Forcing You – D27

13.

"And so that's the story, Tsuna." Reborn's expression had darkened gravely. "I need you to cooperate."

"T-there's no way!" The brunette responded in his usual manner.

"Too late, I've already called Dino over to discuss our plans."

"Are you kidding me?" Tsuna smacked his own face. Anything but him. Anything. The problem was that he just couldn't reveal his feelings to Reborn. It would be the worst thing to do. He already had a lot of problems.

"I never joke, no-good Tsuna." He chuckled lightly before continuing. "Anyway, I've assigned him as a teacher at Namimori. He'll help you with schoolwork and me with my predicament. Two birds with one stone." He raised his fedora a bit so that his eyes were visible. There was a glint of humor. "Here he is."

"Darn those steps!" Dino's voice could be heard from outside.

A short while later, there was a knock on the door to Tsuna's room. Dino entered shyly and greeted them both. There was a debriefing and guesses about the mysterious Checker Face's next move. The whole time, Dino shifted his weight uneasily and failed to pay attention to Reborn. Luckily, he had been told about this the previous night so he didn't have to worry much.

The talk over, Dino made a gesture to leave but was held back by his former teacher. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"No reason…" He averted his eyes from Reborn and met Tsuna's sullen ones. He looked back to Reborn quickly. "Romario's probably waiting. See you guys."

After a while, Reborn glanced at Tsuna, who was fidgeting. He had not moved from his spot ever since Dino had left. "What's bothering you?" There was no audible response to be heard, so he tried calling his name several times. Finally, he decided to use violence.

"Ow…" Tsuna said without much energy.

"What's wrong with you? You should be glad that you get to fight for the strongest hitman." He said. "Staying sad won't let you make any progress in life, no-good Tsuna."

"I know that."

"It's Dino isn't it?"

"What?" Tsuna was taken aback.

"What's he done to you? Or more like… What hasn't he done to you?"

"What?" he repeated. It was pointless to hide things from Reborn, but it was worth a try.

"You do know that he's going to be your teacher for as long as this stuff lasts?" Reborn scowled. "Go fix whatever's going on. I can't have you two fighting at a crucial time like this." He leaped off the table he was standing on and walked off.

"It's harder than you think, Reborn…" he whispered, a tear in his eye.

Why was he so weak? Why did he have to cry at every single comment that was related to Dino? He was weak. He accepted it. But despite this weakness, he had the will to reinforce his so-called love for Dino. Maybe that was where all his strength had gone.

He held his tears back and decided that going to bed would be the best decision right now. He grit his teeth in frustration. He wasn't going to let the older man influence his feelings anymore.

Dino sat in the car nervously glancing back. Seeing Tsuna had been the worst thing he'd done after the boy had specifically begged him not to bring the whole matter up again. Yet he felt that he had, and it was all Reborn's fault. The more irritating part was that he could not take his anger out on him.

Actually, he had never felt the need to actually yell at anyone. This whole business was driving him up the wall. Even Romario sensed it. Dino sighed several times in the back seat of the car.

"Boss," Romario eventually said. "Is it about the boy again?"

"Yeah, he told me not to talk to him anymore. I don't get it! If he likes me, wouldn't he want to talk to me?"

Romario nearly missed the turn to the hotel. "You pain him, Boss."

"What can I do not to?"

"Let's talk when we get to the hotel. Tell me what happened for him to say that to you."

Dino remained silent for the rest of the ride and Romario merely interpreted that as approval.

"Well then, Boss?" Romario was told about his stupid drinking mistake, the curse of the Arcobaleno and his meeting with Reborn and Tsuna just under an hour ago. "I see." He rubbed his chin. "It's definitely your fault."

"I admit my mistake with the drinking thing but… Why doesn't he want to talk to me?"

"Have you ever experienced unrequited love, Boss?" Even though Romario had always been with Dino, he still didn't pry into all of his affairs… or well, he didn't need to. This was different.

"N-not that I know of? Everyone I wanted to date just dated me."

"Hmm, how about the example: have you ever wanted something that you couldn't get?" Romario lightly grimaced. His boss was an idiot but he would stick with him till the end.

"Um…"

"Simply put, the boy wants you to see him as a man, not his little brother." He adjusted his glasses. "You're treating him like a kid."

"I can't. He'll always be one in my eyes."

"Even when he's no longer a minor?"

"I don't know."

"Boss, just think about his feelings a little." He said. "It's getting late, so I'll leave now. Good night, and remember that you're starting in Namimori tomorrow."

Dino watched his right-hand man disappear behind the door. How could he see Tsuna as another man? He was so young, so fragile… So adorable.

Hey! It's been a while. Thanks for sticking with me for so long; I just completed my 2700. Expect updates this week.