This kind of warmth... I like it.
Chapter 5: The Second Day I
Yesterday's events passed by in a whirl. After their lunch date, or at least that was how Tsuna described it – much to his dismay – Tsuna simply returned back to the classroom, uncertain on how to face Hibari the next day. Tsuna had to admit: Hibari was nicer than he had expected, unlike the bloodthirsty man he was whenever he did his disciplining. It must be true that everyone had their hidden sides. They walked home together, although no conversation was initiated. The only words that were brought out of their lips could be counted on their fingers.
"Uh, t-thank you, Hibari-senpai," said Tsuna as he stood on their doorstep.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow." With that simple phrase, Hibari was gone.
This time, Tsuna did his best to prepare for Hibari's arrival. He made sure that his alarm clock was on snooze for every two minutes, fixed his uniform and hanged it on his cabinet's doorknob, and told his mother over and over again to force him to wake up, even allowing her to throw a bucket of frigid water on him. This was Hibari Kyouya. Lateness was never tolerable, unless he wanted to die an early death. He also prepared his promised lunch for him.
Fortunately, Nana didn't need to pour cold liquid on him, as he managed to wake up early. At the sound of the first ring of the alarm, he sat up quickly and slapped both his cheeks hard. The thought of angering Hibari was certainly not pleasant.
Then again, he didn't think seeing Hibari at all was pleasant.
He stood up and headed for the bathroom. After showering, he put his uniform on and grabbed his bag. He continued on to descending the stairs and could easily smell what his mother was cooking. Grinning, he fastened his pace, being urged by the growling of his stomach.
"Good," he paused then continued, "morning, Mom and Hibari-senpai."
"Hibari-kun just arrived a while ago. Sit, sit." Nana smiled.
Tsuna promptly sat down in front of the prefect, who only nodded in acknowledgment. The house was quiet aside from Nana's continuous soft humming. Tsuna, unable to handle the silence with Hibari, broke it. "I didn't expect you to be so early."
"I despise latecomers."
Tsuna sweatdropped. Good thing I woke up early. He concluded that talking with Hibari won't lead him anywhere, so he decided to simply zip his mouth and wait for the food.
After a moment of excruciating silence, Nana served breakfast. She did not eat with the two boys, speaking about love being a sweet, golden moment for the youth. Tsuna just rolled his eyes and ate his food, sometimes glancing in Hibari's direction.
It was Hibari who finished his first. He rested his elbow on the table and leant his head on his palm, watching Tsuna – more like staring at him. He flushed at the attention. The way Hibari was looking at him petrified him.
Tsuna shook his head and gobbled his food in an instant. With mouth still full, he slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "Mom! I'm going to school now." He grabbed his bag, immediately wore his shoes, and rushed outside. Maybe he should persuade Hibari to stop this nonsense. This was not in any way what they want. Tsuna despised Hibari. Hibari despised everyone. Wait. Hibari despised everyone. Then why did he get involved with the Vongola in the first place?
With his thoughts going to that direction, Tsuna suddenly became curious. Hibari was famous for loathing crowds and hating the so-called herbivores, yet why?
"Tsunayoshi."
Oops.
"Walking together means walking together," said Hibari. "Come." He took Tsuna's left hand and started walking together.
"P-people will see!" Blushing, Tsuna looked awkwardly at the people around. Oddly enough, it actually seemed like it was normal for them. Then again, Hibari was one of the Vongola. Ask them on a date and they'll accept. Perhaps they were used to seeing Hibari with other people, regardless of their gender. Of course, it was simple as that.
A few more steps and they would had reached their destination. He noticed that Hibari was still holding his hand. Panicking, he attempted to shake off his grasp, only for the other to hold it tighter.
"What are you doing?" His voice made Tsuna freeze. Hibari raised an eyebrow and continued to walk again.
