Title: Tempest

Rating: T

Genre(s): Friendship/Angst/Tragedy/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: (Very, very light x-over with xxxHOLiC. Warnings/Pairings inside. Post-manga.) For Gokudera Hayato, this is the easiest decision he has ever made. Without any hesitation, he accepts the consequences, all for a chance to change something and everything; and also for a chance to apologize, apologize for what he hadn't done.

Warnings: Swearing, homo/heterosexuality, violence, character death, time travel, angst, spoilers, the works. Un-beta-ed.

Pairings: 8059, All59 friendship, 2795, 1869, XS; more to come.

~oOo~

He awakens with a start, green eyes flying open as if he had been forcibly removed from his sleep—and perhaps he was.

He's staring up at the ceiling, in the same position he'd been in when he passed out. But the ceiling looks different. Blinking rapidly, he straightens up and winces when his neck protests.

No. The ceiling looks…

Familiar.

He laughs, and laughs, and laughs.

I'm home.

~oOo~

Once he recollects himself, Gokudera glances at the calendar he knows he used to hang in his apartment. He stands up and heads towards said calendar, checking the date and blinks when he realizes he's been sent back in time. Fifteen years, to be exact.

Pulling himself to his feet, he totters towards his desk, wincing and rubbing at his new injuries. He spots a vaguely familiar letter on the table and curious, he opens it and reads it after lighting a cigarette.

If you manage to kill Tsunayoshi Sawada, you may become the next boss of the Vongola.

Oh yeah. This letter.

He laughs and pulls out a new sheet of paper and a pen before writing out his sudden nullification of the request.

Due to certain circumstances, I am unable to assassinate the Tenth. Can I just be his right hand man instead?

He doesn't sign his name. Practically nobody signs it in the underworld—names have power.

Gokudera is about to reach for Uri so she can deliver it to Reborn, but then he remembers that Uri hasn't even been invented yet in this timeline. He misses her, but he would kill himself before admitting that.

Well, that's another thing on my list right now…

He digs around for an empty envelope and after a couple minutes of looking through his old drawers, he finds one and folds the note before shoving it inside.

Pondering for a few minutes, he then takes out another few sheets of paper, a ruler, and a pencil before sketching out the blueprint for the creation of a box weapon. This, he decides, is will be delivered to Verde.

After finishing it, he folds the papers several times before writing, Do me a favor and deliver this to Verde as well. It is of utmost importance that this doesn't fall into enemy hands.

Then he slides it into the envelope and seals said envelope before setting it aside.

As he brushes papers aside, setting them neatly on his desk, he sees another letter. Frowning, he opens and reads the first lines.

Gokudera Hayato-san

You have been accepted at Namimori Middle…

When he spots the date that he is to start, his gaze darts back to the calendar.

School starts tomorrow?!

~oOo~

"I noticed you referred to Tsuna as 'Tenth'."

Gokudera smiles fleetingly over the steaming tea. Tsuna's mother is certainly good at making tea. "Of course. Is he not the Tenth? You never intended to let me win anyway. I don't have the Sky Flames he has, nor do I have his kindness."

He and Reborn are in Tsuna's room right now, while Tsuna is at school. Gokudera estimates they have about two more hours.

Reborn raises an eyebrow ever so slightly but Gokudera catches it simply because of years of being with the Arcobaleno. "And is that the only reason why you wish to simply become one of his underlings?"

"It isn't," Gokudera agrees. "There rarely is only one reason for anything, really. But it is one of my major reasons."

"That is true," Reborn concedes. "I won't pry for now. But these notes you wished to deliver to Verde?"

"They may protect the Tenth's life, but should they ever be used by the wrong people, they can and will kill him." He takes another sip of the tea. It isn't poisoned. Reborn has no reason to poison him when shooting him is easier.

Reborn studies him carefully with obsidian eyes and Gokudera feels a chill settle over him. The Arcobaleno is the more dangerous predator here, and Gokudera will wholeheartedly embrace that fact.

"Very well," Reborn says finally. "I will deliver them to Verde under one condition."

"Yes?"

"Where did you get those scars? I fail to recall them from my description of you, and the bandages don't hide everything."

"Reborn-san," Gokudera says, setting his tea down carefully with a clink. "What I say in this room never leaves this room."

Reborn considers for a moment. "Unless it is detrimental to the health of the Vongola, then I can keep a secret."

Gokudera closes his eyes and composes himself, finding a good way to explain this.

"Reborn-san… I… I…" He takes a shuddering breath. "Let's see… Have you heard of the Ten Year Bazooka, and do you know what it does?"

Reborn nods. "Yes."

He takes a deep breath, forces himself to calm down, and tells his entire story to Reborn, the Arcobaleno listening expressionlessly.

~oOo~

I hate fangirls.

As soon as Gokudera steps past the gate, people turn to stare. Haven't they learned that staring is rude?

Yawning loudly, he enters the classroom.

As soon as he hears the fangirls he resists the urge to just shoot them all and ditch, but then he spots Yamamoto and Tsuna, and he feels like he's just been punched by Lawn Head in the gut repetitively.

