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"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Precious Sky

Chapter 7

"Gio-nii!" Tsuna whined. "Get off!"

Giotto snickered and buried his face even farther into Tsuna's hair. At the moment he was hugging his brother so tightly to him. He never wanted to let him go again if it meant that people were going to bully him again. "Don't wanna. I'm so glad you are home."

Tsuna allowed a smile to warm his features. His mother had just brought him home from the hospital. The moment he stepped through the door, he was assaulted with a big hug by his big brother. He patted his brother's cheek. "Everything's alright now."

"Not until I pull you out of that school it isn't." Nana corrected from behind her son.

Brown eyes widened in shock. Pull him out? He yanked himself out of his brother grip to look at his mother. "Pull me out? Why?"

Everyone stared at Tsuna in disbelief. He couldn't seriously believe they would let him continue to attend that school after all those students beat him up and his teacher did nothing to help him, could he?

"I will not have you attend a school where a teacher can't care for all her students." Nana replied, patting her son on the head. "I want you to stay safe."

'Stay safe again? Am I not allowed to know the real world?' Tsuna thought bitterly. "Then where am I supposed to go to school?" He asked.

"I'm not sure yet." Nana replied.

"Actually, if I may," Reborn interrupted.

Nana glanced at him, giving him a smile and nod to tell him he may go on.

"He has already missed a lot of school these past few months. He will be very far behind if you were to just transfer him to a new school suddenly. I believe for the time being, homeschooling is the best option." Reborn explained.

Tsuna stared in horror at the hitman, but it seemed his over-protective brother and his mother agreed with the evil hitman as they were both nodding. This could not be happening to him! Things were finally beginning to look up and then they just come plummeting back down! Maybe he was Fukitsu-Tsuna after all…..No! Tsuna immediately erased that thought from his head. It was as Takeshi said. He couldn't allow himself to listen to those who tried to degrade him.

DING DONG!

"What?" Tsuna mumbled, surprised at the doorbell suddenly being rang. He peeked passed his mother to see who was at the door. Much to his surprise, it was a grinning Takeshi, who had a few bruises and scratches on his face and arms. "What happened to you?" He demanded.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Takeshi greeted cheerfully.

"Only you could be that cheerful when turning up at someone's house covered in blood and bruises." Tsuna said dryly. "Seriously, what happened?"

"Isn't that the boy that came here a few months ago?" Lampo asked his friends quietly.

Asari nodded. "Yeah, that's him. I wonder what he's doing back here."

"Well, do you remember four months ago when I made that threat?" Takeshi asked, still grinning.

Tsuna face-palmed. "Don't tell me you did what I think you did."

"But Tsuna," Takeshi whined. "They hurt you."

"That doesn't mean you resort to their ways." Tsuna scolded before grinning. "Who won anyway?"

Takeshi smirked. "I did, of course. I think I got the message across."

Tsuna grimaced. "It doesn't matter if you did or not. My mom is pulling me out of the school and homeschooling me."

The black haired boy's grin dropped. He blinked at Tsuna, then looked to his mother, who gave a sad smile as she ran her fingers through her youngest hair. "That's understandable, considering what happened." Takeshi said slowly. "But no fun, especially by yourself! Can I be homeschooled with you?"

Tsuna sweat dropped. His friend was so random and rash. It would be a surprise if he thought about what any of his actions would do.

He was distracted from his thoughts by a prodding in his side. He looked up to see his brother had returned to his side with a curious expression. "Who is he?"

"Oh," Tsuna started, but was interrupted by Takeshi.

"Sor-ry!" Takeshi said, stretching the word with a grin. "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi. I'm Tsuna's best friend in the whole world, right, Tsuna?"

Giotto looked at Reborn, then at Tsuna and Takeshi, then back to Reborn. "You're a demon. There is no doubt about it."

"Why is he a demon?" Takeshi mumbled to Tsuna, who shrugged.

"I've told you before, Takeshi. He's sadistic and takes pleasure in torturing his students." Tsuna mumbled back.

