Ryohei, Yamamoto, and Gokudera, Kyoko, Haru, and Bianchi were all piling into the room. Tsuna had gotten such a shock from the door opening he toppled backwards. The group was all chattering excitedly, trying to get Tsuna to say something more about what was happening but Tsuna felt even more embarrassed.
"Why do you people feel the need to barge in!" Tsuna demanded.
Yamamoto laughed easily, saying, "It was unlocked."
"Just because it's unlocked doesn't mean you can just come in…" Tsuna grumbled.
They weren't really listening though so he sighed in defeat. He was readying himself for the onslaught of questions to come. He was so focused on what he was going to say that when he tried to actually get up he just face planted onto the floor.
"So are we going to the arcade or what?" Ryohei said, seeming to vibrate as he tried to stay still. Kyoko eyed him but didn't say anything.
"I-I need to have a shower." Tsuna said quietly.
"Didn't seem like you were trying very hard to get away from Reborn." Bianchi muttered.
"W-Well, you see, is he was trying to stop me from getting up and-"
"You just didn't want to get up."Reborn said.
"Because you forced me to get up early to do exercise. Why would I want to do that first thing in the morning?"
"It helps with a lot of things. Like not being lazy later in life."
Tsuna muttered under his breath as he walked down the hall. He was out of earshot but he wasn't so sure Reborn didn't hear him. Tsuna had looked back and saw something mischievous in Reborn's eye.
Tsuna had left and was gone for a majority of the day, leaving Reborn to do whatever he wished. He didn't do much to begin with since he despised being out in public unless he wanted to be. He sat in the dinning room doing the rest of his homework he was assigned.
He had been taking online courses for his education and somehow was in a university level one too. The work wasn't hard once he was told what to do. People were scrambling to get him into their university as he had letters from all over in his mom's office. Every time they brought in mail, there were more letters for him. There were some for his siblings but most were for him. He loved to bring that fact up whenever his siblings were trying to prove they were better than him.
But he couldn't focus as well. His work was correct, he knew it was, but it took longer than it should have. He pushed his hair out of his face and realized he had a high fever. He let out a small curse before heaving himself up. He was finished his work and gathered it hastily into a pile. When he had stood, it felt like knives were being poked and prodded into his abdomen, his gut twisting.
There was a knock at his door and he asked, "Who is it?"
"Fon," Was the reply.
Reborn felt his annoyance surge as he opened the door. Fon stood there, smiling slightly in his traditional Chinese garb. Reborn motioned for him to walk in before
"Did you take your medication, Reborn?" Fon asked the minute he walked in.
"It's too late to take it now." Reborn mumbled.
"It's barely noon."
"I have to take it within two hours of waking up and I've been up for almost six hours now."
"I presume you went to bed early then?" Fon asked, puzzled. He walked over to the bed, sitting down carefully as to not shake the bed. Reborn watched him the entire time, almost glaring at Fon.
"Yes; don't know why you're even here, Fon." Reborn shoved his face back into the pillow so he didn't have to look at Fon.
"Because you probably haven't had anything to eat today, you look terrible, and you're looking sad. I'm just here to help."
"I never look terrible", Reborn said flatly.
Fon shook his head, leaving the room quietly, coming back ten minutes later. He padded into the room and stopping near the door, glancing curiously at the bed to make sure he wouldn't be attacked if he started talking. Reborn looked over, not having moved an inch from his spot, waiting for Fon to say something.
"I made you something to eat but you have to come and get it yourself." Fon said finally.
"Why are you trying to take care of me?" Reborn grumbled. The prospect of food was the only thing that made him move from his spot, slowly sitting up and grimacing. "What did you make?"
Fon smiled, letting out an airy laugh. "You really do like food. I made some rice balls since you seem to like them."
"And it's the only thing you can make."
Fon let out another laugh, nodding along as it was true. Reborn stood up and mumbled a string of curses with varying degrees of intensity, making Fon stare at him questioningly, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Are you on-" Fon started to ask but Reborn cut him off with a snarled, "Yes".
"Oh…Do you want me to get you anything?" Fon asked, trying to cover the moment of awkward and tense silence that followed.
Reborn didn't answer as he walked passed, clutching his shirt, and staring ahead with determination. Fon followed at a slower pace, shooting worried looks at the back of Reborn's head.
Fon spent the rest of the day with Reborn, Reborn half listening to Fon talk as they watched bad reality TV. At one point, Reborn was asleep leaning against Fon.
When Tsuna came home, Tsuna was amazed at how still FonFon was able to be as Reborn was using his arm as a pillow. He didn't even register that Fon was speaking to him until he was looking expectantly at Tsuna.
"Oh, um, hello." Tsuna muttered awkwardly, not sure what else to do.
Fon smiled politely and motioned for Tsuna to come closer. Tsuna edged closer, not sure if he was going to get hit because Mukuro used to do that and thought it was funny because he always managed to get one of Tsuna's scars that was barely healed.
