Chapter 3: I Swear I Won't Leave
Pre-Author's Note: Shout out to the anonymous reviewer who got me to get off my ass and pick this story back up again, you're the real MVP~ ALso please excuse any mistakes!
Dino took a deep breath, shifting restlessly in the driver's seat of his car and peering at his surroundings through the window for the third time. Outside the car, Reborn and Romario were speaking to a man with a clipboard, he was consistently nodding and writing things down. Dino pouted slightly and blew the horn, earning an irritated glare from Reborn. Dino responded with a broad grin, rolling down the window as Reborn walked over and leaned into the driver's side.
"Ready for this kid?" he asked.
"I was ready thirty minutes ago, but you insisted on chit-chatting with Mr. Mustache over there," Dino said, jerking his head in the direction of the man with clipboard.
"Just start the engine," Reborn said exasperatedly. " And wait until I get into the car before you drive off Dino."
"Sure, sure," Dino said and turned the key in the ignition. A wave of calm satisfaction filled Dino at the sound of the engine roaring to life, the resulting purr of the car sending goosebumps all over his skin. Reborn slipped into the seat beside him, securing his seatbelt and nodding at Dino to go. Dino smirked and threw the car into reverse, backing out of the company's garage and into the street.
" Dino, do not, go unnecessarily fast," Reborn said sternly. " This is just a test drive, be careful."
" I can drive Reborn, I'm not a child," Dino huffed.
"Could've fooled-that was a stop sign! Dino!"
"I'm sorry! It was an accident, you distracted me!" Dino exclaimed.
"Just focus on the road you no good-," Reborn trailed off at the sound of Dino's ringtone, the happy, upbeat tone signaling a phone call.
"Do not touch that phone!" Reborn snapped and snatched it out of reach. Reborn looked at the screen and raised an eyebrow and swiped the green phone logo to the left. " Tsuna?"
At the sound of the young man's name, Dino's flipped. His hands instinctively gripped the wheel tighter, as if attempting better control over the wheel could help him focus more on the road and not Reborn's conversation.
"Yes, Dino is with me right now, but he's a bit preoccupied," Reborn answered. "Why?"
Dino felt slightly nervous at Reborn's silence, the faint sound of Tsuna's panic escaping from the phone. What did Dino have to be nervous about? He was friend's with the kid, so not seeing for a little over a week shouldn't be too shocking. True, Tsuna did have severe social anxiety and it was probably not the brightest idea to suddenly not see or speak to him without providing some sort of warning. But Reborn saw him everyday, so surely the man would be able to tell Tsuna he was just busy right?
"Tsunayoshi," Reborn said sharply. "Dino is busy. Please keep calm. I can assure you that Dino is not angry at you or your engagement or your shoes from a week ago. Please be reasonable."
Dino bit the inside of cheek to keep from laughing; Dino could hardly remember what shoes he wore two days ago, let alone what Tsuna was wearing a week ago. Dino gently pressed on the breaks at he came to a yellow light, pressing down a bit harder when the car didn't begin to slow down enough. He saw Reborn drop the phone from his ear and sigh as the car rolled to a stop, sitting in line behind other at the red light.
"Cavallone."
"Hm?"
"Explain yourself, you've got until the end of this light,"Reborn said.
"Explain what?" Dino said slowly.
"You know exactly what. And don't give me that bull about being to busy to see the kid," Reborn snapped. "You were busy those two days over a week ago when you made a point to go see him and suddenly, you haven't mentioned a word of him since the day he was supposed to pitch his idea."
Dino stayed silent, pressing the gas as the light turned green and desperately trying to think of something to say.
"Honestly, I don't get what you're saying Reborn," Dino said laughing lightly.
Dino felt his body prickle with discomfort as he felt Reborn's eyes shooting bullets into him. Dino desperately tried to focus on the road, mentally trying to measure the two car lengths as if he cared how close he was to the other vehicle. Reborn's silence filled the air with a pressure that made his ears feel like they were going to pop and honestly, he would've preferred riding thousands of feet in a plane that this any day.
"I'm going to say this once and only once," Reborn said darkly. "Tsuna is my student. Not your playmate or toy. Anything you do or say could seem off or strange to him and sent him into a panic attack. You know what that means? If I finally get him to decide to take a step forward, your screwing around might change his mind and he'll take ten leaps back."
"Reborn," Dino said lightly. "It's fine! Cavallone's honor. I promise I'm not trying to throw off Tsuna's tutoring, it's just that I realized I need to focus a bit on work is all."
Reborn stared at Dino in an attempt to read him and pulled his hat down over his eyes in shock when he realized that for the first time, he couldn't Reborn mentally swore; first Tsuna, now Dino. What the hell was going on with those two? It wasn't like anything he had encountered before.
" Turn left Dino," Reborn said. "We're heading back to the company."
"What? Why? We barely got to go over fifty!"
"Just turn you idiot! DINO! Switch lanes first, you can't just turn out in front of people!"
"…S-sorry."
