Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
"Talking"
'Thoughts'
Precious Sky
Chapter 8
The man's eyes landed on the petrified form of Tsuna. "Are you the brother of the Tenth?"
While Tsuna stared in horror at the man, Takeshi was looking back and forth between them in confusion. "Hey Tsuna, what does he mean by the Tenth?" He asked.
Tsuna turned horror stricken eyes to Takeshi. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."
Takeshi blinked in shock. The desperation and fear in Tsuna's voice didn't belong there. Even when those bullies hurt him, it was never there. He was always strong, even if he didn't fight back. "Tsuna? Tsuna, what's going on?" Takeshi demanded, shooting a glare at the men who caused this fear in his friend. Just what was going on?
"I'm sorry, Takeshi, but please leave. This has nothing to do with you." Tsuna ordered.
The black haired boy's eyes snapped back to his friend. His friend who now sounded so calm and in control of the situation. When he found Tsuna's eyes, he was surprised yet again to see that orange tint in them. That orange tint that was always present when he sounded like this. But this time, instead of listening, Takeshi shook his head and stood up. He moved to stand in front of Tsuna. "I don't know what is going on, but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Tsuna. I won't listen to you this time and run."
"How sweet." The man with the snake tattoo sneered. He stepped farther into the restaurant. He drew his sword and pointed it at Takeshi's chest. "Move, boy. As the brat behind you said, this doesn't concern you. This is your only chance to not get killed."
"Move, Takeshi." Tsuna demanded. He couldn't let his friend be killed because of him.
"No." Takeshi snarled. "What do you want with Tsuna?"
The man raised a brow, but smirked. "It's not what I want. It's what my boss wants."
"I won't let you." Takeshi growled.
"That's too bad. You had a long life ahead of you." The leader said. He waved two fingers at Takeshi and the man on his right raised a gun at Takeshi.
Tsuna froze behind Takeshi. He saw the gun raised, but Takeshi stubbornly held his ground in front of him. That idiot! Getting killed to protect him wasn't going to solve anything. It would just be a pointless death!
Without thinking, Tsuna propelled himself up and tackled Takeshi to the ground just as the trigger was pulled. Both boys slammed into the ground with the bullet going over them.
"They're really serious." Takeshi growled from under Tsuna.
Tsuna lifted his head off of Takeshi's back and glared at the men in the restaurant. He got off of Takeshi and stepped over him, getting closer to the men that had barged into the restaurant. "Why is your boss after me?" He demanded.
"That should be fairly obvious, Vongola's brother." The tattooed man sneered. "Now you can either come with us peacefully or we can kill everyone in this shop and drag you away by force. It's your choice."
To Tsuna, it wasn't even a choice. He would never allow anyone else to get involved in his affairs or die for him. He would never put other people's lives at risk because of him. His life was not more important than others just because his brother was the future boss of the biggest mafia out there. "I'll come–"
When Tsuna went to step forward into the arm reach of the smug looking man, a hand snatched his ankle and pulled roughly, causing him to collapse to the ground. Twisting around on the ground, Tsuna found Takeshi was the one holding his ankle and stubbornly refusing to let it go. "Let go." Tsuna hissed, trying to pull his leg free.
Takeshi shook his head, glaring at the annoyed men in the shop. When Tsuna tried to get up, he yanked the boy back to him. He grabbed Tsuna by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Instead of giving Tsuna the chance to get to the men to leave, he dragged the boy to the back of the restaurant.
"Let go, Takeshi. It's just me they want. They'll leave if they have me." Tsuna growled, trying to pull his shirt out of Takeshi's grip.
"Like hell I will. I may be oblivious and not understand this enough, but I do know that those people are dangerous and will hurt you." Takeshi growled.
"And they'll kill you if you don't let me go with them." Tsuna snapped back, glaring at his friend. "I don't want you to die because of me, Takeshi. Please let me go."
"This has gotten annoying, Yuu." The man on the tattooed man's right growled to their leader.
Tsuna blinked. "Yuu? Doesn't that mean gentleness?" He muttered.
"Ironic, isn't it?" Takeshi mumbled dryly to his friend. "I guess it could have to do with superiority, right? I mean, Yuu also means that."
"Kill him." Yuu's voice snarled loudly over the two boys'. "Make sure the Tenth's brother isn't injured."
Wide brown eyes from boys snapped to the three men. Takeshi's shoulders were trembling in fear a bit, but he kept his defiant eyes trained on the three. His hand gripped Tsuna's shirt more tightly. The smaller boy glanced over his shoulder at his best friend, more precisely his shaking shoulders. He tried to act so brave and defiant, but the truth was, Takeshi was still just a scared nine year old boy. They both were.
