, as I was hurt."
"Hurt?!" Tsuna twisted to look at Gokudera in horror.
"Only a little! I got hit by two of the needles when trying to stop you from being hit, but I've already been treated and seen to, don't worry Tenth!"
"I'm going to worry, Gokudera-kun! You're special to me, and it's not as if you can – can just get back off and w-walk it off like I can!"
Gokudera swallowed abortively a handful of times, blinking rapidly, as if trying to hold back tears, murmuring, "That's beside the point, Tenth. Just because you can 'walk it off' doesn't mean I like to see you suffer."
Tsuna's mouth twisted into a bitter expression, but it was wiped from his face as Yamamoto sat next to Gokudera on the edge of the bed and planted the tray of food firmly on Tsuna's lap.
"Come on, enough of all that! You should eat and regain your strength, huh? There's still people walking around beating others up and we promised Reborn we'd put a stop to it together."
"Reborn?!" Tsuna twisted to glare and was flicked between the eyes.
"It comes from a higher position than I, we discussed it while you were asleep. We're after an escaped criminal called Mukuro Rokudo, and the Ninth demands his recapture. You are expected to follow these orders, to show your competence and valour as a future leader."
Tsuna stared down at his sandwich and curled a hand loosely around his glass of water. Then, unexpectedly and unrepentantly, he tossed the contents over an unsuspecting Reborn.
Sorry for the wait on this everybody!
And a big thanks to eternal blossoms for betaing this chapter for me and cleaning up the mess I'd made of it!