It was a peaceful day, nice and lovely, when a loud boom went off. A series of squeaks and flutters of short little wings subsequently followed.
"Yeah, you little shits," Hayato hollered out the window after the flock of yellow birds flying away. "Fuck off and never come back!"
Glad to be finally rid of those birds, Hayato made a move to put away his remaining dynamites when he noticed some of the looks that he was getting from the people outside of the window. "What?" Hayato snapped at them, failing to rein in his temper. It was busy last night at the bar, and as a result, Hayato barely caught three hours of sleep before he was rudely awakened this morning. Gokudera Hayato was not a happy teen at all.
The pedestrians jumped at his murderous look and tone, and quickly scurried away. Looking at them, Hayato could almost emphasize with why Hibari called other people 'crowding herbivores.'
Just when Hayato thought he would finally have some peace and quiet, the sound of someone banging insistently at the door slammed into his ears.
Hayato's vein throbbed.
"Who the fuck–?!" Hayato growled, wrenching the door to his dingy apartment open with one violent move, dynamites already in hand. He would fucking scare whoever it was at his door to scram so he could get his precious sleep. How can Hayato protect the Tenth properly if he wasn't awake?
The second the door was opened an inch, the person behind the door pushed their way in.
"The hell–?" Hayato said, before his eyes met another pair of equally furious eyes. Oh fuck. Hayato quickly used all his strength to push the door close and the person out of his apartment, but by the time Hayato attempted to do so, the woman had already slipped into the apartment. The door slammed close with the woman still inside, trapping Hayato with her.
Hayato quickly yanked the door back open. The woman slammed it close with one arm and then went as far as lean against the door. Her eyes then dropped to the dynamites in Hayato's hand.
Double fuck.
"So it was you," Hayashida Saya said lowly. "How many times do I need to tell you not to light the dynamites in the apartment?!" By the end of her sentence, her voice went up to a screech. She whirled around and Hayato sighed inwardly, already knowing what she was going to point out.
"Look at that!" she said, pointing at the wall that Hayato accidentally scorched with his dynamite some weeks ago. "That, that and that also!" she shouted, indicting at several of marks left separately by Hayato's mishaps with his dynamites.
"Calm down, lady," Hayato said, trying to be courteous to his landlady. She was making it exceedingly hard with her exaggerations though. "Those were accidents. How many times do I have to say it?"
"Oh, don't start that with me, Gokudera Hayato!" Saya said. Hayato inwardly winced at her tone. "I told you to stop and you go 'yeah, yeah, yeah' and never do! Even my five-year-old kid listens better than you."
Hayato bristled at the insult. "Listen here, woman—" he started.
"Oh, and now you are going to threaten me, are you? Go on," she challenged, putting her hands on her hips.
"You're crazy," Hayato said, shaking his head. "Just get outta my apartment."
"If I recall correctly, this apartment is mine," Saya replied. "What right do you have to kick me out?"
Hayato hissed, a headache forming in his head. "One, I'm renting it now, so it's mine, lady. Two, isn't this apartment actually your husband's?"
"His stuff is my stuff," Saya waved off dismissively. "The rent goes towards our daily life expenses anyway, which reminds me: you didn't pay this month's rent."
Hayato blinked in surprise. "I didn't? But I swear…"
Oh hell, Hayato thought. He knew he was cursing way too much this morning, but only expletives could correctly describe his situation now.
He didn't have money for the rent, or more accurately, he used it all up.
Hayato received his pay a week ago, which was just enough to cover his rent and his daily needs with a little leftover to go to the arcade with the Tenth and the baseball freak. But then he passed by the internet café a few days ago and decided to listen to some music.
Then on the music website, he saw an advertisement for an online store. He accidentally clicked it when surfing for another song and just when he was about to close it, he saw it. High quality dynamites on sale ones with free shipping.
Before he knew it, Hayato had already ordered a bunch. They arrived yesterday.
Hayato shifted the new dynamites in his hand guiltily.
"Give me another few weeks," Hayato said as understanding dawned on Saya's face.
"And now you don't have your rent," Saya stated.
"Three weeks," Hayato negotiated, clouds of drowsiness lifting from his brain. He quickly did some calculations in his head. "Actually, two and a half would be fine."