"Please, come closer so I do not have to speak louder." Fon said. He sounded sat stiffly on the coffee table in front of the couch. Fon smiled ever warmer and continued. "Reborn is very tired and fell asleep while I was talking to him. I don't know if I'll be able to move to leave so please bear with my intrusion."
"I-It's fine!" Tsuna whispered, waving his hands. "Please make yourself at home. Would you like anything to drink?"
"Whatever you can spare."
And so, for the next hour, Tsuna found himself oddly at ease as he and Fon talked quietly to each other. Fon had an air of calm that helped ease Tsuna and he found himself opening up a little more to Fon.
Reborn woke up suddenly while the two were talking and, without saying anything, whisked off down the hall. Tsuna looked at Fon in confusion who just shrugged.
"Thank you for the tea." Fon said. He got up, stretching, and bowed politely to Tsuna, who bowed back. Fon smiled and gently padded towards the door with Tsuna trailing along absently. "Oh, Tsuna, make sure you don't leave Reborn alone for very long." Fon said suddenly, turning back to Tsuna.
Tsuna, taken aback by the abruptness of it, nodded dimly. "Yeah, why?"
"He'll most likely tell you in good time. Just let him tell you when he's ready." Fon bowed a final time before leaving, disappearing quickly down the hall.
Tsuna still wasn't sure what he was just told but thought he might as well check on Reborn anyways. He ambled down the hall, humming tunelessly to himself, and saw the bathroom door was closed. The water for the bathtub was running and it was just being shut off when Tsuna reached the door. He heard the water splash as somebody sat down heavily and carefully knocked on the door.
"Reborn?" Tsuna called carefully through the door. "Are you okay?"
Reborn didn't answer for a minute before saying, "I'll be out in a bit."
"Alright", Tsuna said. He walked into his room and flopped onto his bed. He was out of energy to do much as his chest was hurting worse than normal. He had recently gotten pain medication but he couldn't bring himself to take it. Not until he really needed it.
He wasn't sure how long he laid there but he heard Reborn enter at some point. Tsuna rolled heavily onto his back and soon had Reborn in his arms, smelling of soap. Tsuna almost didn't ask but he knew something was wrong. Reborn wasn't usually as stiff as he was now and his worry for him won out any apprehension he had.
"Are you alright?"
"Is there a specific reason you ask?"
"W-Well, you just seemed upset and you're not usually as uncomfortable. Fon mentioned it too and I thought I should at least see if you were..." Tsuna let himself trail off. Reborn shifted, burying his face into Tsuna's neck.
"Thank you for worrying..."
Tsuna smiled shyly, not that Reborn could see it, and threaded his fingers gently through Reborn's damp hair. "You're welcome. You've dealt with me enough. Whenever you need t-to talk, I'll be here for you. But if you don't want to talk about what's bothering you right now that's fine. I'll just tell you about my day since I want you to know."
Reborn didn't object and peaked up at Tsuna, waiting for him to continue.
"I had fun for the most part. I was kind of surprised I did from how sulky I've been for the last little while. So first we to the arcade but everybody was dragging me all over the place because they finally had me hanging out with them again and I'm really excited to find out that if I have enough people I feel fine going out in public, it's just if I'm by myself I freak out. So, anyways, we're going everywhere and we finally go to the arcade and Yamamoto and Gokudera challenged me to battle with them or something. I don't know, it was weird, that's all I remember. So big brother wanders off and finds a boxing game, he loves boxing for some reason, I have no idea why, but he does. Anyways, he finds a boxing game and immediately challenges Kyoko. So they go at it and Ms. Bianchi is taking turns as well and Haru was just watching everybody so I challenged her to a game, I can't remember the name though.
"After that, everybody got hungry and Yamamoto brings us to his dad's shop. We hung around there for another bit in Yamamoto's old room, just talking. When we were walking home Gokudera and big brother were as competitive as always and so they were arguing about something.
"Out of nowhere Gokudera fell into the river since he wasn't looking where he was going on the bridge and big brother accidentally pushed him into the railing. He's fine, of course, he's a really good swimmer, but when he resurfaced there was a stuffed toy of an octopus on his head. For some reason big brother found it hilarious and almost cried laughing; now Gokudera has the nickname 'Octopus Head' big brother kept using. Of course that's got to get annoying so Gokudera started calling him turf top because his hair looks like mowed grass, according to Gokudera.
"After that we kind of went our separate ways at the dorms. I also got a book."
Tsuna stretched his legs out and rested his hand on the side of Reborn's neck, smoothing his thumb over Reborn's jaw. He hummed a little, not bothering to say anything else as he had finished his story. He didn't really think Reborn was going to say anything and didn't mind being the only one talking for a change. Reborn appreciated the small gesture and laid curled up against Tsuna.
"If that's you staring, Reborn," Tsuna said softly, his voice full of hidden humiliation.