He sees Tsuna looking at him and looking rather dejected but also kind of angry. For a moment he feels like a kicked puppy, and then sees Kyoko, and decides that the reason for his annoyance was that apparently Kyoko likes him in the romantic sense.

"We have a new transfer student who was studying overseas in Italy. Gokudera Hayato."

He bows slightly. "It's nice to meet you. Please take care of me." [1]

Gokudera passes by Tsuna's desk and waves slightly with a small smile. Clearly Tsuna's confused by his behavior but makes no comment about it.

He takes a seat and prepares for class to end.

~oOo~

"You know, Tenth, you might be better fit to be the boss of the Vongola if you were a bit braver," Gokudera points out, taking a drag just as Tsuna exits the school.

Tsuna shrieks a little in shock. "Y-you-you-you're the transfer student!"

"Does that automatically make me a bad guy?" He exhales the smoke calmly, eyes closed. "Albeit, Reborn did originally hire me to assassinate you. Don't want to though."

The to-be boss of the Vongola squeaks shrilly again. "How do you know about that?! And what do you mean, assassinate! Reborn's supposed to help me!"

"I'm part of the mafia, Tenth," Gokudera explains patiently, completely used to his boss's (or rather, future boss here) shock and panicking. He's just a little surprised at how warm his heart feels, and how much it hurts seeing him alive again. "And technically he was trying to help you. Originally you were supposed to subjugate me and make me your underling. Which I already am, by the way."

"Why am I supposed to be the boss? I'm useless!" Tsuna moans.

Within a moment, Gokudera has Tsuna pinned against the wall. "Repeat that again and I will slug you across the face, Tenth. I hit hard, by the way. You aren't useless."

Tsuna blinks rapidly as Gokudera releases his wrists. Just as Gokudera realizes what he'd done, he bows at a ninety degree angle. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" he squeaks, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Eh? No, it's alright, you didn't hurt me!" Tsuna exclaims, waving his hands wildly. "See, I'm fine."

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes!" Tsuna answers, smiling awkwardly. It is certainly a beautiful sight to see and it nearly takes Gokudera's breath away because he hasn't seen that smile in so long and that Lawn-Head-punched-me-in-the-gut feeling comes back. "Um, actually, thanks, Gokudera-san—"

"There's no need to be so formal with me, Tenth!" Gokudera interrupts hastily. "I mean, just 'Gokudera' works but 'Gokudera-kun' is fine as well… well, I guess 'Hayato' works too…"

"Um Gokudera-kun then," Tsuna says, sounding unsure. "But thanks… Nobody's actually said that to me except my mom… but then again, she isn't the most normal of people." And then as if realizing what he said might've sounded rude, Tsuna adds quickly, "I don't mean that you're not normal or anything—"

"Tenth," Gokudera says with a shaky laugh, "I'm far from normal. Do normal people join up with the mafia?" He feels his eyes starting to water and he lets his bangs hang over his face to hide it.

Seeming to notice something's wrong, Tsuna looks at him worriedly. "Um, Gokudera-san—kun—are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." His voice is a little hoarse but it's barely noticeable, but Tsuna is perceptive, even at this stage of his life. Tsuna doesn't pry at all, merely watching him before turning away, and Gokudera is grateful for that.

They go back to class together, despite the strange looks that are given to them.

~oOo~

"Um, I'll see you tomorrow, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna says, smiling his trademark awkward smile.

"We can walk to school together," Gokudera offers, returning the smile with a small one of his own. "Your house is on the way to school from mine, so it won't be too much of a hassle."

Tsuna brightens a little, and Gokudera realizes that technically, he's Tsuna's first friend. "A-alright, if it isn't too much trouble. If you want, you can have breakfast at my place as well…"

Gokudera nods slightly. "That sounds great! And if you need any help on the homework, feel free to ask any time, alright?"

"Thanks. See you tomorrow then!"

Tsuna disappears into his house, and Gokudera heads home as well.

His heart feels light but heavy at the same time. That really shouldn't be possible, but hey, he's a twenty-nine year old man in the incredibly scarred body of a fourteen year old. Who's he to say things are impossible?

As he flops back on his bed and stubs out his cigarette on an ashtray, he gazes at the ceiling. Yamamoto is the next person on his list to befriend. He's torn between smiling and sobbing at the thought of the idiot.

Eventually, he falls asleep.

That night, he dreams of a bird, a dog, and a cat. [2]

~oOo~

"The Sky fell, the Rain drowned, the Cloud was bitten to death, the Mist committed suicide, the Lightning was buried alive, the Sun was suffocated, and the Storm grinds to a stop."

~oOo~

[1] I'm not too clear on the subject, but I'm pretty sure that this phrase is used when Japanese people meet each other.

[2] I'm quite sure that this is pretty obvious about who this is alluding to. :

A/N: Holy shit I updated

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :3 Some 2759 friendship-y fluff for you all. Please leave a review telling me what you think about the chapter along with any grammatical mistakes I may have made. Thanks~