Tsuna stared at the phone in his hands, contemplating whether or not he should call again. He'd been doing this all week really, but only today had he finally gotten the guts to call an hour ago, just to have Reborn answer. Tsuna hadn't been afraid to admit that he missed Dino's company, and he'd even told Reborn so. The older man had just shushed him and told him that Dino was really busy with preparing for Accelarando's debut and that he really couldn't be bothered. After that, Tsuna hadn't been able to detach his phone from his hands, nerves brittle and fragile from waiting for any sign of life from Dino on the other end.
He was a bother? Dino had never acted like he was bother. But then again, no one ever did. Tsuna could read them, he could read them well, so he was sure. But Dino had seemed so genuine, so caring…like a patient older brother. Calm Tsuna, calm, he thought to himself, trying to still his trembling hands. Reborn said Dino was busy, so he's just busy. That's all. Even with that reassurance, Tsuna could feel his breath quickening. Tsuna's heart fluttered in his chest and he clutched his shirt in panic, breathing faster and heavier and growing more panicked at the feeling of tears stinging his eyes. Gokudera, he thought frantically and tried to unlock his phone, fingers trembling too much to accurately press the keys.
The phone fell out of his hands and clattered to the floor, freeing up the other hand to tightly fist his hair, as if that could help him breathe any easier. Tears streamed down his face, blurring his vision so that he couldn't see the name that lit up his phone as it starting ringing. Tsuna's head spun, vaguely registering the ringtone as Kyoko's. Or maybe it was Ryouhei's, for those two, he used the same one. Didn't he?
The ringtone grew fainter and fainter, his surrounding beginning to close in on him as he curled over into fetal position, desperately trying to catch his breath. At some point he could hear more sounds. Footsteps. A name, a familiar one. Gokudera. Gokudera, over and over again in a high pitched, shaky, raspy voice. Just as he felt a pair hands touch him, Tsuna blacked out, suddenly coming to the realization the voice had been his.
When Dino had agreed to go see Tsuna -after merciless guilt-tripping from Reborn- he hadn't expected to see the kid hyperventilating, nearly collapsing onto the glass coffee table in front of him. Dino could only stare in shock at the kid, his breath picking up pace in desperate ragged gasps as if he suddenly had been thrust in a devoid of breathable air. Tsuna's face was getting paler and paler and Dino swore he saw the trickle of a tear. The blonde man stood there in a trance, unsure of what to do or how to react, but suddenly snapping out his reverie when he heard Reborn yelling at him to get Gokudera.
"Wha-who is that?!"
"Silver hair, smoker, hot-headed," Reborn said curtly. " Can't miss him, now go!"
A chill ran down his spine from Reborn's urgent -dare he say panicked- tone before he turned out the room and ran down the hall. Dino could exactly pinpoint why he was running, it's not like he knew where to go or who exactly he was looking for. The thought that he couldn't even be as useful as to find someone who could help made Dino nauseous, as he really were deserving of the nickname Reborn relentlessly called him. Dino turned a corner and nearly cried out with relief at the sight of that girl, Tsuna's fiance. What was her name?
"Hey! Hey!" Dino called out to her and she turned, giving him a small smile before taking note of Dino's demeanor and quickly asking what was wrong.
"Tsuna...panic-" Dino held up a hand as he tried to catch his breath, digging a hand into his pocket as his ringtone set off and held to his ear. " Yeah?"
"Come back, it's fine, Gokudera managed to make his way over here," Reborn said and Dino visibly relaxed at the smooth, nonchalant tone that Reborn had resumed.
"Ah, okay, I'll come back then," Dino said glancing at Kyoko. The girl was staring at him with wide eyes, fear evident on her face, but patient for whatever news he could give her. "Tsuna's alright. Um... sorry about the panic."
Kyoko sighed in relief and smiled. "Trust me, if it's regarding Tsuna, there's no need to apologize for panic."
Dino nodded and grunted in agreement, turning around and heading back the way he came. He could hear her footsteps behind, a soft padding compared to the click of his dress shoes. Awkwardly, Dino crammed his hands into his pockets.
Typically, Dino was never one to not be friendly. He was the main one to enter a room, hooting and hollering at the top of his lungs, greeting every living creature in the area; that is, until Reborn would shut him down with a well-placed slap to the back of his head.
So it was utterly baffling to Dino as to why he was overwhelmed with a certain distaste for even beginning to socialize with Kyoko. He could hear her soft breathing behind him and as he quickened his pace, he restrained the desire to turn his head and look at her, slightly apprehensive of the thought that she may be looking at him too.
Dino shortly turned into the doorway leading to the sitting room Tsuna had been in, sighing with relief as he saw Tsuna, breathing normally into a paper bag with his eyes closed. Gokudera was next to him, massaging his shoulder and chanting, "Breathe Tenth, there you go. In and out, in and out". As Dino began to step forward, Gokudera glared at him, prepared to snap something out and only being stopped by Kyoko, who quickly said, "Gokudera-kun, Dino-san came to find me once Tsuna had collapsed. Please don't think too harshly of him."
