Disclaimer is at the top of chapter one but… Katekyo Hitman Reborn does not belong to me, I am only a big fan.

(A/N: So. New chapter~ I don't even want to say anything anymore… Just that I'll be updating at my own pace and unless I specifically say so, I'm not going to be abandoning any of my stories. You can go ahead and take ideas or anything as long as you tell me and give me credit. Anyways, this chapter will be about Takeshi! I will switch between Takeshi, Yamamoto and other ways to call him. I hope you don't get confused by this. That's because I don't know if I want to call him Takeshi or Yamamoto, so I just decided to use both. Haha! And he's a bit too serious in this one, isn't he? Well. The characters are all a bit OOC, if not completely… Enjoy~)

Short Summary:

So far, we know how the four teens met and Tsuna has amazing hacker and cooking skills. Reborn and Tsuna's brother, Tsukiyoshi, were also introduced. Tsuna, Hibari, Byakuran, and Mukuro met up for dinner with a bunch of other people. In the last chapter, a tidbit Gokudera and Tsuna's past was revealed.

Chapter 6

There wasn't much to say about Sawada, Tsunayoshi. At least in Yamamoto, Takeshi's opinion that was true. Yamamoto knows about 'Dame-Tsuna' and has seen him around a lot. They've been in the same class since they were young, after all. He's also seen Tsuna in his dad's sushi restaurant a lot too. And every time, the smaller boy would buy enough for a family of five or six. I guess his family really likes sushi is what Takeshi always thought, ignoring the fact that the part of the Sawada family still living in Namimori only consists of two people. He probably wasn't trying to ignore that fact, but he simply didn't think of that. There's also the reason that he actually didn't know Tsuna that well at all. He heard rumors and talk about the brunette, from his so-called 'friends,' but never took the time to get to know the other boy.

That was how it was for one Yamamoto, Takeshi. But then, it all changed one day when they were about seven that he suddenly became interested in the anomaly that is Sawada, Tsunayoshi. He started to notice the other boy more and followed him around - read: stalked - him for a bit. He had a feeling that Tsuna actually knew that he was following him around but just let him do what he wanted. It wasn't like he wanted to hurt or spy on the other boy or anything, he just wanted to learn more about the brunette. And, he had to admit at one point, Tsuna is pretty cute. I never noticed that before, but now that I've taken a closer look, I can tell he's a cute one. He also noticed a change in the boy recently. There was a silver haired boy with him a lot these days. If he remembered correctly, the boy was called Goku-something and he just transferred into the class next to theirs.

The game of observe and stal- follow continued on for a few weeks until Tsuna confronted him about it. One day, while Takeshi was stalking Tsuna once again, he was led to a inconspicuous alleyway where Tsuna stopped. "Ne. Why are you always following me around?" The boy turned around and stared right at him, who was hiding behind the wall rather poorly, at the time. "I know you're there, Yamamoto-san. There's no use hiding when I can see a little less than half of your body."

"Uhh… Yo! Uhh… Sawada? I wasn't really trying to follow you or anything; it just happened. Sorry. Haha!" The baseball fan came out of his hiding place, scratching the back of his the whole time.

"Hello, Yamamoto-san. Why are you following me around? Are you a stalker?"

"Eh? Stalker? Why would I be stalking someone? I just somehow started following you around. Hahaha!"

"...Umm… That's pretty much what staking means isn't it? What you were doing at least."

"It was? Haha! I didn't know that." Yamamoto wasn't trying to deny anything, he actually didn't know. He's a happy-go-lucky and somewhat naive person after all. Except, he's been showing a fake smile for a while now, especially in front of those 'friends' of his. Tsuna had noticed, but because they weren't close, it would've been awkward and rude to confront the taller boy about it.

"... So? Why are you stalking me?" Tsuna crossed his arms with a frown.

"Oh. Well… I don't know. I guess I just wanted to get to know you better?"

"... I see. Well you're going about it the wrong way."

"Hahaha! Sorry about that." Takeshi smiled, scratching at the back of his head again.

"Stop that."

"Huh?"

"Stop smiling like that."

