Chapter Two

"Good morning, Mama." greeted Tsuna as he sat around the table, stifling a yawn along the way. He walked around wobbly with barely enough strength to even standing on his two feet in his half-asleep state, his dark bags from the lack of sleep stood out against the sickly pale skin – overall looking worse for wear. His attire was no better; with his disheveled uniform and a half-done tie hanged over his collar, his usual messy brown hair that defied the laws of gravity was still wet and unmanageable. No surprise there. Having to spend fifteen minutes every morning to groom his hair was too troublesome and a waste of time in his opinion, so he gave up and left it at that.

There was no exaggeration on his part that his appearance used to cause him lots of trouble. The feminine features that he inherited from Nana's side of family were more prominent as a child; slender body, fair skin, a pair of big doe-like eyes and his shortness in height. It didn't help his case that Nana used to have this strange hobby of dressing him up as a living-doll, literally filling his whole closet with wigs and costumes – and he would never forget that embarrassing moment when he had gotten several weird looks from people in the store when he was shopping for clothes at boys section, one time too many. As he grew older, Nana had to pack away the costumes in a box so he would have more rooms for his normal everyday clothes in the closet because, well, he was growing up. Not to mention that she still have those heels and his own set of makeup, far from his reach for obvious reasons.

Unlike his brother, while Yasuhiro still have his fair share of her features, they weren't really obvious having being dominant by Iemitsu's manly and tough-guy look. The blond was a very active child who just loved exploring whenever he could, either on his own or with friends. He used to come home with scraped knees or elbows but never empty-handed, be it flowers or butterflies in a jar, he would always bring back something for Nana every time he went out. His excessive amount of energy made it hard for him to sit still, always itching to do something. He couldn't stand the silence either, the stillness in the atmosphere caused him to be nervous and twitchy for no reason. He didn't like it. That was probably the reason they were never close to begin with, after all fire and ice just don't belong together do they?

Tsuna crossed both of his arms on the table, resting his head on top of them. He watched Nana wiping the counter silently, tapping his fingers against the wooden table in an absentminded manner. The smell of his favorite food – mushroom soup – would usually catch his attention almost immediately, yearning for the heavenly taste of the home-made food that she prepared herself. But today though, he really didn't feel like eating and he doubted he could keep anything down even if he tried. He just got out of his bed but the throbbing headache already wore him out. And if he remembered it correctly, today there would be a monthly test too. Mathematics, his mind supplies. His most dreaded subject of all.

If his empty stomach wouldn't bother him, then this headache definitely will. Oh, joy.

"Good morning, Tsu-" Nana trailed off as soon as she saw the state her youngest son was in. She sighed, putting down the cloth she had been holding and flopped down in the seat next to him. "Can't sleep again? You look dead on your feet." Her usual light and cheery tone turned serious in mere seconds, but kept it as low and soothing as she gently pushed back the bangs away from his forehead. She frowned in concern when his eyes shut tight as if he was in pain, assuming it was the headache again. She noted his lack of interest to talk and left it at that, promptly pressing a light kiss on his head instead. "I'll go wake up your brother. Sleep for now, Tsu-kun. You look like you really need it."

"Ah. Thanks, Mama." was the muffled reply from the sleepy brunet and Nana couldn't help but smile down at him. If not for the situation, she would have squealed and fretted over him like she usually did when he was a child. He has outgrew his cute baby fat and childish innocence over the years, but he was still and always be her adorable baby boy even with that poker expression he constantly wear on his face. It's safe to say that it was heart-breaking to see him grew up so quickly, too quickly for her liking – he was too mature and too serious for a teenager and a selfish part of her wished he would never grow up so she could hold him tight and shield him from the eyes of this ugly world they live in. But that's all it will ever be – a wish.

It wasn't unusual for him to stay at home for a long time, helping her with the house chores whenever he could or doing the grocery shopping for her from time to time. If there was nothing left for him to do, he would seclude himself in his room later in the evenings until it was time for dinner or when somebody went to get him. Normally she wouldn't mind this, but lately it had come to her notice that he became so drastically skinny that it started to worry her. A lot. His sunken cheeks was the result of his loss of appetite from the last few weeks, only had a small bowl of mushroom soup, porridge or some vegetables and fruits that Nana made sure he would eat at a suffice amount before he left the table. It was the least she could do.

Being a naturally small-framed child and a very picky eater, Tsuna would only join them for meal when being forced to or when it was absolutely necessary to – usually when Iemitsu came home or when they have guests over. He wasn't really a fan of meat and fast-food either, thus his portion of food was always be half of what Yasuhiro would usually eat. It wasn't easy, and her persuasion and Yasuhiro's gentle approach don't always work for him, but they refused to give up. Nana would keep trying and as a mother herself, she knew that she would stop at nothing for her children.

Over the years, his food-picking habit soon became an obstacle for his growth. Now at a young age of 14, he stood only at 5'2 tall – a couple inches shorter than his brother. It didn't help that he wasn't an athletic child to make up for the disadvantage, and she knew he was still frustrated whenever he was compared to his tall and well-built older brother by people around almost all the time but he had learned to deal with it.