Reborn snorted softly. He wiped some of the remaining water on his hand against the small of Tsuna's back. Tsuna screeched when it landed, clenching his shoulders up and he tried to wipe the water away.
"Why!" Tsuna shrieked. "Why would you do that to me, Reborn?"
"...You don't have to call me by that." Reborn muttered. Seeing Tsuna glance questioningly at him, he said, "Call me Renato. There's nobody around to hear it."
"O-Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forget since I'm switching back and forth from that. Sorry."
Reborn shrugged, sliding down farther in the bed and slinging an arm over Tsuna's waist.
"...Are you sure there's nothing bothering you?" Tsuna asked hesitantly. "I-I mean, you don't have to tell me; I was just curious if it would help you for me to listen."
"If I tell you, would you tell anybody else?"
"What? No! Of course not! I'd feel really bad if I did anyways because it wouldn't be my secret to tell in the first place."
Reborn shuffled. He moved so he could make eye contact with Tsuna. He seemed to be gearing up to say something. The silence stretched between them as Tsuna fidgeted with a pocket on his pants, wondering what could be so big that Reborn was this scared to tell him. Reborn was never scared for anything and feeling like he was, was terrifying to think about. If Reborn was fearful to say it, it must have been huge.
Tsuna waited paitently for him to say anything though.
Reborn started talking, in a rushed, scared voice that was so unlike him it shocked Tsuna. "I'm transgender and I haven't had any HRT ((Hormone Replacement Therapy)) so I get periods still and I'm on it right now."
The silence stretched even longer this time as Tsuna tried to process this. He had a vague knowledge of what being transgender meant as it wasn't a common word. But the main thing was that Reborn was this scared to tell him.
"That's okay then." Tsuna finally got out. His voice sounded calmer than he expected it and he shrugged. "It's not like that who you are as a person."
"Yet most people aren't comfortable dating me after they know that I'm-"
"Yet it's not like it changes you completely." Tsuna said. He felt Reborn still, about to interrupt. He rushed on, "When I got out of the hospital after...what happened, you were really the only person that didn't treat me all that different. Everybody tip toed around me, I know they still do, and you were as blunt as always. So the fact you're tr-tran," Tsuna faltered, his face flaring. "I can't say the word, the fact you're that doesn't mean anything to me because you're still Reborn; you're still Renato."
Tsuna cleared his throat awkwardly and squeaked in surprise when he felt arms wrap around his shoulders, a hand running through his hair. Reborn placed a soft kiss to Tsuna's temple , murmuring, "You're the only person that has basically said, 'I don't care', when I've told them."
"I-I'm sorry, um, well it is who you are but I honestly-"
Reborn laughed softly. It was music to Tsuna as he felt his breath leave. Reborn sounded so grateful and open. Tsuna felt his chest start to hurt in his affection as he leaned his head against Reborn's chest.
"I know what you mean, Tsuna. I'm glad you don't care as everybody I've dated cared a lot about it. That's why Bianchi clings to me so hard too, she feels sorry for me and wants to "change" me back to being a girl."
Tsuna made a noise of annoyance, squishing his nose up in distaste. "That's rude. It's not like you'd come over to me and say, 'Stop being half Italian, you look like you're Japanese so you can't say you're Italian.'"
Reborn snorted and kissed Tsuna lightly underneath his jaw. "Good to know we're on the same page. Japanese people will say that though."
"I noticed that because in all the manga I've read, there isn't a single person of African heritage."
"Some call them 'hafu' as a slur if they have a dad or mom that's African. A lot of people are straight up racist about it and some people can't even get housing because the contract says "no blacks" with the thought that the stereotype black people are rambunctious and don't know how to behave, just because of the Western stereotypes people see all the time."
"It's kind of gross. I've seen some of the stereotypes and on Tumblr there was a lot of activism for it, but I've never really seen anything for the racism here."
"I haven't really seen the racism here" Reborn mumbled, shifting and burying his face into Tsuna's neck.
Tsuna couldn't help but smile, moving his face and hid his face in Reborn's.
"Well, when I was younger I remember there was a doll, uh, Bibinba I think it was. It was really rude and was pulled off but I remember seeing commercials for it when I watched TV on weekends."
"What, did you watch anime?" Reborn asked teasingly.
"Of course. Naruto is a staple for any secluded nerd. It was when it was getting into Shippuden too so it was still really big. But yeah I saw stuff for that doll and now that I look back, it wasn't the most welcoming doll to have."
Reborn snorted, nodding.
"D-Do you want me to get you anything to eat or drink or..." Tsuna trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
Reborn shook his head, his hair brushing against Tsuna's neck. "Unless you can get me a new reproductive system."
"Have you had anything all day?"
"No, I mainly slept."
"I'm going to get you something to eat then. Don't protest, Reborn. I'm going to make you toast. I-If that's okay, like I don't mean to be forceful about this, I'm sorry I must have sounded really rude..."
Reborn kissed Tsuna's temple, smiling against it. "Thanks."
