Cruel how honesty can be a good and bad thing simultaneously.

Chapter 2: The Unfavoured Favour

Words cannot describe how surprised Tsuna was the next day. He was still in perfect shape, except for his bruises yesterday. Tsuna sat down on his chair, looking warily at his classmates. When he had opened the door, the entire room became quiet and kept stealing glances at him. Tsuna wondered what had happened for them to all of a sudden act like this. Although they were treating him as if he wasn't there, it was better than getting beat up.

Sighing, Tsuna placed both of his hands on his desk and leant his head on it. The whispers of his classmates easily reached his ears, though not the verbatim. His curiosity was beginning to overwhelm him. He contemplated on whether or not to muster up his courage to ask someone. The probability of getting sneered at or ignored were high; nevertheless, it was all or nothing. He was about to stand up when Kyoko came in the room. She caught his eye and smiled, then walked over and greeted him.

"Good morning to you too, Kyoko-chan," said Tsuna.

"Uh, Tsuna-kun," Kyoko fidgeted, "is it true that you're having lunch with them again? I just heard from the others."

So that's what they were talking about. Tsuna groaned. "Yeah."

"T-then about..." Tsuna caught the message.

"Don't worry. I'm going to ask him later, okay?" He grinned, clenching his fist under his desk.

"Thanks a lot, Tsuna-kun." She smiled brightly.

-x-

Morning classes swiftly passed by. Tsuna noticed that Yamamoto and Gokudera weren't even in the class. Without the two, lunch would be doubly awkward after what happened yesterday. After all, it was only Yamamoto whom he was able to speak casually with, and that was with thorough effort. The thought of being in their presence still didn't enter Tsuna's mind, even with all the rumours flying about.

When the lunch bell rang and there was still no sign of the two, Tsuna's mind was screaming to escape lunch from the Vongola. However, it was Reborn who had told him to eat together again. Reborn sent shivers down his spine. His aura spoke of intimidation, which Tsuna was clearly affected by, and then there was Kyoko's request. He could never turn her down.

Deciding to just go ahead with it, Tsuna took two lunch boxes out of his bag. He brought the extra one to share with the others, as a way of saying thanks and as an apologetic offering. The ruckus yesterday had seemed mundane to the group; it was only he who had overreacted.

Tsuna made his way to the rooftop, aware of Kyoko's gaze following him. He swore. He accepted. He wanted her to be happy. That was love, right?

Tsuna sighed. There he was, standing in front of the door that once opened, he would have no idea on what could happen next. Gulping, he pushed the door open. The entire Vongola was complete, even Yamamoto and Gokudera. Tsuna spotted a gap between his two classmates, taking it as a sign of his seat.

Mukuro winked. "I'm happy to see you today, my little rabbit."

"Mukuro, you should stop teasing Tsuna." Yamamoto eyed him seriously.

"Well, if he wants to be stopped being called a rabbit then he should just introduce himself." Gokudera rolled his eyes.

Tsuna paled. Here he was a random second-year student having lunch with the school's most renowned teens, and he hadn't even bothered to introduce himself. "Y-yes. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, but most of the people call me Tsuna." Dame-Tsuna, he thought bitterly. "I-I'm from class 2-C. It's a p-pleasure to meet you!" He bowed at his last words.

Laughing, Yamamoto patted Tsuna's back. "No need to be so formal, Tsuna! My name's Yamamoto Takeshi. I'm in the baseball team and I'm also from class 2-C."

"I'm pretty sure he knows that, baseball-idiot." When Tsuna and Yamamoto kept staring at him, he surly added, "Gokudera Hayato."

"Rokudo Mukuro at your service."

"Reborn."

Tsuna glanced at Hibari, waiting for him to speak, which wasn't necessary, but was still somewhat a tradition. Yamamoto must have thought the same because he spoke out loud, "Hey, Hibari, it's your turn."

"The herbivore already knows my name."

"But everyone did it. You should too."

"Are you ordering me around?"

"You're just going to say your name."

Tsuna thought that Hibari was going to take out his tonfa and beat up Yamamoto. It did seem impossible for anyone to answer back to Hibari, unless they wanted to spend a few years in the hospital. Contrary to his anticipation, Hibari simply said, "Hibari Kyouya."

"See?" Yamamoto grinned widely. "It wasn't so hard, right?"

"I'm going to bite you to death."

Yamamoto laughed off the venomous threat as if it was nothing. Tsuna glanced in panic at the other members, only to be met with the normal practice of eating their lunch. Why am I still surprised? Tsuna unknotted the blue cloths that encased his lunch boxes and opened it.