She was happy to have such a responsible child to help her around the house, really, she did. And it's probably rather hypocritical of her for saying this, but sometimes she couldn't help but wished that her youngest son could be more like Yasuhiro sometimes. Carefree, somewhat childish and innocent, ignorant of the hidden ugly shade of this world. It's not necessarily a good thing that the blond would be too busy searching for the good in everyone that he disregard himself, but his ability to surround himself with so many things that make him happy that she wished that Tsuna could too sometimes.

Although the blond was rarely home, always busy with practice and going out with his friends – being in the school track team and all – but at least he was enjoying himself. Yasuhiro would always come back with a big smile on his face, telling her how much fun he had while she would listen quietly, occasionally throwing a few comments here and there. Yasuhiro and Tsunayoshi were like the sun and the moon, so different yet both are precious to her and Iemitsu – they were their pride.

She shook her head, quickly snapping out of her thoughts. Now wasn't the time for this. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she stood from her seat and hurried upstairs to wake the blond. If there was one thing she would forever be grateful for the twins' difference, it was for the brunet's punctuality and his strict self-made schedule that she had been practicing on both of them when they were at a tender age of seven. It didn't really effective for Yasuhiro, however, but he was improving.

Yasuhiro was the hardest to wake every morning, literally sleeping so soundly like a newborn baby. He was like Iemitsu in many ways, one of them being his tendency to sleep in no matter how many alarm clocks were placed the night before. Sometimes she would get frustrated when Iemitsu refused to get off of the bed and instead, pulling her down in the bed with him. She had to forced him to get up by his ear when his coworker called in, and that old trick worked with Yasuhiro too so she wasn't complaining much. It was amusing to see her oldest son running around like a headless chicken while yelling about being 'bitten to death' when she mentioned Kyoya's name. Same old, same old but she would never get tired of it.

"Mom? What are you doing up here?"

She stopped in her tracks at her son's voice, looking up at Yasuhiro who have just walked out of his room and already dressed in his school uniform. "Mou, Ya-kun's all grown up! You don't even need Mama to drag you downstairs anymore." She giggled as the blush spread across the blond's face, and couldn't resist to give him her best tight hug.

"Mom, that was one time! One time I'm telling you!" He half-heartedly struggled to get out of her death grip, clearly embarrassed having to be treated like a child even now when he's a middle-schooler. He was used to the treatment and finally allowed her to do as her please, finding his resistance was futile against her albeit rather reluctantly. He loved her smile and would do anything to make her happy, even if he had to endure this every morning. "Mom...can't...breathe!"

"Ara? Sorry, Ya-kun!" She smiled sheepishly, letting go of the gasping blond and led the way downstairs. "Come, Ya-kun. Tsu-kun's waiting."

"Ah," Yasuhiro nodded, trailing after her. "Mom, how's Tsuna today?" he asked quietly, unwilling to risk any chances of being overheard by his younger brother.

The brunet's condition was worsening day by day, and he would have to admit that he was getting afraid for him. They don't have the best sibling-relationship, that much was true, but Tsuna was his sibling. His only living sibling, nonetheless. No matter how many times they fought or just couldn't get along, he was still concerned for the other's health and fearing the worst. The family would be devastated if they were to lose him, himself included. They weren't close, not at all, but he was there. He knew Tsuna was there, and that was the only thing he needed to know. It was like an unspoken agreement, them being there for each other in their own way. And although Tsuna didn't show it, he knew the brunet still hold onto that promise.

He had notice Tsuna's strange eating habit when they were kids, sometimes the brunet would even go as far as to force himself to sleep just so he didn't have to eat with them. At first he thought that Tsuna hated him so much he couldn't be in the same room as him, and he would sometimes sleep over at his friends' house hoping to reduce Tsuna's anger for whatever reason it was. As they grew older, he doubted that was the case when he began to pick up his younger brother's habit.

"Nothing changed, Ya-kun." Nana said, smiling tightly at her oldest son. "He had trouble sleeping last night, and his appetite was just the same if not worse. I think his headache came back too."

Yasuhiro's lips pursued, not saying anything.

"You what!" Yasuhiro exclaimed, his chopsticks fell from his hand and onto the table. "What do you mean you've hired a tutor for us, Mom?"

Tsuna cringed from the noise, and Nana sent him an apologetic look before she hurried to answer the skeptic blond. "Mou, but Ya-kun! You failed Dohachiro-sensei's test twice now." She pouted, chiding him gently. "You can't always rely on Tsu-kun's note, you know."

"But Mom!" Yasuhiro protested, clenching his fist tightly.

"Not so loud, idiot." Tsuna hissed, massaging his throbbing temple. "And don't you raise your voice against her, it's rude. Didn't you learn any manners at all over the past years?"

The blond forcefully bit his tongue and held himself back from lashing out at his brother, reminding himself that Tsuna is unwell. "Watch that mouth of yours, Tsunayoshi." he warned, eyes narrowing at his brother who just scoffed.

"Oh? Or what, you're going to beat me up like before?" When Yasuhiro didn't reply, he pressed. "Is that it?"