"What was that, Tsuna?" Reborn asked dangerously.

Tsuna yelped and hid behind Takeshi. "Nothing, Reborn-san!"

"Oooooh, that's Reborn." Takeshi said. He blinked as he examined the hitman. "He doesn't seem as bad as you make him out to be."

"You say that because you don't know him." Tsuna argued. He and Takeshi locked eyes and both laughed, sharing a joke that no one else got.

G. glared at the happy Takeshi. "Are you sure he can be trusted?" He growled. "Where was here when Tsuna was being bullied?"

Both boys were frozen stiff when they heard G.'s accusations. They were trying to forget the mistakes they both made in the past few months. Tsuna pushing Takeshi away and Takeshi listening to Tsuna and allowing him to be hurt, even though it hurt so much in his heart. Both of them made so many mistakes, but they didn't blame the other. Neither of them had a real friend before each other. They were allowed to have their mistakes.

Even so, Takeshi still felt incredibly guilty about not listening to his heart sooner. He felt that he could have stopped Tsuna from going to the hospital if he did. No, he knew he could have stopped it. Just mentioning his mistake caused him to go real pale and shake with guilt and anger at himself. How could he have been so stupid?

"G., stop it." To the surprise of all, the forceful voice came from Tsuna. The brown haired boy put a hand on Takeshi's shoulder and gave him a kind smile. "I trust Takeshi. That is all that matters."

Takeshi gave his friend a grateful smile in return and put a hand on top of Tsuna's that was on his shoulder. He gave it an appreciative squeeze.

"Leave it, G.," Giotto said when it looked like the redhead wanted to argue. "Look at them. They clearly trust each other a lot. We don't know fully what happened the past few months. Without that knowledge, we can't argue with them and try to decide what's best. Only those two know what's best and to them, this is for the best."

*Precious*Sky*

"Ah, I get it now, Tsuna."

Tsuna glanced up from his book to smirk at Takeshi, who was leaning back on his hands with a tired expression. "I told you he was a demon tutor. You can still escape and go back to school, you know."

Takeshi laughed. "No, I'll stay with you, Tsuna. I can't let you stay being taught by that demon alone."

"And baseball? You can't be on the team if you don't attend the school." Tsuna said quietly, looking back down at his book. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Takeshi grimace at the mention that he can't play the sport he loves.

"I'll keep practicing by myself. Maybe I'll find a junior league that doesn't require me being in a school." Takeshi replied, smiling reassuring when he caught Tsuna's eye. "No worries, besides I want nothing to do with that team. Half of that team bullied you."

"Enough chit-chat. Get back to work." Reborn said.

Takeshi sat up straight, eyes staring wide eyed at Tsuna. "Where'd he come from?" He mouthed at the boy.

Tsuna snickered, but immediately stopped with a ruler smacked him on the head. "Oi! Reborn-san!" He complained.

"You're not even halfway done with your math work." Reborn scolded.

"Alright, alright. I'm getting to it." Tsuna muttered. When Reborn was gone to leave them alone to study, he glanced at Takeshi and shared a grin with him. "At least it's never boring."

"Shh." Takeshi hushed him. "We'll get in trouble if we're caught talking."

Tsuna snickered. He was so lucky that Takeshi cared enough to come back and demand his friendship.

"And besides, I'll be there to help you." Yamamoto added, grinning at the surprised boy. "This time, I'll do it right. I'm sorry, Tsuna. I'll be a better friend this time."

Tsuna turned onto his side and stared up at Yamamoto. "Don't beat yourself up. I'm the one who pushed you away to begin with."

"But I didn't have to listen. I should have come back. I should have defended you. Instead, I turned my back to you, even though I didn't want to." Yamamoto argued.

"Don't feel guilty, Yamamoto-kun. We're both at fault, kay?" Tsuna said kindly.

"I don't get how you do it." Yamamoto muttered. When Tsuna looked at him confused, he chuckled and grabbed Tsuna's hand. He gave it a squeeze. "After everything you've been through with them, how can you still be so kind and happy?"

