CHAPTER 7: UMBRELLAS AND STARS
"Tenth?" Gokudera asked uncertainly.
"Yes, Gokudera-kun?" Tsuna asked smiling, his light blue umbrella resting on his shoulder.
Gokudera and Yamamoto were accompanying him home like always; it was part of their daily weekday routine. It was a rainy April day, but it wasn't such a bad thing though. Tsuna didn't mind the rain. But when you add a cold gust of wind like today, his appreciation for the delicate droplets seemed to drop to sub-zero level. More than once, their umbrellas had flipped inside out and the three boys were completely soaked to the bone. It was obvious why Gokudera had escorted Tsuna home. Who knows what would happen in this gloomy and ominous weather? And Yamamoto? The sushi bar was near Tsuna's house anyways.
"I don't mean to be intrusive," Gokudera started out slowly, "Or bothersome. Or stepping in the way of your obviously busy plans, Tenth—"
"Hey, come on, Gokudera!" Yamamoto said laughing as he swung his umbrella playfully, "Whatever it is; I'm pretty sure Tsuna can take it!"
"Shut up!" He snapped at the taller boy, "I was getting there!" He turned towards Tsuna, voice feeble and apologetic, "Not to be an inconvenience Tenth—but where are you going lately?"
Tsuna's footsteps faltered a bit and Gokudera and Yamamoto stared at Tsuna, awaiting his answer. Tsuna bit the inside of his cheeks and smiled at his friends, and vaguely said, "Oh, just here and there."
Gokudera deflated visibly. Was it possible that Tenth wanted him out of the secret? It was understandable though; he couldn't possibly par up to a greatness as Tenth's. He could keep secrets whenever he wished to. Yamamoto only nodded sensibly, finding it wise to give Tsuna some space. Even if he was terribly curious. Hibari himself had been listening to the conversation. He was perched on the roof, jumping from one to another. The houses in the neighborhood were so conveniently close together, making the ceiling-hopping possible. He had his own dark umbrella with him. But unlike the three boy's umbrellas, his was strong enough to withstand a storm—preventing the accursed thing from flipping inside out.
They finally arrived in the front of Tsuna's house. Gokudera and Yamamoto waved goodbye promising to pick him up early tomorrow morning for school. Tsuna waved back until Gokudera and Yamamoto disappeared beyond his view and he dashed back to whence they came. Hibari recalled Gokudera's curiosity. Huh. Tsunayoshi occasionally went missing? What happened while he was away? Despite how trivial it may be, Hibari felt obligated to find out what was keeping the little boy at bay. It was only natural for him to know anyways. He followed Tsuna, which wasn't a hard feat considering the boy was wrestling with his umbrella against the wind and the rain. Finally, after the seventh time his umbrella flipped, Tsuna gave up. He simply closed the umbrella. He was already soaked through anyway. Now without the umbrella, Tsuna ran freely through the wet misty streets. He slipped a couple of times but that didn't stop him from reaching where he wanted to go, completely unaware of the imposing presence that trailed after him.
Hibari blinked when he realized where they had arrived. The playground. The playground near Namimori Middle School. It was completely understandable if they boy just wanted to play after school—but alone—without Gokudera or Yamamoto to accompany him? Especially at such conditions like today? This disturbed Hibari very much. He crouched behind a tree, staring intently at Tsuna as the small child searched left and right wildly. Apparently, he had found whatever he was searching for because he started running off in one direction with a bright smile on his face and Hibari watched as Tsuna crawled under the wet slippery slide. When Tsuna didn't come out, the man became worried. Hibari hovered closer and peeked under the slide.
Tsuna was petting something wet, dirty, and furry. It took awhile for Hibari to register that the dirty furry wet thing was actually a kitten. It looked so ragged that it almost didn't seem like anything like an animal. Tsuna was petting it openly, showering affection over something so hideous and shoddy. It was obvious that the boy was cold, soaked, and probably hungry but he smiled at the kitten all the same. As if none of his problems matter. As if he appreciated what he had and wished to share some of it with others. Hibari scowled and closed his umbrella. Slipping under the slide and he slid next to Tsuna quickly, as to get away from the rain.
Tsuna squeaked, fisting the kitten's fur. The kitten shrieked along with Tsuna, at the unexpected roughness from the boy's petting. Tsuna was totally unprepared for Hibari to pop out again. "H-Hibari-san?" Tsuna toppled over. The boy placed a tiny fist over his heart to hide his growing embarrassment.
Hibari inclined his head once, to acknowledge the boy and then studied the kitten curled up at Tsuna's torso. It hissed at him, not liking the newcomer at all. The kitten retracted its claws, ready to use it if the intimidating man came too close to them. Tsuna petted the kitten to calm it (and himself) down. For a few moments, the two sat there. Tsuna busily reassuring the kitten and Hibari scrutinizing the situation.