"W-w-wait! We're almost at school. The others will... will see this." Hibari followed the boy's gaze and saw that he was referring to their hands. Tsuna was certain he would let go of him when the former just shrugged and stayed nonchalant, while Tsuna, on the other hand, was already close to being insane. "Let –"
"So what if they see?" Hibari stopped in his tracks.
Tsuna stood, gaping. "What so? Rumours will spread about us! And Kyoko-chan will –" He repeated, "Kyoko-chan!" With all that had been happening, guilt spread about in the confused teen, forgetting his love interest's predicament made him completely feel like a fool.
"Then let them spread."
That was it. Tsuna was getting extremely annoyed at how one-sided this person was taking everything. "Look –"
A yell interrupted Tsuna, "Whoa! Is that Dame-Tsuna with Hibari?"
"No wonder he was getting close with Yamamoto. He was aiming for Hibari the whole time," laughed a girl.
"You idiots," reprimanded a student, eyes full of anxiousness. "Have you forgotten that's still Hibari Kyouya you're talking about? Run!"
The students scurried away and after a short moment, only Tsuna and Hibari remained. Tsuna snorted, amused. "That was fast." But his emotion turned upside down when he thought of what would happen after. He was already Dame-Tsuna. Now, it seemed like he was running after Hibari. If Kyoko found out, Tsuna couldn't imagine what her reaction would be. It was best to explain to her as fast as possible – that was, if she's willing to speak with him.
Tsuna kept thinking and didn't notice when he and Hibari continued to walk, hands still clasped together. The damage was already done. The students had already seen it. It would be a small matter of minutes before the entire school would know. Tsuna grimaced and silently followed Hibari's lead, no longer thinking of protesting to him.
They continued to walk up until the classroom, but Hibari released his hand before they went through the school gate. Tsuna sighed in relief at this. It was still early and classes had yet to start, so seeing students in the corridors was not to be questioned. He was thankful of Hibari's reputation as it made the students stay away from them, but he could easily hear their whispers behind their back. Even if they were no longer holding hands, Hibari was walking right beside him, which was frighteningly strange.
The two had arrived at the classroom and Hibari opened the door without hesitation. The classroom filled with chatter came to a complete halt. All eyes rested on the newcomers. Tsuna sighed, this time in frustration. The attention was really getting to him. He allowed his eyes to roam about and they stopped when he saw Kyoko looking at him – aghast.
"I'll pick you up again at lunch," said Hibari and left.
When Hibari left, Tsuna was bombarded with questions. Not a single one registered in his mind, so focused on speaking to Kyoko. He rushed to her side and started panicking. "Kyoko-chan, it's not what you think. I –"
"Do you want to talk somewhere private?" asked Kyoko softly. Tsuna bobbed his head immediately at this. She turned to her friends and said, "Sorry, I'll be back." She stood up and led Tsuna out of the room to a staircase. Kyoko sat down on one of the steps and nodded at Tsuna.
He sat down nervously beside her and started talking. "Where should I start?" he mumbled.
"Why not start on how you felt the same way towards Hibari-senpai without telling me?" Kyoko looked down. "Instead of asking for me, did you ask for yourself then lie to me?"
Tsuna flinched at her tone. "I don't feel that way towards him! It was a misunderstanding! I asked him to meet up, but I was so nervous I completely forgot to say where and whom he was meeting, so he took it as a sign that I was asking him to go out with me. But I swear I don't really feel anything towards him. Honest. Please believe me."
Kyoko raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Tsuna-kun isn't the type to lie. Then why didn't you ask him to cut it off? Surely if you don't really want to do it you'd ask him to stop the week."
"I did. But he told me 'I am a man of my word, Sawada Tsunayoshi. We will finish this week'," he purposefully omitted the part about the lunch, "and I was kind of afraid of him to even protest," muttered Tsuna, annoyed at himself at not being able to retort at Hibari.
