Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn

A/N: I meant to post this the other day, but I am so into finding animes and watching them recently. I watched one called "Broken Blade" and loved it so I had to read the manga, which screwed me up greatly because it was a more heavy and realistic war manga, basically the emotions in it. It caused me to become detached from my emotions for the day I was reading it. Well, now that I'm back to normal, I thought I'd update this.

Thanks to those who reviewed!

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Precious Sky

Chapter 5

The first few days after that day, Tsuna stayed locked in his room, refusing to come out for anything. He didn't go to school. He didn't speak to anyone when they knocked at his door after Yamamoto left. He knew that if he opened his mouth, cries would escape him and he would be screaming apologies. His family was worried he would starve to death, but what they didn't know was that he left his room late at night when everyone was sleeping to eat and go to the bathroom. It was the only time he could wander around freely without having to meet anyone.

What he didn't know was that each time he did that, he would wake Reborn. The tutor would watch him from the shadows or listen to everything he did from his bedroom. He liked the young Sky. Giotto may think he was being harsh, but he wanted more than anything for the boy to pass his life's trials. He didn't want to see him fall to become something he shouldn't. Because of that, he would never interfere and allow the boy to handle his trials on his own. It was the only way he could grow.

After those few days of being locked in his room, Tsuna decided it was time to go back to school. The only reason he avoided going to school before this was because of two reasons. One, he didn't want anyone to see his injuries. They would laugh at him, even if they were the ones to do it. Two, he couldn't face Yamamoto. He hurt the boy. He wouldn't be surprised if he decided to retaliate by bullying him as well.

While Tsuna locked himself away, Yamamoto had run home after he tried to speak with Tsuna and got rejected instead. He ran into the restaurant, ignoring the worried shouts of his dad and the confused and concerned looks he got from some of the regulars there. He was hurting too much to face any of it right now.

The next few days passed like the world was on fast forward. His father tried to talk to him to know what was wrong, but he just couldn't tell him. He liked Tsuna too much to admit that he actually said those things. He didn't want it to be the truth. Then there was school. He continued to attend it with his false smile and fake cheery attitude. Every day he looked at Tsuna's seat to see that it was empty. Even when he wasn't here, his classmates sneered about him, saying that he was going to ruin their class average, that he was a no-good loser who was probably dropping out of school since it obvious to everyone that he will fail at life. He heard it all. It made his heart clench, but he forced himself to ignore it. Tsuna and him weren't friends. The oblivious life was so much better. Facing the truth hurt a lot more. He just wanted to go back to being oblivious. He couldn't handle this.

Then came the day he wasn't ready for. They were in the lesson right before lunch when the classroom door opened and in came the person that Yamamoto didn't want to see: Tsunayoshi. When the boy was done muttering apologies to his sensei, he turned around to face the class. For a moment, his eyes connected with Yamamoto's before he was bowing his head and walking to his desk. As he was walking, one of the boys, Kane, stuck his foot out and tripped Tsuna. Only Yamamoto's sharp eyes helped him to see it.

Tsuna painfully pulled himself back up and continued to his desk without a word or glance at the boy. He didn't utter a single sound about being tripped. He didn't even cry in pain.

Their sensei, Mina, just sighed at her student's clumsiness. She hadn't noticed the foot that tripped him. When the boy was at his seat, she turned back to the board to continue on with the lesson.

Tsuna kept his head down, wrote his notes, and did the problems assigned. Maybe it was a bad idea to come back to school.

At lunch, he was assaulted with jeers from his classmates and had insults thrown at him. The boys who beat him up dared to say to his face that he hadn't come to school because he was at home crying over his injuries. How pathetic, they said. Tsuna didn't reply to any of it. He didn't even look up from his lunch until it was snatched from him by one of the boys who punched him the other day. Sighing, he looked up at the boy with a bored expression. He pushed away from his desk, sent them a frown, and left the class. As he was leaving, he glanced at Yamamoto, but the boy wasn't looking at him. He was avoiding looking at him. It hurt him, but it was for the best. They were from different worlds after all.

Since recess was after lunch, all the kids were taken to the playground outside. Tsuna left his classmates to go sit on the swing by himself. He either sat on a swing or went and sat under a tree for recess. That was all he ever did. He sat there and watched his classmates playing with each other. None of them ever let Tsuna play with them. He was the oddball out apparently, even though he didn't know what he did to earn such a title.

