Word Count: 5,562
Daiki was less than pleased as Xanxus dragged him along the busy streets of their town, the surrounding clocks tsking with their chimes in reprimand, each face reading that they should both have been behind their desks in their respective Primary schools.
But, of course, Xanxus hated distance.
Their hands were firmly linked together by the fingers as they travelled down cobblestone paths, the sky overcast with clouds as Winter wheezed sickly cold breaths through the alleys and between buildings. As far as Daiki was aware, the two youths had no real destination, just wandering the little slice of town they knew like the back of their hands.
"I have homework I need to hand in," the Sun grumbled as his companion paused their journey to eye a sweets display, the owner already hovering around with suspicion.
"You already did," Xanxus scoffed, looking at some caramels as he licked his lips.
"You were stalking me again."
He didn't respond further and just kept his hold on the other as Daiki looked off, finding interest in something else across the shop. Xanxus hummed to himself wordlessly and enjoyed the warmth in his palm, seven hours without it too long when the draw of it was only a block away. He knew he pissed off his teachers to high heaven with his temper, his restlessness and lack of regard, but when he one of three students in the school who couldn't afford their stuffy green and white uniforms, they slowly cared less about whether or not the street rat even showed up to class.
Maybe if he had been able to go to Daiki's school and sit up against a copper side, the two of them clad in maroon and gold, then he could have bit his tongue and sat his ass down for those insufferable hours. The cards and coins didn't fall that way, however, so Xanxus bared his teeth at his peers and fled the low, rusted gates to clamber through freshly painted windows and reclaim what was his.
"Too tight," Daiki snapped, sinking blunt nails into the Sky's skin as his grip clenched with thought.
"Wimp."
Golden eyes slashed his way, and a shiver scrambled up his spine, the burn of punctures along his fingers adding to the haze in his head. The young Wrath bit the inside of his cheek and turned back to his candies, attention drawn to displays of caramel and chocolate, wondering how sweet they'd be on his tongue.
"Xanxus."
It was whispered directly into his ear, warm breath brushing over his cheek and throat as the Sun came to stand directly against him. But the voice was stern, and it demanded attention, so he turned wine eyes to the other from under his lashes.
"There's someone watching us, we may need to leave," he whispered, and Xanxus smiled like they were sharing a secret.
"You think she's a bad adult?"
"Maybe," Daiki murmured before they both turned as heels clicked behind them.
A short woman with an unspectacular face smiled down at the two children with a gleam in her eye that Xanxus recognised, his mind replacing her gentle makeup with the drunken leers of the men his mother drained the money of night after night. The woman looked between them and smiled further, her teeth perfect.
"Well, hello. Shouldn't you two be in class now?" she asked, bending forward to put her hands on her knees.
"We're on an excursion," Daiki answered politely, hinting to people waiting for them; a complete and utter lie. "But Toni got hungry and dragged me to the lollie store."
"No, you wanted lollies too!" Xanxus pouted, their play coming with practised ease. Then he grumbled and crossed his arms, pulling the other's hand as he refused to let go even in his 'huff'. "We should go find the others, recess is nearly over."
"Yeah, come on," the Sun agreed, tugging the little wrath away from the racks and giving the looming woman a tight smile. "Bye, miss."
"...Why don't you two pick something out? I'll buy you both something each," she offered.
"No thank you," Daiki denied, and Xanxus remained quiet as his hand was crushed warningly.
"Oh, come now, surely something here sparks your fancy?" the woman pressed, looking between them, trying to find the weaker one.
"No," Xanxus shot back when her eyes landed on him, his vermillion gaze making her smile fall a fraction.
"But every little boy loves sweet things!" she exclaimed, cupping her face in a way that made her pinky tug on her bottom lip.
"Miss is going to call my mum if she finds out we're gone, come on," the cobalt boy urged, a mask of nervousness donned as an excuse to begin pulling the wrath towards the door and away from the woman.
"I can walk you back, if you'd like," she offered, standing to her full height and taking steps toward them. "It's not safe for little boys to be walking around alone, some strange man might come up to you."
"No. Thank you," Daiki denied again, his voice cutting through the air and, finally, the store owner looked up from counting his coins to see the scenario.
"Hello, is something going on here?" the thin pole of a human asked, walking around from behind the counter to join them. "Did something happen?"
"Oh? No, no!" the woman laughed, tucking her chin in demurely.
Xanxus and Daiki dropped their guise at the moment, both of them finally seeing that their plan A wasn't going through. The Wrath glared full force and bared his teeth in an angry sneer; the woman pausing her giggles as she felt the lethal enmity begin to radiate off the child.
