I want to take some time to show some appreciation to my readers and reviewers! You've given me hope and have made me excited to write this story!! Thanks to ExplosiveDevice, reishilovesyaoi, xFlame990, OneEighty, mistdays, xXShadowFriendXx and Bel's Hime-Sama for reviewing and giving me the resolve to continue the story! I'll write with my Dying Will!!!!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own KHR. I own only this plot, so keep yer paws off, a'right? *has Sistema C.A.I. ready*

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Day II

Gokudera couldn't sleep. He lay with his head on the pillow, his eyes scanning the room he knew so well. The moon slanted through the window at just the right angle to illuminate Yamamoto's sleeping face. It was about one in the morning and Gokudera just couldn't fall into the deep abyss known as sleep.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he muttered to himself, rolling over so that he was looking up at the ceiling.

He crossed his arms behind his head, feeling restless. Sleep just wasn't coming to him.

They had spent a total of five hours doing their homework. With Gokudera's help, Yamamoto didn't lose his focus as much as he would have with Tsuna, so it probably went faster than it would have had Yamamoto been by himself.

Gokudera realized now that Yamamoto actually had the potential to get grades in the A-range, but he seemed to have ADHD or something. Yamamoto was quite easily distracted, first by the potted plant that stood in the corner of Gokudera's living room, then by the view his balcony provided, then by the strange Italian food in Gokudera's fridge. The list was almost endless.

Then there was the problem of Taro.

Because Gokudera didn't trust the dog by himself in Hana and Daisuke's apartment, he had decided to keep the dog with him, in his own apartment.

Taro slept in the living room, in his dog bed, his rubber bone tucked under his paw. Or at least, that's where he was supposed to sleep.

A whining outside Gokudera's room made the silver haired teenager sigh softly before getting up and padding over to the door. He opened it, looking down. Taro was sitting in the doorway, his bone held in his jaw, his liquid brown eyes looking up at Gokudera. The bomber placed a hand on the dog's head and the dog leaned against Gokudera's leg, still whining softly, his entire body shaking.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Gokudera whispered, being careful as to not wake the sleeping baseball player three feet away from him.

Taro whimpered again, dropping the bone and licking Gokudera's fingers. "Or maybe you just want to use the bathroom," Gokudera mused as he stifled a yawn. Taro still didn't respond in any comprehendable way.

"Nn…Gokudera?" Yamamoto's sleepy voice came out from the darkness.

"Go back to sleep, Yakyu-baka," Gokudera growled.

Yamamoto laughed softly. "Not a morning person, are we, Gokudera?" he whispered, his voice still soft, reaching out to grasp Gokudera's hand. Gokudera stiffened. Taro walked past Gokudera and jumped up onto the silver haired boy's bed, which made Gokudera roll his eyes. He would have to clean the sheets later.

"What do you want?" Gokudera snapped, not bothering to remove his wrist from Yamamoto's grasp. He knew it was to be a futile attempt.

Yamamoto appeared to still be in the grasps of temptress known as Sleep as he sat up, grasping Gokudera's shoulders. Yamamoto's eyes were bleary and his movements slow and sluggish. Gokudera didn't resist when Yamamoto brought him close, blowing away any distance between the two of them with a single kiss.

It wasn't really anything special, just a simple kiss.

But for Gokudera, it seemed to be the end of his old world and the beginning of his new one. He looked at Yamamoto oddly, his expression unreadable. Taro had fallen asleep on the bed, his soft snores adding to the heavy night air.

Yamamoto wrapped his arms around Gokudera's waist, pulling him onto his lap.

He gave the bomber a quick peck on the cheek, whispering some words in his ear. "I love you, Gokudera," he whispered, swaying back and forth as if he were drunk.

Gokudera didn't struggle. He just lay his head on Yamamoto's chest, staring out the window. Please don't let him remember any of this in the morning...Those were Gokudera's last thoughts before he drifted off to sleep.

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Gokudera's alarm clock went off at precisely six-thirty in the morning. He woke up to the swift, annoying beeping of the machine and the first thing he saw was Yamamoto's face, extremely close to his own. So close that he could feel the baseball player's warm breath on his face. He smells nice, Gokudera realized absent-mindedly. The alarm clock was still going. Taro was still sound asleep on Gokudera's bed.

"So it wasn't a dream," the almost-all Italian boy muttered as he extracted himself from Yamamoto. He was oddly relieved to see that he still had his clothes on as he turned off the alarm clock. He looked down at Yamamoto, sighing softly. Finally, as the digits on the clock transformed from six forty-four to six forty-five, he kicked Yamamoto awake.

"Wake up," he growled, returning to his usual prickly, impatient self.

It was Taro who responded to these words, not Yamamoto, who remained asleep. The dog stretched and barked, before jumping down from Gokudera's bed. His nails scratched against the wooden floor as the dog made his way to the sleeping teenager. Taro began to furiously lick Yamamoto's face.

Yamamoto groaned before starting to wake up. Gokudera bit his thumb nail impatiently as he aimed another kick at the form on his bedroom floor.

When he was sure Yamamoto was actually awake and functioning, he walked, barefoot, out into his kitchen, shivering slightly in the drafty air. His apartment had never actually had the best insulation. He quickly placed two pieces of bread in the toaster and laced on his shoes. He whistled for Taro and took the dog for a quick walk. Never again would he neglect the Shiba Inu.

Once Taro seemed tired enough to remain placid for the rest of the day until Gokudera got back from school, the bomber buttered up those two slices of toast and had one for breakfast. He fed Taro before looking around. Yamamoto still had not appeared and it was seven thirty by now.

