When Reborn got back, Tsuna was trying to wash the dishes he had. Reborn graciously came in to help him with Tsuna drying them. Reborn hadn't said a word besides a greeting though. Tsuna was getting more and more scared. Tsuna started to ask numerous times what was wrong but always lost his nerve. So he stayed quiet, letting Reborn stay in his own thoughts for a little bit.
"I'm fine, Tsuna", Reborn said, turning to him as the sink drained. "No need to keep looking like I'm going to die."
"You looked upset", Tsuna said indignantly. "I was worried."
"How cute, you worry about me." Reborn said flatly. Tsuna looked at Reborn, trying to hold back a smile. It didn't work and Tsuna looked away wryly. He stepped forward and put his arms around Tsuna's neck, wiping his hands on the back of Tsuna's shirt as they stood there.
"Reborn!" Tsuna screeched.
Reborn laughed dancing away and walking into his room. He came back out with his school bag and pulled out books. He started copying something down and Tsuna was going to leave him to it when he was called back.
"We have to get some things later, after I tutor you of course, are you going to come with me?" He asked Tsuna.
"S-Sure. It looks like you're doing something do you want me to..?" Tsuna trailed off lamely. Reborn shook his head.
"This is for you. I want you to do these problems for me, Tsuna. Show me where you are with this."
Tsuna groaned, his shoulders slumping. "Can I just not do math?"
"You could but you still need to pass."
So Tsuna endured two hours of doing math problems. He felt himself become more and more bored as it went on. The only thing that kept him was the threat of Reborn pranking him if he didn't pay attention. Tsuna felt the two hours were a waste anyways since it wasn't like he would remember any of this.
Finally, Reborn was gathering the paper scraps littering the table and he was telling Tsuna to go get ready as they were leaving soon. Tsuna had tripped in his haste to get his shoes and felt his face flame in his embarrassment.
"Don't say anything!" Tsuna said shrilly. Reborn had a deliberately blank face but Tsuna could see his shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter.
The two left, walking together down the hall. Tsuna was talking about what he did yesterday and Reborn listened silently. People stopped the two more and more, making Tsuna stop talking and almost hide behind Reborn.
They had bought a box of tea, bread, instant coffee, and some jam since it was on sale and both of them really liked it. They had already had some bread with jam on it and had been debating which one of them could swan dive the best.
"Tsuna, you're the clumsiest person I've met in my life. You can't swan dive." Reborn said bluntly, looking at Tsuna blankly.
"I'm not arguing but I am offended you think that, Reborn. I happen to not be as clumsy as I was last year since I now know how to dodge out of the way of your stupid pranks."
"Yet you still can't run down a flight of stairs without almost falling."
"I see that I can't convince you of your otherwise wrong opinion so I'm going to stop trying right here." Tsuna shoved the rest of the bread he had into his mouth while staring Reborn straight in the eye. He seemed to choke a little and tried to shove the bread around his mouth so it wasn't clumped together.
"Why I chose to be seen with you, I don't know." Reborn muttered. He pushed the jam back into the plastic grocery bag and plopped it next to Tsuna, still trying to swallow the bread he had. Tsuna looked at Reborn disdainfully as he finally managed to swallow his bread clump, coughing a little as he tried.
"Because I'm the only fun person you know." Tsuna fell back onto the grass, looking at Reborn with a smile.
"That's not even close. You've met my mother."
"Yes but Ms. Luce isn't your friend, she's your mom. I'm the fun one out of the friend group." Tsuna flicked some grass at Reborn. He swatted it away, ruffling his hair so the remaining blades and dirt fell on Tsuna; he screeched in surprise and rolled over. Tsuna sputtered, grass having got in his mouth.
"That's so gross, Reborn! Why would you do that?" Tsuna exclaimed. He had spit all of the grass out but he could still taste the dirt and betrayal in his mouth. Reborn was going to have cramps from snickering as hard as he was. "You are a five year old, Reborn."
"Good, I'd rather be five. I could dress how ever I wanted."
