Ummm... well...? Hello everyone? I'm truly sorry that I took soooo looooonnnggg time to update... I know you don't want to hear any excuse, so I'll just skip it.

Let's go on to the story...

"Talking"

'Thinking'

This story is beta'd by Pure Red Crane.

Enjoy! :D


Previous chapter...

Tsuna watched with careful eyes. So did Paolo, who watched expectantly, and Kyoya, who narrowed his eyes. Sparks of orange came out of Rosette's hand and it created a small orange flame. It sparked for a while before vanishing.

Opening her eyes, Rosette looked up at Tsuna's widening brown eyes and said happily with a grin. "I have Sky Flames! Just like you!"


Chapter 17

Let It Rain

Tsuna was in his office, working on his paper calmly. He was alone with a cup of tea on the far corner of his desk, accompanying him with its warmth. Every once in a while, his honey brown eyes looked up from the black and white of his paper to glance at the small calendar that stood on his desk, displaying each date of April. His eyes lingered at every note written on it before stopping at certain number circled with bright red ink. 24. April 24. The birthday of Yamamoto Takeshi, his Rain Guardian.

A little frown formed on Tsuna's face. He doubted he was still allowed to call the best sword wielder of Vongola as his. And also the other guardians too, except Kyoya. He had, after all, betrayed their trust. Bringing up his hands, Tsuna rubbed his face with a tired sigh. His dull brown eyes scanned around his office through the gaps between his thin fingers. The room was neat and with not much paperwork filling the quiet large room. He couldn't stop his smile from popping out on his face when he thought about what probably happened to his paperwork. He knew they were in the office room next door, the Cloud Guardian's. Under the sharp gaze of Hibari Kyoya, the paper was filtered and selected, some signed by the aloof Cloud Guardian himself while some other were put aside to be delivered to The Head of Vongola Famiglia.

His Cloud Guardian was always the one he could rely on the most. Tsuna smiled at the thought, not because the black haired man was his lover, but because he knew that Kyoya always took big responsibility to his works. He would do his very best and that was more than enough for Tsuna.

Placing his hands down on the desk, Tsuna's eyes went back to the table calendar. The still relatively young boss stared sadly at the red circle. For the past few years, he had been celebrating the birthday with Hayato, and Lambo helped him plan the small party for Takeshi. 'Well, this year I can't celebrate it...' The boss mused in his mind, sadness leaving traces on his memories of supposed to be happy and joyful events as his hand had unconsciously put the calendar down so he wouldn't be able to see what was on it.

Closing his eyes, Tsuna tried to squeeze out his negative emotion. He focused on his surroundings. He had left the window open for the spring wind to invite itself into his office, and, as a payback for letting them in, the wind brought the gift of faint gentle sound from the garden not far from the tall building. Leaves caressed each other in a choreography led by the breeze, accompanied by a group of birds singing joyful melodies as the rippling sound of the water fountain filled the day. Placing down his pen, Tsuna slowly stood up from his seat and walked toward the window behind him.

Gladly, he welcomed the soft gentle wind with his equally gentle smile. His honey eyes sought through rows of green bushes until they reached rows of high rose bushes, creating a labyrinth that surrounded a large cottage where his assassin squad resided, narrowing his eyes when he saw a spark of orange and blue flash from behind the tall rose bushes. Tsuna guessed that Rosette was trying to gain control of her recently discovered flame.

Keeping his gaze on that direction, the Decimo let his thoughts wander aimlessly. Thus, when a hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, he jerked harshly and almost slapped the hand away out of reflex. Once his brown eyes found steel blue ones, a sigh of relief left from between his lips. "It's you..." Tsuna said softly before turning again to rest his figure against the windowsill, his silent eyes going back to the cottage.

Kyoya watched his lover. His steely eyes pointed out the paleness of his skin, which tugged at his heart. He had been looking at Tsuna since they met in Namimori and the ex-prefect could identify just how many shades of healthiness the younger man had peeled from his appearance. Muttering no words, he took another step forward and collected the smaller man into his embrace. Letting Tsuna's small back lean against his strong chest with his arms wrapped around the brunet's waist, Kyoya buried his nose in the fluffiness of Tsuna's spiky hair. For the umpteenth times, the feeling of having his lover alive in his arms washed his calmness away, replacing the warm gentle fire with icy insecurity and freezing fear of being left behind by the very person he was dying to protect. And for the umpteenth time, Hibari Kyoya unconsciously tightened his fist out of fear.

