Coffee

You know how you just wake up some mornings and you feel so refreshed and cheerful, you're like, "I don't even need coffee"? Yeah. Me, either. And I don't trust anyone who says they do. Uncaffeinated freaks.

-Nanea Hoffman

Waking up had always been hard for Tsuna, even before he was sealed, so it was strange that he was blinking fuzzily at an alarm clock that telling him it was just past four in the morning in cheery red numbers.

Rolling over he buried his head in his pillow, curling into a more comfortable position to go back to sleep, and blearily wondering what could have woken him up this early. The sun wasn't even close to coming up, birds weren't chirping, and he didn't even have school today. He didn't have to wake up if he didn't want to. He hadn't planned on it.

The seal on his flames had cracked after that god awful incident with the assassin, and more of the warmth that he had been lacking was seeping its way into his chest. He was starting to feel warm, completely and utterly warm for the first time in years. It was fantastic and he was perfectly willing to lie in bed and bask in it.

It was better when he napped with his friends in all honesty, the warmth. The curl of Kyouya's flames – though the older boy still scared the crap out of him on occasion – settled something in him that he didn't realize was frantic if he was nearby. He didn't get to nap near him very often, kind of a given with his personality, but the odd time he had had his trapped flames almost purring.

Snuggling down deeper into the bedding with a content sigh, Tsuna let what little flame he had access to reach out to curl around his best friend in a now instinctive action, his sleep addled brain wanting to indulge in the assurance her presence gave him before falling completely asleep. Leora was sleeping over a lot more since his seal cracked, both to keep an eye on him and to help chip away at the seal in a way that didn't end with him in the hospital, and had pretty much resigned herself to sharing a bed with him since he'd end up sleeping next to her either way.

Mama, thankfully, thought it was cute that he was such good friends with the Italian that she didn't raise a fuss about Tsuna sharing a bed with a girl.

His best friend had pointed out that they were kids, so of course it wouldn't be an issue. She still wasn't very happy to be used as a teddy bear, which while mildly embarrassing was a guaranteed way to feel safe for Tsuna.

His Intuition – which was what Leora was calling that weird feeling that was basically a voice in his head – was of the firm opinion that Leora needed to stay close, and Tsuna completely agreed with it. As a result, Leora was camped out at his house five days a week and usually within arm's reach.

Which was why it was such a nasty shock to find the bed next to him empty.

Sitting bolt upright, Tsuna flung out a hand to frantically pat at the empty sheets – still warm, his Intuition pointed out, not gone long – as if that would make her reappear.

Well, now he knew why he woke up.

Flinging the covers off with a scowl, Tsuna padded as quietly as he could out of his room so as not to wake his Mama in his search of his friend.

He found her in the kitchen, curly hair sticking up on one side which made her look weird in the dark, and staring at the small cup shaped pot she had brought over yesterday.

The kitchen smelled like coffee.

"Morning." Leora grunted out, not bothering to look his way. She just kept staring at the stove.

"Don't you mean 'Good Morning'?" he asked, but the question was kind of ruined by a yawn and how grouchy his own voice sounded. He didn't want to be awake.

"I'm awake and talking. You're not going to get a 'good' out of me until I drink at least three of that." A jerk of her head indicated the stove and the now boiling pot.

Flopping into one of the kitchen chair's so he could lay his head down on the table, Tsuna sent his friend a questioning look that he knew she could see despite her eyes being still trained on the bubbling pot. Sighing, he decided to use words.

"Why are you awake?"

"Always up by now."

"It's four in the morning."

"My statement still stands."

"What the fuck for?" Biting his tongue, Tsuna flinched and glanced around warily for his Mama or even a teacher to pop up. Leora cursed a lot, and he was starting to slip curses of his own in without meaning to. He'd gotten into trouble twice now because of it. The face his homeroom teacher made had been hilarious though.

"I have shit to do."

"At four in the morning?" Tsuna asked incredulously.

"When else did you think acrobats worked out?"

"Not at four in the morning!"

"It's almost four thirty." Leora countered, giving him a flat look. "Why are you awake anyway? You're always asleep when I get up."

Tsuna managed to keep a straight face, but was considerably grateful for the dark that hid how badly he was blushing, "I noticed you weren't there."

Leora grunted in reply as her attention went back to the stove. She deemed the pot done and was focused solely on turning off the stove and pouring the frothy liquid into one of the cups she brought with the pot. After a moment's hesitation, she poured another cup and set it down in front of Tsuna.

Sitting down across from him, Leora hunched over her own cup and just inhaled the steam for a minute or two before she started to sip at it.

After another minute of just watching her, Tsuna took a sip of his own.

He was half tempted to spit it back out.

It tasted awful. It was bitter, made his eyes water, and had what felt like sand floating through it. It smelled like coffee, but Tsuna was pretty sure that coffee wasn't supposed to be gritty. And Leora had just finished hers, rinsed out her cup, and poured herself another.

"Leora…what is this?" Tsuna asked after another disgusting sip.

"Coffee."

"It's gritty."

"Turkish coffee."

"That… doesn't mean anything to me."

"Explain later. Caffeine. Drink now." And Leora went right back to draining her cup. Unsure if she was ordering him to drink or merely talking about herself, Tsuna decided not to risk it. Leora had the same look Hibari had when he was sleep deprived, and that usually ended up in grievous bodily harm. For him.

As he sipped at his Turkish coffee, he tentatively decided that it didn't taste that bad the longer you drunk it. It was still horribly bitter and could use some sugar, but he could probably get used to drinking it if he had too.

It wasn't until roughly a month later that Tsuna realized that he was about as addicted to caffeine as Leora was.

He blamed her for that. He wouldn't have kept waking up at four in the goddamn morning to exercise or drink coffee if it wasn't her influence. At least he liked coffee now.

Turkish coffee had quickly become a favorite of his, but he made sure to only drink it once a week or so. Delicious it may have become, but he was still sure it was capable of stripping his stomach lining with how strong Leora liked to brew it.

(You weren't even supposed to drink it first thing in the morning apparently – it was more of a after dinner kind of drink – and Leora was only doing it because she wanted more of a caffeine fix which she couldn't get from the tea his Mama liked to buy. Powdering the coffee beans she brought along didn't take that long, and she was more than happy enough to ignore a cultural thing if it meant keeping her awake during school. If she fell asleep in class again she would be suspended.)

His best friend didn't agree with his very legitimate worry for their stomach lining despite the fact that his Intuition was telling him expresso would be better, but started cutting back a bit after Tsuna managed to convince Mama to buy an expresso machine. Learning how to work it was annoying, but he wasn't half bad at making them after some practice.

Either way the both of them got their caffeine fix, saved their stomach linings, and his Intuition stopped nudging him every day to buy the damn machine.

It was a win-win.

Yes I know I'm getting ahead of myself and the main story. But these are shorter to write and exams are next week.