"You're wearing a shirt that I've seen my grandfather wear when I was four. You already dress however you want."
"Yet I could actually get Halloween costumes and wear them all the time, and nobody would look at me weird. They'd just think that it was a phase." Reborn sighed wistfully. Tsuna wasn't getting the excitement of dressing up in Halloween costumes but okay.
"Well Halloween's in like three months so they're probably going to bring that stuff out soon." Tsuna said. He snagged Reborn's sleeve and dragged Reborn over so he was sitting in the grass next to Tsuna. "What is your favourite holiday?"
"…I don't have one." Reborn said, thinking. "I don't really have a preference since I didn't really celebrate much when I was a kid."
"What did you celebrate when you were a kid then?"
"Not much, just Lent and Easter since my mom was religious. Christmas we were too poor to do so we just made special soup and had that. My mom thought Halloween was The Devil's birthday which was funny to listen to since that's not even close to what it is but she wouldn't listen. Around Lent we had pancakes which was fun but then I had to pick something to give up, it was always sugar since that's the thing my mom wasn't great at providing and my dad was disabled."
"I think that's the most you've ever told me about yourself." Tsuna said in awe.
"That's the most you're going to get." Reborn said. He closed his eyes and stopped talking, just laying in the grass peacefully.
Tsuna sighed a little, rolling a little so he could see Reborn. He was glad they were in a field behind an abandoned kids park because he didn't like being in public. Reborn had told him a trick to walking in a crowd but it was still stressful. Reborn thankfully understood though and showed him this field.
"I came here all the time when we moved here." He had said. "It was peaceful and nobody knew where it was but Mom. So if she ever needed me and couldn't find me, she knew I was stressed out and came here."
The field itself was small but there were trees around it so it was also closed in and private. So Tsuna didn't have to worry about people looking at him weird when he rolled over onto Reborn.
"What the-Tsuna, why?" Reborn asked.
He shrugged, nuzzling his face into Reborn's neck, making Reborn sigh in mild annoyance.
"What's your favourite colour?" Reborn asked, breaking the small silence they had. Tsuna thought about it, making a small noise in frustration.
"I don't know. I like orange a lot but I also like green. I'm gonna go with green because it's really calming for me. What's yours?"
"If I had to pick it would be purple."
"Why?"
"It's a colour that's-I don't have to tell you." Reborn shifted a little and Tsuna snorted, immediately regretting it because Reborn picked up on it and asked, "And what was that sound for?"
"N-No reason." Tsuna said. Reborn wasn't buying it as he shifted again and Tsuna laughed again, swearing a little bit because of it. "Alright, when you move grass rubs against my side because my shirt is hiked up and I don't want to pull it down again."
"You need to stop being so lazy, Tsuna. You're going to have heart problems before you're 20."
Tsuna stuck his tongue out at Reborn before settling, feeling Reborn bring his arms up and resting them over Tsuna's mid-back. They laid like that for a while, just being close to each other like this was enough for both of them. Both of them weren't much for extravagant dates and the fact that both of them were happy like this was what made the day perfect.
Somebody walking down the path had the two looking over, there was a tiny, overt opening directly across from where the two were lying in the middle of the field and the dried leaves scattering it made it hard to walk quietly. Luce seemed a little embarrassed by the fact that she was discovered so easily but coughed a little, clearing her throat to try and disperse her embarrassment.
"Reborn, you need to come back to the school. I have to start an assembly for the school." Luce said. She seemed to be vibrating in excitement a little, looking at Tsuna lying on top of Reborn like he was, and she glowed with happiness.
"That's not for another hour, Mom. Why are you getting us now?" Reborn asked. He didn't open his eyes and continued to lay with Tsuna on top of him, not bothered to move.
"Because I know that you're going to wait to the last possible minute before even moving. So come on, let's go." Luce crossed her arms, looking sternly at the two. Tsuna rolled away from Reborn, feeling embarrassed, but Reborn stayed where he was, looking a little dazed.
Tsuna poked Reborn in the side, making him jerk away a little in surprise. "Come on, you have to move. Your mom looks scary like that." Tsuna kept his head down but he was sneaking glances to make sure that Luce wasn't moving near them.
