Tsuna was given things to help him sleep so nobody could question him. Mukuro was being shuttled to a prison near Tokyo so there was no way they'd see each other. Reborn had to be taken to the hospital himself and given something to sleep. Nobody would answer why Reborn was in the hospital though so only Luce and him knew.

It was painstaking to wait for the two to wake up. Tsuna was put into a coma like state to sleep off and recover more, especially after what the police forced him to do before he was asleep.

Giotto and Iemitsu were in the hospital room every waking minute it was possible so when Tsuna woke up and saw them, he thought he was dreaming. Last time this had happened he had been completely alone, save a nurse that was faking a smile.
"Tsuna!" Giotto exclaimed, seeing his eyes open. "How do you feel?"

"F-Fine." He muttered. It was hard to speak through the oxygen mask on his face. He pieced together he must have had an asthma attack at some point in time. "How are you?" Tsuna asked awkwardly, trying to make conversation.

Giotto laughed slightly, relaxing in his chair. Iemitsu was silent, staring at the ground in thought. Tsuna guessed they both knew what happened. Giotto was police and also family so he was filled in with Iemitsu. Tsuna wished it was his choice to share it with them though; he could feel their awkwardness, trying to ask about it but not wanting to upset him.

"What was it like?" Iemitsu asked. Tsuna was taken aback and looked at him in sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What Mukuro did; what was it like?"

"I-I'm not...It's none of your business." Tsuna said nervously. He felt his heart skip and looked away, back at the ceiling. "I'm s-sorry."

"Running away from it isn't going to help. We're your family; we can help." Iemitsu reached over to touch Tsuna's hand but he jerked away.

Tsuna stared away from them. He knew they were angry and disappointed because they were family by blood but when it mattered they weren't there. So Tsuna didn't know why he had to share.

The door opened and everybody looked towards it. Reborn stood, leaning in, and looking unimpressed with what he saw. His face quickly became neutral again though and he stepped in farther.

"Tsuna needs calm. The nurses thought he was having another asthma attack, which could very well still happen." Reborn jerked his chin towards the still open door. "I suggest you leave before it turns ugly."

Iemitsu seemed to bluster, his chest puffing out as he stood facing off against Reborn. "He's my son!" Iemitsu sounded scandalized but Reborn couldn't bring himself to care.

"And you need to leave. Unless you want to get the police officers outside involved, I suggest you leave. Quietly."

Giotto saw where this was going and nodded, walking towards Reborn. He mumbled something to Reborn as he passed in Italian and it seemed to take Reborn back, his eyes widening in surprise before narrowing again. He gave a flippant nod before shutting the door on Iemitsu.

"Thank you", Tsuna signed. Reborn gave an amused smirk as he sat in one of the vacated chairs. He seemed to sit down heavier than Tsuna would expect and narrowed his eyes in concern.

"I just woke up too." Reborn said. "You were wondering why I seem tired."

"How did you-?" Tsuna started to say but Reborn shook his head.

"Speaking will make your throat hurt worse. You won't remember it but you were coughing heavily before they put you under."

Tsuna made a small 'oh' in surprise. He hadn't thought of that.

Reborn felt his phone vibrate and answered whoever was talking to him. Tsuna tried to shift into a more comfortable position and let out a small gasp of pain. He had forgotten he had been hurt. Reborn noticed and looked up curiously.

"What hurts?" Reborn asked.

"Everything." Tsuna signed. "Sit with me?"

Reborn sighed, smiling slightly. "You can't exactly move over for me to sit down, Tsuna. If you can get over then I will."

"You're not...Mad at me, are you?" Tsuna asked quietly.

"No, you'd know if I was mad at you. Now move over already I'm still tired."

Tsuna managed a smile, managing to slide over so Reborn could sit next to him. Tsuna put his head against Reborn's shoulder, also hesitantly taking Reborn's hand in his own. Reborn laced their fingers together, resting his head on top of Tsuna's.

Considering this was a hosptial, Tsuna was sure Reborn was going to be forced to move. But nobody told him too, even when Tsuna was about to fall asleep. They just said to make sure he moves around slightly or else he'll get bed sores. That was great news to Tsuna as Reborn made him feel more safe then he was pretty sure would ever happen.

