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"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Precious Sky

Chapter 4

Yamamoto wasn't surprised to see a bento in his cubby. Girls tended to put them there for him because they were too shy to give it to him in person. Those girls were the ones who had crushes on the nice boy. Considering how nice he was, he was never able to throw away the bento or ignore it. Grabbing the note, Yamamoto made sure his friends were busy so they didn't see it. It wasn't that he was embarrassed; he didn't want whoever left this to be embarrassed.

Upon seeing them busy with their own lunches, Yamamoto opened the note. To his surprise, the writing in it wasn't neat like the girls like to make it when they gave him a note. Instead it was sloppy as if written in a hurry. His eyes widened in shock when he read the note.

I'm sorry for bothering you with trying to be your friend, Yamamoto-kun. It was a mistake on my part. I was foolish to think I could be friends with the most popular boy in school. I'm not deserving of friends. I am too much of a no-good loser with rotten luck. I helped my mom make this bento for you before I realized how stupid I was being. I don't want it to go to waste so I hope you like it. I won't bother you again after this. Sorry. Sawada

Yamamoto crumbled the note up in his hands angrily. What did his stupid classmates do? They were ruining the one boy that actually cared about other people even when he was in so much pain.

Putting up his false smile, Yamamoto grabbed the bento from Tsuna and went over to his desk which was surrounded by a group of false people. But it hurt so much more than it used to. It never hurt this much to act falsely cheerful around these people. He just wanted to see Tsuna so badly. Where could the boy have gone?

Lunch passed painfully slow to Yamamoto, who just wanted it to end so Tsuna would come back to the class and show Yamamoto that he wasn't hurting too badly from the bullying. But to his extreme displeasure, Tsuna didn't return after lunch. His desk remained empty for the rest of the day, causing Yamamoto to feel great fear. He hoped nothing happened to the boy.

*Precious*Sky*

The moment he left the classroom, Tsuna decided to head home. He couldn't handle any more school today. It was the same thing every single day. Bullying, teasing, mocking sneers. But today was the first day that someone dared to get physical with him. Usual they were too afraid to get that close to him in case his rotten luck rubbed off on them. He didn't even think it could worse, but it seemed life loved to prove him wrong.

He held his throbbing cheek in his hand as he walked home, head hanging low so he didn't have to look up at anyone. No doubt he would just see more sneers on their faces. Why did his life suck so much? His brother had such great friends, was smart, way smarter than Tsuna, and had a lot of people that cared for him. Was Tsuna just supposed to be left with nothing while his brother got everything handed to him on a silver platter?

But he didn't feel an ounce of jealously for his brother. He knew that he could feel jealous, but it wouldn't do anything. Jealously would not get him friends, intelligence, or people who cared for him. It would do nothing but cause more problems in his life. He didn't want any more problems.

By the time he got home, the pain he was feeling in his wounds had numbed mostly so now the only pain he felt was in his heart. Something that could never be healed with time.

He pushed the door to his house open, removed his shoes, and called the customary greeting, "I'm home."

He wasn't surprised when his mother came to the door in surprise about her youngest being home already. Tsuna kept his head turned so his mother couldn't see the bruise shining on his cheek and get all worried. "What are you doing home, Tsu-kun? School isn't over."

"I just didn't want to stay any longer." Tsuna said as normally as he could. There was no point in causing his mother needless worry. "I'm going to my room." He walked passed his mother, making sure to keep the right side of his face from view as he did so.

The moment he was in his room, he locked his door, closed the curtains and collapsed onto his bed. Why were they so cruel? He never did anything to them. In fact, he made sure not to bother any of them in the hope that they would get bored and leave him alone. But the never did. They always came back to bully him even more. Was it his destiny to be a useless no-good who wouldn't make it through his life?

*Precious*Sky*

"What do you mean he isn't here?" Giotto growled angrily at the woman who was supposed to be his little brother's teacher. If it wasn't for Dino and G., he would have already launched himself forward at the woman who lost his brother.

Mina-sensei, for her part, was a bit frightened by Giotto. She had known the boy for a while since Tsuna was in her class. Apparently the teen was more over-protective than she realized. "I've already told you, Sawada-kun. He disappeared during lunch. He probably went home."

