Chapter 3: Avaritia Storms In
"Juudaime!"
Tsuna turned to see Gokudera waving at him with enthusiasm. He felt a soft sigh of momentary relief escape him at the sight of his silver-haired friend. That was now one worry down!
"Juudaime! Juudaime, I've found you!" Gokudera called happily as he hurried over to his boss's side.
Tsuna frowned at the other's words. Wasn't it the other way around? "Uh, I didn't know I was lost?"
"Eh? You were lost? It was because of that damn baseball idiot, wasn't it? The bas—" Gokudera growled as he pulled out a stick of dynamite and his trusty lighter.
"Ah! No! It wasn't—Gokudera-kun, why weren't you in class if you're at school?" Tsuna panicked as he tried to calm the exuberant teen's anger before a teacher caught them—or worse, Hibari came.
"Class? I was busy with something more important." Gokudera replied with an odd self-satisfied smile.
"More important?" Tsuna felt the worry crease his eyebrows as he studied the bomber. Gokudera may be extreme at times but he was sensible—well, when it counted. There was something different but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was. Great. First his Sun Guardian, now—he gasped. "Gokudera-kun! Have you seen either Reborn or Yamamoto today?"
"Nope. Should I care?" He asked, seeming slightly distracted as he watched something down the hall.
"Eh, well I need to find Reborn because Onii-san is acting weird and I haven't seen Yamamoto yet. I wonder if he's sick." Tsuna explained more to himself than to his Storm Guardian since the other didn't seem to be paying him any attention. Which was weird. Gokudera always listened to what he had to say, even if he then argued with it. "Gokudera-ku—"
"Juudaime, you shouldn't worry about those idiots. I'm sure whatever is wrong with them they deserve it." Gokudera replied suddenly, turning to smile at his boss. "Let's have lunch!"
"But—eh?" Tsuna blushed lightly as Gokudera threw a somewhat possessive arm around his smaller shoulders and marched him off toward wherever he was taking him. Maybe Gokudera is acting weird because he's hungry he tried to reason.
Tsuna followed along quietly while thinking about where to find Reborn. He allowed himself to be distracted in his thoughts before frowning a little when they suddenly stopped. Gokudera had brought him outside to a nearby tree. Where upperclassmen were eating? Huh?
"Hey! Get lost! This spot is only suited for the likes of Juudaime and his right-hand man!" Gokudera suddenly yelled, making the Vongola boss-in-training jump, while kicking the legs of one of the older boys.
Tsuna stepped back with a hint of fear at the sight of what the other had done as three angry scowls appeared on the three older teens' faces.
"What did you say, punk?" The one who had been kicked asked as he got to his feet. He was considerably taller and stronger built than the scrawny little ball of fury that was Tsuna's self-proclaimed right-hand man.
"G-Gokudera-kun! W-Why did you do that?" Tsuna squeaked as he took another step back. Who cares about the tree? Why couldn't they eat in the classroom?
"Don't worry, Juudaime! This spot will be ours!" Gokudera said happily as he turned to face his boss. Then he smiled. He must have thought it was reassuring but it just made Tsuna worry more. "And while they're at it, they can leave their valuables behind too!"
"Ehh?"—"What?"
"You have a lot of balls for a second year!" One of the others said as he and his friend got to their feet like the first one had.
"Gokudera-kun! L-Lets just go back to t-the—" Tsuna's heart raced. Today was starting to suck! And, though it wasn't that surprising, Gokudera was making it worse. They were either going to get beat up by these three, punished by Hibari, or threatened with expulsion again at the rate they were going.
"Do as you're told before I make you!" Gokudera called out threateningly as he withdrew several sticks of dynamite.
"Ah! Gokudera-kun! Please don—" Tsuna called out, pleading and attempting to command at the same time.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Four out of the five students froze at the sound of the new voice, fear sending shivers down their spine as they knew terrible pain was soon to follow.
"H-Hibari-senpai!" One of the upperclassmen stuttered as all attention was turned toward the prefect.
"Tch. What does that bastard want now?" Gokudera questioned supposedly to Tsuna, not bothering to keep his voice down.
"Go-Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna moaned, pleading the other to behave with frightened eyes.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi...leave." Hibari said icily, not looking at the him as he kept his eyes on the ones he was about to punish.
