You're as clear as mud.

Seven

Orithyea

Chapter 4: The First Day

It felt like hours had passed when Tsuna managed to close his mouth. His mind was numb with confusion; the current scene before him still had not entered his mind fully. Slowly, he dragged his feet towards the prefect who was still eating the bacon. When he was close enough to touch him, he lifted his arm and poked Hibari. No reaction. He poked again. Still nothing. Once more, he repeated his action.

"What are you doing?"

Tsuna took a few steps backwards. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Tsu-kun, that's a really rude question to ask." Nana scolded. "Sit down and eat breakfast. Otherwise, it will only get cold."

Tsuna could only nod and sit on a chair, stealing wary glances at Hibari. He had already finished his share of food, currently gulping down his orange juice. Once done, his steel-grey eyes landed on Tsuna's caramel ones. The brunet flushed under his gaze and hurriedly ate the remains on his plate. Feeling conscious, Tsuna could not help but feel bothered by his presence. Why is he here? Tsuna bit the last of his pancake and immediately stood up.

"I'm going now, Mom." He hurriedly grabbed his bag from the table near the door, not even bothering to listen to his mother's words of protest. From his peripheral vision, he could see the Vongola member follow. This motivated him to fasten his walking pace, but he still feared his neighbour's dreaded chihuahua. Tsuna froze in his tracks as the small brown dog growled at him. He looked at his back and saw Hibari walking towards him. Now, it was a deadly question for him.

Hibari or the dog?

Tsuna wanted to literally slap himself at the moment. Did he seriously put a dog and Hibari in one sentence? He shook his head and ran as fast as possible, away from the prefect, ignoring the loud barks of the diminutive canine. He had already passed numerous buildings, but he forced his short legs to carry him at a greater distance from the bloodthirsty teen. He brushed off the annoyed looks of the people whom he bumped into and pursued to escape.

Finally stopping, Tsuna dared to look back once more. There was no sign of Hibari. He released a sigh of relief and leant against the wall of a building, attempting to catch his breath. The whole scenario made him lose thought of school. He shrieked as he glanced at his watch. Now, he was sure he would get bitten to death. Tardiness was certainly not a thing that was tolerated by the prefect. Even if he did manage to escape from him earlier, there was no escaping later at school.

Tsuna glared at the tiny clock on his wrist. Maybe if he concentrated enough, the time would move backward. This time, Tsuna slapped himself. What was up with his mind today? It had got to be Hibari's fault. Badgering in his home unwelcome, without even the slightest bit of warning. What was he doing in his home, anyway? As if he had the right to come in. Tsuna now felt extremely annoyed, and he felt brave enough to tell the prefect off.

A hand landed on his shoulder. Because of his annoyance, he was pissed off at this gesture. He barked at the owner, "What do you want?" Leaving his mouth open, his eyes turned wide. "H-H-Hibari-senpai." When did he manage to catch up? Tsuna was sure he lost him. He had ran for quite some time now. He had turned from various left and right turns just to avoid him, and even blended in the crowd which he was sure that Hibari would not be able to do because of his loathe of crowds.

Tsuna was definitely convinced that the prefect would bite him to death. Closing his eyes, he mentally prepared himself for the pain that would come. He was rather surprised when he was proven wrong. Opening one eye, Tsuna was bewildered when he saw Hibari just standing still, an eyebrow raised.

"We are going to be late, Tsunayoshi," said Hibari with no tint of any threat in his words.

Did he just call me by my name, and in a non-threatening way? Tsuna wondered if his heart could take any more shock for this day. Inhaling deeply, he asked, "W-why did you c-call me Tsunayoshi?"

"That is your name, isn't it?" said Hibari, a-matter-of-fact.

Right. Smooth, Tsuna. "W-why did you go to my house?"

The prefect looked at him for a moment and said, "Look, we are going to be late. I do not tolerate such things."

Tsuna's blood turned cold; he managed a meek nod and started walking in the direction of Namimori High. Hibari walked beside him while the brunet's body begun to shake from the teen's intimidating aura. His palms sweated madly and he had to wipe it inconspicuously on his pants. He almost shrieked out loud when he felt a jacket placed on his shoulders. Tsuna looked at Hibari in awkward surprise. "E-eh?"