Tsuna kissed Reborn back. His face flamed as he pulled back and hurriedly moved away. He wasn't used to doing these things.
Reborn heaved a huge dramatic sigh as he let Tsuna wiggle out from his arms. He called out behind Tsuna, "Just try not to burn it." Tsuna turned his head and stuck his tongue out at Reborn before closing the door and his footsteps scurrying to the kitchen.
Now, Tsuna, try as he might, was incredibly clumsy. It had gotten enormously better to the point where he could walk straight, but he had butterfingers. It was super embarrassing and Reborn promised he would handle all of the cooking because he kept dropping the pot, or forgetting to use oven mittens, or burning the noodles he tried to cook because he didn't put in enough water. Reborn handled all of the cooking after that experience. So cooking toast was bound to be a disaster.
Surprisingly, though, he didn't burn an appliance; just small corners of the bread. So it wasn't that big of deal. Tsuna hoped.
When he walked into his room, Reborn shifted so he was partially sitting up as Tsuna walked to the bed. He looked grumpy, his eyes looking a little dull, and his hair dropping so it wasn't a spiky mess like It usually was, but Tsuna was suddenly hit with giddiness as he realized he was the only one who could see this side now.
"Am I going to have to get up for my food?" Reborn asked a little irritably. He was mostly joking, but Tsuna didn't hear it as he hurriedly walked over and handed Reborn the plate.
"S-Sorry, um, I was, just, well..." He trailed off and fidgeted, shuffling his feet nervously. Reborn frowned, snagging Tsuna's free hand and tugging him forward.
"Why are you nervous?" Reborn asked. Tsuna flinched away from the words and paled. He seemed to want to deny it but couldn't bring himself to say what was wrong. Reborn pulled Tsuna to his chest and felt him relax as he ran his hand along Tsuna's back.
The two stayed tangled together, breathing each other in until Reborn shifted, starting to pick up the plat. He nudged a mug and, turning back to Tsuna, asked, "What's in the cup?"
"Oh, I boiled you some water since you had said you liked to just drink the water sometimes." Tsuna mumbled, his face flushing back to the bright red colour. "I-If you don't want it that's fine I'll get you something else."
"...Thank you."
Tsuna seemed like he was about to say something more but Reborn had finished eating. He fell backwards onto Tsuna's chest. Tsuna wrapped his arms around Reborn's waist. Tsuna wasn't sure what to do and ended up playing with Reborn's hair. Reborn seemed to fall asleep and started mumbling things in varying languages, none of them Japanese or the little English he knew. So he had no idea what he was going to do except sit there, either admiring Reborn sleeping or sit there doing nothing.
He could multitask though so he ended up running his hands through Reborn's hair, relishing in the fact that Reborn was in a deeper sleep than usual. While he was looking at Reborn though he noticed the deep purple bags under Reborn's eyes, the way his entire body seemed to slump over Tsuna's, and how his skin was paler than the usual olive complexion he had. Tsuna scrunched his nose up, moving his hand to Reborn's forehead and groaned internally as he realized Reborn had a fever.
"What are you doing?" Reborn mumbled. He shifted, moving his head into Tsuna's hand, a small frown on his face.
"You do know you have a fever, right?" Tsuna asked, dipping his head to see Reborn's eyes. Reborn shrugged, shifting and finding another comfortable position. Tsuna sighed, getting up to leave since he couldn't really do much for Reborn and would probably be in his way.
"Where are you going?" Reborn asked, catching Tsuna's wrist again. Tsuna clenched his hand, feeling tears prick his eyes, but he smiled at Reborn as he said, "I was going to leave you to sleep. I can't really do much now, can I?"
"I want you to stay." Reborn said, moving so Tsuna had a spot to lie down, and gently tugged him closer. "Tell me another story."
"Really? I'm not very good at it."
"I don't care. Tell me one."
Tsuna blew out a breath and sat down. Reborn shifted and laid across Tsuna's torso, not even hesitating to twist himself around Tsuna's body. He looked up at Tsuna with almost a vacant expression. Tsuna propped his head against the wall behind him and tried to think of a story, feeling embarrassed as he looked and saw Reborn still looking at him with bright, excited eyes that looked a little weird on Reborn.
"Well...The blanket I have on my bed, it's ten...maybe nine years old. My mom got it for me when there was a small fire in our house. My blanket got ruined because the dryer caught on fire or something, I can't remember the details. So she got me this when she was going to night school and had to pick up a couple things and she saw it. I don't even know what the print is supposed to be anymore. It's now just mint green."
Reborn smiled, moving yet again so he was more comfortable. "What happens when this blanket can't be used anymore?" He asked, sounding like he was about to fall asleep.
"I don't know. I can't use just anything because of how I have sensitive skin and certain fabrics irritate it. I'll have to sleep in it before I can buy it so I don't spend money on something I can't use." Tsuna threaded his hands through Reborn's hair, hearing Reborn hum in approval. "I might just make you deal with me sleeping in your bed. I like your blanket."