Tsuna merely stared in shock. Leave? Did Hibari just tell him...to leave? He was to leave and he wouldn't get bitten to death? Huh? "H-Hiba—"
"Leave!" Hibari hissed, sounding annoyed. Totally uncalled for!
"Hiiih! Y-Yes! G-Gokudera-kun, let's—" Tsuna winced, cut off, as the sudden feel of cold steel rested against the bare skin of his throat gently.
"I only told you to leave, herbivore." Hibari said lowly, still not bothering to look at him.
"Juudaime! Bastard, don't you dare touch him!" Gokudera bristled as he watched the two. The Tenth was his!
Tsuna opened his mouth the tell them to stop, only to close it and cover his ears as he ran from the blast he knew would soon be coming as his insane Storm Guardian threw his stick bombs at his even less sane Cloud Guardian. Weren't those two suppose to—"Reborn!"
Tsuna, for once, ignored the fight going on behind him as his eyes caught sight of a familiar fedora-wearing infant walking into his school. Stupid tutor! Tsuna frowned angrily as he took off after the infant. He needed to talk to him! Something was going on!
"Reborn!" Tsuna called again, sliding on the smooth floor a little as he rounded a corner before staring down the empty halls. Where did he go? "Reborn!"
"Tsuna, what are you doing?"
Spinning on his heel, he turned to face the infant Mafioso, blinking in light surprise when he found him hanging from the ceiling. That was a new one? "Reborn! I was looking for you! Something is—"
"How are you enjoying your break so far?" Reborn asked calmly over him as he jumped down and landed before his student, looking up into his suddenly confused eyes.
"Break? ...Oh. I—it's...never mind that! Reborn! Have you seen Yamamoto? He isn't at school—well, I haven't seen him." Tsuna said, shaking his head of Reborn's question to make himself focus on his current concerns. "And Onii-san is acting weird. Do you—"
"Baka-Tsuna, it's your job to be on form with the well being of your guardians, if that's something you care so much about." Reborn replied without interest as he watched his student. He was pleased. The young boss-to-be was observant enough to notice something was off with his friends in more ways than one. Tsuna was growing even more.
Tsuna glared at the smaller person. He had the feeling Reborn was being unhelpful on purpose. "You don't know what it could be?"
The infant shook his head before staring the other in the eye. "You are also supposed to keep your guardians in check. It wouldn't be good if they killed each other off."
Tsuna opened his mouth angrily to retort only to cry out in pain when his shin was kicked by the devil's spawn. "What was that—"
"Break is over, Tsuna. Get back to class." Reborn said simply before going off to...wherever.
Tsuna blinked then sighed. Something was up and he had to figure it out—wasn't he supposed to be on a break? And as for Gokudera and Hibari...he shuddered. Hopefully they hadn't killed each other. Frowning when his stomach growled from his missed lunch, he figured he would have to bear with it the best he could until after class.
xXx
He was happy school was over for the day. And he didn't have to do clean up duty either! Putting his things away, he grabbed his bag and hurried to the infirmary. He was disappointed to find it once again empty of the people he had been searching for, but this time Shamal knew where both were.
Gokudera had gone home early and Hibari had only stopped by to tell him there were injured students.
Tsuna thanked the older Mafioso before leaving. Yamamoto must be sick. Should he stop by and see his friend? And should he check in on Gokudera on his way home as well? Running a hand through messy sienna locks, he froze when a familiar voice caught his attention as it floated up through the open window on a gentle breeze.
He ignored the gasp that escaped him as he ran to the window, leaning out of it slightly while his eyes scanned the school yard anxiously. There! He felt his heart start to race as he found who he was looking for. A wave of relief washed over him before the confusion hit. Pushing away from the window, he carefully jogged his way out of the school. He didn't want to be punished during after school hours.
As the sunshine crawled over his skin and the breeze stirred his hair, he wondered once again what was going on. This was something else that was strange. If he wasn't sick, then why wasn't he in class today? He had never skipped before—well, when there wasn't reason to.
"Yamamoto!" Tsuna called, waving an arm much like how Gokudera had done this morning as he made his way onto the school's baseball field.
"Yo, Tsuna!"
-Chapter 3 End-
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Author's Note: Chapter 3! As of 5/08/2017, this chapter has been cleaned up and edited a little. :)