"What did you do with your money?" Saya asked, a skeptical look on her face. Not a good sign. "Bought drugs?"
"I don't touch those shit," Hayato hissed automatically, before quickly softening his voice again. You do not hiss at the person you were trying to persuade. You just don't. "I just bought some stuff," he said vaguely in a calmer tone.
"Does that have anything to do with that box labeled 'highly flammable' that arrived at your doorstep yesterday?" Saya questioned.
Hayato froze like a deer caught in the headlight.
"Right…" Saya said. "Not only do you blow up my apartment daily, but now you tell me you cannot pay your rent because you bought even more stuff to blow up my apartment."
Hayato winced inwardly. When she said it like that, it did sound bad.
Hayato cleared his voice awkwardly. "Look, lady—" he started, mind forming an argument for his stay.
Saya held up a hand. "You asked for three weeks right?"
"Two and a half only," Hayato corrected quickly. "Maybe even two."
"Well, you can take as long as you want," Saya said. "After you move out, that is."
"You can't do that to me," Hayato said when his mind finally recovered from his shock. "You can't."
Saya smiled, not even smugly, but kindly, like she was doing him a favor. "Look, I'll even be nice and give you two whole days, today and tomorrow, to move."
"No," Hayato stated, but there was nothing more he could say. There was no way he could earn enough money to pay his rent in a day, and his pride rebelled against loaning from anyone.
Knock, knock.
Saya went to open the door, and a smile bloomed across her face when she saw who it was.
"Dale," Saya said happily, leaning up to kiss her husband's cheek. She was careful to not jostle the bundle in Dale's arms. "Hello, Daiki," Saya cooed at her four months old baby.
"Saya, is anything wrong?" Dale asked. "You were taking so long."
"Nope," Saya said, gesturing for Dale to transfer Daiki into her arms. "We're done talking. Gokudera-kun is going to be outta here by tomorrow night."
Xxx
Dale blinked and looked at Gokudera, who looked shell-shocked, before glancing down at Saya again. "That's a little abrupt, isn't it?" Dale said slowly, knowing Saya had the tendency to just do whatever she wanted.
"Nope," Saya said again, rocking Daiki a little. "Come on, Dale, let's go. I can't believe you left Jiro at home all alone."
Dale gave Gokudera a nod, before following his wife and closing the door to the apartment behind him. "I was worried about you," Dale said to Saya. "Besides, I tucked Jiro in bed and made sure he was asleep before coming across the hall."
"Well, aren't you sweet, dear husband of mine," Saya said, grinning a little. Dale smiled back and kissed her.
"Are you sure you want to kick Gokudera-kun out of the apartment?" Dale asked a moment later. He unlock the apartment door for his wife and himself, before closing the door behind him.
"He'll be fine," Saya said dismissively. She walked into Jiro and Daiki's room to put Daiki into his crib, before moving over to Jiro's bed fix the blankets that he kicked off.
"You can't say for sure, can you?" Dale asked, walking up to Saya. He encircled her waist with his arms, and she leaned back against him.
"I can," Saya said. "I saw him once, at the mall with his friends. He didn't see me but he looked so happy to be with those two kids. There was a short kid with brown hair and another kid with black. If you have seen how they looked at Gokudera, you'll get it. Those friends," Saya sighed, "are those rare, ridiculously loyal bunch. Once you associate with them, there's no backing out."
Dale chuckled warmly. "You make it sound like a bad thing."
"Nope. It's good for Gokudera," Saya said. "Besides, serves him right for waking up Jiro and Daiki with his loud dynamites noises."
"Now that's more like the Saya I know," Dale laughed.
Saya huffed before saying, "But honestly, Gokudera is tough. I know he can overcome this." Her gaze dropped to her two slumbering children and a soft look entered her eyes. "I hope our kids can grow up to be just like him."
"Not like me?" Dale asked jokingly.
"Dale!" Saya hissed in annoyance, twisting around. Her husband swooped down and claimed a kiss. "Cheater," she said, but a smile lingered on her face.
"Well," Dale said, leaning forward again, "I do learn from the best."
Xxx
Hayato's mind whirled. Stupid, stupid, stupid. If only Hayato had curbed his desire to buy those extra high quality dynamites.
He forlornly dropped his gaze to the dynamites he had in hand, before sighing. Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk. It would be more helpful if he started thinking instead.
