Who's the genuine? Who's the playful?
Extra 5: With Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Reborn
Schedule identical with Hibari's? Are you kidding me?
Yamamoto ran as fast as he could in the direction Reborn took. Some time had already passed since they separated, and while he had no idea where Reborn could be, he kept on running, glancing left and right as he did, not seeing Reborn in the throngs of people. But he couldn't give up. For Tsuna's sake, he had to talk to Reborn.
Stopping, he grabbed his mobile phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts list. Amongst the Vongola, he only had Gokudera's number. I forgot to ask for Tsuna's number. He continued to scroll, wondering if anyone would have an idea on where Reborn frequently hanged out. Yamamoto had never seen the mysterious teen with anyone else aside from Hibari; his only glimpse in Reborn's life was the Vongola's lunch time together.
Spending lunch time together wasn't even a requirement for the Vongola. In one way or another, they all ended up on the roof top, and it was laughable because all Yamamoto could see was a bunch of eccentric individuals lumped together. They were deviants, indeed, but they were endearing deviants.
Except Reborn.
Reborn was the oddest of the oddball group, the person Yamamoto failed to comprehend the most, and the person he found the most frightening. It was as if Reborn's perceptive eyes are capable of seeing through any weakness a person has, then his eloquence manipulates the person's choice. This was what Yamamoto felt when Reborn invited him to the Vongola, and he wondered whether the rest of the members succumbed to the epitome of pressure.
Squeezing the bridge of his nose, he scrolled back up to Gokudera's name then hit the call button. It wasn't like he expected his friend to know Reborn's whereabouts, but he needed all the help he could get in finding Reborn. Hearing Gokudera answer the phone, he was about to talk but cancelled the call instantly at Gokudera's words:
"Oi, baseball idiot. Great timing. I'm with Reborn-san in the park near school –"
All Yamamoto could remember was running.
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When the sight of the other two Vongola members entered his vision, he immediately headed straight for Reborn who was sitting on one of the swings, with Gokudera on the other. Ignoring the latter's protests at being hanged up, he asked, "What are you planning?"
Reborn crossed his legs. "I don't know what you mean."
Yamamoto opened his mouth, then closed it without saying anything – his initial courage had deteriorated. Here he was again, unable to voice what he wanted to say, unable to help Tsuna. He looked at Gokudera, not knowing what to do. His eyes must have reflected his desperation, because the very moment Yamamoto directed his attention to Gokudera, the usually vigorous teen immediately became dumbfounded.
Coughing, Gokudera broke the silence. "So, I bumped into Reborn-san and he asked me to tell you to meet him here." When the others still didn't speak, he added, "Since I'm not needed, I might as well—"
"You're needed." Reborn chuckled. "You definitely are."
"Why?" Did he know I would go look for him? Yamamoto's throat felt dry. I can't go back now. "Why did you copy Hibari's schedule with Tsuna?" He could see Gokudera's attention snap to Reborn; he, too, shocked.
"Who said anything about copying? How do you even know I'm aware of their schedule?"
He didn't have proof, and Reborn knew that. For all they know, the supposed identical schedule was merely a coincidence. But putting the words Reborn and coincidence in the same sentence was aching to blasphemy.
"I'm sure," said Yamamoto. He repeated in a firmer voice, "I'm sure you did it on purpose, so I'm asking why. I don't know what exactly your relationship is with Hibari-senpai, but stop dragging Tsuna in it."
Before Reborn could reply, Gokudera spoke, "It's clear that idiot likes Hibari. You think you can overwrite his feelings for him by doing what they did? Do you even like him? It's weird how you and Hibari are fixated on that guy."
"Only me and Hibari?" Reborn smirked. Yamamoto noted how he avoided his best friend's initial questions. It made sense – overwriting that is. The problem was he didn't know how Reborn genuinely felt about Tsuna, but he did know that Tsuna was frightened of Reborn.
"Why aren't you including Yamamoto? You only became acquainted with Dame-Tsuna these past two weeks, but he's been really nice to him, no?"
Gokudera turned his eyes to Yamamoto, who stiffened at Reborn's words. "That's true," he hesitantly said.
Yamamoto snapped, "That's not the point." At the face Gokudera made, he instantly felt guilty.
