Disclaimer: I live with my parents.
Summary: When Gokudera Hayato is invited to join the "illustrious order of the clam" Kappa Eta Rho, he is not looking forward to older, higher-ranked, stupid brothers giving him orders and trying to mold him into a respectable gentleman. But his "big brother", Tsunayoshi Sawada, is not what he expected. For one, he's a year Gokudera's junior. For another, he's very attractive in an adorable "don't you just want to obey my every wish" kind of way. Oh, and he's a 10th generation mafia boss.
Dedication: For my darling wonderful friend Ria.
Chapter Two
Gokudera would have to replay that moment in his memory for the rest of the night to assure himself that it hadn't been a dream. Sawada-nii had lead him around after that brief introduction, showing him around the rest of the house and, at the end of the night, asking him to report to the breakfast room first thing the next morning to discuss his first assignment. Gokudera had merely nodded, feeling like a rather love-daunted puppy. Sawada-nii was a kind and gentle-spoken young man, every so often letting a more childish persona slip loose around just him, Ryohei and Yamamoto, something Gokudera felt privileged of.
He didn't need the alarm clock the next morning, and for good measure he'd turned off his mobile phone, not wanting to be interrupted by his older sister's chipper poison too early. Rather, he called her on the way to the Kappa house and left her a message, saying that he would be busy most of the day with his older brother.
"Sawada-san is with Mr. R, Gokudera-kun," Yamamoto greeted from the far end of the table as he entered the breakfast room. "Please come sit with Basil-kun and me until he arrives!"
At the head of the table Dino was chatting amiably with Hibari, as onesided as the conversation was. Ryohei was making big gestures and shouting "EXTREME!" at random intervals at his younger brother, who looked a little flustered and kept averting his gaze to his breakfast.
"Good morning, Gokudera-kun," Basil greeted. On the table in front of him and in Yamamoto's hands were some pamphlets on baseball leagues for handicapped peoples and children. That was obviously their project for the week. Catching him looking, Basil held one out, nodding.
"We are going to assist coach a children's league and a league for handicapped peoples. It's going to be very exciting, since I know very little about baseball. Yamamoto-nii is very enthusiastic, of course."
The breakfast room was nearly empty when Sawada-nii finally arrived, tripping over himself and hastily doing up his tie.
"Please forgive me for being so late, Gokudera-kun!" he exclaimed, falling into his chair and pulling his breakfast to him. "Mr. R determined that he should test me this morning in front of the council…" He glanced around nervously and straightened his clothes.
"Please don't blame yourself, Sawada-nii," Gokudera insisted. "I have set aside the whole day to be with you."
Brother Tsunayoshi looked awed for a moment, then smiled softly and nodded. "It is good to see how dedicated you are willing to be to our brotherhood, Gokudera-kun."
You could have clocked him over the head with a mallet and he wouldn't have noticed, Gokudera mused.
"Yamamoto told me that he planned to take Basil to the baseball diamond today," Sawada-nii began. "I'm afraid our project for the day won't be spent outdoors." He smiled warmly. "We'll be helping cook and serve lunch at the homeless center."
They finished their breakfast in pleasant silence, and when they had finished, Gokudera was asked to wait on the porch while Sawada-nii made a phone call to the center.
"You are very lucky to have him for a big brother, you know," Yamamoto remarked. He and Basil were loading up his car with baseball equipment and snacks for the children. "Tsuna is the tenth generation of Sawada to make huge contributions to the college. Before him, his father established Kappa Eta Rho. Everyone always jokes about what the 10th will do, but he hasn't expressed any plans yet."
"The 10th?" Gokudera wondered out loud.
"We call him that… sometimes," Yamamoto explained. "Because…" he shrugged. "It's just a Tsuna thing."
They left without much more explanation. Another secretive thing about this brotherhood, Gokudera thought. Would he know everything once he earned the full pin of the illustrious order?
"Gokudera-kun!" Sawada-nii pulled up to the front of the house in the back seat of a shiny black car being driven by one of the men that usually flanked Brother Dino. "We don't want to be late!"
He talked the whole way about the people at the center. "Kappa has been supporting them since my father founded it, and we've been able to help so many people, Gokudera-kun! I've brought gifts for the children his time, of course," he explained, gesturing to the bag in the front seat. "I love being able to do this," he murmured.