Both of them enjoyed the given silence as Kyoya's mind worked on the reason why the boss was standing there instead of signing the paperwork. He had noticed previously when he walked into the room that the calendar was down and Tsuna didn't seem aware of him walking into the room. Piecing those bits of information, he knew right away what made Tsuna off was on that calendar. The ex-prefect tried to remember all the events taking place in this month. 'Ah...Right...That herbivore's birthday.'

Placing soft kiss on the top of Tsuna's head, Kyoya tightened his arms around his lover. And that was the hint for Tsuna to know that Kyoya had already found out what was in his thoughts. Not wanting to dwell on it further, Tsuna's turned his head slightly and brought out another topic.

"It seems Rosette is very eager with her flame." he said cheerfully despite the hint of forced smile on his face.

"Hnn." As usual, that was the response he got from his Cloud Guardian. The young Don was about to say something else when Kyoya decided that it was a good topic to keep the sadness away for a while. "She has been progressing well."

Smiling softly at the information, Tsuna responded. "Is that so? How well?" He knew that the girl had been practicing to use her flame ever since she found out about it. Yet he didn't hear anything from both the girl and the assassin squad.

Kyoya took a little moment before answering. "I had just visiting them, and I saw that she is able to ignite the flame easily. Now she is trying to put it to use."

Tsuna raised his eyebrow at Hibari. "You visited her?" The idea seemed a bit bizarre to him, knowing how Kyoya had practically been ignoring the girl's presence ever since their first meeting in Japan.

Looking back with a straight face, Kyoya raised his own eyebrow at Tsunayoshi.

Smiling softly, Tsuna turned his head back to gaze outside again. "Nothing. It's just a…surprise? You used to push her away."

Taking the words without much thought, Kyoya knew exactly what was going on in Tsuna's mind. "Well…She seems to at least have something good in her." The girl had done nothing so far for the Vongola. Sure her presence had made the boss at ease with the loss of his Guardians and other members thought it was enough. But, for Kyoya, who always wanted to put everything in use to the fullest, her presence was just not enough at all. She had to do something else aside from just being there, hence his words to her when they visited Vongola Nono not long ago.

Now that she could be useful, Kyoya put her case down for a while. He needed to do something about the Rain Herbivore.


It was the 24th of April. And Takeshi, by Kyoya's orders, had to report his mission so far to Tsuna because there was another mission that had to be assigned to him as he worked on his current mission.

That day, when he stepped his foot on headquarters, he was greeted by some underlings. Greeting back with a smile, the swordsman noticed the rather forced smile on their faces as they also congratulated and wished him a good birthday. Putting the suspicion away, he took it with a smile and walked away toward Tsuna's office. They hadn't met much for the past few months and every time there was a strong thick barrier between them that Takeshi was afraid to break.

Gulping down his thought, he knocked on Tsuna's door and waited until the boss gave him permission, one thing he never did before. He used to just invite himself into the office like he owned it and greeted Tsuna with a domestic bright smile. Yet now, he didn't have the confidence to do so. He had been away and far from Tsuna too much.

Hearing the muffled sound of approval, Takeshi opened the door wide and walked into the room. His eyes widened slightly when he saw a black haired girl standing beside Tsuna, before he composed himself back to his calm state. Closing the door behind him, Takeshi walked forward and stopped in front of Tsuna's desk.

He kept his gaze on the two, and his gaze hardened slightly at his own thought. 'She stands beside Tsuna...That's...' Too focused on his own thought, Takeshi didn't realize his mouth parted and finished his own thought with a silent whisper that no one could heard.

He kept looking at the girl, standing there as both Tsuna and the girl looked at him. Tsuna's unsure voice made him focus back on the purpose of him coming back there. "Ta... Umm... Yamamoto?"