Standing up, the chains of the swing rattled and Reborn snickered which, in turn, garnered the attention of the two. "Think of Dame-Tsuna as the centre." Reborn raised his hand to his fedora and turned it a little to the right, the evening wind causing its displacement. "Vongola was made for him anyway. But you two never cared to know, right? It's understandable. You each had your own reason for agreeing." Seeing as the two were stunned, Reborn's lips curved to a smirk, and he started walking away. "Ciao."
Yamamoto opened his mouth to call out to him, but realised he had nothing more to say. A straight answer from Reborn was beyond the realm of possibility, yet he never denied Gokudera's claim. He slightly jumped at the sound of the chains rattling again. Glancing back, he saw that Gokudera, instead of standing up, had begun moving the swing. No one talked, and Yamamoto took the opportunity to debate on how to bring up the incident back then. Telling his best friend didn't need a second thought; he had always been there by his side.
Gokudera broke the silence with a line which made Yamamoto panic. "You joined Vongola for Sawada?"
"No," he quietly replied. I joined it for you.
"Then why the fascination with him?"
Now. Now is good. Sitting down on the swing Reborn vacated, Yamamoto let out a sound, intent on starting the story, but only managed a croak. At this, Gokudera stopped moving and uncharacteristically patiently waited, perhaps sensing his sombre mood, for him to regain his composure.
"It was during first year of middle school..." He didn't know. Yamamoto had no idea how much time had passed by the time he finished nor how his friend was taking it. All this time Yamamoto was staring at the floor, determined not to look at the green eyes in front of him, afraid of what it showed.
The sound of the chains replaced Yamamoto's low voice, and he was astonished: Gokudera had stood up and was now, much to Yamamoto's amusement, awkwardly patting his back. He was about to joke about his friend's way of comforting him when Gokudera suddenly punched him.
Wearing a deadpan expression, Gokudera still had his hand clenched to a fist. "You fucking moron." He pinched his nose bridge. "We're almost at the fourth month of our second year of high school. It's been, what? Four years since then? Why help Sawada just now? That kid was being bullied, right? And..." He trailed off.
"Not just now!" Yamamoto protested. "I tried getting close to him in middle school but he would either ignore me or run away. And then I... I..." Yamamoto closed his eyes.
Tsuna turned his back to him, whose grin faded away at his words. "Please. Please stay away from me."
"I started looking out for him, even until now. I would go and find who beat him up, but when I do, they were already beaten up." He whispered, "Someone was always ahead of me." They looked at each other, both had an idea on what the other thought. "It's frustrating, because even though this guy and I are trying to stop Tsuna from getting bullied, they would still do it. And Tsuna's the kindest and nicest guy I've met. I just don't understand."
"Two weeks ago I talked with Mochida-senpai to stop messing with Tsuna; it wasn't a smooth talk, but I think I got my point across since—No wait." Yamamoto covered his mouth. "The next day he had bruises that I didn't give him."
"Tsuna is the centre," muttered Gokudera. "Those three are capable of beating up that idiot Mochida. Anyway, you're friends with Sawada now and it seems he isn't getting bullied anymore. Maybe this stupid group is useful after all."
"I-I wanted to try again." Despite his words. "It's the first time I'm in the same class as Tsuna, although he doesn't seem to remember what happened."
"You fucking moron," Gokudera repeated his words. "You should've kept trying to be friends with him back then. Of course he would avoid you – he's been isolated for quite a while. He wouldn't trust anyone with their first few pathetic tries." At this point, Yamamoto hung his head, ashamed at his actions yet not ignoring the nostalgic tone in his friend's voice. Sighing, Gokudera added, "But what's important is the present. I'm surprised he agreed now."
Yamamoto agreed. "It's been a while since I last tried talking with him. He was really scared of Hibari-senpai the first time he ate with us, so I hesitated inviting him again. I wanted to start eating lunch together with him from then on away from the others, but Reborn-senpai invited him." Yamamoto paused. "The Vongola's barely two-months-old. Does this mean Reborn-senpai has been pulling some strings since he arrived here? What is he planning?"
"A better question is: Why Sawada?"
They didn't know.
Note: Got incredibly busy. Apologies for the delay. Also, feels like I'm cheating by saying this: more about the time gap in Kyoko's chapter.