With that moment of distraction, the man on Yuu's left lunged forward and snatched Tsuna's right arm. Being bigger and stronger, he was easily able to rip Tsuna from Takeshi's grip. A cry of surprise and pain shot from Tsuna's mouth when he was yanked away. Brown eyes snapped to the man in anger and fear for a moment because he suddenly saw the man with the gun raise it at Takeshi.
"NO!" Tsuna yelled loudly, twisting around the man's grip, trying to get free. This couldn't be happening. NO! It just couldn't. Everything was finally getting better.
Wasn't it just a few months ago when he and Takeshi were so confused about what friendship was?
It felt like yesterday when he saw Takeshi standing next to his bed and apologizing about not protecting him. It was a moment of pure bliss when he saw Takeshi had come to see him, to want to fight for his friendship.
All those moments of hanging out together and studying together after that were from of the happiest moments of his life. He finally had a friend that cared about him.
Wasn't it just a few hours ago that he and Takeshi were sitting in here, laughing with their new friend, Kentaro?
All three of them were sitting at a table, talking excitedly about everything. Kentaro had come to him, to make sure he was alright, just like Takeshi. There were finally people outside his family and his brother's friends that cared for him.
The fights.
"Tsuna? Can I talk to you?"
"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. "You're only good at baseball and nothing else. I don't need someone in my life whose only skills belong to a game."
The laughs.
"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.
The tears.
"What about you? What have you done?" Tsuyoshi prompted.
Yamamoto glanced up at his dad to show his pain filled and regretful eyes. "Nothing. I've done nothing, dad. The first day, I went to talk to him, but he yelled at me to stay away from him and he wanted nothing to do with me. I listened, but I could never go back to being oblivious to everything that happened to him. Every time it happens, I see it. I see all sneers, jeers, punching, kicking. He takes it all. He never runs. He never fights back. He accepts all the bullying and it kills me that he doesn't want my help. He won't let anyone help him. He doesn't even report it. And today…" He paused to bury his face his hands to hide his sob, but his dad still heard it. "To-today it went too far. T-th-they went to-too far. He….oh god….he's in the hospital now. And I don't know what to do! Help me!"
The teasing.
"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.
He treasured all of it.
Was this where it was going to end…all because of him?
Was he going to get his best friend killed?
Why…..?
"TAKESHI!" Tsuna screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to pull free from his capturer.
Sad eyes stared back at Tsuna. He couldn't believe this was where it was all going to end for him. He finally found the best friend he could ever have. This last few months had been the best time ever. That was all because Tsuna, a complete stranger at the time, saved him from himself.
"Yamamoto-kun, don't say that. There are people who would miss you if you were gone. Don't give up so easily. I'm sure you can find people who would want to be your friends and not for you skills in a sport. And those friends are the only ones who truly matter. Then there is your dad. He wouldn't want you to kill yourself. You are his son. He loves you a lot."
To Tsuna's surprise, Yamamoto started laughing. He was laughing so hard that he fell forward and buried his face in Tsuna's shoulder. His whole body was shaking with his laughter. "O-one person, Tsuna. Name one person who would be my friend if not for popularity or because of my skills in baseball."
"Me." Tsuna said quietly without an ounce of hesitation. "I'll be your friend."
The upset, crazy laughter stopped and Yamamoto pushed off of Tsuna to stare at him surprised. "What?"
Tsuna rolled his eyes, but with a fond smile. "Are you deaf or something? I'll be your friend, though I'm not sure how to be friends since I never had any before."
"Tsu–" Takeshi started.
BANG!
"TAKESHI!"
*Precious*Sky*
THUD!
"Giotto?" G. asked, staring down at his friend, who had fallen to his knees, hand grabbing his chest where his heart was. His other hand was covering his mouth, shock and fear filling his face.
Nana, who was washing dishing in the kitchen, came rushing to the living room when she heard the noise. The chair Giotto was sitting in was knocked over and his poor eldest looked like they were living in hell. "Giotto?" Nana said, running over to him and dropping down next to him. "Giotto, what is wrong?"
"I don't know." Giotto replied, voice slightly muffled by his hand. "I just got a really horrible feeling."
"What is your Hyper Intuition telling you?" Asari asked worriedly, glancing at the others, who looked worried but also determined to do what needed to be done.
To all their surprise, Giotto shook his head. "It's not my Hyper Intuition this time. I just know it in my heart…something is incredible wrong."
"So what will you do?"
Giotto turned in surprise. Reborn was standing in the doorway, staring at his second student with a frown. His eyes were shining darkly and not with that usual twinkle that was present when he was tort–tutoring his students.
"Reborn?" Giotto hissed. He jumped to his feet, glaring at the hitman. "Tsuna! Where is Tsuna?"
Reborn glanced at Nana, who had gone real pale when she realized just what was wrong. What did Reborn know that the rest of them didn't?