"I like yours better. It's soft...and smells nice." Reborn mumbled something else but Tsuna didn't catch it.
Reborn spent a restless night, fading in and out of sleep. He remembered getting up a couple other times but he didn't move too much. He was used to this though. He never slept a solid eight hours without waking up at least three times throughout the night. He felt Tsuna was awake too but didn't want to move in case Reborn would be moved from it.
Reborn woke up the next day, feeling even worse than he did when he fell asleep. Tsuna shifted, rolling onto his other side and sighing sleepily but never letting his grip on Reborn's shirt loosen.
It was almost seven and Tsuna had to be up soon, but Reborn couldn't bring himself to make the effort to wake Tsuna up. He knew that he had just gotten to sleep again, hearing the shuffling Tsuna was doing as he tried to get comfortable again.
"Tsuna..." Reborn called, prodding Tsuna gently in the side. He jerked, rolling over again to stare at Reborn in annoyance. "It's almost seven, Tsuna. You have to get up."
"I don't want to though." Tsuna grumbled. Reborn gently unlocked Tsuna's hand from his shirt. "Why does school have to be such a hassle."
"Because it's something you might need. If you want to be a nurse, you need to at least graduate." Reborn said. "So go get ready for it."
Tsuna groaned, moving into Reborn's arms. "Reborn, can you call in sick for me so I don't have to get up?"
"You do know I have the reason to not go to school and I'm still going? You can go, Tsuna. You'll be fine."
Tsuna groaned and rolled over again...and straight onto the floor.
Reborn snorted, looking down at Tsuna from the bed. Tsuna made another annoyed noise and curled up on the floor.
"Whatever", he mumbled, "This is fine too."
"You have to shower, Tsuna. It's better you get up now and get it over with." Reborn said, pulling the blankets around himself.
"...Did you take your pill yet, Reborn?" Tsuna asked in an attempt to steer the conversation away from his cleanliness.
"Not yet. I will when I get up."
Tsuna stumbled up then and sat down on the bed lightly, hoping to not jostle Reborn too much. "I'm going to keep bugging you until you take it you know that right?"
"I figured."
And for the next ten minutes, Tsuna poked, prodded, and pestered Reborn endlessly; trying to get him up. Reborn tried to ignore it but this was getting to be too much. He shot up and pulled Tsuna into a kiss, softly cupping his face, angling Tsuna's face just right that would make him feel breathless and giddy, feeling Tsuna press just slightly against him as they deepened the kiss just slightly. He hoped it would shut him up.
It worked.
Tsuna stared at Reborn in surprise when he pulled back, gasping and heaving, a blush slowly creeping up his neck until his entire face was redder, before he dropped his head into his hands, his utter embarrassment evident. He looked up, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words as nothing came out when he tried.
He finally managed to blurt out, "You really shouldn't do that because our morning breath isn't the greatest."
"That's it?" Reborn asked, pulling on one of his sideburns, it bounced back into a curl automatically. "That's all you have to say?"
"You surprised me..." Tsuna mumbled, rubbing the back of his hand over his cheek.
Reborn smirked, peering up at Tsuna. "You're a man of few words." He pecked Tsuna's cheek, pulling back and muttering, "You still have to shower. It's time for school."
Tsuna groaned, dragging himself up onto his feet and across the room to his dresser as he started pulling out some clothes to wear. He left, putting all of his clothes in the bathroom. He paused as he was about to turn on the water and dashed into Reborn's room, going and pulling out Reborn's pill bottle and darted into his room, throwing the pill bottle in the main direction of the bed before going to take his shower.
The minute he walked back into his room, a pillow thumped against his face, almost knocking him to the floor if he hadn't caught the door.
"The pill bottle caught me in the neck, Tsuna." Reborn huffed, slowly getting up from the bed. "If you're going to keep pestering me about it, I'll go take a shower."
Yet Reborn seemed incredibly reluctant to even be standing up and Tsuna found himself mumbling, "If you want, I could help you wash your hair."
Reborn looked at him, startled. Reborn actually looked startled that Tsuna would say that.
"W-Well, if you don't want to that's fine." Tsuna stuttered out, looking surprised he even said something. "I was just wondering if it would be easier to just wash your hair and everything. I-I just thought I should ask if it's fine with you and all."
"You've never offered before, so I wasn't sure how serious you were." Reborn said.
"Well, it's easier to have your hair washed and clean and all that. It's easier than taking an entire shower, right?"
Reborn stared at Tsuna suspiciously before he nodded. "It is. Nobody's really helped me wash my hair before though."
"W-Well, now you have me. I'll try my best." Tsuna said, grinning. Reborn blinked before his face relaxed and he nodded again, his eyes crinkling around the corner that signalled he was happy. He didn't have to smile for Tsuna to know he was happy about something.
The entire school day was uneventful. Tsuna learned something in English he was never going to use, he was forced to do math that made his head hurt, he got back a test on Japanese that he barely passed. He was just glad he was making double digit marks now thanks to Reborn's help.