"What do you mean?" He continued smiling even as it started to seem more strained.

"Don't smile if you don't mean it. If you don't like something, then say it outright. Or else, other people won't know what you want or don't want. That kind of life isn't good. I should know, I tried it once and it was horrible. Turned out, our classmates are more stupid than I first thought… So is our teacher. What's his name? Ne-something. Nezu-sensei?" And he continued ranting about their schoolmates and teachers. It did seem weird that Tsuna would suddenly say so much to someone he hasn't talked to before, let alone becoming close to. That's why Takeshi, despite being the carefree boy he was, was shocked. He stood gaping in front of Tsuna until the boy stopped talking. "Hm? What's wrong?" Tsuna asked, finally noticing the surprised Yamamoto in front of him.

"... You're different from what I heard. Those 'friends' of mine only ever say bad things about you. You're always either stupid, clumsy, or non-existent. I guess they don't know you as well as they think, huh? It's the same with me," Takeshi whispered that last part, but Tsuna could still hear it, loud and clear.

"Come with me." The smaller boy took his hand and pulled him towards some other direction.

"Wait. Where are you taking me?"

"To my friend's house. So we can have a long talk out of the public's eyes. I don't want to draw any more unneeded attention."

Later At Byakuran's House:

When they arrived at Byakuran's temporary home, they were met with the sight of four boys, in the living room, currently in a glaring contest, their hands on their weapons like they were about to use them. "Oh. I have great timing. Don't destroy the house again, you four. I don't even want to know what sets the four of you off all the time. I'd like you all to get along, but that might be impossible. At least don't fight where you can destroy things, if possible okay?" Tsuna led Takeshi right past them, into the kitchen. "I brought a friend I want to speak to in peace. We'll be in the kitchen, don't bother us... I'll make you guys a snack later." Of course, even though the others would listen to Tsuna, they're much too protective to not do anything at all without some kind of bribe.

"Yes, Tsuna-sama/Tsu-chan/Tsunayoshi-kun!"

"Hn."

In the Kitchen:

"So… I don't know who the other two were, but wasn't that Hibari and that transfer student? And what did you want to talk about?" Takeshi asked as he took a seat at the small table set in the left corner of the kitchen.

"First, yes that was Hibari, Kyoya and the transfer student, Gokudera, Hayato. The other two are Mukuro and Byakuran. Second, call your dad to tell him you're staying over for dinner. This will take a while so you might as well. You can use this phone. We'll talk once you're done telling him," Tsuna told him while handing an orange cell phone, that he got as a present from Byakuran, to him.

"Haha! Thanks." Takeshi took the offered phone and called his dad. He told his dad he would be home a little after dinner. His dad agreed rather easily with the promise that he'd be careful on his way home later. The older Yamamoto might have been happy that his son has a friend he wants to spend more time with. He might seem to have many friends but not one of them were 'real' to him so he never spent much time with any of them outside of school and baseball. After he gave the phone back, he asked, "So? What did you want to talk about?"

"Ne, Yamamoto. Why do you keep smiling when you don't want to?"

"... I guess… I guess I just wanted people to like me. I couldn't bring myself to smile for real after… after that incident..."

"Incident? The car accident where you're mom died? It wasn't your fault; don't blame yourself." Tsuna was as blunt as ever. He did care about Takeshi's feelings, but he believed this is what the taller boy needed: someone to talk to without having to hold back.

Takeshi's whole body shook and both his hands clenched his pants so tightly that they started turning white. "What do you know!?" he growled, "Of course it was my fault! If I didn't ask her to come with me - if she didn't protect me - she wouldn't have died! I was all my fault! All my fault!" He started crying and screaming. The noise drew the others' attention, but they knew Tsuna would deal with it so they continued what they were previously doing. Well. There is also that bribe of good food that Tsuna made but that's not the point!

"It wasn't your fault. If she didn't protect you, you're the one who would've died. As a parent, of course she wouldn't want that," Tsuna continued calmly even though he's actually not used to this type of outburst from other people.

"NO! It would've been better that I died! What's the use of living when I'm practically dead!? If I died, at least she would be alive and dad wouldn't have been so sad!"