*Precious*Sky*
"Take," Tsuna cried, staring in distress at his friend lying on the ground. His eyes would not move from his best friend's body. How could this happen?
Tsuna continued to fight against the man holding him. He wanted to rush over to his fallen friend.
Though, he felt that something was incredibly wrong with this scene. No matter how much he stared at this scene, he couldn't help but feel that there was something missing.
"Stop struggling, you damn brat." The man holding him snarled, yanking his head back by his hair to get him to stop. It didn't work well for him since Tsuna hated having his movement restricted like this. He didn't care if it would hurt a little; he yanked his hair out of the man's grip, but because of the sudden exert of energy, he lost his bother and fell to his knees.
And that was when he noticed it.
"This damn brat." The man behind him snarled.
There, lying on the ground in front of Takeshi, was a bullet that was sliced in half.
"Can we harm him just a bit?" The man asked gruffly.
So what was missing from this entire seen was blood. Since Takeshi wasn't really injured, there was none. So why was he lying on the hard ground?
Splat! Splat!
That was weird. Why did it sound like water was dropping into a big puddle?
THUD!
From the corner of his eyes, Tsuna notice one of the bodies, mutilated with cuts all of a sudden, drop to the ground. Eyes widening in shock, Tsuna whipped his head around. To his surprise, Takeshi's dad was standing there with a sword, soaked with red blood that went drip, drip, drip as it fell to the ground.
"How dare you come into my home and attacked my son and his friend?" Tsuyoshi asked calmly, though to Tsuna, he swore he saw a very dangerous glint in those usual kind brown eyes. It was just like when Asari got serious about something. And when that happened…..Tsuna had to repress a shudder. Asari was one of the scariest people ever when he was mad.
"Takeshi!" Tsuna shouted, whipping around to look at his fallen friend. He decided it was best to try to ignore the killer intent coming from the kind man. It was making him sick after all.
Tsuna crawled across the ground to get to his fallen friend. He kneeled next to him and looked down at his friend's face. Almost immediately, he face palmed at the happy, dazed look he was wearing. "Takeshi." Tsuna growled and smacked Takeshi's cheeks. "Snap *SMACK* out of it. *SMACK* Do you *SMACK* have any idea *SMACK* of how scared *SMACK* I was?" *SMACK*
With that last slap, a quiet groan of pain come Takeshi. Tsuna nodded in satisfaction, but just for good measure, he smacked his again.
"OI!" Takeshi muttered, holding his red cheeks in his hands. "What was that last one for?"
"For scaring me." Tsuna retorted. "Why so dazed anyway?"
"You'd be too if you were suddenly knocked to the ground by something appearing out of nowhere!" Takeshi retorted. He looked over Tsuna's shoulder to see his dad finishing with the leader of the three men. "Still, I had no idea my old man was so good with a sword. I wonder why he never told me how good he was."
*Sniff.*
"Huh? Ah!" Takeshi grabbed Tsuna's shoulder. "Why are you crying? What's wrong? Did those guys hurt you?"
"I'm sorry, Takeshi! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" Tsuna wailed.
"Wha–"
Tsuna ripped himself out of Takeshi grip. With a bowed head, he ran passed Tsuyoshi, who was dragging the bodies across the ground to the kitchen, and to the doorway. Faster than Takeshi could comprehend, Tsuna put his shoes on and ran out of the restaurant, desperately wiping his arm over his eyes to try to get the tears to stop.
When the door slammed shut behind Tsuna, Takeshi just blinked in utter confusion. "Tsuna?"
"You're going to lose him again." Tsuyoshi commented before heading to the kitchen with the bodies.
"Lose?" Takeshi whispered before anger filled up in his eyes. "That idiot! After all those hard months before our friendship finally built into this and now he's running?! I think not!"
Without a word to his father, Takeshi snatched up his shoes and ran out the door. He paused momentarily when he found it raining, wondering if he should get an umbrella. It was only a second of thinking though. An umbrella would just be in his way of beating some sense in that idiot friend of his. Like hell he was escaping after all this!
*Precious*Sky*
*RING*
"Sorry, we're closed." Tsuyoshi said, pausing in cleaning up the broken table that he broke earlier when taking care of those crooks.
"We're not here to eat."
Tsuyoshi took in the leader of the group, noticing that his blond hair was just like that boy's. "Tsuna?"
"Yes! Where is he? I heard he was here." The boy said, then pointed at himself. "I'm Giotto, Tsuna's brother. Is he okay?"
"He just fine, though not here anymore." Tsuyoshi said as he went back to clearing up the mess. "As you can see, we had a slight problem here. Tsuna ran out of here once it got all cleared up."
"What? But it's pouring down rain out! What if he gets hurt? What if more people come?" Giotto said frantically.
"Quiet." Alaude demanded.