"Are you feeling alright?" Reborn had asked.

"Fine." Tsuna mumbled. He was almost asleep and pressed a little bit more into Reborn's side. "They gave me somethin' for pain."

"You know what I mean."

"...I said 'm fine, Reborn."

Reborn's phone ringing was the only thing keeping him from rebutting. He leaned over so he could pick it up and felt his entire body groan as he saw it was Colonnello.

"What do you want?" Reborn answered.

"Hey! There's no need to be so rude." Colonnello's sharp bark of a voice surprised Tsuna, making him look up at Reborn in mild annoyance. "I'm not arguing; how's Sawada?"

"He's fine. I'm with him right now. Is there a reason for your call?"

"Chrome Dokuro seems to be missing from her hospital bed with only a note in code."

Reborn leaned forward, his throat clamping in fear. "What's the code used? Is it anything we've seen before?"

"Well, no. It's to do with numbers. None of us are as…" Colonnello broke off and Reborn's eyes shined wickedly.

"As what, idiot?"

"As good in mathematics as you can be." Colonnello griped. There were voices in the background, it sounded like somebody was laughing.

"What about it?"

"We need your help."

Reborn smiled wickedly. Tsuna felt the urge to roll his eyes at how Reborn seemed to excited that he was being asked for help. His face became blank as fast as it was excited as he said, "I can help you later. I'm busy. See what progress you can make before I get there."

Reborn hung up before the protesting and placed his phone on the bedside table. Tsuna had fallen asleep during the last bit of Reborn's phone call and had stayed asleep most of the night. He was deadweight as he used Reborn as a pillow, clutching onto Reborn like a lifeline. Reborn didn't mind as much as he probably should have. He just wanted Tsuna to be happy.

The weight of that thought finally hit Reborn though. He just wanted Tsuna to be happy in life. Where did that come from? Most people weren't even able to make him care if they got through the year. Yet somehow Tsuna had easily implanted himself into Reborn's heart.

Reborn made a disgusted sound. He had a crush on Tsuna. He wasn't surprised. Tsuna was likeable and easy to talk to once you got passed his layers. But Reborn couldn't see it going anywhere. Reborn had a wall as big as Donald Trump's.

He felt Tsuna move and smiled in spite of himself. Even if it wouldn't work, Reborn felt he was willing to try.

The fallout to Tsuna's and Reborn's escapade spread quickly and everybody was talking about it. Gokudera and Yamamoto were hounded by people asking what happened in detail and if Tsuna was okay. It was quite a drastic change as Tsuna was usually the one left out of things.

When Tsuna was released a month later. He had to get a second skin graft on one of his wrists so he had to stay longer, agitating his friends even more.

Tsuna was home and safe and everybody seemed to be determined to give him the hero's welcome. It was weird to have so many people pay attention to him. The only attention he got was usually negative. Tsuna wouldn't be surprised if this wore off by the end of the day though and didn't expect much. He wasn't very exciting in the first place.

Everything was too much work and the people greeting him everyday just made him feel worse. He was only getting the attention because of Mukuro. Getting up in the morning, eating, bathing; even breathing felt like a burden to him. But every morning Reborn made him get up. Reborn made him take a shower. Reborn made him eat just a little bit more than he did the day before. Reborn made him feel like breathing another day.

And he had no idea the effect he had on Tsuna. All of the friends he had made that year were fantastic. But they didn't let him talk about his problems because of how they always shut down and became too concerned. They coddled him if he talked about his depression. They had to be convinced Tsuna was hurting from what Mukuro did. It was infuriating and Tsuna felt himself receding back into the shell he had built before he was put in this school.

Reborn was the only one that could ever approach Tsuna in the first place so it was no surprise when he sat down next to Tsuna, looking like he was about to say something.

"You're being fake around your friends, Tsuna." Tsuna flinched at the bluntness of it all but Reborn wasn't looking at Tsuna. He stared at his phone, seeming to be reading something.

Tsuna struggled to say something. He wasn't sure why exactly. He knew it was because they weren't being the greatest friends at the moment. But there was nothing for him to really talk about in that area. "I don't know", He finally said.