"Yeah…Don't worry I'm moving."
Reborn got up, looking like he would fall over any second, and sat there for a second, trying to collect himself. Tsuna looked worried, wanting to ask what was wrong when Luce seemed to huff and turn around, walking off back down the trail. That was what made Tsuna continue poking Reborn to get him up.
"Are you…okay?" Tsuna asked. He wasn't sure if he was going to get an answer from how off Reborn looked but it was worth a shot.
"No…No, I have this thing that happens. I don't know…why it happens." Reborn said. His words were slower and more slurred then they would normally be and that concerned Tsuna. Reborn would never be caught dead talking slow because it was undignifying.
"What happens?" Tsuna prodded.
"Well…From my Bipolar II Disorder, I have this thing. The best I can explain it is that it's like when you have an MP3 on shuffle. There's little snippets of…of different things. It doesn't…matter what it is, it gets crammed into my head and it's all I can focus on…It doesn't even complete what the thought is most of the time either. I could be thinking of how I like a colour more…than the other and then I am thinking of a hit song I heard three years ago. There's no…Rhyme or reason to any of it. It just happens. I can focus great usually but…when this happens I can't."
Luce was waiting for them near the opening. Her annoyed expression soon turned into motherly worry though as she noticed how lost Reborn was. She uncrossed her arms and walked closer but stopped short.
"Is he okay?" Luce asked, turning to Tsuna.
"He says he has this…thing happening where he can't focus." Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "It's from his Bipolar II Disorder but I've never heard of this happening before."
"Wait, you know?" Luce asked, looking at Reborn in confusion.
"I told him. Found my pills. Saw no reason to lie." Reborn shrugged. He gently grabbed onto Tsuna's sleeve to steady himself and Tsuna removed his hand in favour of holding it.
Luce sighed, nodding. "Alright, well, how bad is it this time?"
"…I can concentrate but not very well."
She nodded, seeming satisfied, and started walking. Tsuna followed, pulling gently on Reborn's hand to get him to walk. It wasn't like he was completely out of it but he was disoriented a little bit.
The walk back to the school was much slower then it was to get there. Reborn kept stopping, looking like he was trying to do something but wasn't sure what. Tsuna was the only thing that kept him plunging along. Luce had ran ahead to make sure the last minute details were good. Since it was close to 6, the student body was easy to get into the auditorium and gathered. A lot of people only went for day visits, not liking to stay for more then a few hours in their household. So when they walked into the auditorium, they were the last few people trickling in.
Tsuna and Reborn found seats near the back, sitting next to Yamamoto. He smiled easily at them but noticed Reborn's face and looked at Reborn in confusion. Tsuna just shook his head, not willing to talk about it since it wasn't his place to say anything.
Luce had rushed to the front, fixing her dress, her stomach bulging more and more so it was hard to hide she was pregnant by now. But she was still up and moving as well as she was a few months before she got bigger so she saw no reason to take maternity leave.
Everybody was focussed to the front, not used to being called for an assembly that wasn't on a school day. Every student and the student's guardian had gotten an email about the assembly so most of the students attended, making sure to emphasize how important it was. So they were going to pay attention if it was this important.
When the doors were closed by the teachers standing near the back, Luce cleared her throat, blowing out a breath and started talking. The assembly took over an hour to complete. Luce had shown them a video about how suicide and depression worked, Tsuna had to agree it was pretty accurate, and then she made a final remark, talking about how it was important to be there for each other, blah, blah, blah. Tsuna had stopped listening because Reborn was trying to get his attention on something and he would rather listen to Reborn then hear things he had heard millions of times by now.
"What is it?" Tsuna muttered under his breath to Reborn.
"We forgot to bring the grocery bag with us." Reborn whispered back.
Tsuna snorted, leaning closer to Reborn when one of the teachers leaning against the wall started giving him the stink-eye. "We can go back for it. It won't be dark until around eight anyways."
"We aren't allowed outside after 6:30, Tsuna."