"How could you just let one of your students disappear without questioning it?" Giotto demanded angrily.

"I have thirty students to look out for, Sawada-kun. It is hard to keep track of all them. In fact, I wouldn't have known he was gone since he is so quiet and sits in the back if it hadn't been for one of my students saying he left during lunch." Mina retorted.

Giotto saw red. He ripped himself free from his two friends, only to be grabbed by Knuckle and Asari before he could do something he would later regret. "It's your job to watch out for all of your students. You were supposed to notice if one was missing from your class and do something about it. Just because he's quiet, that is no reason for you to not notice him."

"Giotto, forget it, forget her." G. growled. "Your brother isn't here. We should just leave and find him. Perhaps he really did go home early."

The tenth boss let himself be dragged away from the school. His heart was beating so fast against his chest. He hadn't meant to get angry, but he was so mad at that teacher. Teachers were supposed to watch out and care for their students. For six days a week, teachers watched those students and taught. To think that the teacher ignored his little brother because he was quiet and didn't try to grab attention upset him. His little brother meant everything to him.

The farther away they got from the school, the more Giotto calmed down and allowed himself to think rationally. His brother should be fine. His Hyper Intuition didn't tell him anything was wrong. Tsuna was fine. He had to be. If they were enemies around, Reborn would have mentioned it. Tsuna was fine.

Giotto led his friends to his house, still a bit frantic about his brother, but much calmer than he was before. No one talked as they were worried about putting their friend on the edge again. It was lucky for all of them that Giotto's house wasn't too long of a walk from the school.

"I'm home!" Giotto called loudly when he stepped into the house with his friends. He looked down at the shoes as he was removing his, and was surprised and relieved to see his little brother's sitting there already.

"Welcome home." Nana greeted as she reached the front door, giving all the teens a smile that wasn't like the one she usually greeted them with.

Giotto frowned as he noticed right away. "Is something wrong, Mom?"

Nana smiled sadly and glanced up the stairs. "Your brother came home early today. He barely spoke when he did come and has locked himself in his room since."

All the relief Giotto was feeling upon seeing his brother's shoes immediately disappeared. He ignored his friends' shouts to wait and ran up the stairs to his brother's room. He knocked on the door, desperate for it to open so he could see his brother's bright eyes that said everything was alright and there was no need to worry. "Tsuna? Tsuna, can you please open up for me?" He asked.

"Go away."

Giotto felt his heart plummet to his stomach. His little brother never told him to go away. He would always talk to Giotto. Tsuna thought it greatly disrespectful to ignore his older brother who helped raise him since he had no father. His little brother would never want him to leave. "Tsuna–"

"Leave me alone." Tsuna whispered desperately, but Giotto heard all the same. What was wrong with his little brother?

"Tsu–"

"I SAID TO GO AWAY!" Tsuna screamed at the top of his lungs, but immediately collapsed to his knees after he did that. He didn't want his brother to go away, but he couldn't face him either. Facing his brother would mean he would see his face, which was half covered with an ugly bruise. He had already removed shirt to see that his stomach also had an ugly bruise on it. His elbow had a small scrape. All in all, it wasn't that bad, but he couldn't face his over-protective brothers like this. He just couldn't. After all, this was his fault. He would deal with it on his own, like he always has.

*Precious*Sky*

The minute that school was over, Yamamoto packed all his belongings and was gone before anyone could say a word to him. He was so glad that he found Tsuna's house that morning or he would have been completely lost as to where to go.

The walk to the house was anxious for Yamamoto, but there was also determination flaring in his heart. He needed to talk to Tsuna now. At first he wasn't sure of what he was to do, but when he saw that bento in his cubby, he knew. He knew he had to speak to Tsuna. That bento's food was delicious, but he couldn't enjoy it knowing that the people that surrounded him were bullies who hurt Tsuna. He needed Tsuna.

By the time he reached Tsuna's house, Yamamoto's resolve had weakened a bit. Just looking up at the house caused him a bit of fear. It wasn't that he was afraid of Tsuna or getting rejected, he just didn't know what to do. He wanted to talk, he knew that, but he had no idea of what to say. What could he possibly say to fix the situation that Tsuna was in? What if he just makes everything worse for the boy?