Tsuna blinked. "Well, I'm actually not too sure." He replied, grinning sheepishly. "Maybe it's because I never allowed myself to submit to them. I remained strong and defied them. Or maybe I'm just always looking on the bright side. Things can't get much worse than this."

"And things will get better." Yamamoto added, smiling as he gave Tsuna's hand a squeeze. "Cause I'm here now and I'm not leaving again."

"What about my bad luck?" Tsuna asked.

Yamamoto grinned. "I don't believe in bad or good luck. I think we make our own luck in this world. And Tsuna?"

"Yeah, Yamamoto-kun?"

"It's Takeshi. Get it right already. I won't have my best friend calling me by my last name."

"Thank you, Take-kun."

"Argh, Tsuna!"

Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his friend, blinking. "What is it, Takeshi?"

Takeshi jerked his pencil at his paper. "Did you get number fourteen?"

Tsuna glanced down at his paper, chuckling slightly. "I'm only on twelve. I got distracted."

The black haired boy leaned on the table, staring at his friend with a grin. "You get distracted so easily. Reborn-san was just in here five minutes ago and you got distracted the moment he left. What does he have to do? Stand over you with a gun pointed at your head to get you to concentrate?"

"SHHH!" Tsuna said frantically, looking all around the room. "Don't give him ideas. He's already being so lenient on us."

"He's not even here." Takeshi pointed out, laughing. "And I can't believe this is his idea of lenient. I think I am scared of him now, Tsuna!"

Tsuna shook his head. "He's everywhere. He's always watching!"

"Getting a wee bit paranoid, aren't you, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked amused.

Tsuna leaned forward and grasp Takeshi's shirt in his hands and pulled him forward. "No, my friend. You are not paranoid enough when it comes to Reborn-san!"

"A bit crazy as well." Takeshi murmured, peeling Tsuna's hands off his shirt.

*Precious*Sky*

"Sawada-san!" Takeshi yelled, running into the kitchen where Nana was preparing lunch.

"Oh, Takeshi-kun," Nana scolded, lightly swatting the boy with a towel. "Don't call me that. Any friends of my sons can call me mama." When a distressed looked crossed the boy's face, Nana smiled and kneeled down to his height. She put a gentle hand on his head and ran her fingers gently through his hair. "I'm sure you mother wouldn't mind, Takeshi-kun." Her hand moved to his cheek to caress it in a gentle, loving way. "It's just a nickname. I'm not replacing your mother, but I will be here to help you whenever you need it."

Takeshi gave her a sweet smile. "Thank you, Mama."

"Now," Nana stood up and went back to preparing lunch. "What can Mama do for you?"

Grinning, Takeshi pointed at Tsuna, who was standing in frozen shock in the doorway of the kitchen. "Can Tsuna sleep over at my house tonight?"

"Well, that's up to Tsuna." Nana said, looking at her son with a bright smile. Ever since Takeshi showed up in his life, he has been much happier and was coming out of his shell. "Does Tsu-kun want to go to Takeshi-kun's tonight?"

Tsuna nodded his head. "Yes Mom. Can I really?"

"Of course, but don't cause any trouble for Yamamoto-san, okay?" Nana replied, giving her son a stern look.

"Thank you, Mom/Mama!" Two voices cheered, followed by two pairs of arms throwing themselves around Nana's waist. Nana happily threw an arm around each boy. Giotto and Tsuna may be her biological sons, but their friends were just as much family to her as her own flesh and blood.

Before she could process it, both boys had broken free and were running away back to Tsuna's room, most likely to pack. When they were gone, Reborn stepped into the kitchen with a frown. "Are you sure that was a wise decision, Maiden?"

Nana slammed down a spoon on the counter and glared at Reborn. "Reborn, I have told you countless times I am no longer that woman so I would appreciate it if you did not go around mentioning that at my house. I do not need Tsuna or Takeshi knowing about my former profession."

"This family needs to stop hiding things from the youngest." Reborn growled before leaving the kitchen.