Darting his gaze from the girl, Takeshi turned to Tsuna, his boss, and said. "Uh…Sorry…I didn't know that she would be there..." He brought his hand up to rub the back of his head, uncomfortably.

Tsuna looked down at his paper. "Oh…Well…She..." He paused, unsure, then he saw that Rosette had moved away and sat on the farthest seat from the two silently.

There was a thick uncomfortable silence between the two before the Rain Guardian broke it. "So…My report..." he started and Tsuna nodded, signalling for him to continue.

Takeshi reported his progress on the mission clearly, his expression hardened as he talked about how the mission might not finish soon because another problem had erupted. Tsuna had noted it and mentioned that it had something to do with the new mission he would assign to the tall man.

The discussion flew smoothly despite the start. Both men were so indulged with the missions they barely noticed the young Rosette sneaking out of the room in the middle of their conversation. Yet even so, the two noticed the harsh fact that during the talk, their eyes never met even once. And that none of them tried to meet each other's eyes, with Tsuna continuously altering his gaze to the things on his desk while Takeshi's gaze went passed Tsuna and just looked at the blue and green scenery beyond the window.

"That's all I can report to you, right now. I will investigate the case more and also the chances of other Famiglias backing them up." Takeshi ended with a nod, his hand reached up to his chin, barely grazing the line of a scar marring his akin under his lips. His fingers paused at that spot before falling down to his side. "I'll report again when I catch their tail."

With a nod from Tsuna, the Rain Guardian turned and headed towards the double doors. His gaze saddened as he got closer to the exit, and when he was about to open the door, Tsuna finally called his name.

"Yamamoto."

His voice was weak latched with insecurity. At that, the black haired man turned halfway, his gaze jumped straight toward the Boss. "Yes?"

It took the Boss some time before he could utter the sentence he was trying to say. "...omedetou... Otanjoubi...omedetou..."

Takeshi's brown eyes widened slightly before closing. "...Arigatou..." he muttered back. The tense atmosphere between them was melting under the soft exchange of whispers. Yet, the cold distance between them still did not decrease even for a bit.

The two Japanese men stayed in their spots, far from each other in a world of silence. That was it until the taller man turned again and walked out of the room. Closing the door behind him, he looked at the Vongola Rain Guardian Ring Tsuna gave him many years prior. He clenched his fist tight and took a step, completely leaving the room. His feet brought him to his room, where he wanted to change into new clothes and get some items for the missions. In his hastiness, he didn't notice a box wrapped in light blue paper and azure blue ribbon resting innocently on top of his desk.


Chattering happily with Bertha, her maid/caretaker, Rosette ate the afternoon snack while being surrounded by empty white chairs. She was already used to being alone, aside from her two maids. Both Tsuna and the assassin squad were often busy and sometimes she wasn't even allowed to get close to their place. The young girl didn't mind it because she could understand it.

If there was one thing she minded, it would the awkward conversation between Tsuna and his Rain Guardian.

As she took her last piece of chocolate cookies, she heard footsteps coming toward her. Her attention perked up at the sound. Thinking that it was Tsuna, she stood from her chair and turned before offering the last cookie without fully knowing whom she was offering to. "Do you want to have this?" she asked with a wide smile, reaching out her hand to give the cookie to the newcomer. But her smile soon faltered when she saw that it wasn't Tsuna. It was also not Hibari. Or Paolo or Luciano. It was the Rain Guardian, Yamamoto Takeshi, the tall man with spiky black hair and a scar on his chin.

"Uh…oh…Sorry…I thought you were…Tsuna…" She stammered, pulling back her hand close to her chest and looking at the floor, which suddenly interested her more than the cookie. The height of the man kind of intimidated her, even though he wasn't scarier than Kyoya. The shocking difference between their heights made her squirm under his gaze.

Noticing the undeniable silence between the two, Bertha tried to step in between them. "It's been a while Master Takeshi. How have you been?" the woman asked politely, wishing it would help stop the Guardian from glancing down at the girl as if she was an intruder.