He essentially lost his apartment, so where could he stay now?
His first thought was Juudaime's house, but the stupid cow and I-Pin were already staying there. It was overcrowded as it was without Hayato cramping it even more.
The baseball freak's house then? Hayato discarded the idea as soon as it came. There was no way he could ask the baseball freak for help, even if his home probably had enough space.
Turf-head's home was definitely out of question, since Ryohei lived with his sister. There was no way Hayato could share living quarters with the woman Juudaime liked.
Hayato tried to think of another person he could rely on, but no such person came into his mind. Damn. Did he really know only that many people?
Just then, a loud shrill pierced his ear.
Hayato jumped up, deftly slamming his alarm clock to quiet it, before beginning to prepare for the day. Personal problems could come later. Right now, he needed to get ready so he could go to Juudaime's house to escort him to school.
However, ten minutes later found Hayato hurrying down the street.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Hayato cursed as he ran. Despite his best intention, he had started thinking over his living problems again and once he did, he just lost track of time. In the end, he still hadn't come up with a suitable solution.
Five minutes for five blocks. A minute for each and some blocks are longer than normal. Could he make it to Juudaime's house on time?
He screeched to a halt when a person suddenly ambled out into his direct path. Had Hayato been paying close attention, Hayato would have noticed the person was sliding back away from him even before he turned around.
"Whoah, Gokudera," a familiar voice said. Hayato directed his gaze up. "In a hurry?"
Yusuke looked down at Hayato curiously, and a scowl automatically made its way across Hayato's face.
"No, I'm just sprinting down the streets to enjoy the scenery," Hayato sarcastically sneered. He rolled his eyes and quickly walking around Yusuke with the intention of hurrying on his way, only to pause when he recalled his dilemma. Hayato looked at Yusuke, considering, causing Yusuke to quirk his eyebrow at him.
"What?" Yusuke voiced out, but Hayato simply shook his head and turned around, rushing away without a word.
He arrived at Jyuudaime's door just as he began to walk out.
"Good morning, Juudaime!" Hayato greeted.
Juudaime jumped for a second, before he relaxed when he saw it was Hayato. "Good morning, Gokudera-kun."
Hayato looked around. "Juudaime, where's Reborn-san?"
"Oh, he said he had something to do today," his boss said, "so he's not going to follow me to school."
"Is there anything I can help with?" Hayato asked, eager to show his worth.
"Erm…" Juudaime said, "I'm not sure." Upon seeing Hayato's down casted look, he added, "I'm sure Reborn can handle it himself."
Hayato was quick to agree. "Of course," he said. "Reborn-san is strong, after all. Juudaime, should we head to school now?"
"Ah, yes," Juudaime said. He took a few steps forward and as Hayato began to walk with him, he stopped.
"Juudaime, is something wrong?" Hayato asked, turning around when he saw Juudaime wasn't moving. He jumped a little in surprise and bit his lips lightly, as though considering.
Finally, he said, "Gokudera-kun, is everything is alright?"
Hayato blinked, at first confused. Then he recalled the trouble that he came upon just this morning over his living arrangement.
Juudaime must have sensed it through his Vongola's Intuition, Hayato thought.
Hayato couldn't help but feel touched that the Tenth notice that he was distracted by his living arrangement problem. At the same time, however, Hayato was supposed to help the Tenth out as his right hand man. To think Hayato was creating more worries for the Tenth…that certainly won't do.
Hayato smiled widely instead of answering, letting the smile cover up all his worries. "Please don't worry, Juudaime," Hayato said sincerely, "it's nothing."
The relief that instantly appeared on the Tenth's face was palpable, and that only reinforce Hayato's decision to not tell the Tenth about his problems. "If Gokudera-kun says so, then I guess it's really fine," Juudaime said, sounding glad. His tone turned sheepish the next second. "I guess I worried over nothing."
"No, Juudaime," Hayato quickly said when he heard the Tenth doubting his instincts, especially when it was correct. That wasn't what Hayato meant to do.
Jyuudaime looked at Hayato with surprise at his exclamation, and turmoil whirled within Hayato when he realized he had just corrected Jyuudaime. "W-what I mean is," Hayato said, stammering a little and trying to fix his mistake. Hayato's face slowly turned red as his mind thought of the perfect truthful explanation for him. "I'm happy that you care."