Reborn stayed neutral but looked over at Tsuna. "Are you scared of something?"

Tsuna shook his head.

"Do you not want to be around them?"

Again, he shook his head.

"Do they say things that upset you?"

Tsuna hesitated and that was all the answer Reborn needed. "I know hiding it sounds easier, and it is, but if you want things to change and for them to be better friends, you have to open up to them."

He was hesitant but Tsuna eventually nodded, leaning forward and resting his head against Reborn's shoulder. They were silent as they sat there. Reborn didn't say anything, knowing he didn't need to for Tsuna to feel comfortable with him.

Soon enough, Tsuna disappeared to get ready for bed. When he walked back into the living room, he realized Reborn had fallen asleep on the couch. He looked peaceful from where Tsuna was. That was a stretch as Tsuna was never sure of somebody's emotions from just their face. Mukuro had always been calm when he was extremely angry so he didn't put too much face in the face.

He walked over and sat as silently and softly as he could next to Reborn. He hesitantly waved a hand in front of Reborn's open eyes before giving up. He was probably dead to the world anyways.

It was still creepy seeing Reborn sleep with his eyes open though. Tsuna couldn't bear to watch him so he distracted himself looking at random things online. He was so absorbed into the things he was reading, he didn't see Reborn wake up and shift sleepily so he was leaning against Tsuna.

Tsuna screeched in surprise and fumbled his phone, accidentally dropping it on the rug. Tsuna looked over and saw Reborn's lips twitch a little bit.

Tsuna shook his head and curled up underneath Reborn, getting as comfortable as possible. He didn't mind being used as Reborn's pillow as much as he thought he would.

"Hey, Reborn", Tsuna asked. Reborn looked up at Tsuna boredly. "What's your real name?"

"It's Latin. I'll tell you that." Reborn sounded nonchalant but his jaw had clenched momentarily. "…And 'Reborn' is what it means in English."

"Only problem is I suck at English…" Tsuna mumbled sourly.

"The problem is, is that you could be good at it but you don't apply yourself."

"...Why would I apply myself when it's not like anything good will come from it."

"You studied before and still got bad grades." It was a question but Tsuna still nodded.

"And mom said my dad would come back if I ever got 100. He didn't even seem proud when I told him the one time he called that year." Tsuna sounded so bitter that Reborn was almost in shock. He had never heard Tsuna use that tone.

"Who would you want to make proud if you tried?"

"You", Tsuna said so quietly Reborn almost missed it.

Reborn changed the subject quickly, not wanting to dwell on that if it took so much effort to get Tsuna to say that much. "What is your dream job?"

"To work with stars. But I heard it takes a lot of math to even be accepted into a college class."

"What else then?"

Tsuna thought about it, staring at the screen as he thought before saying, "Somebody that helps with the mental illness part of health."

"You want to be a therapist?" Reborn asked.

"Yeah! I want to help people.

Reborn nodded, leaning back as he looked at Tsuna. "I could see you doing that."

Tsuna lit up, smiling a little at Reborn in excitement. "Really?"

"A nurse is a hard job, remember. You hear about people's problems, good and bad thoughts, what they go through daily, every single time you step into that office.

"Will it let me help people?"

"Yes, it will."

"Then I'm up for it."

Reborn felt his mouth twitch upwards. He sunk down a little on the couch and stretched out even more on top of Tsuna. Tsuna looked relieved and happy that he was allowed to be so close to Reborn and shifted closer. It was awkward to position himself because he wasn't sure where he was allowed to put himself but Reborn solved that by shifting inbetween Tsuna's legs and planting his face underneath Tsuna's chin. Tsuna didn't seem to mind the position, enjoying the warmth Reborn provided.

Eventually they had fallen asleep like that. They didn't even realize that they had fallen asleep until they woke up and the clock on the stove said it was one in the morning.

Reborn was the one to wake up first. He was groggy and slightly confused. Tsuna was deadweight against his chest that made it even harder to breathe. He shifted with a silent gasp, surprised at how much his chest was hurting. Tsuna was stirring so he couldn't address it though.

"I'm guessing we fell asleep?" Tsuna asked as he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. Reborn nodded as he slumped into the couch.

"Are you going to get up or am I going to have to drag you?"