That was all the excitement he had was getting a sixty on his test. When he got home he saw Reborn asleep on the couch, his math book, open on the floor like he had dropped it there accidentally.
Tsuna, after a moment of intense mental deliberation, tip toed passed the couch into his room, pulling the blanket off of his bed, and ran out into the living room, carefully draping the blanket over Reborn's frame. The minute Tsuna tried to step away, he felt Reborn catch him around the waist.
"What are you doing?" He asked, bleary, sleep filled eyes staring up at him. They seemed a little clouded, Reborn might still have a fever, Tsuna guessed.
"Well, you said you liked my blanket so I just thought you'd like to sleep with it. I-I'm sorry." Tsuna mumbled, looking at the ground.
"It's fine..." Reborn said, rolling over and letting his arm drop from around Tsuna's waist. Almost instantly, he was asleep again.
Tsuna was always going to be surprised in how fast Reborn could fall asleep. It must be a talent you had to perfect over the years.
But he couldn't deliberate over how Reborn was able to sleep so soundly as he had homework in math he had to work out and somehow finish before making something to eat. He set to work, setting up his textbook and pulling out the three worksheets he had to do. They only had a few questions on each and it wasn't double sided so he didn't expect it to take that long. But he seriously underestimated how little he understood this subject and he finished one worksheet with all the wrong answers before he finally slumped over onto the table, letting out a small, barely audible groan.
A few seconds later, he felt somebody lean against the chair he was sitting in, making him jerk upright in surprise. Reborn was standing there, looking over the working sheet, a frown of disapproval marring his face.
"I thought you were asleep." Tsuna muttered.
"I heard sounds of distress." Reborn said dryly. His eyes roamed over what Tsuna had done. "All of these, are wrong. Not just the answers either. The entire method you used isn't a method you could use to physically get the answer." Reborn said, taking Tsuna's pencil from his hand.
"I figured. The teacher barely helped me." Tsuna sulked. "She ignored me when I put my hand up and I had it up for over five minutes."
"Well, she seems nice." Reborn uttered absently, sitting into the chair next to Tsuna. "I can explain this easily. It's not very hard when you get the hang of it. All you have to do is take the degrees, which we call, in math terms, the Theta, and tack it onto the tan. Then you take the side, if you're doing trigonometry you'll want to name all the sides too..."
In the end Tsuna finally understood what he had to do. He tried to ask for help but the way people kept explaining it was the same and confused him even more. Turns out he was labelling the sides wrong, that one thing threw everything off and he knew how to do it now. It was a nice feeling and Tsuna couldn't help but smile as he got the rest of the questions right without Reborn's help.
"If you've got it, I presume I can go back to sleep?" Reborn asked when Tsuna started shoving his sheets back into his math book. "Or do you have more confusing homework?"
"U-Um, well, I have English. But I don't think it's that hard. You don't have to help me since you feel sick..." Tsuna trailed off. Reborn was looking at him sharply, a look of disinterest.
"It's my job, Tsuna. I'm here to help you with school too." Reborn said. He sat up straighter, looking like he'd rather be doing something else, and slid the sheet Tsuna had out towards himself. He looked over what Tsuna had to do quickly before starting to explain it.
"You're just matching words to definitions...It's not too hard once you get the hang of it." Reborn pushed the sheet to Tsuna, tapping the first one. "Tell me what you think this one means."
"U-Um, well, it's B-Blasp-" Tsuna wouldn't meet Reborn's eye as he struggled. He heard his accent come out when he tried to pronounce the 'L' sound and became even more hesitant to say anything. He looked quickly over at Reborn at was dumbstruck at the sight of his smile
"What?" Tsuna asked in confusion. He couldn't, for the life of him, think of why Reborn would be smiling like that. He felt himself become breathless as he looked away again.
"You look cute when you concentrate." Reborn said plainly.
Tsuna blushed furiously, trying to get the hair out of his face as he tried to distract himself with the worksheet again.
Reborn kissed Tsuna's forehead, seeing Tsuna starting to give a shy smile "Now, how you say this word is "blasphemy". Do you remember the definition?"
Tsuna remembered it and actually knew most of the words. Every time he got one right Reborn kissed somewhere on his face. It got to the point where Tsuna felt like he might have a permanent blush on his face.
Within a few days, was back to being the nuisance he usually was. Tsuna didn't mind as he actually enjoyed all the small things Reborn did. They actually made him choke with laughter sometimes. Whenever it happened, Tsuna usually had to change so he was dwindling fast in clean clothes. That was the only hindrance to the entire thing. It was better because if his friends came over and hung out with them, they forgot about the pranks Reborn always put up for Tsuna when he walked in the door. Tsuna always found himself laughing harder over that.
One day, he was out in the hall almost wheezing from how Yamamoto got a pillow and honey to the face when he walked in, Tsuna being the nicer person and letting himself in first, when he heard somebody walking down the hall. He looked over his shoulder instinctively and clapped a hand to his mouth.