"The 10th is very kind," Gokudera caught himself saying. Tsuna's eyes snapped open a little wider. Gokudera couldn't tell if he was angry or not. But then, he laughed. "I see someone has been telling you about my legacy," he decided, nodding. "Usually it makes me uncomfortable to have anyone call me that… but you… I want you to, Gokudera-kun."
They stared at one another for a moment, Tsuna – the 10th – in quiet calmness, Gokudera in awestruck awareness.
"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said suddenly, rifling through the pocket between the two front seats and producing a handkerchief, "I think your nose is bleeding."
The shelter was much nicer than Gokudera imagined. Obviously the Sawada family and the illustrious order of the clam had put in a lot of effort to it. As soon as they arrived the 10th was crowded by a large group of children. Between them, he and Gokudera handed out all of the presents, and then Tsuna dragged him to the kitchen, a lovely white wide space full of good smells.
"Italian food seems to be a Kappa favorite," Gokudera commented, lifting the lid of a huge pot and finding a brew of steaming spaghetti.
Tsuna laughed a little nervously. "It certainly is Mr. R's… as well as expensive sushi."
Their task for the day was to stir the sauce and make sure that the garlic bread didn't burn in the oven. When it was all ready, they donned dress shirts and short aprons and carried large trays out to the dining room.
"I need you to do something very important for me, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said when they ducked back into the kitchen after a third round of serving.
Gokudera nodded.
"Mr. R, through connections not known to us, believes that the Kokuyo gang intends to break into the center today and steal food and attempt to break into the safebox."
Gokudera was amazed at the calm manner in which the 10th spoke. "Dino-san has assured me that you will protect me."
Gokudera nodded. But he'd neglected to bring any explosives. Last night he discovered that he was out of the 10 dry chemical.
"Don't worry, 10th. No harm will come to you or the people here." He sounded a lot braver than he felt.
Tsuna favored him with a warm smile and went to filling his tray with bowls of pasta.
Gokudera hurriedly served another round and then, anxiety building, did what he normally did in such situations. The restroom was easy enough to find, and empty besides. It was a small clean room, and the toilets were curious in that they were of an antique design, ceramic boxes attached to the walls with a cord to pull.
The name "Kokuyo" wasn't unfamiliar. He recalled hearing it or reading it in the university newspaper. Troublemakers. He had no idea why they would want to break into the center.
Unless…
Unless the 10th himself was the target.
Gokudrea hit his head standing up abruptly. Something behind the harsh white ceramic rattled. Curious, Gokudera pulled up his pants and washed his hands, peering around as he tied his apron. There was something taped to the wall in the minute space. He reached behind and found, to his immense surprise, two short sticks of dynamite. Was this part of the Kokuyo's plan? If so, it was very poorly executed. There appeared to be no fuses connecting the explosives to the wall, no means of ignition. Ah! But there… something silver that didn't seem to be part of the plumbing. He shook it loose. A silver lighter.
Something about the faint engraving – a sort of crest where Gokudera could make out a clam and a small… hurricane? symbol – made him think that Dino had it planted there. Who else knew about Gokudera's tactic of weaponry? At any rate, it was the strangest thing about the brotherhood by far, but he was grateful. He stuffed the items into his pockets and went back to the kitchen, hoping Tsuna wasn't angry at him for disappearing.
Desert was served mostly to the children with a few of their parents and some of the newer residents indulging as well. Gokudera was beginning to wonder exactly who this Mr. R was and who told him about the Kokuyo – because obviously it had been a false alarm – when he noticed two young men sitting at a far table, watching Tsuna. One of them was blonde with rough sort of features, the other wore glasses. They looked clean and well-fed, not fitting in with the other people.
Danger signals went off in Gokudera's head when he saw them shift as Tsuna worked his way to their table, serving more ice cream.
It was over in an instant, the short fuse explosives knocking the two gang members into the opposite wall, Gokudera shielding two small girls with his body from the blast. The whole dining room had rushed to the other side, voices frantic. The two girls ran to their mother and Gokudera felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Very good, Gokudera-kun. I think we should call Dino and Hibari to attend to this mess, shouldn't we?"
- The Writer