(viii)
Atsuko wanted to cry.
She really, really wanted to cry.
After all, what else could one want to do if their club had been invaded by none other than Reborn?
Decked out in his Master Pao Pao disguise, it was as if the devil himself had invaded one of Atsuko's most precious sanctuaries.
Tsuna looked as panicked (and a bit exasperated?) as Atsuko felt, especially at the sight of the two Suns in the room getting along so famously. Reborn really was well known for everything he tried, baby or not and Ryohei was ecstatic to have a chance to finally meet one of his many idols.
He was probably worried that Reborn would try to drag his friends into the whole mafia thing - which was, unfortunately, inevitable.
Atsuko, on the other hand, was just dreading all the injuries and danger and oh Kami.
Ryohei was going to get so beaten down in the beginning of the Kokuyo arc that he would be stuck in the hospital for the entirety of it.
Ryohei.
She almost wished she didn't remember that little detail. It made her doubt her own intentions - how could she want to befriend a person that hurt her sunshine?
Unless, of course, she managed to prevent that. She could do that.
Maybe.
Her arms tightened around Ryohei's arm, again. He looked over at her, concern shining in his eyes. Atsuko bit her lip, mouthing 'period' in response to the unspoken question. Ryohei nodded, it was true and they both knew that Atsuko tended to hug him rather tightly when dealing with the unpleasantness of the time.
The lie tasted bitter on Atsuko's tongue. She had to tell him, soon.
Why am I so scared?
She didn't know. She didn't know why she couldn't bring herself to tell Ryohei, why she couldn't divulge her greatest secret to her greatest friend.
Maybe she didn't want to change the way he sees her. Maybe she doesn't want him to know that she was hiding anything more, that she had ever died.
He'd kill her for talking about death so much if she had already died. For being so accepting of something that had once happened, that could become their reality again - for making him think that he could lose her.
Sighing, Atsuko reached over to grab Tsuna's hand and pulling him into their hug. Tsuna, surprisingly, had a thing for physical affection. She could understand that - warmth and contact could easily become addictive when you were so used to never having any.
She was already addicted herself, after all.
Tsuna let out a small 'hiee' of surprise, but relaxed into Atsuko's hold quickly enough. That was good, a happy Tsuna was much better than a concerned Tsuna.
Ryohei caught on quickly to what Atsuko was doing. While he didn't exactly know what was bothering either Tsuna or Atsuko, he was very perceptive in his own right and responded accordingly. "Group hug to the extreme!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Atsuko could see Reborn watching the interaction with an analytical glint to his eyes. She hurriedly looked away.
It was strange, really, exactly how much her mind wanted to believe that it isn't Reborn that she is looking at.
That is not Reborn. That is not a hitman, something inside of her insisted. That is the famous boxer from Thailand, Master Pao Pao. Ryohei likes Master Pao Pao. You should like him too.
Atsuko buried herself further into the hug, desperate to keep her eyes away from Reborn. What the hell is this?
She didn't understand it. Was Reborn like Hibari or something? Did he have a secondary Mist Flame too? Could Arcobaleno even have secondary Flame types?
After the group had separated, Master Pao Pao - no, Reborn - addressed Tsuna. "You're the assistant manager, correct?"
Tsuna gave him a deadpan look. "You already know that Re-"
"Very interesting," Mas- Reborn cut him off. "What does that involve, exactly?"
He's fishing for information about Tsuna, Atsuko realized. The changes in Tsuna are relatively recent and if what Atsuko remembered about… whatever Tsuna's dad's name is… is true, then Reborn probably doesn't know all the details due to the man's seeming lack of care about his family.
However, she also recalled the man being the head of an intelligence division. It was highly unlikely that he didn't know every single detail about Tsuna's life.
Sawada Whatever-his-name-is is beyond disgusting, Atsuko decides, if he could know that his son was a bullied, struggling child with no confidence or friends and do absolutely nothing about it.
Sure, she understood that it was probably dangerous for him to see his family - she got that.