"U-Um. I've been taking care of it for awhile," Tsuna explained, catching Hibari's attention, "I-I would've asked mama and papa to take her in but mama is allergic to kitties."
Hibari nodded. He already knew of Nana's allergic reaction to cats. "And the re-respondibila—…" Tsuna paused, trying to remember the word Gokudera had used.
"Responsibility." Hibari supplied helpfully.
"—Responsibility is hard." Tsuna continued, mumbling, "Gokudera-kun said he once had a fish…But it died easily."
Hibari snorted. Knowing Gokudera Hayato, the kid probably didn't even feed the animal at all. The kitten meowed, gathering the two occupants' attention.
"W-Would you like to hold him, Hibari-san?" Tsuna asked, barely audible, extending the kitten towards the boogie man. The kitten stared at Hibari, no longer hissing, but cautious all the same. Hibari extended his hands out and took the kitten from Tsuna's hands. It was dirty, a bit soggy to the touch. It's once snowy white fur now had a tinge of brown. To be quite honest; Hibari felt impelled to drop the disgusting thing. But he didn't—he copied Tsuna's earlier movements and petted the kitten on the back. At first it tensed, then settled down under the weight of Hibari's long fingers. With a newfound courage, Hibari's fingers began traveling up the kitten's spine and massaging behind the kitten's ears. Hibari almost dropped the feline when it started to vibrate in his hands. Tsuna smiled happily, "U-Um, don't worry, Hibari-san. That means it likes being petted there."
As Hibari worked on petting behind the ears, Tsuna massaged its back and giggled when the cat started to vibrate and purr uncontrollably. After a few minutes of caressing, Tsuna dug into his soaked backpack. He took out a pack of crackers and broke them into tiny pieces. "Please turn her towards me, Hibari-san." Tsuna requested, motioning him to pivot the cat. The boogie man obliged and watched Tsuna slowly feed the cat.
"Um, I would've asked Gokudera to help…but...you know, he's so…" Hibari sighed in understanding. Gokudera would probably frighten the cat. His eager-to-please nature can be rather dispositioning. "I was thinking of Yamamoto too but I not so sure he'd keep it from Gokudera."
Once the crackers were all finished, Tsuna stood up, but forgot they were under the slide and banged his head against the offending playground equipment. "OW!" Tsuna squawked and tipped unsteadily. He fell backwards, but Hibari caught him easily, balancing Tsuna's head on his lap and the kitten in his hands. Tsuna flushed and stood up again, more carefully and aware of the slide now—and brushed his pants of the nonexistent dirt. Fidgeting, Hibari realized. The boy always fidgets but somehow this time was a bit different than usual.
"I should really go, Hibari-san." Tsuna said, the pink tint still evident on his cheeks, "It's getting late and mama might be wondering where I am."
Hibari nodded and gently put the kitten down. Giving it one last fleeting pat before climbing out from under the slide, with much more grace and agileness than Tsuna could ever hope to accomplish. It was drizzling now, the rain not pounding so hard as before. Tsuna pulled out his umbrella and opened it. Only to have it fall to pieces. Tsuna's umbrella lay in tatters on the ground, finally giving up after the long and hard fight against the wind from earlier. Tsuna yelped and gather the pieces, desperately trying to piece it back together. His movements halted when he heard the sound of an umbrella shuffling open. He looked up, squinting through the drizzle and saw Hibari holding his black umbrella.
"Come." Hibari said blankly and motioned Tsuna over. The umbrella certainly seemed large enough to fit a small child and a fully grown man under it. Why not? Tsuna blushed and gathered his broken umbrella and secured it in his backpack. He had to explain about his umbrella to mama and papa later—perhaps this would be his excuse? That the umbrella flew out of his hands and it broke when it landed—it would certainly explain why he was so wet.
He tentatively stepped under Hibari's umbrella. He waved goodbye at the dirty kitten and in exchange it meowed back. The two set off, Tsuna struggling to keep up with Hibari's considerately fast pace. He was careful not to touch Hibari accidently (it would undoubtedly cause an awkward situation) and therefore Tsuna kept stepping out of the umbrella's safe range. Hibari huffed. He had noticed Tsuna's behavior and paranoia long before. He stopped abruptly and Tsuna stopped just in time to save himself from bumping into Hibari. The boogie man shoved the umbrella to Tsuna's hands.
"Here," Hibari said glowering at Tsuna, "Give it to me later."
"What?" Tsuna stuttered, balancing the large umbrella in his hands, "What about you?" Hibari only shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets as he slumped off through the rain to the other direction from where they had trekked. "H-Hibari-san!" Tsuna called out to his back. Hibari only gave him a wave of his hand, not sparing him a glance.
So Tsuna stood there, in the middle of the neighborhood street, shivering, wet, and clutching Hibari's umbrella in his hands. He gave a shuddering sigh and continued walking. He'll return the umbrella when he came by later.
The next afternoon luckily, was not rainy albeit a bit misty. Gokudera and Yamamoto walked Tsuna home like usual, but this time they didn't go away like Tsuna had expected them to.