Mukuro was walking down the hall.
A lot of things ran through Tsuna's mind. He could run over there and try to get a punch to his face. He could run into his dorm and get Reborn and/or Yamamoto to punch him, or he could scream enough for people to come out and find him. He froze on the spot though, unable to even call out a small warning as Mukuro walked closer. He felt frustrated tears prick at his eyes as he watched, horrified, Mukuro coming closer.
Before he could even begin to try and move, Mukuro had him around the waist and dragged him away into a stairwell. Reborn had his back turned and Yamamoto was talking to him so they didn't notice, Reborn only hearing a bang on the wall.
"Well, fancy meeting you here." Mukuro muttered in his suave, too over-confident voice.
Tsuna didn't have any retort. He had found that he had became more sarcastic in his speech lately but he was completely at a loss for words as he stared at the opposite wall. Tears burned at his eyes and he struggled against Mukuro, managing to elbow him in the side hard enough for his hold to loosen.
"That's not very nice manners, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro chided. Tsuna felt angry tears splash down his face. He was able to move away, getting Mukuro's hands off of him.
"Like you know how to be nice." Tsuna said weakly.
Mukuro laughed, that small humourless laugh that always creeped Tsuna out. "Why, can't I see my boyfriend?"
"I'm not dating you!" His anger flared. It was always so close to bursting lately and Tsuna couldn't help himself as he continued. "We haven't been dating for almost a month because you kidnapped me and-and-"
Tsuna couldn't get the words out, his throat closing up in his anger and mild panic. Why was Mukuro here in the first place? There wasn't a reason for him to just suddenly appear.
"Why are you here, Mukuro?"
"...I don't know why I should tell you. If we aren't dating, you aren't privy to my life. Now...I do want to see you. I have things I'd like to say."
"There's nothing I want to hear from you, Mukuro."
"What about an apology for how I acted?"
Tsuna looked at Mukuro cryptically. This felt like a trap. Mukuro was extremely manipulative and had done it countless times before. One time he had asked Tsuna to get the things out of the sink for him, but it ended up that Mukuro had poured vinegar in the sink that made Tsuna's hands chafe and bleed from how they were already dry. His hands had burned and stung for days after that yet he never heard an apology, just "oh right, I spilled a bottle of vinegar in there and thought it was water. You should've smelled it, Tsunayoshi."
Mukuro never lost the cockiness but his demeanor changed, like he was letting down his guard just enough. "I know how terrible I was. I'm...Sorry I put you through that. You might have picked up on it but I do have a touch of Bipolar I disorder."
Tsuna nodded slightly. He had had his guesses. He asked Reborn about it since he knew the most about both types of Bipolar Disorders. But the fact he actually told him was concerning. Why was he suddenly sharing this?
At his fearful and skeptical look, Mukuro walked forward. Tsuna gasped, backing away. He felt himself hit the wall and felt his throat close up in fear. He felt Mukuro's hands cup his face, gently bringing it up so he was staring into the blue and red eyes he had once found so fascinating; now all he felt was fear, repulsed, and more than even more anger.
"Tsunayoshi, I know I hurt you, and I truly am regretful of my actions. I know it will never mean much, but I am. My manic stages were only so terrible because of how angry I already am. You were just caught in the crossfire."
"That's not an excuse, Mukuro." Tsuna's voice shook but he stared straight at Mukuro.
Mukuro's face seemed to twist, like he was about to start to curse Tsuna out. Tsuna closed his eyes tightly, knowing what was going to be coming next. He tried to make himself as small as possible as he coward. But before Mukuro could say anything, he was wrenched down the flight of stairs behind him so fast Tsuna didn't even process it. He felt Reborn pull the front of his shirt hard enough to make him stumble forward but he was in shock. Yamamoto was there too pushing the both of them out and, with a feat Tsuna didn't know was possible, managed to pull Reborn with him too.
"Why did you drag me out too?" Reborn asked sharply, turning his eyes to Yamamoto. He grinned sheepishly, rubbing his head.
"I figured that you might actually hurt him and he's already unconscious. I figured if you calmed down enough we could drag him to the Dean's office." Yamamoto said sharply. He looked down the stairs at Mukuro's crumpled form his eyes narrowed in malice.
Reborn looked at him and begrudgingly nodded.
Tsuna dimly followed the two, Reborn keeping his hand in Tsuna's firmly. Yamamoto was talking about something and Tsuna tried to pay attention but he felt the familiar creep of anxiety slithering through the bottom of his stomach throughout his chest, and taking a firm grasp onto his lungs. He couldn't find breath fast enough and as he was left in the dorm, felt burning tears spill out of his eyes as he sat in the middle of the living room.
Reborn was the one to find him as he came back. They had lost Mukuro. He was gone the minute Yamamoto and he went back. His anger soon fizzled into worry as he saw Tsuna, tears flowing freely and his breathing haggard, in the middle of the floor.