Then Daiki turned to the man beside them and said, clear as day, "We don't know this woman."
There was an audible click as her jaw snapped shut and her eyes widened, her efforts to pointedly avoid the other adult's gaze showing she wasn't used to being caught.
"I - Well, I was just offering to buy you some sweets, no need to be so rude! Gosh," she huffed and stormed out of the shop.
. . .
Xanxus was fluffing the pillows on Daiki's bed, preparing their space for comfortable sleep as the Sun idly skimmed through the newspaper, the past week's events printed out for him. The Sky huffed and flopped down on his side, waiting impatiently for warmth, glaring the whole time.
Eventually, Daiki glanced up and rolled his eyes, a sigh of exasperation slipping from between his lips before he stood and folded up the paper, dropping it on his side table before he crawled into the bed.
Xanxus murmured as he was tucked in his favourite position, cheek pressed the Sun's shoulder as arms wrapped reluctantly around him. He turned his head and pressed his nose to a caramel throat, inhaling deeply.
The Wrath remembered the way the woman's eyes had darkened when they were directed upon Daiki, when they had scanned his copper features. He growled and tightened his arms around the other's waist as he remembered the sight of her tonguing the back of her teeth when she smiled- And he only stopped when Daiki squeezed him once and pulled the blankets higher on their shoulders.
Dear brother Daiki,
Belphegor is in much better health and has, in fact, written his own letter to you! Leviathan has as well, the poor boy is feeling rather guilty for his behaviour previously and has taken the whole day re-writing a page of apologetic babbling. So, enjoy that!
Alas, your darling sister is still wandering the barren lands of a loveless desert, no amount of those 'Dating Apps' seem to be showing me signs of that heavenly oasis! So, I'm still rockin' the single life!
(I'm going to die alone, I swear. I've eaten seven buckets of ice cream this week. My skin has never been worse.)
Anyway! We're all so excited for you to come home in two weeks! You'll be helping us put up the Christmas tree, I hope you know! It'll be so much fun!
There's so much to tell you, but I'll make this letter short for the others. Speak to you more soon, deary!
Your big sister,
Lussuria 3
Daiki smiled as he relaxed back on a pile of pillows, incense staining the air a vanilla fragrance. He lowered the first letter to the pile beside him and looked to the pup on his chest, its fur once again the original snowy colour and ear on the mend.
Mephistopheles rumbled at the soft touch as he dozed, the open door letting the sunshine fall upon them through the afternoon.
"You okay there, Miphy?" he asked the tattered mutt, Italian slipping out easily to sooth the creature of white times.
The rogue Sun huffed and reached for the next letter, lightly petting the snowy highlander as it all but liquified atop him.
Dear Ottone!
The Prince demands your presence post haste! With the Prince's returned health he expects to enjoy time and play with his servants! So, return to the Varia immediately!
His Royal Highness,
Prince Belphegor
"To the point," he chuckled, playing with the expensive parchment before taking up the final, and by far lengthiest letter which held the Varia Lightning's crest and erratic handwriting.
Mephisto shifted his maw and got something akin to a deep croon to tumble from the Sun's throat as he got comfortable again with the Oyabun's movements distilling him. He huffed once and settled again, flopping bonelessly across Daiki's stomach.
Dear Daiki,
The way I acted, though justified
How are
I apologised for the previous letters sent your way the past few occasions. I was less than collected and allowed emotions to cloud my better judgement. Please don't hate us or me and come visit us soon! It feels near directionless without our Sky or his Man and Squalo's been run dry!
Daiki blinked as he read the next few pages, the similar train of apologetic and near pathetically scribbled pleads was the bulk of the letter, before he came to the last page and tossed the rest on the read pile without so much as a scan.
But I'm still so confused; still, have so many questions. If Boss were here, he'd say that you had a reason for your actions, though I'm still trying to figure it out.
Daiki, why did you agree to marry?
You could have easily told them no. You could have denied and refused, even the Boss could barely move you when you make your choice - with no little amount of trying.
All of this could have been avoided, so why?
The rogue Sun looked away from the paper and discarded it without finishing the message to shakingly scribbled onto the page, a pressure building in his temples. He exhaled deeply and let his head loll back on the pillows he had leant up against, eyes falling closed.
His hand came to rest on the dog's snowy fur and stroked it, feeling how soft it was now free of matts, dirt and oil.
