When Tsuna got a call from his panicked mother that his little sister had run away from home after having a disagreement with Lambo, he felt dread flutter within him as he excused himself from the company. Fortunately, no off-site job required his presence today, and he was easily let off but not before apologizing to Hayato numerous times, who had to take over the paperwork he hadn't finished reviewing.
Tsuna's charming baby sister, I-Pin, had never caused them any trouble or distress, so when his mother relayed the news to him, it came as a surprise to him and he couldn't help but feel panicked as well, anxious for I-Pin's safety. It's probable that her argument with Lambo, the family's youngest member, was significantly more serious than their usual sibling squabble.
Getting inside the taxi Hayato had called for him, Tsuna instantly gave the driver his address before fishing out his phone from his pocket to check for updates from his mother, hoping for news of I-Pin returning home on her own, but there were none. This, together with the sluggish pace at which the vehicle was going or the traffic jams in the area, did nothing to calm the agitation that was growing inside of him.
Groaning in frustration, Tsuna set the mobile device aside and buried his face over his palms, silently praying for his sister's safety at the back of his head. If, god forbid, there was even so much scratch in I-Pin once he found her, there would be hell to pay.
He reclined back in his seat, hoping to calm both his mind and body, knowing that mulling over it would only stress him further.
His thoughts wandered to his other younger sibling, Lambo; that rascal surely must have been weeping for his sister right now, given how the two of them have never been far apart from one another since they were infants.
Both Lambo and I-pin were taken in by the Sawada Household when they were still ignorant babies, the former having been entrusted to their useless father by an acquaintance from work and the latter abandoned in front of their door one rainy evening. Their mother, Sawada Nana, a saint in disguise, welcomed them in without a second thought, her soft spot for children nurtured after caring for two sons, that is Giotto and Tsuna, increasing notably through the years.
There was also Fuuta, an abused and traumatized child his brother brought a year prior to Lambo and I-Pin's arrival in their household. He was a pitiful orphan who had gone through so much after being passed around from foster family to family until he was eventually sold off to a child trafficker by the last one. Luckily, Giotto arrived at the scene just at the right time after receiving the news of child trafficking in the area to rescue the boy and quickly brought him to the care of their loving mother, who would undoubtedly know better what to do.
Their family grew over time, fast and strange, but there was no mistaking that they were all linked by the white strings, an evidence of eternal familial love, save for one; Sawada Iemitsu, their miserable excuse for a father.
Despite the age difference, each of his younger siblings shares a strong bond with him and Giotto, especially with the two of them constantly showering them and their mother with affection and love that their father could never provide.
Thus, the reason why Tsuna was so frantic when he learned that his younger sister had gone missing. Tsuna treated I-Pin more delicately than the boys because she was the only girl in the family aside from their mother. She was the family's sole princess, and the notion of something happening to her makes Tsuna want to set the entire universe ablaze.
After what seemed like an eternity, the car eventually pulled over right in front of the apartment complex. He didn't even bother waiting for his change after handing over the fare and dashed straight to the stairway, knowing that making use of the elevator would only delay him further, his customary greetings to the apartment personnel having flown away owing to the continually building anxiety within him.
Tsuna kept sprinting through the stairs, despite his almost buckling knees, until he reached the floor of his unit, the brunet practically gasping for oxygen at this point as he dragged his worn-out limbs to his unit. He silently hoped that his sister, being the astute little girl she is, may have thought about going straight to him after fleeing Namimori.
Tsuna fought the tears that threatened to escape as he pulled the door open after nervously but successfully typing his unit's passcode.
Instead of the darkness welcoming him as he expected, he was greeted by familiar footwear on the entryway, one in large and one in small size. What baffled him more was the salivating fragrance of food being cooked in the kitchen filling through his nose.
"I-Pin!" He cried, frantically rushing across the kitchen area without even bothering to remove his shoes.
Two pairs of eyes turned to him as he reached the kitchen, one looking uncertain and the other abashed. When he saw his little sister clutching a pan with his neighbor's assistance, he felt his strength escape him as he practically collapsed, rear end touching the cold ground, fully weary from the coaster of emotions he'd just gone through on the way here.
"Tsuna-nii!" I-Pin gasped, carefully setting the pan on the burner, then leaped from the stool she was using as a platform to reach the stove, sprinting for her exhausted brother.
Tsuna sighed and drew the nine-year-old girl into a tight embrace as soon as she was within reach, burying his face in the girl's perfectly coiffed hair and relishing the sensation that his sister was safe. "You brat! Did Lambo's unruly behavior finally get to you for you to worry me this way?" He reprimanded shakily, but his grip never relaxed, as if to prove that this was his little sister in the flesh. "But thank goodness, you're safe..."
I-Pin reciprocated the affection by wrapping her much smaller arms around Tsuna's body and burying her face in the brunette's chest, finally bursting into tears now that she was in her brother's warm embrace. "I'm sorry, Tsuna-nii, I didn't mean to run away from home and worry you and Maman..."