"Tsuna, what is it?" Reborn asked.
Tsuna jerked in alarm and he ground out, "I'm fine", instead of actually saying anything he needed to say.
He seemed to do this a lot more now. Even if there was this pit in his stomach, a soul crushing, gut wrenching amount of fear and heartache and pain, he wouldn't say he had something bothering him. Last time he tried Mukuro lashed out at him, digging his nails into Tsuna's hips as he held him down and growled out how he couldn't care less what Tsuna was going through when he had his own problems.
"Tsuna...It's okay to ask for help sometimes." Reborn said. He sounded unlike the Reborn Tsuna was used to. He said it softly, comfortingly, and in a way that was almost like he was telling himself that.
"It doesn't feel like it is!" Tsuna said fiercely. Reborn didn't seem fazed as he sat down opposite Tsuna, leaning against the couch. "Mukuro...Whenever I needed to talk about something, you think you can go to your partner; didn't think that Mukuro would hurt me. He had his own problems he always had to rave about. If I brought up my own he would rake his nails down my side and tell me how unimportant I was. Then if I mentioned how it wasn't working out between us he'd get mad and start saying how much he had sacrificed for me; how much I owed him. I can't even have somebody stomp near me because then I'll have to hold back tears because of how Mukuro used to hit walls near me to scare me! I can't even think about something without thinking about how badly Mukuro affected me. I don't owe him anything! He-He-He..."
Tsuna started choking on his words. His face burned, his eyes spilling tears like a broken faucet; and he was back underneath the pool, feeling all the pain, remorse, and fear like it was new.
It hadn't really sunk in what happened until now. He had been drifting through in a sort of daze, trying to repress all the memories of what happened. But now the flood gate was open and he felt the pit open and his entire body constrict in fear as he felt hopeless. All over again.
He hadn't realized how much it had affected him. But he didn't hate Mukuro. No matter what he had been told by people, there was no way he could ever hate him. It's not like he wanted to be forgiving, but he must have done something to warrant such bad treatment.
"Tsuna..." Reborn called. He had used the softest voice he had ever used and even surprised himself. He never expected to feel like this. Feel so scared for where Tsuna was going. He never felt scared. He just didn't. Yet this meek little kid was making his heart flip and his stomach roll in fear. "Tsuna, can you hear me?"
Tsuna let out a small sob, nodding, tears splashing down his face.
"Tsuna, can I sit by you?" Reborn asked, still using the same hushed tone.
When Tsuna gave a jerky nod, Reborn carefully pulled Tsuna into his lap. He guided Tsuna's head against his throat and rubbed Tsuna's back gently.
"Focus on me," Reborn said firmly. "You're safe here, Tsuna. The flashbacks will be hard but you can get through them. Going back to what happened isn't something you can help, no matter how hard you try to stop it, and it'll catch up with you no matter what. What you need to do is talk about it. If you talk about it with somebody you trust it'll help. It's the only thing you can do to make it better. It won't happen overnight but it'll happen. Eventually. You need to give it time though."
"What if I don't want to talk about it?" Tsuna asked bitterly.
"I'll be here when you're ready, Tsuna. So will your friends. Nobody's rushing you."
Tsuna nodded. He wiped furiously at his eyes with his sleeve, mortified at how he had acted. Reborn gently took his hand away, entwining their fingers.
"Did you go through this too?" Tsuna mumbled after a moment.
Reborn stiffened and Tsuna felt bad about asking and was about to say not to answer it when Reborn said, "Luce let me talk a lot about it; helped a lot as what I said aided the police in figuring out what was happening. It was a mafia family that took me. They kept trying to convert me to their religion; saying how their god was the best and he couldn't love me if I didn't embrace the body I was given. It was stupid but after a while they – never mind." Reborn cut himself off, readjusting himself so he could kiss Tsuna's temple.
"I'm sorry..."
"It's not something people usually hear about. None of my siblings know what happened except for what Luce, the police, and I have told them. Which is next to nothing. I don't like thinking about it."
"Yet you told me?" Tsuna pulled back in surprise
"...I trust you." Reborn said simply.
He gently placed a hand on the side of Tsuna's face, wiping away the tear tracks. Tsuna felt himself turn scarlet and he looked away, mumbling something about this being embarrassing. Reborn laughed, letting Tsuna move closer before leaning back against the wall behind them.
"I need to pee, Tsuna." Reborn said after a while. Tsuna gave a small whine as Reborn pushed him onto the hall floor.
"I was comfortable!" He said childishly.
Reborn ignored him, scratching his chin to hide his smile.
Aaaa, I know this might have a bunch of mistakes but I have to go to bed soon and really want this released!
Before I forget too; holy fuck? Thank you all so so much for getting me to over 400 followers. I don't have anything to say except: thank you guys so much, I love doing this for you, guys.
SO, anything is welcome in reviews as I love hearing what you guys think. See you guys in the next update!
-Gate