He gazed at her with bated breath. Kyoko, without a doubt, liked Hibari, as much as it hurt to admit it. She had looked very enthusiastic and ecstatic when the opportunity came up, and it shattered his heart when she called the night before yesterday, hearing her distressed and broken voice. But Kyoko was strong and optimistic, that's why she was able to cheer up fast and be resolved to try again. Her strong feelings for the man was an asset to her. It pained Tsuna greatly to realise that he was at fault that Kyoko was wounded.
Tsuna glanced down at the steps, feeling intensely remorseful. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at Kyoko. She softly smiled and said, "It's certainly like him to say that, huh." She laughed lightly. "I believe you. I overreacted, huh? I really like Hibari-senpai," whispered Kyoko, "and I guess I was blinded by that. I trust you. I do... I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I'm just glad you believed me." Tsuna smiled, grateful that their argument didn't escalate.
"Your week ends on Thursday, right?" asked Kyoko suddenly. "Just to, you know, be prepared." She laughed sheepishly.
"Excited?" teased Tsuna. "Well, it started yesterday, which was Thursday, and that makes Wednesday the last day. You could probably ask him in the morning after. If you want, I could ask him to meet you up so you'll get to him first," he offered genuinely. Tsuna wanted to make it up to Kyoko, and he thought that maybe finally getting the week reserved for her would be best.
Kyoko hugged him tightly. She released him from her embrace, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "Just make sure you tell him my name and the place this time, okay?"
Elated at her change of attitude, Tsuna laughed heartily.
\
Yamamoto and Gokudera were already around when Tsuna and Kyoko came back to the classroom. He also wanted to justify the misunderstanding to his newfound friends. But, like when he first entered the room, the moment he step foot in the area, he was, again, swamped with questions. Tsuna decided to merely ignore them until he heard a query that made him angry.
"Don't you find it disgusting that you used Yamamoto's friendliness to get close to Hibari?" sneered one of his classmates.
"What?" shouted Tsuna in outrage, swiftly walking to the person earlier. Tsuna had been trying, trying to get along with the two, trying to get friends, trying to change. "I didn't have any of that intentions when he asked me to eat lunch with them," he icily said, "and if I ever hear that from you again, Suzuki, I'll – I'll –"
"What? Gonna beat me up? You? Dame-Tsuna?" jeered Suzuki.
"Yeah, I should do that." Raising his fist, Tsuna aimed directly at the irritating student's face. A mere second would suffice before his punch landed on the other's face when someone grabbed his arm, stopping him from his supposed violent action. "What did you do that for?" He turned around and was surprised to see that it was Gokudera's hand.
"Tsuna's not that kind of guy, you know. He's a pretty nice person unlike you, and I trust him," said Yamamoto, who was beside Gokudera, in a serious tone. "If I ever hear you call him disgusting again, you will answer to me. Got that?" Suzuki could only nod numbly under Yamamoto's glare. He looked back at Tsuna and grinned. "You okay, Tsuna?"
Tsuna blinked and nodded. "A-ah. Thanks, Yamamoto. What he said wasn't true. I actually..." He rubbed the arm that Gokudera held.
"Did Hayato's grip hurt you?" Yamamoto's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Want to go to the infirmary?"
"Idiot, I didn't grab him that tightly," grumbled Gokudera. "I don't think he'd die of that."
"I was just making sure," said Yamamoto defensively. "And it seems like Tsuna –"
"Don't worry, Yamamoto. It's as he says, it wasn't that tight." Tsuna gave an awkward smile.
"That's good then." Yamamoto grinned. As he answered, the teacher entered the classroom and the class, who were watching the entire scene, hurriedly returned to their respective chairs. Gokudera rolled his eyes and left for his own. Before Yamamoto followed he said, "By the way Tsuna," he winked, "violence doesn't suit you."
Tsuna stood flabbergasted at what just happened. It wasn't until the teacher called out his attention that he went back to his desk.
Twice. He heard trust twice. Maybe, just maybe, his high school life was heading for a change.