Summary: (Canon-AU; this will be a 'parallel reality')(Slow friendship-romance) It doesn't have to make sense to others, and it doesn't have to make sense for them, either – but that's okay, because labels are overrated anyway. Still though, secrets will come out sooner or later and what doesn't break a friendship, only makes it stronger... "What kind of balls?" "Baseballs."
Note: Chapter lengths are not pre-determined and are to be posted as they are written, hence updates may be unpredictable. At present, this is to be a snapshot-like series. Storyline told in snippets. (And there WILL be a storyline!)
All recognisable appearances here are the conjurations of Akira Amano and the team behind Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Unless otherwise stated, the only thing 155cm owns is Nakamura Yukiko, and even that's debatable – she's a fairly free spirit.
It takes a lot of prodding for Hayato to start talking, but Yukiko is nothing but tenacious and she has a dangerous weapon in her grasp; rubbish.
"I'll start throwing the food scraps at you." She threatens, and she swears she sees his fingers twitch towards the inside of his open shirt (don't worry, he's wearing a graphic tee underneath. It's not like he's flashing his pecs to the world or anything) but doesn't think much of it as she waits somewhat patiently for him to start talking.
On the rare occasions where she decides to show that she cares, Yukiko's the type to comfort someone through actions rather than words. She's no good at this type of heart-to-heart talk it out kind of thing. It's more Takeshi's style, if anything – but the thing is, she's trying to work out the problem before the it can get to Takeshi, so here she is.
"You wouldn't understand." Hayato huffs. The malice in his tone is laced with enough poison to send anyone to the ground, but Yukiko lets it slide over her like water because this is important.
Airily, she waves her free hand as they finally reach the dumpsters. "Try me."
Hayato frowns. "Stupid—" he seems to check himself, making Yukiko perk up in interest. Hm, maybe someone told him to watch his language? He seems more the vulgar sort, and she honestly doesn't care if he cusses her out – she's not asking for him to be polite, just for an explanation. Interesting.
"I can't tell you, so drop it." Though his glare intensifies, there's something defensive about it that prompts Yukiko to arch a lazy eyebrow.
Time for a change of tactics.
"Alright, then!" her fingers are clenched tight around the trash she's gripping as she positively skips toward the dumpsters, "don't tell me! I'll just spend the whole time gushing on about how amazing and handsome Yamamoto Takeshi is, and you'll have to listen to me do so until you're converted into his number one worshipper!" Smiling widely (and it hurts her cheeks like no tomorrow), she swings the trash into the open dumpster and listens to it land with a satisfying thump on top of the other bags inside.
"Isn't he so cool?" She sings, and she's trying not to laugh because she has just remembered that one time Takeshi had picked his nose when he had forgotten she was sitting there (which is ew), "So awesome you wish you could be just like him, swinging baseball bats and hitting balls…" Stop Yukiko, don't be immature "-and being a general ray of positivity and sunshine. Blessed with a jawline so sharp he could use it to sculpt you a statue of himself."
She watches as Hayato angrily slams open the twin dumpster for the recycling, dumping his own load inside. He's clearly itching to make her shut up, either because of the nonsense she's spouting or the sing-song girly tone in which she's doing it because if there's one thing that Yukiko has learnt from her time in the library, it's how to be annoying as hell – she would know, she's fallen victim to the screeching many a time.
Blithely, she continues on. "Gosh, Takeshi is a real man, you know? The perfect guy you'd want to be really, and…" here, she pauses. There's sincerity in her next few words, but most importantly she knows it'll be the tipping point, "he's probably the best friend you'll ever have."
It's kind of cruel, and very mean, but Yukiko will do anything to get to her final goal and this is the first plan she had come up with on the spot.
Hayato's eyes widen and he slumps to his knees on the ground, eyes staring blankly before him like a broken-down robot.
There's a part that wants to slap him for being so utterly dramatic because life is not anime, but the sight looks so heartbreaking that she finds herself squatting down beside him instead, uncaring of the dirt that inevitably finds its way onto the ends of her skirt as it brushes against the ground.
"That's right," Hayato whispers, and all his bravado has disappeared and finally, finally he actually looks his age. Gone is the aged-up facade of stoniness he had been clinging onto for days. "The Tenth doesn't need me."
She doesn't make a move to agree with him, but she doesn't say anything to argue against him, either. "What makes you say that?" Yukiko asks mildly, picking at a loose thread on her skirt.
"I'm no one important," he says it with such a frank yet despondent tone that she knows he full-heartedly believes what he's saying, "and no one has ever needed me anyway. I can't fight, I'm not friendly, and I'm not likeable and easy-going like others either." He sighs, "the Tenth is so amazing, he's just going to meet more and more people," Hayato finishes, "and then he's going to have no use for a right hand man like me, who no one ever wants."
A pause falls, thick and expectant as Hayato fidgets as he waits nervously for Yukiko to respond to what is essentially all the angst he has accumulated in his life thus far.
"Are you stupid?" she asks bluntly.
Hayato falls over. "What?"
"I dunno," she shrugs, rising from the ground. With a small huff, she stretches her arms up towards the sky, staring at the adjacent wall. "I think you're going about this wrong. Why should it matter whether someone needs you or not?" The guy has even more issues than she thought, the origins must stem from somewhere so deep in his childhood he had nothing to cling to but his juvenile expectations and desire to win over the acceptance of others.