Since he was distracted by watching the students having fun, Tsuna didn't notice the boy sneaking up behind him. It wasn't until he felt two hands push him roughly and the ground was speeding into his face that he realized anything. He threw his hands out in front of him to protect his face, which caused his hands to get scraped up a bit, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He rolled over to his back to see himself looking into the face of Ohmae and a few of his buddies from class.

"What do you want, Ohmae?" Tsuna sighed.

Yamamoto looked towards where he hit the baseball, grimacing when he saw that it landed next to Tsuna. He didn't like what he saw. Tsuna was on the ground, staring up at Ohmae and a few other students from their class. His grip tightened on his baseball bat when he saw Ohmae slam his foot into Tsuna's chest, causing the boy to fall back over.

'It's not my place. Not my place. We aren't acquainted. Not my place.' Yamamoto kept telling himself as he forced himself to look away, but not before seeing Tsuna getting punched in the face. He couldn't, wouldn't allow himself to get involved. Tsuna had explicitly told him to leave him alone.

"Going to cry, Fukitsu-Tsuna*?" Kane sneered mockingly at Tsuna, who sat up without a word to the boys and kept his head down.

"Fukitsu-Tsuna?" Ohmae asked, smirking. "I like it. Nice one, Kane."

"It fits perfectly, doesn't it, Fukitsu?" Kane asked, laughing along with his friends.

Tsuna said nothing. He just kept his head down, hoping the boys would leave.

Not liking that he was ignored, Kane grabbed Tsuna's hair and forced him to look up. "I asked you a question, Fukitsu-Tsuna." He snarled. When Tsuna continued to look at him blankly, the boy got irritated and punched him in the stomach. Groaning, Tsuna grabbed his stomach that had just recently healed from the last time he was hit there.

Why? Why was it always him?

While the children thought they were free from adult eyes, they didn't know that a man was watching them from the spot where he had hidden himself. The moment Tsuna left their house for school hours late, he followed the boy in secret. He knew about the bullying the boy faced ever since he started training Giotto, but he never interfered in it because Tsuna asked that he never mention it to anyone. He hated that decision, but it was what Tsuna wanted. He hated watching the little Sky being beat up like this. The bullying had never been physical before a few days ago. The bullying had gotten worse and it angered him beyond belief. Even if Giotto didn't want to admit it, Tsuna was a member of the Vongola Famiglia. So it angered him so much that these people, these lowly people, were beating the little brother of the future boss of the Vongola. They had no right.

"Scum like you doesn't belong here." One of the girls, Ayako, sneered down at him.

Reborn felt himself grip his gun tightly. How dare she? How dare that girl say such a thing to that boy? Haven't they done enough damage to him?

Most likely for pleasure, Kane slammed his foot into Tsuna's stomach one last time before leaving with his laughing friends.

Being hit so many times in the same spot caused great pain for Tsuna. So much, that he started coughing violently. The pain filtered up to his throat where he could only release it as a pained cough. He covered his mouth, desperately trying to hide the fact that he was coughing in pain. He didn't want to give those boys the pleasure. From covering his mouth, he felt the blood running down his face from when he got punched. He pinched his nose, hoping to get the blood flow to stop.

Reborn watched as Tsuna got up after being hit. He was calm and didn't show that he was in pain. The way he took it caused pride to swell up in him. That boy was stronger than people gave him credit for. They could push him all they want, but he never cried in pain. He didn't show others that he was in pain. He wouldn't show them any weakness.

The moment that school was over, Tsuna was gone. He had packed his stuff and was running to get home. What he didn't expect was the man in the black suit waiting for him at the end of the block. He slowed to a stop and stared at him warily. "Why aren't you with my brother, Reborn-san?"

"He has his guardians." Reborn replied, eyeing the blood on Tsuna's face. Why was it still there? Shouldn't his teacher have told him to get cleaned up when she saw the blood on his? Unless, the teacher didn't see it or ignored it. Anger crept up inside of Reborn. Just what type of school was this boy attending?

Tsuna took a step back. He understood the meaning, after having been around the man for three years. His brother had his guardians, who did he have? No one. "I'm fine, Reborn-san." He muttered, looking down at his feet.

"If you want to lie well, look at the other person in the eye and be confident about what you are saying." Reborn scolded. He grabbed Tsuna's shoulder and forced the boy to walk in the direction of their house.

Tsuna blinked in confusion as he looked up at the man. "Reborn-san?"