Sighing, Takeshi altered his gaze to the side. He didn't have the usual motivation to smile and answer happily like he used to, before...the fiasco. "I'm...good. I guess..." He responded shortly with a shrug of his shoulders. Not wanting to stay there any longer, he took another step. "I will take my leave now."

The woman bowed toward the retreating man, about to say farewell when the girl behind her skipped toward the tall man and offered the cookie again. "Do you want this cookie?"

Takeshi stopped in his tracks, and turned again to look at the girl questioningly, confused and surprised. He saw Bertha raising her hand close to Rosette's shoulder as if she wanted to stop the girl, but unable to do so, then his dark brown eyes reached the girl. The girl was still looking up at him, her thin hand stretched toward him, holding a cookie. The Japanese man only stared at the girl and the cookie coldly. When he saw that the young one didn't even back down for a second, Takeshi let out a small sigh and took the cookie. Muttering a small "Thank you," he left the two silently as he stared blankly at the dark brown cookie.

Once he was out of the mansion, a lot of thoughts ran through his mind as he waited for his car to come over with the cookie in his hand. When unpleasant thought slipped past his vision, the Rain Guardian unconsciously clenched his fist tight and crushed the cookie. After what felt like hours, the car finally stopped in front of him, Takeshi let go of the crushed cookie. His dark eyes followed the falling cookie until it crashed onto the ground before he turned his gaze and stepped into the car. Closing his eyes once he was inside, he heard the engine's softly grumble and before long, the car passed the front gate of the estate, leaving the big sacred headquarters behind.


"Miss Rosette…Please, don't scare me like that..." Bertha sighed at the girl's action as she tidied up the dish on the table.

"But...he looked...sad...disappointed." Rosette looked at her hands on her lap. "Tsuna...His guardians left because me…"

"No! It's not like that, Miss Rosette!" Bertha almost shrieked. "It's not your fault..." The maid looked disturbed at the words. 'If the Boss heard about this...' was her thought.

"But they left after I started staying here..." She sounded like a girl being scolded by her parents, muttering reasons to prove that she was right.

Her caretaker fiddled with her own fingers, nervous that she couldn't find a word to make the girl think otherwise. She might have sputtering uselessly if not for a voice interrupted them.

"What are you talking about?"

The deep sharp voice slashed between the two females. Both of them turned to look at the owner of the voice, which sounded angry. One was relieved to have his presence while the other flinched away, scared, noticing the tonfas that were ready in his hands.

"Bertha." The demanding tone made the woman stand up straight and she knew that he expected a full explanation. And that was what she did, telling him that she was accompanying the girl having her afternoon snack when the Rain Guardian walked by and looked at them.

The following conversations were told hastily once Bertha saw that the impatient man had crossed his arms over his chest.

Once there was nothing else Bertha had to report, one of the strongest men in Vongola nodded curtly. He paid no attention to the girl who tried to hide behind her maid, if anything, with a glare directed at a certain direction, Kyoya left, going back to Tsuna's office.


"Tsuna..." That night, after dinner, Rosette spent time with Tsuna in the living room. The lack of Kyoya's presence made the girl relax and at ease, glad that she could escape Kyoya's sharp scrutinizing gaze.

The man pushed his reading glasses up as he turned his face to look at the girl. "Yes, Rosette?"

Rosette seemed unsure, but, after gathering her courage, she finally asked. "Why? Why, this afternoon...Why did you call your guardian by his surname? I thought you called them by their name..."

The young Don's smile faltered abruptly after hearing the question. He looked down at his lap, ignoring Rosette's stammering apologies. His warm honey eyes melted under the cover of his long bangs.

"I..." he started which made Rosette flinch at the sad tone he used, "I'm afraid...I don't deserve to call them by their name anymore... I don't have the right..."

His answer stabbed her heart and Rosette held onto Tsuna's shirt. "No…Tsuna…You have every right…They are your Guardians...no matter what..."

Looking up at the girl, Vongola Decimo silenced her with one sad smile. Rosette flinched at the sight and turned away, wetness erupting from under her eyelids and Tsuna could only console his upset heart when she heard her whimpering on her seat.

"Sorry..."

None of them knew who said it. Yet both knew that they thought about the same thing.

.

.

To be continued~~