"You are shaking. You must be cold," he merely stated.

"But I'm not—" Hibari's glare made him shut his mouth. They continued to idly walk when Tsuna had this urge to interrogate him. He repeated his question earlier, "W-why did you go to my house?"

"To pick you up, of course."

"Why d-did you pick me up?"

"To go to school together."

"Why would we go to school together?"

"Because we are dating."

"Oh, I—what?" screamed Tsuna. "What do you mean we're dating?"

Hibari looked at him. "It means what it is." Tsuna was about to retort when he started talking again. "You are excused today for your tardiness, but it will not happen again. Understood?" The brunet only nodded, his courage to ask again left him. "Now go to your classroom. I will pick you up for lunch." With those words, Hibari left the confused teen at the gate.

What just happened?

-x-

Tsuna sat in a daze, the early morning events swirling in his mind. While he was on his way to his destination, he wondered endlessly on why Hibari thought they were dating. Not once had he stated or implied that he would want to go out with him. First of all, he was straight; second, he liked Kyoko; and third, he found absolutely nothing appealing about the prefect. Heck, he was scared of him. Tsuna recalled any possible time that would have made the prefect think the brunet wanted to date him.

"Is it okay to meet up with you tomorrow after school?"

"Shit!" Tsuna stood up, slamming both hands loudly on his desk, chair thrown with slight distance from the teen's sudden movement. Tsuna's outburst caught the room's entire undivided attention. Tons of curious pairs of eyes stared at him. If by chance what he thought was true, he wouldn't know how to face Kyoko.

"Is there anything wrong, Sawada?" asked the teacher, rather perturbed at the sudden disturbance. Tsuna shook his head from pure embarrassment. He picked up his chair from the ground and covered his face, which had turned red from his actions. The teacher shrugged and continued the lesson.

For the first time in his sixteen years of existence, he actually wanted to speak with Hibari, the man whom everyone feared. If what he had earlier thought out was confirmed, he'd most probably want to jump off the roof. He should clear the misunderstanding as soon as possible. Spending time with the prefect was not really on his most wanted list, not to mention the fact that he's the person whom Kyoko's interested in.

-x-

After two periods of class, it was finally lunch time. Tsuna kept fidgeting on his seat for two reasons. First, Hibari said he would pick him up. The idea of having lunch with the Vongola member actually made him want to go home and cover himself with a blanket. Second, his bullies. The realisation that the bullying had stopped came unto him just a few moments ago. It had stopped when Yamamoto first invited him to eat with them, though the occasional teasing during class was still there.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

The voice made Tsuna freeze. At last, he was here. Hibari was leaning underneath the arc of the doorway, immediately attracting the attention of everyone in the room. Whispers filled the room and people kept glancing back and forth from Tsuna and Hibari.

Nervously, his eyes hunted for both Yamamoto and Gokudera. Dismay filled him when he saw them continuing their mundane routine. Yamamoto was laughing with a group of their female classmates surrounding him, while Gokudera was snarling at another group of girls, who also encircled him.

Tsuna willed his hands and feet to act. Slowly, he picked up his lunch box and persuaded his legs to carry themselves to the prefect. Tsuna offered a small smile and Hibari only responded with a nod. Hibari turned around and started walking, and the brunet simply went along with him.

Tsuna was sure they were going to eat at the roof again, but was met with surprise once Hibari stopped in front of the Disciplinary Committee's room, which was actually the much comfortable Reception Room of the school. How Hibari managed to use it for his organisation, Tsuna rather not know.

Opening the door, Hibari sidestepped, allowing Tsuna to go inside first. Surprised at this nice gesture, Tsuna slightly felt awkward. He entered the room and allowed his eyes to roam about. The area was quite simple. A window with red curtains was at the opposite side, a green drawer was at the left corner and beside it, a tall brown shelf, a table with stacks of paper lay in front of the said shelf, and a yellow couch at its front, though quite a distance from the table.