Juudaime blinked in bemusement for a moment, before he slowly turned red as well. "Erm…" he said, sounding undeniably flustered but also happy. "I – I."
Juudaime paused and took a deep breath, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to think of what to say. Finally, he said, "Gokudera-kun, we're friends, aren't we?"
"Of course!" Hayato exclaimed, before he paused because he didn't want to presume. He was Juudaime's right hand man. Can he be his friend as well?
Juudaime smiled at Hayato's quick answer, and Hayato watched in awe as all awkwardness seemed to leave the Tenth. "That's right. We're friends, so of course I care. I'm glad to know that there is nothing troubling you." His brows furrowed almost subconsciously again, as though his Vongola Intuition was trying to tell him the statement was not true. Hayato watched as the Tenth shook it off, still not used to the Intuition to trust it for what it was. "At the same time, if you do have a problem, I hope that you will tell me."
A sheepish look crossed Juudaime's face. "I know that I can't do much, Gokudera-kun. After all, I'm called Dame-Tsuna." Hayato growled lowly at the detested nickname. "E-even so, Gokudera-kun, you're my friend so if you have a problem, please tell me and I'll do my best to help you." A resolved looked entered his eyes, and the sincerity in his voice was unmistakable. "That's my promise to you."
A grin spread across Hayato's face as his chest bloomed with warmth. This…this was the man Hayato chose to follow. Sawada Tsunyoshi, the future Vongola Decimo.
Xxx
Hayato paused in his steps to his apartment when he saw who was about to enter her apartment as well.
Saya looked up from where she was fiddling with the lock. "Oh, hello, Gokudera. Back from school?"
"Yeah," Hayato said, taking out his keys.
I'm going to make some stew later," Saya said. "Come by for some later, alright?"
Hayato's stomach growled at the thought of Saya's scrumptious stew. A smirk spread across Saya's face, telling Hayato that she heard.
Hayato flushed a little. "Quit smirking, woman," Hayato growled to his door, quickly unlocking his door.
"How rude," Saya said. "I am treating you to stew, after all."
"And kicking me out of my apartment, yeah," Hayato growled, turning around to glare at her.
Saya shrugged casually. "Speaking of which, you found a place to stay yet?"
Hayato thought of the words he couldn't force out of his mouth, 'Can I stay at your place until I earn enough money to find a place to live on my own?' and turned towards his door again. He twisted the doorknob harshly. "Yeah," Hayato lied. "I just need to pack my stuff and then I'll be out of your hair by tomorrow."
"Good," Saya said, followed by the sound of her door opening. "Seven o'clock, alright? Be late and I'll see to it that you won't even get a grain of rice."
"Controlling woman," Hayato hissed, shaking his head as he entered his apartment. The moment his door closed behind him, his brusque façade dropped. What should he do?
Xxx
"Gokudera, did you find a place to stay yet?" Dale asked later that night. A sound to his right had him turning just in time to see Jiro sneaking some food for Daiki. "Jiro," Dale reprimanded, causing the older of his two boys to jump guiltily. "Daiki can't eat solid food yet."
Jiro shuffled his feet awkwardly. "But he looks hungry!"
"Jiro, your mother is warming the milk for Daiki as we speak," Dale said. "Come and sit down. Your mother cooked a lot of food today, so you better help us finish it."
His eldest son went with the attention span expected of a five-year-old and jumped into his seat, quickly digging into his food.
Dale shook his head in quiet amusement, before turning to Gokudera.
"Ah, sorry," Dale apologized. "Where were we at?"
"You asked me if I found a place to stay yet," Gokudera said politely. "Don't worry, Dale-san. I'm going to stay at a friend's place."
"Ah, that's good," Dale said. "I –"
"I told you he found a place," Saya exclaimed with a roll of her eyes, coming out of the kitchen with a bottle of warmed milk in one hand and a plate of barbequed ribs in the other. The barbequed ribs joined the four dishes that were already on the table. "But noo, you wouldn't believe me and had to ask Gokudera yourself."
"I just wanted to make sure," Dale said with a chuckle. "To be moving so abruptly… I was just worried Gokudera wouldn't find a place to stay."
"Eh?!" Jiro exclaimed, his mouthful of food spraying the area in front of him.