"We'll sneak out all night then."
"How will we get back in?"
Tsuna shrugged, leaning his head on Reborn's shoulder. "We'll figure it out. But look we can leave now!"
Reborn shrugged, standing up listlessly, like there was no emotion in him at all. Tsuna was a little worried about that because he had been like that before, hoping Reborn was feeling at least a little bit better then he had been feeling before the assembly.
Everybody had filed out in a thick stream, making it easy to go unnoticed by the crowd. Tsuna and Reborn were able to slip into their dorm easily, nobody even noticing how off Reborn was. It was nice because Reborn was usually stopped by people in the hall, some wanting to just talk, some needing help on a math problem, some just stopping him then running off because they were going to try asking him out.
Reborn had flopped onto the couch the minute they were in their dorm. He didn't really say much, other then a small 'finally' as he was out of the small rush of people going to their own dorms. Tsuna smiled a little, following Reborn a little and sitting on the floor next to Reborn's head.
"What are you doing, Tsuna?" Reborn asked. He sounded tired just by talking and Tsuna was tempted to get Reborn to his room to sleep.
"I don't know what you mean, Renato." Tsuna mumbled. He liked Reborn's real name and wanted to use it as much as he could when he was still allowed.
"You're staring at me." He said. He smirked a little, looking like the old Renato Tsuna was used to.
Tsuna shrugged, leaning his cheek against the cushion he was propped up against. Renato scoffed, feeling Tsuna take his hand.
"Are you okay?" Tsuna asked suddenly.
Renato wasn't sure. Today was fun but when he suddenly had his thoughts racing and blurring together, it threw a wrench into his good mood. He wasn't feeling bad or annoyed, really, he just felt irritable; which was never a good sign for him so he just shrugged at Tsuna. Tsuna made a small noise, something that was probably out of annoyance, but Reborn didn't really care right now. He was too tired to think about much.
"You sleeping in my room?" Renato asked, slowly sitting up. Tsuna nodded, looking a little unsure about it. "It's not going to bother me, Tsuna. It's okay."
"A-Are you sure? I mean we're always sleeping in the same bed and I just thought that you would want some space after what happened today."
"No, giving me space is something you don't do after this happens. You have to make sure I'm still functioning."
Tsuna smiled a little, nodding. Renato pulled on his cheek a little, walking off to his room. He didn't bother getting undressed fully; he just took off his shirt, put on a sweater, and crawled into bed. Tsuna joined in something similar but he had pyjama pants on. Tsuna shuffled in, looking a little nervous about this, like he did every night. Renato just opened his arms a little, signalling that it was okay for Tsuna to come to bed.
He took the offer, hesitantly wrapping his arms around Renato's chest. Renato hugged him back, seeming relieved that this was happening; knowing that at least something was real in his life.
"You're a really good person, you know that right?" Tsuna mumbled. He felt his face get really hot after saying that, feeling embarrassed to have mentioned it.
"…Thanks. You are also the best thing that's ever happened to me." Renato mumbled. He was half asleep, not really sure what was happening. But he knew it was something he needed to hear.
It was only seven when the two had fallen asleep so they were both up at close to six. Both of them were not happy about it since that was not something they planned and there was nothing they could do at six in the morning. Most people weren't even moving at this time.
Renato had other idea though.
"Let's go for a run." He said. Tsuna looked at him, not saying anything, just looking from his spot at the table. Renato stared back, dead serious. "You can't exactly run so we'll go for a really long walk."
"Why?" Tsuna asked.
"Exercise will help you."
"How? How will it help me?"
"You'll feel better afterwards. You won't feel so much like a walking corpse today. It's something to do rather than sit in here for another three hours."
Tsuna groaned again but got up, dragging himself to his room to get dressed. He wasn't going to back down easily so Tsuna just went along with it. Who knows, if he started having an asthma attack he'd get to miss out on school.
Renato was ready before Tsuna had even managed to get his shirt off. Tsuna walked back out looking unhappy and with a similar outfit to Renato's of sweatshirts and loose pants.