"Oi, don't you have baseball practice?" Gokudera called out.

He heard several bangs and a crash as Yamamoto ran out of the bathroom, wearing only a towel around his waist. "Gokudera, I can't find my clothes!" Yamamoto said.

Gokudera rubbed his temples, muttering curses at the baseball idiot under his breath as he walked into his bathroom. He was immediately assaulted by a wall of hot air and water residue. He looked at the mirror, seeing a foggy outline of his own reflection. He quickly drew a smiley face on the mirror before retrieving Yamamoto's clothes from the place next to the toilet and the cabinet. He walked out into his living room, stopping in his tracks when he saw that Yamamoto had shed his towel.

"…"

Yamamoto turned around, grinning broadly. "Gokudera found them!" he said cheerfully, walking over.

Gokudera shielded his eyes. "Put some clothes on, bastard," he growled.

Yamamoto looked down at himself, seeming to realize then that he was naked.

"Oops," he chuckled as he pulled on his clothes.

Gokudera exhaled sharply before handing Yamamoto the other piece of buttered toast. "Eat this and get off to practice," he growled. God, he's just like a little kid, he thought.

Yamamoto laughed. "I'll give Kaa-san a good-bye kiss if she makes me lunch," Yamamoto joked. Gokudera pushed him out of the door, an anger mark appearing on his head.

"Leave. Now." He snarled.

Yamamoto turned around, pecking Gokudera on the cheek anyway before disappearing down the hallway, the toast in his mouth, his backpack and his bat slung over his shoulders.

Taro was on Gokudera's couch now, one paw dangling over the edge of the sofa. Gokudera turned on the television, one hand petting Taro as he watched the morning news.

When the clock above the television signaled that it was time for Gokudera to leave, he glanced down at Taro. The dog was still on the sofa, although he had gone to sleep now. Gokudera half-smiled before turning off the TV and grabbing his backpack. It was only then that he realized Yamamoto had left all of his homework out on his coffee table.

With a groan, Gokudera stacked the papers together and placed them in his backpack, to bring to school with his own homework.

As he walked, he watched his breath rise above his head, disappearing in the weak morning sun. A breeze blew around him and he felt one cool raindrop hit him on the forehead. He looked down at the Vongola Ring that glinted off the middle finger of his right hand, next to several other rings that adorned the other digits that belonged to him.

Once again, as he had had that fateful stormy and rainy day, he had an out of body experience. It suddenly seemed as if the hand he was looking at didn't belong to him anymore. He closed his eyes, standing in the middle of the street, trying to calm his racing thoughts.

Finally, unable to take it any longer, he broke into a run. His feet followed the familiar path to Namimori Middle School. His eyes seemed to be blurring, his vision slipping away from him as he ran.

"Gokudera-kun?"

He knew that voice.

Whose voice was that?

"Juudaime!" he greeted his boss as cheerfully as he could manage. His mind seemed so far away, as if he were actually watching the scene instead of participating.

"Gokudera-kun, you don't look very good…" Tsuna seemed worried, his large eyes looking at Gokudera.

"I'm perfectly fine, Juudaime!" Gokudera replied, flashing his boss a big smile.

Tsuna still looked doubtful, but luckily, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, Tsuna changed the subject. "Last night's math homework was hard, wasn't it?" he said. He seemed to be acting different, more…formal.

"Juudaime…" Gokudera's voice was soft when he realized what it was that had changed their relationship. "I'm still me, your right-hand man," he said, placing a hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "My loyalty belongs to you first. Everything else comes second." Two first years passed them, giggling when they saw Gokudera's hand on Tsuna's shoulder.

They were immediately sent packing when Gokudera glared at them, his hand inching towards his dynamite stash.

"G-Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna stammered.

"Nothing has changed, Juudaime," Gokudera continued as if there hadn't been an interruption in the first place.

"I-I never said it had," Tsuna tried to stop the outburst he knew was coming.

"Juudaime, will you let me finish?"

Tsuna blinked. This was…not quite what he had been expecting.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Juudaime," Gokudera said swiftly, berating himself inside. How could he have snapped out like that to his boss? "But let this be known. If you were to order me to kill him, I would do so without thinking twice about it. Because my loyalty belongs to the Vongola Family and the Family comes before anything else," Gokudera's face was pained.

Tsuna was at a loss for words.

"Yo, Tsuna!"

Suddenly, Yamamoto showed up, a bright smile on his face. Gokudera looked at him, glaring at him when he threw an arm around Tsuna's shoulder.

"Stop being so clingy with the Juudaime!" he snapped, brandishing six sticks of dynamite.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Maa, maa, Gokudera," he grinned.

Gokudera began to spew random crap about Yamamoto, asking him why he always acted as if he were so close to the Juudaime, and telling him he was an idiot and all the other stuff he always told Yamamoto when the baseball player got "too friendly" with Tsuna. Yamamoto laughed, taking it the way he always did. Everything Gokudera said just seemed to roll off Yamamoto's back.

Tsuna was looking at Gokudera oddly though. Something about the bomber had changed, yet he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Out of the blue, an orange streak plowed into Gokudera.

"Taro?" Gokudera blinked in astonishment. He had locked the apartment door! There was no way the dog could've gotten out!

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Haha! Taro escaped! Although exactly how, I don't know. XP

So…yeah. If you liked this chapter, review.

If you didn't, review and please inform me (POLITELY!!!!) of why you found it unsatisfactory.

Next chapter will be out in a week. ;)

Ja ne!

~Arazora