What caught Tsuna's eye was a medium-sized painting at the other end of the room. Tsuna went nearer for a clearer look, and was astounded at how the artist managed to capture the very detailed structure of Namimori High. His eyes searched for any form of sign that would make him know who the painter was, but only proved to be futile as no signature was left on the piece of art. With curiosity overwhelming him, he asked, "Hey, Hibari-senpai. Who painted this?"

"You do not need to know," said Hibari coolly.

Tsuna was taken aback at the sudden change of tone. With voice quivering, he said, "I-I was just curious. Sorry." Tsuna stood silently, anticipating the prefect's rage, but was met with none. The only movement Hibari made was sitting down on the mustard-coloured couch.

"Eat."

The word that left the prefect's lips reached the brunet as a command. Taking his time, Tsuna advanced toward the long, upholstered furniture. He sat down and placed his lunch box on his lap. With hands slightly quivering, his fingers popped the lock up, the succulent smell at once engulfed the entire room.

Tsuna peeked at his companion, who was silently staring at his lunch box. Tsuna wondered if he had no food. He asked, "You don't have any lunch, Hibari-senpai?"

"No."

Not discouraged by the prefect's lack of response, he said, "Do you want to share mine?"

"There is no need."

"You should eat. Here." Tsuna shoved his chopsticks on Hibari's palms. "Mom always tells me it's bad to skip meals, even if it only happens once in a while."

Hibari was silent, which made Tsuna finally realise his predicament. I'm alone with Hibari-senpai, and I'm speaking casually with him, and I just practically forced him to eat, and I don't really understand what's happening right now, Tsuna panicked, I need to clear the misunderstanding right away.

The brunet started, "Uh—"

"It's good," Hibari spoke up.

"Eh? What is?"

"The food. What else?"

Tsuna grinned. "Oh. My mom's really great."

"Can you also cook?" Hibari continued to eat.

"A little?" In all honesty, Tsuna was quite competent regarding cooking in spite of his academic and physical mayhems. Cooking was the only thing he could say he was good at. "I could make you lunch tomorrow." Oh, no no no no no. That was as good as asking him to lunch tomorrow. "I mean... I—"

"I look forward to it then."

What the heck is happening? "Hey," Tsuna gulped, "what do you mean by we're d-d-dating?" The last word made him shudder.

"We're dating, that's it. What more do you expect, Tsunayoshi?"

There it was again – his name leaving the prefect's mouth. It was already the second time, and Tsuna wanted answers now. "Do you like me? B-because I'm not r-really into guys, and, uh, there must have been a misunderstanding." Tsuna felt hot from embarrassment. Here he was attempting to reject or rather explain to Hibari, who must have misinterpreted what he had said previous days ago.

"You are weak, has a ridiculous below average grade, and is always last in PE classes. Nonetheless, it is Vongola's rule not to reject anyone, may it be a man or woman nor their status." Hibari eyed the brunet. "You asked me to meet you. I do not see any misunderstanding in that."

Well, ouch. What Hibari said was true for the tuna, but he was used to being constantly jeered at. But when it came from Hibari, there was no sign of jeering, he only stated it a-matter-of-factly. Tsuna truly appreciated that. At least someone didn't make fun of him for being born the way he was. "I was asking you to meet up for a friend of mine, I wasn't asking you out," said Tsuna quietly.

At this, Hibari scrunched his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Sasagawa Kyoko."

"I see. I was about to go to your classroom when that girl came rushing at me on the staircase." Hibari leant on the couch. "I told her I was dating someone already, and that meant you, Tsunayoshi. I merely thought you forgot about your request to meet up since you didn't even mention a place."

"I'm really sorry about that. It was just a misunderstanding. There's no need to continue the week anymore," mumbled Tsuna. "You'll just waste your time on me anyway."

Silence reigned for a moment. Tsuna contemplated whether to go out now or wait to be asked to leave. He was saved from answering when Hibari answered, "I am a man of my word, Sawada Tsunayoshi. We will finish this week, and I believe you owe me lunch tomorrow." He smirked.

Tsuna didn't know whether to be thankful he wasn't bitten to death, or should be terrified at the coming six days.