"Oh, Mephistopheles," Daiki sighed, getting the time's good ear to twitch in recognition. "Why can't anyone see the problem?"
"Going to help out Nana-san today?" Mao asked warmly, watching Daiki shrug on a denim jacket.
"Yeah," he hummed, slipping on his glasses and checking the lens for smudges, wrinkling his nose and rubbing the glass with the material of his shirt. "I'll be out all day, so don't worry about me. You wanted to catch up with your own friends, right?"
"Mhm," she agreed, coming to stand before him and smooth down his white shirt, "It's good to see you so happy nowadays."
"Was I not before?"
"You were...sadder," Mao breathed, looking up at her to-be with consideration. "Like you had lost something."
Daiki paused at that, before cupping the woman's face and smiling down at her in a way that barely reached his eyes; circular slabs of gold so very dull in their glory.
"You know me so well, Mao-sama," then he planted a hard kiss on the midnight woman, feeling her alabaster melt across his copper and give throaty praises into his mouth.
Mao breathed heavily as he pulled away finally, her lips still buzzing from the merciless impact as he kissed her brow and released the hold. She watched as Daiki squatted down and attended to the slow shuffling pup he had brought home weeks ago, tending to it like a parent would a child, and slowly fattening it up, though, it still had a long way to go.
"See you soon, Miphy," he snorted, scratching the highlander's scalp. "Be good, look after the girls."
Mephisto grumbled under his hands and nipped lazily at copper fingertips before clumsily sitting down on his shaking hind legs.
"Make sure Adachi-kun gives him his midday medicine," Daiki reminded Mao who nodded gently, "Then I'll be seeing you tonight. Have fun with your friends; try not to trash the compound."
The woman gave a refined huff of amusement as Daiki sent her a rare, roguish grin from over his shoulder before disappearing off with his car. Mao smiled to herself and then looked to the dog who wheezed lightly at her feet; it shuddered with its small body fat and walked away to burrow into Daiki's sheets, disregarding the to-be wife without care.
She hummed quietly and accepted the brush off, knowing that the little highlander had no affection for anyone but Daiki, and perhaps his youngest cousins, before proceeding to giddily ready herself for the arrival of those she hadn't seen since they had too been traded away by their fathers and brothers.
. . .
Daiki thumbed the steering wheel as the radio rumbled on a low volume, the sky white with an overcast of slow-moving clouds but bright as even the woollen blanket didn't stop the sun pushing its way through the crowd.
It'd probably rain that night.
He brought the car to a stop as the traffic light bloomed red and others crossed before him, his glasses hooked into his collar and flashing now and then with the light as they prepared to be donned for the Namimori area.
The car had been sprayed with some kind of sandalwood spritz and thoroughly washed down both in and out before it had been handed over to the Oyabun for the evening. Goto had put up a fight, reluctant to let the man drive alone, but as usual, Daiki won out.
He needed to appear civilian to Tsuna, and he doubted they would be travelling truly far with public transport or by foot. So, he had ditched the limousine and driver for a simple black mustang.
A bottle of water trembled in the cup holder and he took a gulp from it as the drive was elongated by an accident and leaving him to glance at the clock now and then. Daiki would just barely make it to the Sawada house, so he would have to be fast to get Tsuna and get out before Iemitsu saw him - both upon Nana's request and his own desire of dodging the Namimori-Vongola radar.
From: Sawada.N
Are you close? Tsuna's all ready for you!
Daiki hummed a bit at the message as he slowed at a pedestrian crossing, quickly sending a text back to the woman and then tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat.
The rogue Sun bit at his lip before donning his glasses and navigated the turns of Namimori's residential mazes, old memories flashing of this place. He sighed and pulled up the handbrake as he found the Sawada house, hopping out with a grunt of an abused back and tossed his keys up and down in the air casually.
"Daiki-san!" Nana cheered, waving at the man through her kitchen window before dashing into obscurity.
"Hey, Nana-san," Daiki smiled as she opened the door to him, her hands tapping at the handle irritably - a sure sign of her tension with the conversation to come. "Tsuna-san ready to go?"
"Yep! He's really excited!" she laughed before looking to the child who peered around the corner. "Aren't you, honey?"
Tsuna, decidedly, did not look excited. But he grabbed his backpack which was packed for the worst case, or best case, scenario and trudged up to the tall copper being, wincing a bit as a headache launched into full swing when he stood at his mother's side.
"Okay, so you remember the plan, yeah?" Daiki asked the mother, letting the Sky stumble around him in a manner that was too obvious about the fact he was avoiding physical touch. "Contact if you need us to come back, or if you need me to watch him for the night. How're you feeling?"
