A.N. Long time no see! Recently I've wanted to start uploading my more recent, finished projects from AO3 to here. It bothers me when all my stuff isn't in one place, so I'm embarking on this project after a year of radio silence on this site, starting with this sappy KHR ABO fic I wrote a few months ago. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: you're gonna wake up and see

Yamamoto Takeshi walks up to Tsuna just after the first bell of the morning and thrusts a small bouquet of red and orange flowers in his face.

Tsuna's nose twitches, but he does his best not to sneeze. All eyes are on them, and the room smells of shock. Their homeroom teacher is equally stunned, doesn't even bother to reprimand Yamamoto for disrupting class on top of showing up late.

Tsuna is dreaming. He must be. There's no other explanation for why Yamamoto, his childhood friend who he hasn't properly spoken to in years, opens his mouth and says, "Sawada Tsunayoshi, please allow me to court you."

Someone chokes. Tsuna nods, dazed. "Sure."

A dream, then.

It most definitely was not a dream. Tsuna gets home that day and is immediately accosted by his mother, who descends on him smelling of sugar and butter. She pulls him into a hug before he even gets his shoes off. "Tsu-kun!" Nana squeals, directly into her son's sensitive ears. "I heard from Tsuyoshi. Why didn't you tell me you and Takeshi-kun were so close?"

Because they aren't? The most Tsuna's spoken to Yamamoto in recent years were during quiet thanks after the beta cut in during various bullying attempts. He's always been aware of Yamamoto, of course, though mostly in the sense that they exist in different social circles. Yamamoto is the baseball team's beloved second-year pitcher, set to become the ace once the third years graduate.

Everyone in the school loves him, while Tsuna is… tolerated, at best. They don't exactly make a conventional match.

"It shocked me, too, Mom," Tsuna says instead. "I don't… what does it even mean to court someone? Isn't it just dating or… "

"Was that the word he used? He wants to court you?" Nana giggles, finally releasing her fierce hold on Tsuna. "That boy's always been so adorable. Courting is just a little more old-fashioned way of putting it. Your father said the same thing, back in the day."

"Oh, yeah?" Tsuna says, though he's distracted and doesn't quite register the tangent she launches into.

It doesn't really hit him until later that night when he's lying in bed unable to sleep. His phone buzzes once on the bedside table, illuminating the dark briefly before fading. Tsuna hesitates before shifting onto his side and reaching for it. No one really contacts him aside from Nana and Reborn, though he does get the occasional message from Iemitsu, which he always deletes without reading.

It's Reborn, as it turns out. The text is as cryptic and ominous as usual: 'Let the boy know he'll be hearing from me soon.'

It's the first time of many that Tsuna wonders if Yamamoto really understands what he's done.

School is weird in the following weeks. No one so much as mentions Yamamoto and Tsuna's new "relationship" to Tsuna's face aside from Kyouko, who smiles warmly the morning after Yamamoto's confession and tells him they make a cute couple.

She's the only one aside from Yamamoto himself who doesn't act like anything is weird about what happened. Yamamoto doesn't really explain himself, and Tsuna doesn't ask, just goes along with it when Yamamoto walks him to and from school, texts him to hang out on the weekends, invites him and Nana over to have dinner with him and Tsuyoshi.

He seems… happy, Tsuna thinks. The Yamamoto of his memories is always smiling, and that doesn't necessarily change once they start dating. But something about those smiles registers as different to Tsuna, and while he can't quite put his finger on it, it's really the least of his worries.

Everyone who matters seems to be happy for him and Yamamoto. They aren't worried or surprised, and it makes Tsuna feel like the odd man out.

That isn't to say that Tsuna particularly hates this new turn of events. Tsuna adjusts to having a… boyfriend? Partner? (Labels make Tsuna anxious, so he normally tries to avoid them.) Yamamoto. Tsuna adjusts to having a Yamamoto in his life after so long without him. Because Tsuna did have him before, years ago, back when they were children. Tsuna barely remembers that far back, so his impression of their childhood isn't very strong.

They were only friends because of their parents, so it stood to reason that they would drift apart through the years. Tsuna had never really thought to mourn the loss of his only friend. He'd had so many other things to worry about at the time. Never in a million years had Tsuna considered that Yamamoto hadn't actually forgotten about him – him, Sawada Tsunayoshi, perpetually stuck at the bottom of the pecking order.