But what about secure phone calls? Letters? Texts? Simple messages of I love you or I'm so proud of you Tsuna, you're the greatest son a man could ever ask for (because he is) would have done so much for Tsuna's confidence.
After all, the one time Tsuna mentioned the man was with a resigned look in his eyes, as if he was perfectly okay with being abandoned by his father because he was just so used to it now. It wasn't right. At all.
Just the thought of the man made Atsuko feel sick. It also exponentially increased her already steadily growing respect for Sawada Nana, a woman whom Atsuko quickly learned is not the neglectful ditz that fanfiction made her out to be.
For one thing, she works. Nana is not a housewife in any way, shape or form.
In fact, she runs a small bakery known as the Hoshizora Confections whose hours were based around Tsuna's school hours just so that she could always be home to take care of Tsuna. Mama's a very hands-on type of business owner, I guess, Tsuna once explained. She doesn't like to leave her employees to handle things without her.
Now that was dedication. It worked out very well too, since Nana's impressive baking skills made the business popular enough that working such hours took nothing away from its popularity.
The Sawada household was not held up on that asshole's probably immeasurable wealth. It was all Nana, as far as Atsuko was concerned.
This is also why Nana remained mostly unaware of Tsuna's bullying problem. She already did so much for him - how could their sweet, precious Tsuna ever bear to burden her any more than he already did?
He never said it out loud, but Tsuna's eyes often spoke louder than the words that came out of his mouth.
So no, Reborn probably already knew all about Tsuna's role in the boxing club. He was trying to gauge something else.
"He's my assistant," Atsuko shrugged in response. It was like interacting with Hibari - she just had to puff up her chest and pull on a brave face. "He helps me with paperwork, meetings and runs around helping everyone out during practice."
"But he doesn't do any of the fighting, does he?" Reborn pressed, the smile on his face completely unchanged - disarming.
Atsuko has never met anyone more terrifying than Reborn. Master Pao Pao. Whatever.
Not even Hibari could compare, and that says something.
"Nope," Ryohei answers with a grin. "But he's definitely not as defenseless as say, Atsu. Our assistant manager can dodge to the extreme and he's faster than any other!" the blonde declared proudly.
Tsuna flushes slightly at the praise. "But Onii-chan, I'm not as fast as you are or anything…"
"So?" Ryohei says dismissively, his hand finding its way to Tsuna's fluffy brown hair. "You will be, someday. You just need some more extreme practice, that's all!"
"Yup," another member of the club agrees. "Assistant-chan has just the right body type for it, but he's still just a beginner so you really can't expect too much out of him just yet."
"Give it another year or so," says their resident midget. "He'll be beating us all out by a mile or two, eh?"
It's funny, really - not even Tsuna is quite as short as Rin is. Nor does he pack nearly as much of a punch - seeing Tsuna uppercut someone straight into the air right now would be downright disturbing.
Atsuko snickered to herself at the thought.
"Uh oh," gasped Kamui, their most dramatic member. "Manager-sama is cackling! There is an evil, evil thing brewing in her mind!"
"There is not!" Atsuko protested, mildly offended. There actually wasn't this time!
"Oh noes," Yusuke deadpanned. "Whatever shall we do?"
"Submit," Kazu replies automatically. "And buy her ice cream. It isn't worth the inevitable guilt trap that comes with resistance."
"Hey!"
"Our poor wallets," Ryohei bemoans. "Have you guys seen the extreme amount of ice cream she can eat?"
"Oh we so have," Rin responded, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye. "It's horrible - an abuse to ice cream everywhere! I can't even handle the thought… Mozumo, hold me!"
"I'm right here, goddamnit!"
Mozumo shakes his head in mock exasperation. "And I thought Kamui was a drama queen…" "Meanie!" "- but clearly, you people give him a run for his money."
Tsuna stares at him. "Did you forget about that one time when he cut his hand while training and started crying about how he was going to die of blood loss?"
Kazu nodded empathetically. "And what about the time when a guy stared at him for two point five seconds and he 'fell in lurve'?"