"Oh look, we match." Renato commented, making Tsuna flush in annoyance and embarrassment. "Well, you aren't going to get any healthier glaring at me are you? Come on already."
"Why are you making me do this? Nobody even really moves at this hour, why are we the ones to break the status quo?"
"Because the status quo is boring and a terrible song. So stop complaining and walk, idiot."
Tsuna stuck his tongue out at Renato, feeling annoyed. But he would rather do little things like this with Renato then have them forced to go on a date like having dinner together at a restaurant. Tsuna hated doing that and Renato shared his views so just doing things together was better.
"Hey, Renato." Tsuna said, turning to him. "What was the sudden push to do some activity?"
"It's better for me to keep moving when I move out of Hypomania stages." Renato mumbled, not really wanting to talk about it just yet. Tsuna nodded a little, hesitantly looping his pinky around Renato's as they continued to walk.
The morning was just starting to come alive as the two walked. Birds started screaming as the sun rose higher in the sky, small bugs and insects starting chilling out with their bug sounds but even more bug sounds replaced theirs so the orchestra wasn't disrupted. They were currently walking down a small path by the river, just walking. They were silent, just enjoying the morning coming alive before them as they enjoyed being next to each other.
Renato let go of Tsuna's pinky, instead entwining their fingers together. Tsuna smiled, looking at Reborn out of the corner of his eye. He felt like he was twelve again, blushing at the slightest hint of somebody being nice to him.
"You look like you're nine, Tsuna." Renato said.
"Wow, like that's something you say in public. People are going to talk Renato." Tsuna said, mocking offence.
"Let them talk then." Renato shrugged. "I'm used to people talking about me behind my back. Happened all the time when I was going through the process of being diagnosed. Luce didn't think I knew."
"My parents did that too. My mom was always talking on the phone with my dad when I started getting symptoms of depression."
"I thought it only happened after the fire?"
"No, it was a long time coming. People bullied me a lot because I'm not that smart. I also didn't really want to even try since everybody told me that so it was just a vicious circle. Some of my old teachers handed back tests from the highest grade to the lowest. I was always the last kid to get the test; a couple times I was second last, only because Yamamoto was in my class though. He's lucky he has Gokudera to tutor him because now he's not doing as bad."
Renato snorted. "That would explain a lot. Didn't you try to get a tutor?"
"Nah, I didn't really care. Everybody told me I wasn't going to do much anyways since my grades had been bad for a while so why try? I'd like to start trying again now though."
"You weren't going to get off easy in the first place, Tsuna. You have me as a tutor, and I don't half-ass a job."
Tsuna laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I guessed as much. The first time I saw you, you were doing push-ups. I don't think you're one to mess around."
"I was only doing push-ups because somebody bet me that I couldn't do 100 in a row. I was practising."
"Wait, wait, wait, you made a bet you couldn't? Was it Colonnello?"
"Is it really that obvious who it was?"
"Yes, very."
Renato snickered, looking out over the water next to them. He tightened his grip on Tsuna's hand and snapped his head forward. He picked up the pace of his walking, Tsuna groaning as he was pulled along. He thought it was only a leisurely stroll but now Renato's kicking it back into gear.
An hour into their walk, Tsuna finally got Reborn to turn around, guiding them back. People were starting to mill about now. School was starting for some schools near the town, people going to do chores earlier so they weren't caught in a rush, people getting to work for the day. The town was slowly becoming more than just insect sounds as the sun warmed the grass and roads, making it just hot enough you wouldn't need a sweater but it was cold enough that you needed something to cover your arms.
Tsuna and Renato made it back to the school around seven-thirty, Tsuna almost collapsing in the doorway, much to Rebnato's amusement.
"You could've told me you were tired, Tsuna." Renato said, taking his shoes off and throwing them into the corner of the small mud-room.
"I tried! You kept pushing me to keep going!" Tsuna exclaimed. He sniffed, slowly getting his light panting back under control. "I thought you of all people would let me go back."
