Title: Timeless

Pairing: R27 RebornXTsuna

Disclaimer: don't own and if I did then the whole world would be filled with yaoi

Tsuna is now 12 and Reborn is 20

Beta'ed by 'AmbiguousThoughts.'

"But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep" Robert Frost

Chapter 8: Year Eight

"Hey, guys, go up to my bedroom, alright? I'm going to get something." Tsuna smiled at his new found friends, feeling a little embarrassed as this was the first time that he's ever had anyone over. He had been a little hesitant in asking them but eventually they were the ones to come out and say it. His honey-colored eyes peered over the two, watching them. It had taken a while but he had finally made some friends that weren't so much older than him. His eyes turned towards Gokudera, his first friend.

It had been an accidental friendship between the two where Tsuna had bumped into the silver-haired student when running away from some bullies. When he did so, he had accidentally saved Gokudera from a falling light, hearing it crash and shatter behind him. The glass had scattered everywhere and he could see sparks of electricity all over from the circuit. Tsuna, not really caring since he was being chased, got up, apologized, before running off and just in time as the bullies came around the corner for him.

The next day had been strange as Gokudera followed him around and it scared Tsuna, afraid that he was going to get beaten up for yesterday's collision. But he didn't want to confront the other and remained as hidden as possible, hiding behind people, and remained in his seat even during lunch. But the other student refused to leave him alone and afterschool, Gokudera finally dragged him away. Tsuna had been so scared, so frightened of getting beaten up, and cowered at the sight of the other coming towards him.

Except the strangest thing happened…

"Tenth, I'll protect you to the end!"

Huh?

Tsuna stared at the silver-haired student in surprise, shocked at receiving such a greeting. He blinked multiple times, thinking that it was just a fluke, and ran off before Gokudera could say anything else. He couldn't really believe it. He couldn't believe that there was actually someone willing to talk to him without scorn or without some kind of dangerous agenda (stealing his money).

The next day when he was leaving his house, he couldn't help but pause to stare at the person standing outside it in his front yard. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things but Gokudera was still there, standing at his gate waiting for him. Tsuna froze to his spot, not sure on how to greet someone. He had never really done that before…

However, he didn't have to say anything, the silver-haired teen did for him. "Hi, Tenth! I came here to walk you to school today!"

No response came out of the brunet, his mind still in shock. Never had anyone offered to walk him to school before. It was so…strange. With a little bit of help on Gokudera's side, Tsuna was finally taking his first steps out his front yard. At first, Tsuna thought it was nothing more than an accident again but then the other started showing up next to him during class or coming to get him to eat lunch together. It was really odd for Tsuna, but he liked it. He really liked having someone that was willing to do all those things with him.

Of course, when he became friends with Gokudera, Yamamoto tagged along. The latter was actually easier to deal with. The black-haired teen had a cheerful personality and instantly hit it off with Tsuna without any trouble. It was odd for Tsuna to one day find out that he was eating with two of the most popular people in the school. Some students threw him glares, wondering how they suddenly became so close and a few brave ones came up to question their sudden friendship. But no matter how many times Tsuna tried to explain it, it wouldn't make much sense. It was indeed odd but, he didn't bother with it, he was just happy to finally have someone that would call him out for something other than a beating.

And things continued. Eventually, Yamamoto started meeting up with him in the morning whenever he didn't have baseball practice, keeping himself attached to both Gokudera and Tsuna. It was really nice to the brunet that there were two people to keep him company. He didn't even bother asking why Gokudera had tried to become friends with him, it was just never brought up. The three hanged out more, going to different places and Tsuna went over to both of their houses…except, they never came to his. He wanted to ask but like stated before, they were the ones to come out first. That, he was glad with.

So as Tsuna left to head to the kitchen, his two best friends, Gokudera and Yamamoto looked at each other and nodded, making their way upstairs. They didn't know exactly what room it was but they eventually stumbled across it since the door was wide open. That and there was a little fish hanging off the front door. Gokudera was first to go in, turning on the lights, and dropped his stuff on the floor, Yamamoto next.

But there was someone else in the room.

Yamamoto was the first to notice him.

His eyes peered at the person that was resting on the bed, perfectly content. He was fully dressed in a suit except for the shoes that were on the floor and had a fedora covering his face. The black-haired teen blinked and then tilted his head. He tapped Gokudera on the shoulder to get his attention.

"What is it, baseball idiot?" The silver-haired student snapped, glaring at the other.

Yamamoto scratched the back of his head at the yell then pointed towards the direction of the bed. "There's someone sleeping on Tsuna's bed."

"What?" Gokudera snapped around to see the said person and stared in confusion. Why would someone be here? Dirtying it too! He fumed. "Hey! Who the hell are you? And what are you doing on Tenth's bed?"

The person didn't move and just slept there as if nothing was wrong.

"What the?" A voice came from the doorway, catching the two friend's attention. They turned to the doorway to see Giotto, Tsuna's older brother, standing there and leaning against the frame. The blond sighed at the sight, shaking his head, and pulled back to take a single step into the room. "Sleeping here again? You're starting to make this a habit, aren't you? So how long are you going to be here, Reborn?" Giotto huffed and folded his arms, ignoring the other two in the room. When he didn't get an answer, he grumbled underneath his breath. "Well, make sure Tsuna does his homework, alright? And watch over him, I need to head back to school. You know, being president of the student council is getting really annoying. Oh, and Mom is out right now, gone shopping I think."