Ryohei crossed his arms and shook his head in mock disappointment. "Oh come on guys, you're forgetting all the funniest ones! Like that one time when he came in first place at that tournament and ran around singing about how he's the extreme king of the world?"
"Oh, oh, I have some good ones too!" Atsuko announced excitedly. She loved teasing her boys so, so much.
"I feel like you guys are a nuclear hazard to my developing social life," Kamui said, a sad, defeated note to his voice. "At this rate I'll never, ever get a boyfriend… in fact, I'll live a sad and lonely, miserable life and it'll be all because of these simply outrageous stories you guys tell…"
"Oh, shove a sock in it already."
"Make me!"
Rule number sixty-seven of Nami Middle's boxing club - never utter those two words without expecting a fight to the extreme!
"You're all very close," Reborn notes. "That's a good thing to see in a family, don't you think, Tsuna?"
Tsuna fixed Reborn with a deadpan look from his place stuck under Kazu and Rin. "In a family, not a family."
Reborn only smiled serenely in response.
This, Atsuko would later come to understand, was quite possibly the worst impression that the club could have possibly made upon Reborn.
Oh well.
Reborn's arrival marked many changes, Atsuko often notes with displeasure.
However, not all of them were bad. For example, the boxing club now has a treasurer. A beautiful, intelligent and wonderful treasurer of whom receives just as much love from the club as Tsuna for very good reasons.
And as for how that happened...
"- and that's why it would be really important to me if you guys would be okay with Gokudera-kun being our new treasurer," Tsuna finished, a hopeful look on his face. This is important to him, they all knew.
There would be no no.
When Atsuko had first seen Gokudera trail behind Tsuna as they entered the gym, she had known what to expect.
Anger, distrust, explosiveness and a condescending attitude. A headache, really.
She had not expected a nervous teenager, eyes darting around the room with anxiety.
Is this really Gokudera? As in, like Smokin' Bomb Hayato, Gokudera?
Silver hair, punk-ish attire, sea-green eyes… yes, it was definitely Gokudera. He didn't look Japanese at all, to be perfectly honest. He had lovely, aristocratic European features - reminding Atsuko with a pang of her old life.
I can definitely see why girls are so smitten with him…
He was very pretty.
Ahem.
While his stance was certainly defensive, Gokudera clearly wasn't as aggressive as the anime made him out to be.
Atsuko wondered why that was, exactly. Wasn't anger one of his defining traits?
Ryohei had a hand on his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. "Hm, I don't see why not. We could always use the extra help, right, Atsu?"
"Right," Atsuko says carefully. She knows what this person is capable of - it's best not to piss him off. "Okay, but what can you contribute as treasurer?"
It was important to establish a clear role with Gokudera, she remembered. While he was a genius, Atsuko knew that he also needed guidance. He needed to understand his value and what he should be doing in order to be at his best - she would know.
Gokudera was, after all, once her second favorite character.
Gokudera still seemed unsure, but easily schooled his features. A skill from the mafia, probably. "Juudaime has already provided me with a copy of the club's budget and to be perfectly honest here, it's absolute shit."
"Gokudera-kun!"
The other boy frowned, bowing his head slightly. "I don't mean to offend you Juudaime, but it's the truth. It could be so much better."
"But you think that you can make it better?" Ryohei questioned with a tilt of his head. "It would be extremely amazing if you could."
Atsuko nods in agreement. "While I do have some experience with finance, I've been working on a pretty limited set of options because of his highness and all. Any improvement would be welcome."
Gokudera nods, gaining more confidence. He takes three folded sheets of paper out of his pocket, presenting them to Atsuko and Ryohei. "I've already started on that, actually."
Atsuko took the papers, reading them over with Ryohei looking over her shoulder. "This is…"
"A list of possible outside sponsors, the benefits and drawbacks of associating with each one and the possible profits," Gokudera confirms. "We can start contacting them once I've finalized the list, but its pretty solid now, I think."
"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna says in amazement, watching as Atsuko flipped through the pages. They were all completely full of text, front and back. "How long did it take you to make that?"