"Nope, you quit too easily. I wanted to push you so you felt some fulfilment today. And, aren't you also going out with Yamamoto and Gokudera today?"
"If I could, I would scream." Tsuna said bluntly. He got up, pushing his shoes off as he did, and flopped onto the couch, slouching into it.
Renato rolled his eyes at Tsuna. He sat beside Tsuna, laughing a little when Tsuna used his lap as a pillow the minute Renato got comfortable. They stayed like that, the two of them feeling gross from how they were kind of sweating but not enough that it was noticeable. Tsuna wasn't really bothered by it, just not wanting to move since he was comfortable.
After a bit, Tsuna started dozing, not really sleeping but not really awake either. Renato noticed it, smirking when Tsuna started actually sleeping. Renato waited until Tsuna was comfortable before slowly pushing Tsuna's body further and further to the edge of the couch. He made sure to throw down all the pillows he could reach though since he didn't want Tsuna to get hurt when he was pushed onto the floor.
It was nice because Tsuna went face first into a pillow.
He screeched, shooting up into a sitting position and looking around in alarm. Renato was laughing and snorting too hard to say anything and Tsuna wasn't quite sure what had happened for a moment until he clued in that he was on the floor.
"Renato", Tsuna whined. "Why did you do that?"
"Because it was funny."
Tsuna scrunched up his nose, throwing a small pillow at Renato's face. "That kind of hurt. At least you thought enough about me to put pillows down." He crawled back onto the couch again and straddled Renato's thighs and gently cupping Renato's face in his hands. "You look really…really pretty when you laugh."
For the first time Tsuna could remember, Renato seemed to blush. That was a score for two things Tsuna learned about Renato. He smiled a little, one of his hands came up and he ran his thumb along Tsuna's knuckles.
"Are you okay?" Tsuna asked in alarm.
"Of course I'm fine." Renato said, snapping back to his blank faced exterior. "Why?"
"Y-You've never been this expressive before." Tsuna dropped his eyes; trying to hide his face. "W-When you're close is when you're sick."
Renato smiled crookedly and leaned his temple on top of Tsuna's shoulder. "Recently, I've found, that I'm more comfortable around you than most people. Now get off of me and go have a shower, you are still going out with your friends."
Tsuna groaned and flopped against Renato, snaking his arms loosely around Renato's neck. "I don't want to. You're not going to be there."
"I'm not going to be there for a lot of things, Love. Now get going."
"Wait, did you just call me 'Love'?"
"Yes I did, now get going already."
Tsuna whined again, shifting so he was closer to Renato, making him harder to shake off. Renato seemed to sigh a little, softly rubbing a spot on Tsuna's back. It was almost eight-thirty now and Tsuna had yet to move off of Renato, just sitting on top of him. Renato didn't mind in the least since it was nice sitting with Tsuna like this. Tsuna pecked underneath Reborn's jaw,
It wasn't exactly weird between the two but Tsuna was incredibly embarrassed. He had kissed Reborn and he didn't even mean to. He just did that if he really liked a person. He just rolled with it and kissed them. The minute he realized what he did he jumped back, apologizing profusely. Reborn didn't even flinch as he gently took Tsuna's hand and pulled him back so Tsuna was sitting beside him.
"You act like I'm going to be mad over a small thing that a lot of couples do, Tsuna. I'm not mad you did that." Reborn explained. He leaned his head on Tsuna's and felt Tsuna scoot closer.
"Are you sure it's fine?" Tsuna mumbled.
"I'm sure, Love. You don't have to act like every little thing is something you did wrong. "
"That's a little hard since I just feel like I need to, you know?"
"Yeah, I know." Reborn felt Tsuna shift and wrap himself around Reborn, having a vice grip on Reborn's shirt.
Now I myself don't have Bipolar I/II Disorder, nor do I know anybody that does so if anything seems off please, please tell me. I'm mainly going off of what I can find about Bipolar II since that's what Reborn has in this story and if it looks wrong in anyway, don't be afraid to tell me so I can fix it.
Anyways, as always, I love hearing from you guys so don't be afraid to leave a review please!
-Gate