"Jiro!" both Dale and Saya exclaimed.
Jiro continued, heedless of his parent's admonishment. "Goku-nii is leaving?! Why?"
Saya put a hand to her hip. "Hayashida Jiro!" Saya said severely. Jiro cringed. "You better clean up that mess you made before you start eating again. We have a guest over! How can you tell the guest to eat after you sprayed saliva all over the food?"
"So now I'm a guest," Dale heard Gokudera murmur to himself. "Didn't she used to say I was an 'unwanted guest who kept on freeloading' off her meals?"
Dale struggled not to laugh. "Gokudera," Dale said as Saya continued to lecture Jiro. She was doing enough for both of them. "You know Saya loves it when you come over. You always so sincerely enjoy her dishes."
"Goku-nii," Jiro exclaimed, running back to the table with wet hands and a sponge. "Where are you going?"
"Staying at a friend's place," Gokudera said.
"Whyyy?" Jiro whined. "You can't help me with my homework now."
"That's all you care about, you brat?!" Gokudera demanded indignantly.
Jiro grinned sheepishly and the rest of the dinner was filled with light bickering and chatters.
Xxx
"Mom," Jiro said later that night. "Why is Goku-nii moving?"
"You asked that a dozen times, Jiro," Mom said.
"I know, but I don't get it," Jiro said. "I thought he likes living here!"
Mom hesitated for a moment, before finally bending down to Jiro's height. Jiro quiet down, knowing his mom was going to be serious. "Jiro, I'm not sure if he actually likes living here," Mom said. "He only lives at the apartment because he has to, but even if he likes it there, I don't think it's good for him."
"Why?" Jiro asked, not comprehending.
"Jiro baby," Mom said. A pout crossed Jiro's face. He was five now. Five! He wasn't a baby anymore. "How old do you think Goku-nii is?"
"A hundred!" Jiro exclaimed.
Mom hit Jiro on the head. "Fourteen, silly. He's only nine years older than you."
"That's sooo old," Jiro said.
Mom shook her head. "To you, maybe, but to me, he's still so young."
Jiro nodded like he understood, but he really didn't. "So?"
Mom shook her head again. "Jiro, can you imagine living by yourself in nine years?"
"Cool!" Jiro exclaimed.
Mom's eyes bored into him. "Are you sure?" Mom asked, her tone telling Jiro to think carefully. "If you live by yourself, you will have to cook your own food every day and do your own laundry. You'll also have to work to earn your rent. At fourteen, you're also still going to school, so you will have to do your homework on top of doing everything else that I mentioned. You are already complaining to me about how much homework you have. Can you imagine doing four or five times as much work?"
Jiro shivered at the thought. "Noooo!" He clambered up to his mom's lap and hugged her neck. "I want to live with you and Dad forever!"
A small smile crossed Mom's face at Jiro's words, even as she nodded severely. "All the stuff I told you before, Goku-nii is doing that all by himself now."
"No way!" Jiro exclaimed, leaning back to look at his mother with wide eyes.
"Yes way," Mom said.
"But that's soo hard!"
"Exactly," Mom said. "Living by yourself is not easy. I don't even know what his parents are thinking. I try to help him, baby, and invite him over, but there's only so much I can do. He's so prideful he wouldn't accept any help and I can't afford to go out of my way to help him, not when I still have to support my own family with Dale. If forcing him out of the apartment will make him live with a friend who he can share his burdens with, that's what I'll do. Jiro, do you understand?"
Jiro nodded, even though he really didn't.
Mom smiled, but it didn't look like a smile. It looked a little weird. People were supposed to smile when they were happy, so how come Mom's smile looked a little sad? Jiro didn't understand.
"It's okay," Mom said, hugging Jiro close to her chest. Jiro smiled at the warmth and hugged back. "One day you'll understand."
Side note: The story probably wouldn't contain any sort of romance between Reborn and Yusuke for a long while, simply because they're really still getting to know each other. Both of them aren't looking for a relationship right now, so no romantic feeling, and exhibiting sexual attraction is going to be strange when Reborn's physical appearance is five. They are growing closer, though. In the beginning, they're simply strangers and now they're somewhere stuck between being acquaintances and friends, or just in the he-fascinates-me-and-I'm-yet-to-be-sure-what-that-means category.