"All night," Gokudera admitted, a red tint coloring his pale cheeks. "I had to make sure that they were the best, Juudaime."
"All night?! But that's -"
"Perfect," Atsuko interrupts in awe. "This is…"
"Amazing to the extreme," Ryohei finishes. "This is just… wow."
Atsuko had never really considered gaining outside sponsors before. For one thing, the school sponsorship was enough as it is. For another, Hibari existed.
Also, Atsuko didn't want to have to actually deal with people enough to finalize any sponsorships and keep them going, thank you very much.
But… the list…
If she hadn't already been convinced that Gokudera Hayato is the perfect right hand man before, then she is now.
Everything is expertly organized and color-coded with dashes to show Gokudera's personal preferences. There is a clear section for each description, benefit or drawback to associating with them, as well as bullet points of possible profits- percentages, ranges of money, etc.
The Japanese wasn't absolutely perfect, but it was exquisite for someone who's first language was so obviously not Japanese. Hell, Atsuko would never have been able to do nearly as well if she hadn't been learning this language for her entire life.
"But…" Tsuna trailed off, eyes wide. Atsuko had passed the list down to the other club members, of whom were already singing Gokudera's praises - anyone with eyes could see how hard he worked on this. "Why would you do this…?"
Gokudera looked down, slightly embarrassed. (And very, very adorable - Tsuna's taste in Guardians is clearly impeccable.) "Because… you said that this club is precious to you, yesterday. It makes you happy."
Tsuna's mouth dropped open. Everyone was watching them raptly now.
Atsuko wished she had a camera. Ryohei passed her his phone.
"I love you," Atsuko whispered. Ryohei chuckled, shushing her.
"As your right hand man, your happiness is something that's really important to me, Juudaime. So that means that it's my duty," Gokudera explained and Atsuko could see how hard it was for him to say these things. "- to make it even better, for you. To make you even happier."
At first Atsuko couldn't help but think that this was very, very out of character for Gokudera to say. But then she thought about it.
Gokudera may not be the best with the interactions of people, and yes he idolized Tsuna a bit too much in canon, but he wasn't stupid. It didn't take a genius to see how little confidence Tsuna had, even after a month of having actual friends.
In fact, it only became more obvious after Tsuna began to open up. He didn't expect people to care about him - hell, he expected them not do anything for him! He expected people to think of him as worthless but was always pleasantly surprised when they didn't.
Tsuna needed reassurance. He needed to know that he is loved and that things were being done for his sake, or he would never truly recognize gestures for what they were.
It was in the way he talked, the way he reacted to everything. Especially, she knew, in the way that he would have reacted to Gokudera's devotion.
Gokudera knew this. He isn't blind. He knew he needed to reassure Tsuna, and in doing so, he has decided that his pride is worth nothing compared to Tsuna's feelings, which is exactly why he was saying this now.
"I…" Tsuna was at a loss for words, his eyes shining just a little bit. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Gokudera-kun."
"It's nothing, really," Gokudera said bashfully. "Anything for you, Juudaime. Anything at all."
Ryohei grinned, walking over to Gokudera and ruffling his hair. "Welcome to the club, Octo-head."
Atsuko face-palmed. "Ryo…"
"Did I say you could touch me, Turf-top?!"
"Yeah," said Mozumo from next to Atsuko. "He'll fit right in here."
"Explosive and precious," agreed Kamui. "Yum."
"Gotta admit Tsuna, you've got some great recruitment skills."
Tsuna smiled, watching his two Guardians squabble. "Yeah, I think so too."
A/N
Boxing club is love, boxing club is life.
I feel like Gokudera's character isn't always as fleshed out as it should be and that's really the whole point of this story - to flesh characters out more than they usually are in a different way.
Fun fact, by the way. I actually thought up Atsuko's Flame type and her fighting style before I ever thought of Atsuko herself. Then I decided that she should be Ryohei's bff for irony purposes and then I actually designed Atsuko herself.
Weird process, eh?
Thanks yet again for all your kind reviews - they mean the world to me!
Ciao~!