Nana looked at him for a couple seconds, debating how to articulate what kind of hive had become of her stomach.
"Not scared but...hesitant."
"Entirely understandable," Daiki assured before offering an open-armed invitation which the woman took with vigour.
Tsuna watched as his mother wrapped her arms around the strange man, Watanabe-Yamaguchi Daiki, and squeezed her eyes shut. He wondered for a moment if she was getting a headache too, but the way she sank into his chest suggested that was not the case. His brow furrowed from behind them; he didn't understand what was going on, nor why he had to be with the man of pain.
"All the best luck, Nana-san," he sighed, before stepping away and letting the woman coo a goodbye to her son. "Ready?"
Tsuna stared up at the man before nodding as he was guided to the black car that sat at the front of their house. He dumped his bag in the seat beside him and buckling up just as the car revved to life.
"So, Tsuna-san," Daiki began, "How's school going for you? Been thinking 'bout what Middle School you want to go to?"
The Sky kicked his feet a bit, hands fiddling in his lap as he sat in the unfamiliar vehicle.
"Uh, school's okay... Mama says I'm probably going to Nami-chuu."
"Oh?" the man hummed, tapping his thumb against the wheel.
Tsuna thought he saw something metal flash from under his sleeves as they turned the corner and joined a flow of traffic.
"I know a boy who goes to Namimori Middle. He should be in his first year, I believe."
"Really?"
"Yeah, not the most personable boy, but rather cute once you get used to him," he uttered absently. "It's likely you'll meet him at some point, he's a bit hard to miss. Perhaps you'll be able to befriend him?"
"Oh," Tsuna withered at the idea of making a friend with someone at all, let alone 'unpersonable'. "Maybe."
"No pressure, Tsuna-san," Daiki assured, glancing to the Sky through the rear mirror. "I'm sure you'll make your own friends in Middle School; one way or another."
"Maybe," the youth repeated.
The Sky twitched and pressed his knees together, taking deep, measured breaths as he avoided the man's golden eyes. If he didn't make eye contact, the sharp pain wouldn't ring in his head.
"Could...uh, could you do that hushing thing? Please?"
"Oh, sorry," Daiki blinked and brought them to a stop at a red light.
In the next moment, the throbbing in Tsuna's skull which had tried to drag him from the moving vehicle was soothed out, his breath finally filling his chest as the looming presence eased off. He still felt it, however, the shadow which sat beside the man up front, passenger seat reserved for a phone and a phantom.
"Would you rather we stay silent for a while?" Daiki offered.
"..." Tsuna didn't know how to respond and instead glanced to the side, his taciturnity enough of a clue to the Sun what this awkward child would have preferred.
. . .
Daiki waited at the gate of the TeaPot ride as he watched Tsuna go round and round, his arms crossed lazily yet with an imposing enough manner that those who would have strayed close to the sunshine were forced to bow away. He ignored the eyes and the accidental brushes, ignored the back that leant against his as vermillion flashed in his peripheral.
"Is he yours?"
A young woman came up beside Daiki with an all too charming smile, her clothing just a touch to pretty for the amusement park. It was obvious to him that this woman was meant to be on a date.
"Do I look so old?" he hummed, holding a wince as the little Vongola began to turn a bit green in the cheeks.
"How old are you then?" she asked, flashing bright, white teeth at him as she collected her hands behind her back, pushing out her chest slightly.
The Sun frowned to himself, the action unnoticed by the stranger as she hummed and played with her wide-brimmed hat. He felt her, the way her Flames flickered deep under her skin; dormant but reaching with their sleeping Sky.
Red wrath pushed up against him instantly, hands grasping his hips as teeth threatened his throat with all the brutality of a long dead lion. It thrashed and pulled at his temper, trying to provoke him into banishing this usurper with the fury it knew simmered beneath his surface.
"Twenty-one," Daiki answered easily, keeping his eyes on Tsuna the whole time.
The stranger Sky smiled all too sweetly at the age and twirled about in a manner that made her skirt ripple with her, head tilted in a demure fashion.
"Guess he's not yours then," she sighed, "So, where're his parents?"
"I'm watching him for his mother."
"Oh? And what's she doing?" she urged, leaning towards him in a coy manner.
Daiki eyed Tsuna as he wobbled on his feet, the ride having dismount for their turn and leaving the children to stutter over towards the exit gate. He rumbled and pushed off the spot he had taken to meet the youth, disregarding the skyline woman to steady his ward with a hand on his shoulder.
