Title: Language Barriers
Summary: Snippets of Tsuna's time in China as he travels with seven other people and their rather colourful personalities.
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Kyouya wasn't able to sleep that night.
He lay awake on the train's bed and stared up at the hard sheet of metal above him with hands laced together on his stomach. The lights are completely out, and everyone is asleep. Even the train's staff have stopped patrolling up and down with small flash lights.
The carriage rocks ever so slightly with the movement of the train and the open curtains allow for a bright moon to shine through softly, bathing the cabin in a gentle white glow.
The only thing to be heard inside is the soft breathing and the occasional shuffle of sheets. From outside comes the quiet rumble, barely a low purr, of the train itself as it rolls along the tracks.
Kyouya blinked and stifled the urge to cover his ears like he'd been doing ever since the herbivores retired for the night.
Everything is too noisy because it's not noisy enough.
In the daylight, when Kyouya is surrounded by people, the noise level is loud enough that he can force it to the back of his mind as unimportant white noise.
Now, when it was so quiet, every shift and breath seemed like it was screaming and demanding attention. He got so used to the quiet that his instincts jerked at his mind and told him that something different was occurring so he should pay attention.
The Italian on the bunk across rolled slightly and the sheets screeched as they slid against the man's clothes.
Kyouya tensed and stayed tightly wound until the after echoes of that painful noise faded. When he slumped, his whole body was throbbing lightly in pain.
The train hit a particular bit of track that made the wheels softly hiss and Kyouya tensed again.
The whole process repeated every time his overly sensitive senses picked up on a disturbance in the quiet, and he was so close to just climbing onto the roof of the cabin and sitting there for the rest of the night.
Suddenly the Vongola Decimo above him sat up with a gasp.
Kyouya's control broke and he slammed his hands over his ears to try and stop the noise from reaching him.
'Hibari-san?' the man on the top bunk whispered quietly.
Kyouya took a deep breath and pressed his hands harder against his head. He managed to shift so he was lying on his hands when the herbivore tipped his head over the edge.
Tsuna frowned at the sleeping man and glanced to the doorway. The horror stories were still repeating over in his head. Eventually he decided and slipped out of his bed. He climbed down the small step near the cabin opening and gently lifted a side of the bed sheet covering the Foundation boss.
He tensed when the man shifted slightly but relaxed again and ever so slowly slid underneath...
A hand shot out from under Kyouya's head and grabbed a fistful of Tsuna's collar, jerking the man onto the bed as Kyouya rolled so his back was facing the wall and he had Tsuna in his arms.
'Just go to sleep,' Kyouya murmured softly into Tsuna's shoulders. 'Please just go to sleep.'
Tsuna heard the quiet mumble and managed to translate 'sleep'. He nodded slightly even when Kyouya couldn't see, and slumped into the arms around him. It was so nice and warm.
Kyouya clenched his fists where they were resting just against the herbivore's stomach.
The heart beat was so loud.
He dug his nails in harder and felt his own blood starting to coat his fingers.
It wasn't only the rush of blood - even from where Kyouya was lightly resting his forehead against the herbivores back, he was able to discern the push of air in and out of the lungs.
Th-thump
In
Th-thump
Out
Th-thump
In
And somehow, Kyouya fell asleep, lulled by the rhythm of life that circulated through the man in his arms.
Tsuna woke in the morning, having completely forgotten he even had a nightmare last night, and glanced around to see that Hayato and Chrome were still asleep. It took a while for his sleep fogged brain to realise that his bed was actually supposed to be a top bunk.
So why was he on the bottom?
Memories clicked back into place and Tsuna carefully didn't move a muscle. He can't believe he thought it was a good idea to climb into Kyouya's bed. How was he not dead yet?
Actually... why wasn't he dead?
He rolled his head in increments until he was looking over his shoulder. Kyouya was breathing deeply, face relaxed in sleep. The man had rolled over onto his back (as much as he could have considering how narrow the beds were) and despite the arm trapped under Tsuna, he looked peaceful.
Tsuna wasn't going anywhere soon unless he wanted to wake the man up and get beaten bloody by those tonfa. Well, he wouldn't say no to more sleep.
Tsuna closed his eyes and pressed his back into Kyouya's side for more warmth. He was asleep in seconds.
Both of them were awoken by the sound of a camera and a 'whoops' in Korean.
Kyouya was out of bed in a second flat, hair mussed but tonfa ready to go. Takeshi laughed in the face of his actual death and sprinted form the cabin with Hayato and Ryohei hot on his heels.
Kyouya followed with his catch phrase and a gush of blood lust.
Tsuna took much longer to roll out of bed, but managed to mumble a greeting back at the Russian he passed on the way to the bathroom. He almost fell into the sink as he was brushing his teeth but a scream of pain woke him up just in time for Tsuna to catch his balance.
He mentally reminded himself to thank Hayato as he continued brushing.
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A/N:
And that's what happens when a character comes first in the poll – they get to sleep with Tsuna.
Languages
Tsuna (Japanese) – Hibari (All Chinese dialects, English) – Hayato (Italian, Universal, English, Mandarin, French. Non-fluent in Russian, Korean, Greek, Spanish. In the process of learning Japanese for Tsuna)
Mukuro (Afrikaans, Italian) – Chrome (Dutch, English) – Lambo (Russian, German, Polish) – Ryohei (German) – Takeshi (Korean. Non-fluent in Japanese)
Pairings Poll (on my profile or review):Kyouya coming first at - 20