"Not to mention, we wouldn't want Tsuna to be thrown into another panic because you can't control your temper, right Gokudera?" Reborn said curtly. The silver-haired boy bit his lip and returned to soothing Tsuna. Dino grinned at Reborn and mouthed thank you before making his way to Tsuna, who had now removed the bag from his mouth and was breathing normally all on his own. Tsuna opened his eyes once Dino knelt in front of him, embarrassment and fear swimming in the caramel colored lenses and Dino wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug him and tell him that he didn't need to worry.
"Gokudera," Reborn said from behind him. "Kyoko, how about we give these two a minute alone."
From Gokudera's body language, could tell that he was entirely opposed to the idea, the boy's body stiffening up and, from what Dino could imagine, his jaw tightened and lips pressing together in a firm, defiant line. Kyoko quietly adhered to Reborn's suggestion and it took sterner prompting from Reborn before Gokudera shot to his feet. Dino looked up at him, eyebrow raised as he watched Gokudera look at Tsuna with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Tenth, if you need anything-"
"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said gently, smiling softly. "I'm fine, really. Dino-san's here now. You don't need to worry okay?"
Gokudera bit his lip, hesitating for a moment before retreating from the room, Reborn following behind him and closing the door shut. Dino released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and sat down cross-legged on the floor.
"God, I feel like every time I'm in the room that kid is testing me or something," Dino complained.
"Gokudera-kun is just really protective of me is all," Tsuna smiled.
Dino watched him for a moment before saying softly, "Tsuna, how have you been? I know I've been busy with work, so I haven't been around to ask."
Tsuna laughed softly, averting his gaze from Dino's. "I think you can see for yourself, right?"
Dino leaned forward, resting his hands on Tsuna's knees and resisting the urge to reach for Tsuna's hands that folded in his lap. "Tsuna."
When the boy didn't return his gaze, Dino tried again, softer this time. "Tsuna, look at me?"
Slowly, the brunette turned to meet Dino's eyes again, eyes watery with tears and swimming with fear. Already his nose was turning red and he sniffled, breathing through his mouth since breathing through his nose was becoming more difficult. "D-dino..," he whimpered softly, bowing his head.
The blonde man widened his eyes, moving easily from the floor to the seat beside Tsuna where Gokudera had been moments ago. Shocked at the sudden shift in emotion (but to be honest, Dino suspected there had been no real shift at all), Dino subconsciously began to stroke Tsuna's hair in a weak attempt to soothe him.
"Tsuna," he murmured gently. "Hey don't cry buddy. Whatever you're thinking, I promise it's nothing you need to worry about okay?"
"I'm so sorry," Tsuna choked out, tears rolling down his face. "Y-you told me you were working an-and I knew that, but I couldn't help it, a-and I just.."
"Hey, hey," Dino said softly, catching Tsuna's face in his hands and turning him to look at him. The boy's cheek felt a hot as they looked, rosy from crying and Dino brushed a thumb over his cheeks in an effort to get rid of the tears. "It's okay. Sometimes, you can't help it. That's okay. Everyone gets worried, and you just get worried more than most people, and that's okay Tsuna."
"It is?" he said weakly.
"Of course it is," Dino smiled. "Reborn is constantly on my ass everyday because he's worried about me, about the company. I think that's pretty great, worrying."
Tsuna smiled a bit, looked down bashfully before saying, "Yeah, I-I guess it is."
"And just because you get a bit more worried, or a bit more scared than everyone else doesn't mean something's wrong with you," Dino said. "I'll gladly say it every single day if you need me to; Everything is okay Tsuna. I'm not going to leave you."
"You swear?" Tsuna said doubtfully.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Dino said raising his right-hand, smiling broadly.
"Even if I make you say it every day?" Tsuna said, subtly leaning into Dino's hand that was still on his cheek.
"Even if you make me say it every waking hour," Dino replied teasingly. Relief washed over him as Tsuna laughed, a genuine laugh like the one on the first night he met him.
Dino smiled affectionately at him, grateful that Tsuna had calmed down, even if this might repeat tomorrow, or the day after that. Oddly, Dino found himself thinking that he truly wouldn't mind if he had to do this everyday; seeing Tsuna genuinely smile and look comfortable as opposed to that meek, apprehensive, reserved look he always had was preferable to him, even if it mandated constant reassurance that yes, Dino still did want to be around him and no, Din wasn't tired of him yet.
And while thinking all of that, oddly, Dino couldn't help himself in planting small kiss on Tsuna's cheek.
Author's Note: Sorry for the umpteenth time for taking literally half a year to get this out :/ I really suck at this. I kind of have a new method for getting stories out on time, and it seems to be working for when I post on other sites, so hopefully it works when I start posting here again too!
Again, so sorry for the wait, D27 is underappreciated and underrepresented and I need to step my game up with this fanfic (also, this is painfully short, so sorry again)
Also, shout out to the anonymous reviewer/commenter who motivated me to get off my butt and get moving on this story again, you're great :)