The young Vongola nodded woozily before flinching as an enthusiastic child nearly bowled him over, Daiki's support the only reason he wasn't crunching on dirt.
"Head up," the Sun instructed gently, and the child did as instructed though he obviously wasn't pleased with it. "Do you want to sit down somewhere?"
"Yeah...Yeah," Tsuna uttered shakily, taking hold of the man's sleeve as he was guided to some sheltered benches.
"I'll go get you a water bottle," he said, helping the youth up onto the benches before locating a vending machine.
Daiki had a total of perhaps ten seconds standing before the machine and barely had the chilled bottle in his hand by the time there was a near desperate tug at the corner of his mind. It was quick and sharp, like someone making a quick snatch for attention before ducking out of range as vermillion swarmed and pressed to copper.
"Shit," he hissed, seeing the woman from before sat close to the little Sky, her smile open and the boy curling closed at her looming presence. The Sun bit his tongue and quickly crossed the distance, his feet heavy and loud, until he came up beside the young Sawada and dipped him into his shadow.
"And what about the man who is with you? Is he and your mother close?" the woman asked cheekily.
"We are friends, yes," Daiki grunted, and surprisingly, Tsuna was the only one who did not jump. "Here, drink it slowly."
"Thank you," Tsuna murmured, taking the bottle from his larger hand and struggled with the cap for a couple of seconds. "I don't know this lady."
The woman Sky jumped at the blunt announcement and gave a sheepish laugh, attempting to wave off the comment but Daiki had already decided where he stood on the matter.
"I know," he hummed, "Neither do I."
"U-uh, well-" she began.
"Finish drinking and we'll move onto another ride that's a bit more gentle on your stomach," Daiki continued and Tsuna nodded quickly before taking a mouthful of water. "Come."
The young Sky hopped down off the bench and walked beside the large Sun, the woman not following as her chest compressed.
She shuddered to herself as atmosphere weighed in her lungs like someone was pushing her down and away as she watched the retreating back. Her breast stung for a moment and she flushed hot - before the man was obscured by the crowds and she cooled down.
. . .
Daiki raised an eyebrow as he watched Tsuna lean up against the side of the carriage, the two of them half-way up the fairest wheel just as the sun reached a 5 o'clock post-Meridien position.
"You're quite precious, aren't you?" he asked, and the Sky blinked up at him, this being the first time they had spoken since parting with the strange lady.
Tsuna had avoided so much as eye contact since then, fearing that he'd look up above chest-height and see something looming over his shoulder and glaring down at the little Sky. He flinched as he finally stared into golden-amber, the touches of amusement more comforting and terrifying than it should have been.
"I...I don't cost that much?" he uttered carefully, confused.
The Sun blinked before giving a low laugh that reverberated in their space and made the space between the youth's bones feel warm. Then his eyes tipped to the side to look beside the older man and he quickly snapped away, pointedly ignoring the thick air that sat next to the Yamaguchi.
"So, how was your day? Did you have fun?"
"Yeah," he nodded shallowly, playing with his half-empty bottle as he looked to the peached sky. "Has my mum called yet?"
"No, not yet."
"Oh," the Sky murmured, the two of them letting another beat pass; the whirr and clunk of the wheel. "...My mum and dad are fighting, aren't they?"
Daiki leant back against the shelf, perching his elbow on the hard plastic as he glanced towards the bird's-eye view of Namimori.
"I wouldn't say fighting," he began, "But there are disagreements and dissatisfaction between them. You are aware that your father isn't around much-"
"At all," Tsuna cut in, tone purely bitter.
"At all," Daiki amended with a nod, "And because of that, Nana-san has begun to worry about the way your father prioritises his family - the Sawada family."
"He doesn't, that's why."
The Sun hummed in amusement, slightly startled but not put off by the response. His pocket buzzed and he reached for the device, pulling it free and held it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Daiki-san," Nana greeted, she was talking gently and her voice was echoing like she was in a bathroom. "Could you look after Tsu-kun for the night?"
"Of course, is everything going okay?"
"Yeah," she answered quickly, "Yeah, just...just going back and forth a bit. It's going to take a while."
"Okay, keep it up, don't let him wear you down. If you need me just call," Daiki soothed, voice twisting to one he was used to speaking around his cousins and even Belphegor. "Do you want to talk to Tsuna-san?"
"Yes, please," she murmured, and he handed the device over, Tsuna quick to take it and chatter into the phone, the light that had shrunk away coming back to his eyes as he did.