(An unbidden memory rises to the forefront of her mind. It's nearly ten at night, terribly late for someone of her age and she's got her tongue stuck out as she sits at the kitchen bench. She's downstairs because she doesn't want to wake up the people sleeping upstairs with the light in her bedroom, and she's puzzling over a worksheet. Her eyelids droop, but she keeps herself awake by swinging her legs back and forth, knowing they'll never brush the ground. The worksheet is only half-way finished, and she'll have to finish it all by tomorrow if she wants to be really impressive.)
"You shouldn't be so focused on what others think of you," she's talking so much it's ridiculous, but she has so much to say on Hayato and his apparent inherent stupidity that she has transitioned with ease into full rant mode, "nor should you spend so much time angsting over being discarded when you're still enjoying what friendship you have." Shaking her head, Yukiko reaches out and jabs Hayato in the shoulder.
He had just been rising from the ground, offended and angered by her apparent dismissal of his woes, but her unexpected action sends him back to the ground. It'd be a comical sight were it not for the sheer annoyance she's feeling.
"So what, someone might not need you to stick around in the future?" she asks, "it's not about what others need, but what you want. Not just that, but relationships," ah, that accursed word again, "are constantly changing anyway. We're in middle school for goodness sake, do you honestly think we'll be close to the same people in the future?" Exasperated, she turns turning away. "It's not about Takeshi or Sawada-san, it's about you. Tell me, do you even see Sawada-san as a friend? Or is he just a convenient figure for you to direct all your efforts towards?"
Honestly, Yukiko's hoping that at least some part of her ramble has made it into his mind. It's impossible to live fully when constantly looking over your shoulder at the people watching you, and what has initially started out as an attempt to put out the fire of hatred towards Takeshi before it blew up has evolved into a lecture on friendship and self-worth. She's not being paid enough for this.
At the mention of Tsunayoshi, Hayato grows fiercely defensive. "Shut up! The Tenth is the Tenth!"
Here, she shoots back, "I don't care if Sawada-san is the President or not, he's still human!"
The force of her tone and rise in volume sends Hayato reeling.
"We're all human. Takeshi, too. We've all got things to sort through before we can decide we're happy, and we're all interacting with each other and trying to work out where we fit. Attacking others and belittling yourself isn't going to help you in the long run, Gokudera-san."
Using his name for the first time, the fatigue of shouting finally catches up to her and Yukiko abruptly closes off.
"Right, that's all. Think about it, and bye." Yukiko dismissively turns away, beginning to head back to the classroom to collect her things. Idly, she wonders if she's done more harm than good.
"You're right!"
The yell comes so suddenly, so unexpectedly that she actually halts mid-stride, turning with surprise to find Hayato suddenly punching the air in determination back where she had left him.
"Of course! I should broaden my views, be more open to people and live more freely… so that one day I can return to the Tenth as the most well-experienced version of myself I can be!"
Yukiko blinks. Did the guy not hear a single word of what she said?
"All I've gotta do now is YOLO everything!"
She eyes him strangely. "Where did you hear that?"
"Picked it up somewhere from an American tourist back in Italy," he explains flippantly. He pauses. "Thanks."
Hayato's tone is suddenly sombre, and she blinks at him in surprise. "For what, kicking sense into your brain?"
"Don't be stupid when I'm trying to express my gratitude!" he snarks, and his glare is so refreshingly friendly that she can't bring herself to insult him.
"That's the spirit." She says instead, beginning to turn back towards the school. "Let's go, the others are probably back at the classroom by now."
The next day, Hayato joins the Occult Club.
"I didn't know you had an interest in these things, hahaha!" Takeshi laughs.
Hayato bristles, but his defensive snap isn't as sharp as it can be. "Is that a problem?" There's a slight undercurrent of apprehension lining his words, but he chases it away, focusing on what that girl had said. He likes studying science and UMAs and things that other people deem weird and impossible, and if anyone wants to give him grief for something he enjoys he'll return it tenfold.
"Nah, course not!" Takeshi's grin transitions into something cheeky. "But baseball is still better!"
"No it's not, idiot! UMAs hold the secrets of the universe!"
"But baseball is life."
"Are you stupid?"
From her slumped position at her desk, if one looks closely a small twitch of Yukiko's lips upwards can be noticed.
Outside, sharp eyes watch the classroom through a set of binoculars, and the tongue of a green chameleon flicks out to catch a passing fly.
a/n:
if there's anything that bothers me, it's how Reborn shamelessly capitalises on Gokudera's lack of self-worth and desire for acceptance to wheedle him into accepting Tsuna as his boss for life. Like, I get that Tsuna saved his life, but... it wasn't even a CONSCIOUS decision to be like 'oH NO GOKUDERA IS IN TROUBLE HE MUST NOT DIE" it was more a "zOMG I'M HYPED UP ON DYING WILL AND YOU ARE THE ANGSTY BEST FRIEND OF MY ANIME LIFE, MUST SAVE!"
then Gokudera is like, "I refuse to be your friend, you are my boss!" and that should've raised alarm bells in SOMEONE but yanno, ~anime logic~
hm
anyway yeah, things are changing! woohoo! don't worry, she may have trash-talked him (hah) and basically given him a wake-up call, but Gokudera ain't gonna start worshipping Yukiko or anything stupid like that. She'd roll over to take a nap if he tried...
(Feel free to drop a review... we're on chapter 5... I won't be asking for reviews again until maybe chapter 10 if the situation is really dire I have no idea if anyone hates this oh my)