"I know that Reborn, but I can't let my baby boy know any more than he already does. I don't want to lose both of my sons to that world."Nana said softly.

*Precious*Sky*

"Dad! I'm back!" Takeshi called when he entered the restaurant with Tsuna trailing after him with a bag on his shoulder. "Tsuna's here."

Tsuyoshi smiled at the boys. "Welcome back, Tsuna. It's been a long time since I last saw you."

Sheepishly, Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry. Takeshi and I had some issues we had to work out, but it's all good now!"

"That's good to hear." Tsuyoshi looked at the bag that Tsuna was carrying. "Are you two having a sleepover?"

Takeshi nodded, grinning. "Is that alright, Dad?"

Tsuna, meanwhile, gave his friend a deadpanned looked. "You didn't even ask him if it was alright before you invited me?"

"Details, details." Takeshi replied, waving a hand at his friend.

"It's alright, Tsuna. I have no problem with you being here." Tsuyoshi told him, eyeing both of the boys in front of him with a small frown. "Are you sure everything is alright between you both? I would hate to have anything horrible happen again."

"No worries, Dad!" Takeshi said, grinning as he threw his arm over Tsuna's shoulders. "We're the best of friends. I won't let anyone hurt Tsuna again."

Tsuyoshi watched as Takeshi's grip on Tsuna's shoulder tightened so it was like a protective hold and smiled a bit. "I'm glad to hear that. Why don't you take Tsuna's stuff to your room? And when you come back, I'll have dinner ready for you two, including Tsuna's favorite–"

"Anago?" Tsuna asked excitedly.

When Tsuyoshi nodded his head, Tsuna cheered, but only for a second because Takeshi had started to drag him away to the back of the restaurant.

"Sad to say that my house isn't as full of life as yours is, but I think it's good to escape all that craziness once in a while." Takeshi commented to Tsuna as they were returning to the restaurant below. "There're no constant explosions, gunshots, yelling, sadistic tutors, or crazy fighting friends here."

"Nothing wrong with that. I could use a peaceful night." Tsuna replied, smiling at his friend as he pushed the curtains aside so he could get passed the doorway that led back to the restaurant. He had barely stepped a foot a back into the restaurant when, to his surprise, someone yelled his name.

"Sawada!"

And not that dreaded nickname from school.

Blinking, Tsuna looked to where the voice came from to see a boy his age getting up from a table, muttered something to his family who was with him and approached Tsuna and Takeshi. A little boy at the table, most likely his little brother, waved at the two boys before going back to his dinner.

Tsuna turned back to the boy who had stopped in front of him. The boy was a couple inches taller than him. He had messy black hair and bright blue eyes. He gave a kind smile at both boys.

"Ah, I remember you." Tsuna said, pointing at the boy. "You sat in the opposite back corner from me at school. Mido Kentaro." He turned to his friend. "Weren't you guys on the baseball team together?"

Takeshi nodded. "One of the few decent players on the team, though we never talked much until recently." He added sheepishly and a bit worriedly.

Tsuna's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Mido-kun helped me beat up those boys who hurt you." Takeshi replied, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Tsuna asked, frowning.

"He didn't want his name involved in it." Takeshi answered, shrugging. "Besides, did you really think I could take all those boys on by myself?"

"Oh." Tsuna said. "I guess I did. That's what I get for not thinking."

Mido motioned to an empty table. "Can we sit?"

Tsuna nodded and led the way to the empty table. He sat on one side with Takeshi seating on his left. Mido sat across from him.

"How are you?" Mido started.

"Fine." Tsuna replied, a bit surprised.

Mido nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. When I told Mina-sensei about you disappearing after lunch that first day, I had hoped she was going to pay more attention to the stuff happening in class."

"Huh?" Now both Tsuna and Takeshi were a bit confused. "What do you mean?"

Mido chuckled, a bit embarrassed if the redness in his cheeks was anything to go by. "Well, the first day the bullying got physical and the first day you left school early, I told Mina-sensei so she would notice you more and realize the bullying was going on." He stopped talking as the chuckles stopped. "But it seemed she wasn't the best person to go to. She didn't do anything, even when she saw you covered in blood and bruises."