The youth spoke to his mother all the way around the wheel and Daiki realised that Nana must have been procrastinating returning to Iemitsu. He sighed and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, wincing when the hinge caught his hair.
They stepped off the wheel and the young Vongola-to-be said goodbye to his mother. He handed the phone back to Daiki who took it and said a couple more words to the woman before deleting the call log and pocketing it.
He didn't see it, but he knew Nana had done the same; especially with Iemitsu looming in just the next room.
"Your mother says you're staying the night," Daiki hummed, as they began to walk the path to the parking lot. "I have some cousins your age, so if you don't want to hang around me anymore maybe you can befriend one of them."
"Okay," Tsuna nodded quietly but didn't sound very convincing in his efforts.
He obviously hadn't wanted this to span overnight. Daiki didn't really blame him, in all honesty.
The Sky climbed into the backseat of the black, glossy car and checked through his bag as silence descended over them again. He played around with the case of his dark blue Gameboy as another level loaded, the sounds of its music too loud in the space and nearly making him flinch every time he collected a coin.
"This is going to be about an hour or so," Daiki warned, glancing at the youth through the mirror. "So get comfortable; dinner should be ready by the time we get to my house."
"Okay."
. . .
Tsuna shuffled on the spot quietly as he stood in the corner of the large room, women and girls giggling with one another as they tried to pay him no mind. They had tried to incorporate him into their time, but his awkward manner and lack of engagement lead them to slowly phase him out - as most groups eventually did.
Daiki had disappeared at some point in the evening, leaving the youth to 'socialise with his peers', and Tsuna had half the mind to go chase after him, the one thing of familiarity stripped away easily as the sliding door closed behind him. At one point, this mangled little pup had tottered after them, a limp in its walk and a pathetic growl in its throat, but it too had left, clinging to the strange man's heels all the way.
Tsuna played with the toe of his socks, trying to keep his eyes from the table where maids were setting out the plates and meals for them all. He didn't know if his mother knew of the extent of the man's strangeness.
"Um," Tsuna began as the eldest girl, a young teenager named Honda, walked past. "Where is Diki-san?"
"Daiki-nii-sama is probably in the bathhouse now," she answered, her voice a bird-song sweet sound. "If you leave through the main door and follow the path with the bench, you'll find the building."
"Oh, thank you."
The little Sky got to his feet and began to follow her instructions, shoving his feet into the beat-up, old running shoes he had left at the door. He glanced around as the gardens were bathed in the peach and blue twilight, the lanterns that lined the paths hushing to life with their warm, orange glows.
The air was warm with incense; sticks of it making wisps of smoke which fell across leaves of low-growing flowers. Pockets of darkness chirped to one another in the underbrush and fell silent when he passed, the crunch of gravel underfoot a sweet and intriguing sound which made owls soar overhead and peer down at him with their bright eyes.
Tsuna blinked and looked away from how his silhouette danced on the koi pond's surface before finding the antiquated, sturdy structure of the bathhouse, waves of white steam stumbling out the open window. The sound of steady flowing water joined the nightfall ambience and the young Sky swallowed his tension as he stepped up onto the platform and pushed the door open.
Immediately the smell of humidity and herbal waters filled his nose, the air thicker with steam as he inhaled, feeling his skin heat up as he surveyed the entryway. Tsuna looked to the only other door and paused when he heard the waters inside shift like someone was moving around in the baths.
Daiki sighed and relaxed in the steaming bathwaters, feeling his muscles liquify from the heat and the sounds that tickled the nerves in his ears. His chest ached from the extended binding and he knew that Mao was going to scold him for it later.
He rogue released a long groan as he stretched, before pausing as the faint sounds of footsteps and the sliding door reached his ears. The man looked over his shoulder with a golden eye and quirked his lips when he saw Tsuna staring, wide eyes realising the swell of a breast which bloomed just barely in view.
The young Sky felt himself freeze up as he gaped, a feral, angry lion snarling at him from within the skin of the strange man. The creature prowled up Daiki's back, its clawed paws cushioned by red flowers and blue water, and it bared its teeth at his nape like it was about to bite his shoulder and claim him its mate. It seemed to move with the man's breath and the shifting of his muscles, and Tsuna swore he could see something about the artwork change slowly under the heat haze-
Daiki brought his finger up and pressed it to his lips in a shushing manner, his eyes gleaming with conspiracy as he smiled at the youth who fumbled to copy the action.
Tsuna wouldn't tell a soul.