"You haven't talked to me in weeks." Reborn commented, still eyeing Tsuna's blood covered face.

Tsuna shrugged, rubbing at his face in the hope to get rid of the blood that Reborn was staring at.

"I wouldn't think anything of it, but it started right after I told you I was a hitman. Has that made you uncomfortable around me?" Reborn asked, though he didn't really care all that much. As a hitman, he didn't have feelings. He was only loyal to the Vongola, which included its heirs. Tsuna was one of those heirs, even if he wouldn't get to be successor because of his brother.

"I'm still getting used to the idea." Tsuna replied.

"The best way to face a situation you aren't comfortable with is to face it head on, not ignore it for weeks." Reborn lectured, making Tsuna groan. He hated it when Reborn decided to lecture him on stuff. He was not the student who was to be a mafia boss. That was his brother. "Like when you face those bullies. You allow them to mock you, beat you. You do not run. Even if you didn't fight back, you stayed there and took it."

Tsuna tensed and attempted to pull away from the hitman, but Reborn tightened his grip on his shoulder to keep him still. "Re-Reborn-san, w-were yo-you sp-spying on m-m-me?"

"What have I told you about stuttering in the past?" Reborn growled.

"N-no-not to d-do it." Tsuna replied, but he couldn't help it when Reborn got like this.

"So why are you doing it?" Reborn demanded.

Tsuna ducked his head. "Sorry."

Reborn smacked Tsuna's head. "Do you forget all my lessons when you face something you don't want to face?"

"Face it with confidence, act as if nothing is wrong, be strong." Tsuna said monotonously, having had the lesson drilled into his head. Reborn had wanted him to at least know a few things to keep him safe and keep him from being an embarrassment to the family.

Reborn pushed Tsuna into his house. The boy called his customary greeting as he removed his shoes. His mother didn't even get to greet him before Reborn was pushing him up the stairs and to his room. In his room, Reborn pushed him onto the bed and left the room. Confused as to what the hitman was doing, Tsuna stood up and peeked his head out the door to watch the hitman go into the bathroom. A moment later the hitman came out with a wash cloth.

Tsuna groaned. "Reborn-san, I'm fine. You don't have to."

"Shut up, kid, and sit down."

Tsuna mutely sat down. The tone Reborn used was the one which told him not to argue. He watched the hitman close the door and sat next to him on the bed. The hitman grabbed his face and cleaned the blood off it with a wet rag. Noticing some blood on his neck, he cleaned that up to before throwing the bloody rag on the table in the room. "Remove your shirt."

Tsuna grimaced. "Were you watching me?" He muttered, pulling the shirt over his head.

"You are just as much my charge as your brother." Reborn said, eyeing the purple bruises on his chest and stomach. "I'm going to get you ice for that. Are you in any pain?"

Tsuna shook his head.

Reborn raised a brow, but didn't comment.

Tsuna leaned back against the wall as Reborn left, taking the blood wash cloth with him. He wasn't surprised that the hitman knew. He knew from that start that he was bullied, but Tsuna made him promise to never tell anyone because he didn't want his brother to know. He would have freaked and become even worse with his over-protectiveness.

It didn't take long for Reborn to return with a towel and bags of ice in hand. "Lie on your back." He ordered.

As Tsuna did so, he glanced at the hitman with a frown. "You're not going to tell Gio-nii, are you?" He asked worriedly.

"No." Reborn answered shortly. He kneeled next to the bed and looked more closely at the bruises. Carefully he put a hand on the one on his stomach and pushed gently down on it. A small hiss of pain came from Tsuna when he did that, causing him to nod. "These aren't too bad." He threw the towel over Tsuna chest and stomach, then laid the ice bags on him. "Keep those on for fifteen minutes."

"Thanks for the help, Reborn-san." Tsuna muttered quietly.

Reborn gave a small snort. "Nothing to thanks. As I've said, you are just as much my charge as your brothers, little sky."

Tsuna blinked in confusion when he heard the name. He glanced up at Reborn, but the hitman was already gone from the room. 'Little sky?'

With Reborn gone, Tsuna turned his eyes to the ceiling. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't help the few tears that fell from his eyes. He knew it was his fault, but it still hurt. Even though he told Yamamoto to stay away, he was desperately hoping the boy would ignore his words and come help him, save him, but he didn't. He had avoided Tsuna all day and it hurt so much. More than anything, he realized he wanted, no needed a friend in Yamamoto, but it just couldn't happen. He couldn't ruin his life like that.