"Nufufufu. Always losing your composure when it's your baby brother isn't good for our future boss." Daemon chuckled.
"Don't worry. My son chased after them. It's best to leave them alone for a while. They got some issues to work out." Tsuyoshi said.
"In this weather?" Giotto almost shouted.
Asari glanced out the door that was left open in their haste. "It's not that bad, Giotto." He commented, sweat dropping when he heard Alaude mumbling about an overprotective herbivore.
*Precious*Sky*
"TSUNA! Please stop running!" Takeshi screamed at Tsuna's retreating back. Being an athlete, he had easily caught up to Tsuna's head start, but the boy was still moving fast. "S-since when can you run this fast and for this long!"
What Takeshi didn't know was that Tsuna was pushing himself harder than usual just to get away from the boy. He honestly didn't expect him to chase after him. Last time he just let him go without a fuss.
Frustrated and concerned for his friend, Takeshi slowed his pace. Since he wasn't going in the direction of his home and he knew he couldn't outrun him, Tsuna had to have a destination in mind. The taller boy decided it was best to let Tsuna get there first before talking to him. It would be better to talk in that place anyway. He'd rather not have this conversation in the rain.
*Precious*Sky*
"G., remind me." Giotto said.
G. looked up from the sushi Takeshi's dad made for them while they were waiting for the boys to return. "What is it, Giotto?"
"When this is over, we're putting a damn tracker on him." Giotto muttered.
The red head smacked his forehead. Riiigghht. So his best friend was more overprotective than he initially realized. "We don't have to go that far, Giotto. A cell phone will suffice. It has GPS in it after all." G. amended.
"Uh, Reborn? Don't you think Giotto's overprotectiveness of his little brother might be a bit bad for the Vongola?" Asari asked the hitman quietly.
Reborn tilted his head down so his hat hid his eyes. That Rain guardian didn't need to tell him that. He noticed it from the first day he arrived in Namimori to tutor the boy. His biggest weakness was Tsuna. Actually, all the guardians' biggest weakness was that boy, but they didn't go to the extremes of Giotto and Dino.
*Precious*Sky*
"Really? Really?!" Takeshi grumbled as he followed his friend through the dark and quiet halls of their old school. The only sound, beside their voices, was the sound side of their feet smacking the floor and the water dropping of them to floor. It was a bit creepy. "Of all the places you could have chosen to run to, you choose to come back here!"
"You didn't have to follow me." Tsuna snapped at him. He stopped walking for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at Takeshi. "No. No, you shouldn't have followed me at all. Don't you have any sense of survival at all, idiot?"
"Isn't it obvious I don't after what happened in the shop?" Takeshi asked.
Smacking his face with the palm of his hand, Tsuna gave a quiet groan. Why did he befriend such a reckless idiot? "It's dangerous. I'm sorry, Takeshi. I should have realized it sooner. We sho–"
Before Tsuna could even finish his thought, he saw the silhouette of his friend suddenly moving quickly and before he could even process why for the sudden quickness, his back was slamming into a wall with Takeshi holding his shoulders tightly. "Don't. Don't you even dare to say it." Takeshi growled. Tsuna squirmed in his grip, probably hurting from his grip, but he didn't give it any attention at the moment. He just wanted Tsuna to understand. "I made the mistake of abandoning you once before. I won't not be your friend again just because you say we can't. Never again."
"Idiot." Tsuna snarled, finally managing to push his friend's hands off of him. "Go back. Go back to your father and stay away from me. I won't put you in danger anymore."
For a moment, Takeshi stood in the darkness, watching as his friend walked away passed the windows in the hallway. "You can't make that choice for me." He muttered quietly, though his voice still traveled to Tsuna in the quiet school.
SLAM!
Takeshi blinked in surprise as he watched Tsuna slam his fist on the window.
"IDIOT!" Tsuna shouted, spinning around to glare at him. Strange. Takeshi might only be imagining it, but he swore he saw that strange orange tint in them again. But he has been around Tsuna long enough to know there was nothing orange about those brown eyes. "Do you want to die? You have no idea of what is truly going on and yet you say you want to stay by my side! Can you be even more idiotic?"
"I don't know because you haven't told me." Takeshi argued. "Tell me, Tsuna. What the hell is going on with you and your family?"
A/N: I'd continue this chapter and make it longer, but I can't think clearly and I don't want you to wait any longer. I don't know when I'll write again. This is friendship and right now, I'm ready to kill friendship. My friends don't understand that I'm hurting because they always leave me out and when I try to explain, they say it's my fault for not speaking up or that they understand. Never once do they say they appreciate my friendship or that they do trust me. So, I'm feeling alone and hurt, and they are not helping at all! So, for now, friendship can go die.
I need time to get my head back into the game. Rant- done.
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