SLAP!

"Don't ever say something like that again. Your mom saved you because she loved you. Even though she's gone now, her will lives on within you, don't throw that away. Of course both you and your dad would be sad that she's gone, but they would be sad too if you were the one who died that day. They both love you. They parents gave you this life, take good care of it. For you and for your parents." Tsuna was angry that someone, especially a kid at this age, would think this way. What's past is past, they can't change anything now so they might as well live on for the people dear to them. He, too, hadn't understood that until he found his new, beloved family. To someone who never felt the love they needed, it would be hard to understand, especially at such a young age. That was understandable.

Yamamoto started crying harder, until he could barely breath. Tsuna snapped out of his internal angry ranting to try to comfort him. The brunette hugged the other boy and just let him cry enough. He probably needed it. He also went to Yamamoto's mother's funeral because the woman was his mom's friend, which wasn't that surprising given Namimori's relatively small size. He noticed that Takeshi never cried at the funeral; only standing there, staring at the coffin even after it was buried.

After some time, Yamamoto finally stopped crying. He lifted his face from Tsuna's warm embrace and rubbed at his eyes. "-sniff- Th-Thanks, Tsuna. I feel much better… And… You're right. I shouldn't throw away my life like that. Mom wouldn't have wanted that. Dad also would be sad and angry at me for thinking that way," he said while smiling wryly.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you think that way," Tsuna smiled at the other boy. "I'll go get you a warm towel and tea."

"Thanks."

"I think you should tell your dad how you feel, your fake smiles must have worried him as well. I'm sure he'll understand. Also, stop with the fake smiles okay? We went over that all ready;; if you don't feel like it, don't smile. I get that it's become habit now, but you need to work on that from now on. Got it?"

"...I'll try. But seriously, thanks Tsuna. If you weren't here, I don't know what I would do." And Yamamoto, Takeshi finally smiled a genuine smile after a long time.

Later:

"It's time for dinner, you guys," Tsuna called out from the kitchen, "Takeshi is staying for dinner too. He helped me with the cooking so make sure to thank him before you eat."

"Yes~" It seems they still can't deny the cute brunette anything. Well it can't be helped, the Tuna has already lodged himself deep in their hearts. Not a single one of them - Takeshi now included - could defy him now.

Dinner was a lively event. It went by with a few arguments breaking out here and there, but it was relatively safe. They wouldn't want to ruin any of the food that THEIR Tsuna spent such effort to make for them. After dinner, Tsuna convinced Takeshi to go home, saying he didn't need to help clean up as the other boys could do it for him.

At the Yamamoto Residence:

Takeshi could be seen standing just in front of his house, wavering slightly. How should I talk to him? Oh, whatever. Here goes nothing. He opened the front door and shouted, "I'm back!"

"Welcome back, Takeshi! Which friend did you eat with today? Are you okay?" Yamamoto, Tsuyoshi walked down the stairs to greet his son and was suddenly hit with worry once he saw his son's red, puffy eyes, indicating he had cried rather hard recently.

"Uhh. A friend from school... Um… Well…"

"Hm?"

"Dad, I need to tell you something."

"... Alright. Let's go sit down first." Sensing how serious this conversation was going to be, Tsuyoshi brought his son into the dining room and they both took a seat. They talked for a long time, with Tsuyoshi just listening to Takeshi and the boy shedding some more tears. By the end of it, Tsuyoshi suddenly grabbed Takeshi hugged him tight. "You stupid boy. You should have said something. It was her choice, it wasn't your fault at all. I already lost your mother, I don't want to lose you either." Takeshi could feel some wetness in his shoulder, but didn't comment on it as tears welled up in his eyes again. He felt so much lighter now that he's told his father and heard his response. He's really thankful to Tsuna too. After all, this wouldn't have happened if the boy didn't talk to him.

Thanks, Tsuna. I owe you a bunch.

TBC

(A/N: AND~ That's all for now. What's up next? Hmm…. I'll see. Haha! Oh, but first, I gotta update my other stories. So you'll have to wait again~ MUHAHAHA!)