Yamamoto said smiling apologetically at Tsuna, "My dad isn't home. So can I stay with you for awhile?"
"Why the hell do you always follow me?" Gokudera grumbled, scowling disdainfully at Yamamoto. He turned to Tsuna, "But please allow me to stay too, Tenth!"
Tsuna bit his lip. He had to go see that kitten. Surely, no one had fed it yet. But he didn't want to bring Gokudera and Yamamoto along for something so trivial and boring. "Okay," Tsuna smiled at the two, "Come on in." He opened the door for the two, making it wide enough for them to slip in.
Yamamoto grinned and patted Tsuna's back and Gokudera held Tsuna's hands and bowed lowly in thanks.
The three went inside, and Gokudera and Yamamoto were engrossed into a one-sided argument as they were making themselves comfortable at the coffee table in the living room. Tsuna got them tea and senbei with some nori from the kitchen and set it down in front of them with a tray.
"Thanks Tsuna!" Yamamoto said grinning as he picked one up and popped it in his mouth. Gokudera didn't even talk because his eyes were tearing up in admiration at such the generosity Tsuna was showing them. The three sat down and chatted. They talked about some kids from school, their grades, how Yamamoto was doing in baseball. The kitten can wait a bit, Tsuna thought, as he nibbled on a senbei. But as 2:00pm turned to 4:00pm, and then moved on to 6:00pm, his concerns were rapidly eclipsing any apprehensions.
Yamamoto looked like he was having the time of his life. He was rolling around the floor clutching his stomach and laughing while Gokudera was screaming at him to shut up. Tsuna bit his lip. He had to go now, or else the kitten might not get anything to eat tonight.
Tsuna stood up, catching his friends' attention, "Um, guys? I need to go somewhere for a bit. Just stay here, okay?"
Yamamoto stopped laughing and wiped some tears away, "Where're you going, Tsuna?"
"Um, close by," Tsuna said vaguely, "I'll be right back!"
"I'll make sure the jock won't destroy your house, Tenth!" Gokudera yelled to Tsuna's retreating back. He wasn't quite worried about Yamamoto, he was more worried about Gokudera and his temper engaged in an intimate relationship to the house while he was absent. He closed the door behind him and sprinted off to the park. The mist had cleared up now, and the air was easier to breathe then it was before in the afternoon. The sun was dimming over the horizon and stood it became dusk.
It was night time by the time he reached the park, and was very surprised to see Hibari swinging on the swings. He walked up the man lost in thought, "Hibari-san?" He said to announce his presence.
"Where were you?" Hibari said, without looking at him—he was staring up at the stars in the sky.
"Oh." Tsuna blushed, Hibari must've been waiting on him! "Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto wouldn't leave."
Hibari bobbed his head once.
"Where's the kitty?" Tsuna asked Hibari, looking around as if he'd see the answer to his question.
"I washed it up and a couple jogging past wanted it." Hibari said blankly, "It's safe."
"Really?" Tsuna said spinning around to look at Hibari.
"What?" Hibari said frowning at Tsuna, looking at him inquiringly, "Did you want to keep it?"
"No," Tsuna said shaking his head and smiled, "That's good! I've always hoped someone would take it home!"
Hibari nodded, as if smugly satisfied by Tsuna's reaction. Tsuna jumped on the swing next to Hibari and synchronized their pushing. Hibari looked at the stars and stared at them for a bit, in deep thought.
"The stars are really pretty tonight, aren't they, Hibari-san?" Tsuna said awkwardly.
"Yes," He agreed, not taking his eyes of the twinkling little lights in the sky. A few seconds passed and the man muttered, "We don't have stars where I come from..."
Tsuna stopped swinging. He turned to stare at Hibari with bewilderment. He never heard Hibari talk about this before. He stayed silent, expecting Hibari to continue, but instead Hibari caught himself in his mistake. The boogie man stood up from the swing, "Go home, Sawada Tsunayoshi." He wanted to hear more, but that seemed like all he was getting tonight because Hibari walked off and disappeared beneath the playground dome.
A/N: There was a question regarding Tsuna's, Gokudera's, and Yamamoto's age. For the past six chapters, they have been about eight or nine. This means that they are in third grade now. As for Hibari's age? That's a secret. But just to help with the imagery, Hibari is in his TYL form.
ABOUT THE MANGA: Holyshizholyshizholyshiz! YES OH GOD YES. I was freaking waiting on Varia to arrive! The Varia is SO hot! :D Fran will probably come later though with the Kokuyo gang. I can't wait to see the interaction of Fran and the Vongola family. It'd be hilarious to see. You know, I could imagine Luxuria ranting over how hot Gamma is and start feeling him up while he's injured.
November 22, 2009- UPDATE- Thanks again for the help, NoriYuki/Shiki105-and by the way, which do you prefer for me to call you? LOL. I put more work into the last part. :D