Tsuna didn't reply. He just stared at the boy opposite him in complete confusion. No one had ever taken notice of him before. Even Takeshi didn't until that day they ran into each other outside of school. From the sound of it, Mido did take notice of him, but never approached him. He just watched from the sidelines, but didn't take pleasure in Tsuna's abuse. In fact, besides Takeshi, he was probably the only classmate that cared and noticed the pain Tsuna was going through.

But why?

Why did he notice it when no one else did?

"Um," Tsuna mumbled, catching Mido's attention once more. "Why do you care? Most people don't care about me at all or notice the pain I'm going through. What makes you different?"

"Let's see," Mido said thoughtfully. He tapped his chin as he thought. A minute passed, causing Takeshi and Tsuna to glance at each other then back at Mido. The boy looked passed the two best friends and at his family. Curious, Tsuna and Takeshi looked there too. Mido was staring at his little brother. "Let's say that I understand."

Even more confused, Tsuna looked back at Mido. "How can you understand? You were never bullied."

Mido shook his head, wearing a fond smile. "Not about that. As you see, I have a little brother. And for a few weeks before your bullying got physical, I noticed your brother and his friends picking you up from school. By the way they acted, it was obvious they were all fond of you. But the moment it started getting physical, they disappeared. I never saw them picking you up again. Of course I saw them come to the school to get you, but you were never there waiting anymore. You never told them about the bullying, did you?"

Tsuna shook his head. "I didn't want any of them to worry. They were….are so over-protective. I didn't think it could get much worse."

Mido snorted. "That was stupid of you." He said as if he was lecturing Tsuna. "A little fact, Sawada, no matter how bad something seems, it can either get better or it can get a lot worse. It can always get a lot worse. Remember that, kay? And even if they are a bit over-protective, they still want to know. They would have been even more scared and worried, not knowing what was wrong."

Takeshi frowned, leaning forward slightly on the table. "You speak as if you know what his brother was going through." He gazed intently at Mido.

Sighing, Mido nodded. "I do." He cast a sad smile passed the two boys at his little brother. "My little brother is sick. He has leukemia. I was beside myself with fear when he first fell ill. I thought I was going to lose him when he first collapsed."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tsuna said, truly feeling bad for the boy. "Is he getting better?"

"I hope so, but he still needs treatment. He has to go back." Mido replied. "I hope it doesn't get worse."

Neither of the two boys responded. They weren't too sure of what to say at this point that would make the situation better.

It seemed Mido realized the stressed silence as well because he ended it by saying, "Did you tell him, Yamamoto?"

Takeshi blinked in confusion. "Tell him what?"

"About Mina-sensei." Mido replied.

Takeshi chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. It totally flew from my mind when Tsuna told me he was going to be homeschooled."

"Homeschooled?" Mido asked surprised. "I thought you transferred schools."

"I was going to, but my brother's tutor said I was too far behind because I kept skipping school or leaving early so he said homeschooling is the best for me at the moment." Tsuna explained. He tilted his head at Takeshi. "And this idiot rashly followed me into homeschooling without even thinking about it."

Takeshi grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Yep, rashly. Tsuna's brother's tutor is our homeschooling teacher and he is so harsh. I should have listened to Tsuna when he said Reborn-san was a sadistic demon."

"So you two aren't having fun?" Mido asked mockingly.

"Oh no, we're having great fun when the sadistic tutor isn't breathing down our necks." Takeshi replied, grinning.

Tsuna twitched. "Let's get off the subject of Reborn-san. I feel as if he's going to pop in here all of a sudden and punish us for all the negative comments, no matter how true they are."

Takeshi laughed. "He's so paranoid about our tutor."

"I told you!" Tsuna growled, slamming a hand on the table. "You're not paranoid enough!"

Takeshi shook his head. "Why do you constantly think he's just going to appear out of nowhere?"