Yamamoto forced those thoughts away and walked up to the door. Before he could lose his nerve again, he rang the doorbell and waited. He didn't have to wait long before the door was opened by a kind looking woman, who gave him a strained smile. "Ah, hello there. I don't believe I know you."

"I'm Yamamoto Takeshi. Nice to meet you, ma'am." Yamamoto greeted, giving a short bow to her.

"The pleasure is mine. I am Sawada Nana, Yamamoto-kun." Nana greeted, though looked confused. "What are you here for?"

"Sorry for troubling you, but I was wondering if Tsuna was home?" Yamamoto asked politely.

A worried looked came over Nana's face as she glanced over her shoulder. "He is. Are you a friend?"

Yamamoto opened his mouth to say that he was, but before he could, Tsuna's words came back to him.

"It was a bad idea for us to call each other friends….We can't be friends it seems."

That's right. Tsuna had dismissed him as a friend because of Ohmae and all the others who spoke badly of Tsuna.

"No," Yamamoto whispered sadly. "No, I'm not a friend, just a classmate. I do need to talk to him though."

Once again, Nana glanced worriedly in the house. "It's not that I want to refuse you, but it won't be that easy to talk to him. He locked himself in his room and won't let anyone in, not even his brother."

"Can I at least try?" Yamamoto asked desperately.

"There's no harm in trying, I guess." Nana murmured and stepped aside to allow the boy admittance to the house.

Yamamoto nodded his head in thanks and stepped passed her. He noticed a few heads sticking out of the kitchen doorway in curiosity, but ignored them in favor of turning back to Tsuna's mom. "Could you show me to his room?"

Once Nana had showed him which room belonged to Tsuna, she left him to give him some privacy and a chance to get into the room. When he was sure she was gone, Yamamoto knocked on the door. "Tsuna? Can I talk to you?"

Inside the bedroom, Tsuna froze. What was Yamamoto doing here? He didn't…..no couldn't be with the boy. His life would be ruined because of him. Yamamoto already feels so much pain because of those false friends he has. Tsuna couldn't allow himself to be associated with Yamamoto and make his life even worse because of his so-called rotten luck.

"No. Go home." Tsuna said harshly.

"What? But Tsuna–" Yamamoto started, but was cut off.

"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be seen with you. I don't want anything to do with you, Yamamoto. Go away and leave me alone forever. I don't need you. I can take care of myself." Tsuna snarled, but with each word he said, his heart clenched and screamed in pain. How could he say all this to the only person who ever wanted to call him a friend? But then he remembered all the taunts, all his classmates saying that anyone who tried to be his friend would have a horrible life. He couldn't do this. He couldn't make life even worse for the only classmate he had that cared.

Yamamoto froze in knocking on the door when he heard every harsh word that came from Tsuna. Tsuna was the boy that saved him, saved him from himself when he was feeling down because his teammates used him for his skills at baseball. All his popularity came from his skills at a sport he loved. Tsuna saved him, but the same boy that saved him was also pushing him away and wanted nothing to do with him. He had always been a nice and caring person. Was that not enough? Was he not good enough? Not good enough for the person who saved him to also care for him?

"You're only good at baseball and nothing else. I don't need someone in my life whose only skills belong to a game." Tsuna bit out harshly. He took everything he had to keep his voice strong and steady. He hated saying these things, but Yamamoto had to leave. He couldn't be around someone with horrible luck like him. His life would be utterly ruined if he did. It hurt, but it was better for Yamamoto this way. He could still be successful in life.

The black haired boy backed away from the door. His heart was screaming at him. It was screaming in pain because each word from Tsuna had stabbed him, stabbed him repeatedly in his heart. This was a bad idea. He and Tsuna…..they just couldn't be friends. They were never meant to be friends. They were too different. No matter how much it hurt to admit, it was the truth. It just wasn't possible.

He spun on his heels and ran from the house. He bumped into Tsuna's mom. He wanted to stop and apologize, but he couldn't. Right now, he just needed to escape from it. Tsuna had made it perfectly clear. They would never be friends.

"What the hell is going on around here?" G. demanded, eyeing the back of the boy that came to talk to Tsuna never stopping. That boy just kept on running.

"Nothing for you to be involved in so forget about it." Reborn said as he came down the stairs, eyes hidden by his fedora. He too glanced out the door that was left thrown open in Yamamoto's haste to escape the house.