"Tsu-kun, enough." Nana snipped when she sensed the situation would get out of hand if she didn't interfere. "There's s no need for that and you know it." She reverted her attention back on her oldest son and smiling softly, "Ya-kun, I understand that you're not comfortable having a stranger in the house but please, just this once. Give him a a chance okay?"

Yasuhiro nodded wordlessly, refusing to pay attention to his bitter younger brother. He had a feeling that the presence of this mysterious tutor of theirs is going to change their lives forever, either for good or bad he isn't sure but he was determined to find out.

Tsuna didn't speak to him at all since they left their house. He didn't even look at him. Yasuhiro had tried to get him to talk, even one worded answers would be enough but the youngest of the two siblings downright refused and asked to be left alone instead. The blond couldn't help but keep shooting his younger brother concern glances every so often along their way to school. It's not that Tsuna had never snapped before, he often did, but never in front of Nana. He wasn't sure if it was the headache that made him this irritable for no particular reason at all, or if there was something else that pushed him to this limit. The blond gave up on trying to coax an answer out of his brother when his attempt to talk was brushed off for the sixth time, sighing as he left the brunet with his own thoughts.

"Yo, Yasu!"

Yasuhiro snapped his head up at the sound of Yamamoto's cheerful voice, waving his hand up in the air in greeting. He jogged towards his childhood friend to catch up with each other as they walked towards school, occasionally a laughter could be heard from the duo over something funny that was being said. From the latest joke to the stuffs they did during the weekend – the topic is basically endless between these two. Both Yamamoto and Yasuhiro are an extrovert at heart, neither of them could stand silence for long before one of them was itching to break it. Given their excessive energy from being one of the school athletes, neither of them could sit still either. They would get bored easily and that would lead to one thing for sure – sleeping.

Well, that explains their tendency to sleep in class doesn't it?

For a moment, he had forgotten about his conflict with his younger brother as he distracted himself with Yamamoto's chatter. Being best friends for years, the black-haired teen naturally knows him best especially about the siblings' rocky relationship with one another. The baseball player somehow just knew how important the brunet was to him and how much it bothered him each and every time they fight. He could somehow guess what was on his mind as if it has been written on his face, using it to his advantage to provide the blond with enough distraction to wash the tension away.

The duo had known each other since their kindergarten days, getting along so well as if they had been living under the same roof for years. Both of them were practically glued together everywhere they went that Yamamoto's father often joked about their tight-knitted relationship and Nana being Nana, giggled at the embarrassed boys every time the topic was brought up. The first time they had been introduced to each other by their respective parents at the park, they were inseparable ever since - countless of sleep-overs and outdoor activities is a must. As the bond between the two grew stronger, however, somewhere along the way his own bond with Tsuna fell apart. Their differences resulted to both of the siblings to have a wide gap between them and thus caused a great discomfort whenever they were to be in the same room for long.

The blond would be lying if he said he wasn't affected at all by this fact, he would feel a pang in his chest whenever he think about it. At the rate they were going, sometimes he wondered if they were actually related at all. The twins now literally two strangers tied to each other by an invisible thread of family, nothing more nothing less. The only time they would see each other was either during meals or in between classes. Other than that, they would often find themselves in their own rooms doing their own thing. Neither of them had tried to pry into the other's life - at least not blatantly obvious kind of way. On some days, Yasuhiro would have a private talk with Nana asking her about how the silent brunet was doing. It was the only way he could know anything about him at all and the responses he had received from her worried him greatly even to this day.

"He's falling apart, Ya-kun. He refused to talk to anyone about whatever it is that has been bothering him, your dad and I had been trying all kinds of method we could think of and I don't like admitting this but nothing worked. Neither of us know what's wrong with him or how to help him. He'll break if we don't do something soon."

Nana's voice was still ringing in his ears and as the years passed by, the frustration in his chest has grown too. He hated feeling so helpless, being so near to his brother and yet still so far away to even do anything about it. He desperately wanted to help and he might just have been several years too late to fix the severed bond between them, but he would die first before even thinking about giving up. He would do absolutely anything to help getting Tsuna back on the track, his nature as the older sibling refused to let him give up on his job as an older brother. After all, family should stick together through thick and thin and be there for one another no matter what happens. That's what family really is, isn't it?

"Oi, Yasu! Are you listening?" Yamamoto nudged the blond with his elbow when his question was left without any sorts response. "Ah, figured you won't be listening after all."

Yasuhiro smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck on instinct. "Sorry, sorry. I got distracted by something."

"You mean like you always do," was the teasing response from the grinning Yamamoto, laughing when he was punched on the shoulder by the scowling blond.

"What an asshole,"

To be continued...

Author's Note:

1) First thing first, I'd like to apologize to all my readers for the late update and I know that there's no excuse for my tardiness it's just that for the past few months I had been busy with exams especially after I just newly transferred to my new school. Again, I'm so terribly sorry and I'll make it up to you by posting the third chapter as soon as I could.

2) I'm sorry for the length of this chapter, it's a slow-build I know but I'll try my best for each chapter as writing is my passion even though I'm not exactly good at it :)

- Nightly Trickster