Tsuna twitched. Of course Takeshi wouldn't understand. He had no idea that their tutor was a hitman and training his brother and Dino-nii to be mafia bosses.

"Is this a recurring argument between you two?" Mido asked with a laugh.

Tsuna shrugged. "Maybe. So what about Mina-sensei?"

"She was fired." Mido replied in a sing-song.

Brown eyes blinked in shock. "What? Really?" He looked at Takeshi, who nodded his head. He knew that it was true because he still attended school for those few days that Tsuna was in the hospital. "Why was she fired?"

Mido smacked his forehead. "Really, Tsuna? You really don't know."

Takeshi smirked. "Don't be too hard on him, Mido. He didn't even understand why his mom was pulling him out of school after he was hospitalized."

Tsuna blushed, but attempted to glare at his friend. "How do you know that?"

"Reborn-san told me!" Takeshi said cheerfully.

"Traitor." Tsuna grumbled under his breathe.

Mido shook his head in disbelief. "Sawada, you are too nice and forgiving. Mina-sensei was fired because she didn't help you. She always saw the blood and injuries, but did nothing."

"Where'd the proof come from?" Tsuna asked.

Mido tilted his head at Takeshi. "Him and me mostly. Didn't anyone come talk to you about it?"

Tsuna shook his head.

"Weird." Mido mumbled.

"I don't think it's weird. After meeting Alaude-san, I can see him keeping the investigation team away from Tsuna." Takeshi said.

Mido looked curious as to who Alaude was, but didn't ask. Instead, he turned back to Tsuna. "Those boys were expelled as well. And our new teacher is really nice and cool. It's too bad you were pulled out. He was appalled when he learned of the reason Mina-sensei was fired. He does not take well to that kind of behavior."

Tsuna sighed. "Too bad. Anything would be better than this sadistic tutor we have."

"Shh, what if Reborn-san is around to hear." Takeshi said mockingly.

Tsuna shot him a glare and shoved him. "Knock it off." He turned to look at Mido. "Thanks for catching me up on the latest. It seems that my best friend is too much of an idiot to do so."

From his position of lying on the floor, Takeshi glared at Tsuna. "Well, how rude."

The three boys talked for a little while longer, only pausing to thank Takeshi's dad who brought them their dinner. After half an hour of talking though, Mido's family was ready to go and he had to leave. He waved to the two boys, saying they would have to get together again some day, and was gone from the restaurant with his family.

"He seems nice." Tsuna commented, going back to his sushi. "How'd you two start talking?"

Takeshi glanced away from the door of the restaurant and back at Tsuna. "I was looking for those boys. I had no idea of where they would be after getting expelled. Seeing as I couldn't find them, I stopped in the park, annoyed. He was practicing by himself at that time and when he saw me, he approached me. He noticed that I was constantly concerned about you as well and that I disappeared after you were taken to the hospital that day at school. He wanted to know if I saw you and if you were fine. From there, it led to both of us wanting revenge."

Exasperated at the idea of revenge, Tsuna shook his head, but didn't comment on it.

"It seems I was hanging with the wrong people of the baseball team." Takeshi said.

Tsuna shrugged. "We all make mistakes."

"I've made too many lately." Takeshi said.

Tsuna rolled his eyes. No matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of the guilt that Takeshi was feeling. "Take–"

BANG!

Both boys whipped around when the door to the restaurant was opened. Standing in the doorway of the restaurant were three men. The one in the lead ran his eyes over the only two people in the restaurant, Takeshi and Tsuna. He was a tall man with long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and dark blue eyes that glared at everything. Despite it raining outside, he was wearing a muscle shirt. On his right arm was a black tattooed snake that circled itself from the wrist to the elbow. At his side was a sword where his hand rested, as if he was going to pull it out.

The man's eyes landed on the petrified form of Tsuna. "Are you the brother of the Tenth?"

A/N: Mido Kentaro! Yeah! What do you think of him? Even though, he's not going to be a major, major character. But he will appear again for reasons which you shall not know at this time.

Please Review!