Time flew by for Tsuna and for Yamamoto. Both of them attended school, but were in their own little worlds.

Yamamoto continued his baseball and hanging out with those boys who only liked him for his skill at the game. The feeling of having false friends and acting cheerful did not hurt as much anymore. That was because he had been hurt beyond repair by a certain brown haired boy. Tsuna hurt him more than any of his false friends could. He became his friend and then dumped him a day later, shooting harsh words at him. That kind of damage hurt more than any of his false friends could do to him.

He tried to stop it, but he couldn't. Often, he would look to where Tsuna was. Every time he did that, his heart would clench a bit. The boy was always sitting by himself with his head down or being bullied by someone or other times, he was covered in blood and prodding at his injuries. And every time, Yamamoto would die a bit inside. He wanted to approach Tsuna, but he just couldn't do it. Tsuna told him to stay away and as much as Yamamoto wanted to break that order as he called it, he couldn't. He was too scared too. He didn't want to hear those harsh words coming from Tsuna again. He felt that if he did hear them, he would surely die. Being hurt by Tsuna hurt a hundred times worse than being hurt by anyone else.

His dad noticed immediately that something was wrong with him, but every time he asked, Yamamoto just brushed it off saying that nothing was wrong. He didn't want his dad to be concerned with this. What he didn't realize that with each fake smile he gave his dad, Tsuyoshi got more and more worried about his son. He had a feeling it had something to do with that boy, Tsuna, who brought such a bright grin to his son's face. That same boy that he hasn't seen since that day. He tried mentioning him to his son and when he did, he saw pain filter into his son's eyes and knew that something had happened. Something happened and it wasn't being fixed. They were both hurting very much because of something.

As for Tsuna, he got into a habit of skipping school or coming in for the second half of the school day or just come in but leave early. It was very rare for him to stay at school for a whole day now. Whenever he came in, he was always picked on and bullied. He would go home covered in blood and bruises. With the help of Reborn, he hid it all, but he could tell that the hitman was angry with what was going on. He never commented on it though. He knew Reborn wouldn't mention anything of what was going. Though, the longer it went on, the rougher Reborn got when he was treating his injuries. He was getting furious with all the bullying.

It wasn't only Reborn that was concerned either. Tsuna often had to face his brothers and sister. They had no idea of what was going on since Reborn expertly made sure that all of Tsuna's injuries were hidden. It started to happen so much that Tsuna started to learn how to hide them all on his own and his own medical experience began to rise, even if it was only for small injuries, though Reborn did teach him how to stitch up some injuries for the rare times that the cuts were too deep. There was also his mother who was getting upset about all the school he was missing. She tried talking to him, but he didn't listen. Why would he? His mother didn't know what he was going through at school. He just didn't want to hear her lectures telling him that he couldn't keep skipping school, that it was looking bad on his record, when she had no idea of what he went through at school.

She really had no idea that each time he went to school he was bullied. All the injuries, all the loneliness, all the stares he sent at Yamamoto, all the time being ignored by his own teacher. She knew none of it. Mina-sensei ignored him. She's seen the bruises. She's seen the blood. She's heard the name Fukitsu-Tsuna. Tsuna knows that she has, but she just ignores it. Even his own teacher hated him and thought he would get nowhere in life. How could he blame her? Ever since the bullying has gotten physical, his grades had been dropping tremendously. Even with Reborn trying to tutor him to keep his grades up during all this, nothing was sinking in.

If it wasn't for Reborn holding him back, Giotto would have snapped and approached his brother to find out what was wrong. He either kept him too busy to get to his brother or gave him a harsh lecture as to why he couldn't approach him. It took a lot of restraint from Giotto to not snap and kill his tutor so he could get to his little brother. His guardians, Elena, and Dino were having a hard time as well. None of them liked seeing Tsuna so miserable. They had all grown incredibly fond of the little sky in the past few years. He was like a little brother to all of them and they were so upset that they could do nothing to help him.

This is how it went for months. It looked like both boys were going to fall forever, but something happened to change that fate.

That something was that it finally went too far.

A/N: Fukitsu- bad luck

I swear, there will only be one more chapter with this angst and sadness. It was supposed to end in this chapter, but, obviously, it didn't. I just need one more chapter to get their friendship sealed…..maybe….it might be two now that I think about it.

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