Now it seems as if Yamamoto hadn't forgotten at all. And Tsuna just doesn't understand it.

Their classmates, of course, seem to share in Tsuna's bewilderment. Usually new relationships are anyone talks about, but theirs is a topic mostly left untouched, at least as much as Tsuna can tell. The bullying, at least, seems to subside, but that doesn't mean his classmates have forgotten about him. They've just taken to whispering amongst themselves instead of directly to Tsuna's face.

Tsuna doesn't mean to overhear, but then, Tsuna doesn't mean to do most things.

He's in the bathroom having his daily freak-out session – which has increased to maybe twice a day in recent weeks – when he hears voices, growing closer and closer until the door opens. Tsuna holds his breath in the stall, drawing up his legs so they can't see his sneakers. He sits huddled on the toilet's lid, barely blinking, just waiting for the voices to go away.

"I don't know, man," someone says, and while Tsuna doesn't recognize the voice, he can still catch the warm, earthy scent of other omegas. "Takeshi doesn't say much when we ask. I can never tell what he's thinking."

"It's probably just some joke he's playing," another one of the boys replies. "Remember when we hazed the first years? He's surprisingly good at that kind of stuff."

A joke, Tsuna realizes, keeping still as the boys laugh amongst themselves before heading into separate stalls. That has to be it, because nothing else has made sense.

It's the only logical explanation that Tsuna's been able to come up with, but even then, it doesn't make him feel any better.

It takes Tsuna a while to build up the courage to try and confirm his suspicions. Being around Yamamoto isn't necessarily uncomfortable, but Tsuna can't say he's ever completely at ease around him either. Yamamoto either doesn't notice or chooses not to say anything, but one day at lunch, when Tsuna can't bring himself to eat as he tries to work up the courage to speak, Yamamoto finally takes notice.

"You okay, Tsuna?" he asks around a mouthful of rice. He points his chopsticks at the bento in Tsuna's lap. "You haven't eaten at all. Is the smell off? Dad helped me make it, but I'm nowhere near as good as him yet."

"No, it's – I just – " The concern in Yamamoto's stare is starting to freak Tsuna out. He's only making the situation worse than it really is by hesitating like he is, but the words refuse to leave his mouth. "I just… wanted to ask you something."

"Okay, shoot."

"Why me?" Tsuna asks. "I'm just a little confused."

Yamamoto frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you ask me out?" Yamamoto's eyes widen, and Tsuna looks away, too nervous to maintain eye contact. "I'm not, like… you know. I'm not that smart or fun to be around, I can barely hold a conversation with anyone, I'm just – "

"Tsuna," Yamamoto says, and Tsuna shuts up immediately. When he spares a glance at the beta, he can see that Yamamoto's shoulders are drawn up and tense. His scent has also taken an odd turn, saturated with something Tsuna can't identify. "I asked you out," Yamamoto continues slowly, "because I like you."

Tsuna waits, but Yamamoto doesn't say anything more. "… That's it?"

"That's it." Yamamoto frowns as soon as the words leave his mouth, and he shakes his head. "No, it's more than that. I love you, Tsuna. I had to ask you out, or I would've lost my mind."

"Oh," says Tsuna. "Okay."

"I'm sorry." Yamamoto sets his bento aside and shifts closer to Tsuna, who tracks his movement with his eyes, feeling dazed and confused. It takes him a moment to realize that his breathing has gone shallow, and his scent has spiked with something akin to distress. Yamamoto shifts enough so that Tsuna can feel his body heat but comes no closer, dark eyes wide and apologetic. "Please, don't freak out. I know it hasn't been long, but… I want to be honest with you."

Tsuna lifts a hand to his chest and focuses on breathing. He's not going to have a panic attack – he doesn't think – but Yamamoto's admission is so much on top of everything else that's been going on. Tsuna doesn't know what to do with this information, can't discern dream from reality, and he's scared, so scared, of what Yamamoto loving him means.

"I don't get it," Tsuna says again, and he hates himself, hates that he could take someone's confession and just ignore it, but he doesn't know what else to do. "How could you possibly… "

"Easily," Yamamoto replies, and Tsuna's eyes begin to tear up at the raw emotion in the other boy's voice. Tsuna's lost. He's confused. The words are too good to be true, but still. He wants to believe. "You make it so easy, Tsuna."