He could see the others' eyes looking at his lunch. Tsuna smiled; his mother's cooking was one of the finest in the entire town. The heavenly aroma of her finished products could make people literally drool.

"Uh, you guys can go ahead and get some since I'm i-intruding and all," said Tsuna.

"Wow, Tsuna. You didn't have to," said Yamamoto. "I invited you – well, it was Reborn who invited you the second time, but you're not intruding." He said while getting a piece of the meat. Yamamoto slowly chewed it first, and when he swallowed it, his nose scrunched up in an emotion Tsuna could not perceive. Tsuna was about to ask the taste when Yamamoto suddenly grinned widely. "This is so delicious! Who made this, Tsuna?"

Tsuna answered with pride, "My mother."

Mukuro also grabbed a piece of meat, curious of the taste. As if imitating Yamamoto's actions, he chewed the food slowly. Despite being afraid of Mukuro, courtesy of his previous actions, Tsuna watched, wanting to see his reaction. "Delightful, but I'd rather have your cooking, little rabbit."

Tsuna was indeed very grateful for the fact that he sat between Gokudera and Yamamoto. In an attempt to cut off Mukuro, Tsuna asked, "B-by the way, Yamamoto. Why were you and Gokudera-kun not in class earlier? I thought you were both absent."

It was Gokudera who answered, "That idiot didn't do his literature assignment. We spent all morning finishing it." He ended with a glare towards Yamamoto.

"Wow, that's really nice, Gokudera-kun. You and Yamamoto must be really close, huh?" Tsuna smiled. I never had friends like those.

"Who would want to be close with that idiot?"

Surprised by the response, Tsuna created some distance between him and the teen. "E-eh? T-then why did you do that? It must be because you're close, right?"

Gokudera turned his head sideways. Tsuna couldn't see his expression. "Because I get to have free sushi. That's it, okay?"

"Hayato is really nice. He's helped me a bunch of –"

Gokudera punched Yamamoto in the arm. Tsuna was surprised at the sudden attack, not to mention the fact that he was at their centre and Gokudera's hand came whizzing in front of him. "Shut up, idiot."

Deciding to stop prying, Tsuna candidly continued eating. He noticed Hibari and Reborn were silently eating while Mukuro was texting on his phone, a smirk or two here and there. His eyes came back to Hibari. Lunch was about to end; he needed a time to talk with him. Cold, grey eyes unexpectedly met his, making Tsuna almost drop his chopsticks in astonishment. Quickly, he gawked at his food as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

The loud noise of the bell erupted in the air, and the two beside Tsuna stopped arguing. Tsuna took it that this usually happened; even with their constant arguments, they seemed close despite Gokudera's denial. Everyone fixed up their lunch boxes, save for Hibari who was busy staring at the other four. Must be making sure everything's clean, though Tsuna. Without another word, the Vongola members headed down the staircase.

Once at the door, Yamamoto shouted, "Hey, Tsuna. Let's go already!"

Right, they were in the same class. Tsuna panicked. He needed to speak first with Hibari. "G-go ahead! I'm fine." Yamamoto looked at him with a questioning gaze, but simply nodded and disappeared. It was only him and Hibari on the roof now. Tsuna gulped, trying to muster up his courage. It wasn't for himself that he was going to talk, but he was still afraid of this man.

"You'll be late for class, herbivore."

Tsuna snapped out of his reverie. If he was late, he'd get bitten to death. It was now or never. He didn't think that he'd be able to speak with Hibari again next time. "H-Hibari-senpai." Tsuna felt his grey eyes bore on him. "Is it okay to meet up with you tomorrow after school?" Please say yes. Please say yes, Tsuna kept repeating his inner mantra. Hibari raised an eyebrow. To Tsuna, it felt like hours until he nodded.

Finally free, Tsuna felt as if a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. Standing up, Tsuna smiled brightly at Hibari. "Thank you, Hibari-senpai. See you tomorrow!" Tsuna ran back to his classroom, feeling giddy. He had done Kyoko a huge favour. She would be ecstatic once she knew of tomorrow – it was her chance to date the prefect.

Oh.

Tsuna stopped running; his heart swiftly sinking. His only friend and crush might be taken away from him. Should he have done this, he had begun to question his earlier actions. His thoughts made him slap himself. If Kyoko was happy, then he's happy, that was what he believed. Right now, he should support her just as she had supported him.