Giotto's eyes snapped to the hitman. They were glowing with anger when he realized what the hitman meant. That damn tutor of his knew what was going on with his precious little brother, but he knew better than to ask. Reborn was never going to tell him what was wrong with Tsuna. "Why?" He asked shakily. "Why are you doing this, Reborn?"

Giotto's guardians, including Alaude who decided to meet with his friends today, Dino, and Elena looked at their boss in confusion. What had he realized that they had missed?

"He isn't a part of our world. He's my little brother who is only nine. Why are you not allowing us to help?" Giotto asked desperately.

"He is a Sky whether you like it or not," Reborn growled.

"I already told you he is not in our world. He is innocent. He is not yours to train!" Giotto said angrily, defiance filling his eyes. "So why are you following him? Why are you not protecting him? Why are you allowing whatever happened between him and that boy to happen? You are ruining both of their lives!"

"When two people face troubles like this, what happens?" Reborn asked.

"What?" Giotto asked confused, momentarily forgetting his anger.

Lampo frowned as he looked at G. and Giotto. When those two first met, not everything had been good between them. They had hated each other at first, not realizing that each other were facing troubles in their lives. Giotto was at a lost because his father suddenly left right before Tsuna was born, leaving without a good-bye to him like always. And G. had just moved to Japan with his dad because his parents got divorced. Because of that, G. had to leave his newly born little brother, which upset him greatly. The two ran into each one day and their first meeting was not a good one. They got into a huge argument and hated each other. In a twist of fate, they both kept running into each other and eventually they learned what the other was going through. It was because of that they became friends, boss and subordinate. "Ah, I see. Something like this can either destroy them or create a bond between them that cannot be destroyed by anything." He said, but regretted it when Giotto turned a vicious glare to him. He hid behind Asari to escape it.

"You are risking destroying my brother's life because of a gamble?" Giotto snarled at his tutor. "You don't know anything about that boy that was just here. What if he doesn't come back to help Tsuna? What if Tsuna lets this whole thing be his downfall? Whatever you did, it's destroyed him."

Reborn raised a brow. "You do not understand a thing, Giotto. Not a thing about your brother. You are so busy trying to protect him that you don't see the potential he has. You don't see that he is always hurting. You do not see what goes on when he is not in this house. You do not see that he is constantly suffering, but he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want to bother anyone and knows he can handle it on his own. Your brother is stronger than you believe."

Giotto winced. It wasn't that he didn't see the hurt shining in those brown orbs, it just that he was so busy with training or school that he didn't consult it right away. He always meant to go back to Tsuna and talk to him, but he forgot by the time he was finished with what he was doing or Tsuna had gone off somewhere and he couldn't find him to talk. By the time he reappeared, the pain had disappeared so he always assumed that whatever it was, it was fixed or he got over it. Was he wrong? Did he make too many mistakes where his little brother was concerned because he was so busy with his own life?

"And I did nothing to your brother to interrupt his life. What happened, always happens, but it was worse today. It is not my place to interfere. If I interfere, he will never grow and get passed this. By always protecting him from everything that hurts him, he will remain weak. You cannot interfere in this." Reborn continued, ignoring the turmoil that had entered Giotto's eyes. As a mafia boss, he had to be able to hear the cold hard truth.

Elena put a gentle hand on Giotto's shoulder to let him know that she was here with him. She looked at Reborn with a trouble expression. She had always been fond of little Tsuna, ever since their first meeting so it upset her greatly to hear that his life was going downhill and they couldn't help. "But what if it doesn't get fixed? What then?"

Reborn kept a neutral expression on as he replied, "Not everything is fixed in an instant. It could take weeks, months, or years for this to be fixed. Or, it could never be fixed. Everyone faces trials in their lives that help them grow into the person they were meant to be. This, this is Tsuna's first trial and it is where everything begins as to who he will grow up to be."

A/N: Trials! Don't you just hate the trials of your life? They are never fun. I'm serious about the whole it may take years thing for one trial. Never fun! Though, that is all cause middle school and high school suck. Plus, they hurt a lot, especially when no one notices! Not even your friends. *Sigh* Which is why trials, which suck greatly, help you grow up into you should be.

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