"Carry me." Tsuna mumbled sleepily.

Reborn just scoffed and pushed Tsuna onto the floor.

"You can carry yourself." Reborn said as he shook the stiffness out of his shoulders.

"I'm staying here." Tsuna called. His voice was muffled from his face being on the floor.

"If I carry you, you'll be sleeping my bed?"

You don't have to if it's too much work. I'm sorry I shouldn't have suggested it." Tsuna stood up abruptly and went to move passed Reborn, who rolled his eyes and heaved Tsuna onto his shoulder.

Tsuna let out a shrill shriek of surprise and clutched onto the back of Reborn's shirt. It wasn't a long time to be carried but it was still nerve wracking.

He felt himself being dumped onto Reborn's bed and couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up as he felt himself bounce. Reborn smiled a little, quickly sucking into the bathroom to changed.

He threw something into his closet and closed it quickly, quick enough Tsuna couldn't see what it was. He seemed to want to question it until Reborn rolled him over to lay down himself, distracting Tsuna as he tried to reposition himself comfortably.

"Did you figure out my name yet?" Reborn asked.

"Renati?" Tsuna said, not sure. He didn't want to be wrong, usually people laughed at him when he was wrong.

"Nope." Reborn said. "Try again later."

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember the second name he had come up with. He pulled his phone over to him from the bedside table and started looking through his history. He knew he read something that gave him a name.

He let out a soft, 'a-ha', of triumph before saying to Reborn, "Is it Renato?"

"Did you ;look through your history for ten minutes just to find that?"

"Well, I remembered reading this article and there's a picture in it and it looks like you and Bianchi when you were kids but the person there is a girl so it can't be you. It must be your sister or somebody."

Reborn plucked Tsuna's phone out of his hand, saying, "Let me see. It could be me."

That kind of felt like a mistake as Reborn read more into the article. His breathing all but stopped, his heart jumping to his throat. He hated this. He shouldn't be this affected.

He kept his face neutral as he got to the photo and laughed nonetheless and held out the phone for Tsuna to take again. "No, Tsuna that isn't me."

"Oh, really? I thought it looked close. I don't doubt I'm wrong, I usually am."

"You can call me that when we're alone." Reborn said as he adjusted himself so he could bury his face into Tsuna's neck.

"Call you what?" Tsuna asked absently. Comprehension dawned a second later. "Oh! You don't mind me calling you Renato?"

Reborn shook his head. He felt he could trust Tsuna enough not to say anything.

Tsuna seemed shocked, surprised Reborn was so open with telling him. He guessed there was a reason he used Reborn instead of Renato. He really wanted to ask why too; he held himself back though because he felt he knew more than anybody about what it was like having people harass you about your past.

Tsuna resigned himself to leaning his head on top of Reborn's, being calmed by the feeling Reborn's breath on his neck as they laid together. Tsuna couldn't help his smile as he realized how comfortable they were with each other. But the smile died a little as everything rushed back to him. The guilt, the insecurities, the anger. looked at nothing, trying to get to sleep.

"I don't think they even want to be my friends anymore." Tsuna mumbled. He wasn't sure if it was to Reborn or not. His voice sounded louder in the deathly quiet room.

"Ask them." Reborn mumbled. He was half asleep, trying to stay awake so he could let Tsuna talk himself out. "Now go to sleep; I'm tired."

Tsuan relented, shifting so he could wrap his arms around Reborn's neck. "Love you."

There was a heavy and awkward silence as Tsuna froze. He hadn't meant to say that. It was true but Reborn might get weirded out by hearing the affirmation. Whenever he had said that to people he thought were friends in the past they laughed and called him mean things. Why he kept making the same mistake, he didn't know. It's not like anybody actually meant it if they said anything.

As Tsuna opened his mouth to apologize when he felt Reborn kiss his collarbone. They didn't say anything else as Tsuna was too embarrassed at the entire situation, especially the fact he was so elated for Reborn to kiss him in such an intimate place.

He was glad it was so dark in their room as he wasn't sure he could hide how red his face anyway else.

Tell me what you though, what you liked, what you didn't. All that jazz. Because I get lonely and I like reviews.

-Gate