"Then don't let yourself get elected, idiot. If you don't want to handle the work that's involved with being president then don't do it." Reborn grumbled from under his fedora, still not moving. By the sound of his voice, it was obvious that he had been awake the whole time.

The two friends in the middle were so confused on what was going, almost to the point that they didn't know what to say, but they recognized the name 'Reborn'. Who hadn't? The man was well-known among the town of Namimori.

"Ah, Giotto-nii, are you going out today?" Tsuna called out as he came up to the top of the stairs, carrying a tray of drinks for his friends. He had yet to enter the room, standing out in the hallway, staring at his older brother.

"Yeah, that's right. Duty calls. I'll see you later tonight but don't worry. He's already here." Giotto slipped around Tsuna, noticing his look of confusion, before heading down the stairs. He needed to get out as fast as possible before he heard Tsuna's squeal. It could sometimes be quite painful. The brunet heard the front door close and as he stepped into the room, took one look at the person that was on his bed before breaking out into a large grin.

"Reborn!" He placed the tray onto the table and jumped onto his bed to look down at the older man. His hands were resting on Reborn's chest, gently shaking the other. "Are you going to stay the night today?"

Reborn just lifted up a hand, giving a thumbs up, and then let his hand raise up to pat the brunet on the head.

Tsuna's face brightened up. "Great! That's wonderful!" He reached down to lift Reborn's fedora up to he could see the half-asleep face. But the older man just opened his eyes as the light finally hit his face and sighed, turning his head towards the two other teenagers in the room. They were staring back in curiosity, just watching the exchange between the two.

"Aren't you forgetting about something, Tsuna?" The brunet gave him a 'huh?' type of look, wondering what the other had meant. He stared at Reborn in question, reaching up with a finger to touch his lips. Reborn sighed again and pointed towards the two that were at the side.

Finally figuring out what the other had meant, Tsuna turned towards that direction and spotted his friends. It seemed that he had just remembered that there were other people in here besides the two on the bed. "Oh, right! Sorry about that!" Tsuna slid his legs off the bed, still holding onto the fedora as captive. "Yamamoto. Gokudera-kun. This is Reborn, he's a very close friend of mine. And Reborn, this is Yamamoto and Gokudera-kun, they're from my school and are related to Giotto-nii's friends."

Reborn made a half-attempt of watching, still not moving from his spot, too comfortable.

"Hey, there. Nice to meet you." Yamamoto smiled, not bothered by the strangeness of the person and sat down at the table to get his drink, thanking Tsuna at the same time.

Gokudera, on the other hand, didn't take it as well. He turned a little red in the face and took a step forward as if threatening the twenty year old man. "Hey, you! How long have you known the Tenth?"

Reborn raised an eyebrow at that and turned to Tsuna, mouthing 'Tenth?' in curiosity. Tsuna just shrugged his shoulders in response, not sure about it either. "Well, I've known him since he was five and he's twelve now, so about seven years." Reborn took a deep breath, reaching over to grab his fedora so that he could go back to sleep, but Tsuna instantly jumped off the bed to get away. He glared and Tsuna just stuck his tongue out. Collapsing back onto the bed, Reborn huffed, not wanting to move again just yet.

The silver-haired teen instantly backed down and fell to the floor in defeat. He had only known Tsuna for a few months, that was nothing compared to seven years.

Everyone just watched in amusement, not completely sure on what was going on.

Reborn took that distraction to sit back up and snatch his fedora back, placing it triumphantly back on his head before collapsing onto the bed once more.

Tsuna gave a pout in response but didn't fight back. He was just happy that Reborn was here with him. That was all that really matted.

As the students began their homework and studying, Reborn fell back asleep, slumbering away, though he did keep an ear out just in case. He knew what Tsuna would do if he dropped his guard, the kid really surprised him at times, probably too familiar with his tricks.

"So…what does this mean?" Yamamoto muttered the word problem out loud and the two other teens looked over the pages.

"Sixty-nine." Reborn commented before Gokudera could do anything, stretching a bit to move the pillow into a better spot. Tsuna and Yamamoto both smiled and wrote down the answer while Gokudera grumbled under his breath.

As the two continued to do their homework, it eventually became time when they had to leave and head home. Gokudera didn't seem as willing to leave, staring at the older man that was still sleeping on the bed, before making his way down the stairs. "Tenth, are you sure you'll be fine with someone like him?" The silver-haired teen asked worriedly, not liking the idea of leaving his precious tenth with someone else.

"Of course!" Tsuna stated it as if it was obvious. "I trust Reborn! My whole family does." Gokudera still grumbled and was ultimately forced out by Yamamoto. Tsuna waved at the two as they left and locked the door once they were out of sight. Immediately, he ran straight up the stairs and jumped onto his bed, landing right on top of Reborn. The man left out a yelp, not exactly expecting such a thing and glare at the child on top of him, rubbing his side. Tsuna just continued to grin, swinging his feet up and down, and collapsed to rub his chin into Reborn's chest.

Used to this sort of thing happening, Reborn just brought an arm up to hold Tsuna tighter against his body and then closed his eyes. The brunet squirmed a bit in the hold, trying to get into a better position, before turning his head to the side. His right ear was against the chest, listening to the heart beat within the ribcage, and smiled. His honey-colored orbs slowly closed and finally shut, letting himself drift off to the sound of the heart.

Reborn just smirked, shifting his other hand so that it could come up to stroke Tsuna's hair, and yawned. He didn't bother moving the other off, completely content with this position, and smiled.

Review!