Tsuna stroked calming circles across the girl's back and hefted himself up, dropping a soft peck on I-Pin's head before drawing away from her to take a close look at the girl, searching for anything unusual or if the girl had been harmed in any way.
"I-Pin, please, don't ever do this again; if you want to come here, at least inform Maman or give me a call so I can pick you up instead..." Tsuna breathed out, his hands gliding up the sobbing little girl's face, tenderly wiping her tears away. "What would I ever do if something were to happen to you?" He added softly as he drew her into another hug.
The girl nodded, her words all clogged up in her throat as she cried in her brother's arms.
Tsuna was finally able to acknowledge the other individual in the same room as him and I-Pin after the majority of the tension had left his body, the brunet sending him a half-hearted glare and mouthed that he'd deal with him later.
Fon sheepishly grinned and nodded before returning to the stove, igniting the fire, and resuming to cook the Chinese fried rice that he and I-Pin were preparing for the brunet earlier.
"How about taking her to the living room for now so the two of you could have a nice talk, Tsuna? I'll call for you once dinner is ready," Fon offered, flashing Tsuna a soft smile that almost, note, almost had the brunette swooning on the spot.
"Mn, thank you, Fon, but just so you know, you're not completely off the hook yet," Tsuna remarked, throwing him a sinister smile, and the older man couldn't help but laugh nervously at the sight of it.
Fon returned to the task at hand after witnessing Tsuna retreat to the living room with a bundle of a sobbing little girl in his arms, swerving here and there to retrieve a few items, already completely acquainted with the kitchen layout and organization from using it multiple times whenever he came over.
The Chinese had the day off today, so he intended to surprise his friend by preparing dinner for him tonight. However, as he was preparing to leave for Tsuna's apartment, he spotted a little girl hunched in front of the brunet's door. Remembering the stories Tsuna told him about his younger siblings, Fon approached her, a soft smile adorning his features as he asked for the girl's name.
But since I-Pin was taught wisely by her elder brothers never to divulge any personal information to strangers, the girl simply ignored him, eliciting an amused chuckle from the man. Only after Fon revealed his connection to Tsuna did the girl let down her guard around him and begin by inquiring whether the man knew when Tsuna would be returning home.
I-Pin instantly slumped in defeat when Fon notified her that Tsuna wouldn't be arriving any time soon unless he heard of I-Pin's arrival, and when the older man offered to call the brunet for her, she abruptly stopped him, inadvertently revealing that no one from their family knew of I-Pin's sudden arrival here.
After fully grasping the situation, Fon offered to let her inside the brunet's unit, suggesting that it would be better than waiting for him outside. Of course, I-Pin was surprised that a stranger had access to his brother's home and was a bit hesitant at first but chose to comply nonetheless. However, that did not keep the little girl from being skeptical as she asked question after question to the Chinese man and that was when she found out that they were surprisingly of the same descent!
The girl was so delighted by the discovery that she forgot about her initial skepticism, and after a brief period of time, I-Pin eventually opened up to Fon, even going as far as to reveal her reason for fleeing home and seeking Tsuna despite the other being unaware of it, all while the older man fed her with the cake he had originally purchased for both him and Tsuna to eat later.
Fon glanced over to the siblings in the living area as he set the dishes on the island's surface, a soft smile pulling his lips as he strolled over once he saw Tsuna lightly pulling I-Pin's cheek with a playful irritation dancing across his features and the girl unsuccessfully prying the brunet's arm away from her while giggling uncontrollably.
The sight of Fon immediately had the girl asking for his help; her eyes turning pitiful as she tried to escape from Tsuna, who effortlessly seized her with a promise to tickle her. "Fon, help me!" I-Pin released a peal of laughter when Tsuna's prodding hands assailed her sides.
"Hm, what's with that? So, you prefer Fon over me now, you cheeky brat!" Tsuna quipped, an exuberant grin on his face as he tormented the unfortunate girl with his relentless tickling.
"N..No! I give up! Tsuna-nii is the best!" Tsuna's hands finally came to a halt after he felt the creeping exhaustion himself, releasing the little girl who slipped away from the brunet and lifted her arms to Fon, who had been watching them with fascination, suggesting that she wanted to be carried by him.
With a chuckle, Fon complied with the little girl's request and effortlessly lifted her while the bundle in his arms stuck her tongue out to her amused brother on the couch. "All right, dinner's ready; come on, we don't want to eat cold dishes, do we?"
"Don't you think you're spoiling her too much, Fon? I heard you even gave I-Pin my favorite cake!"
"Tsuna, eating sugary foods daily is bad for the body, and sweet little I-Pin here simply wanted to help me control your addiction to sweets," Fon replied, his lips twisting into a lopsided smirk as he set down I-Pin on the island seat and had hi-fived him.
Tsuna stared at the two, perplexed at how they were already so intent on ganging up on him despite only having met a few hours ago. There was also a fluttery feeling in his stomach as if several butterflies were rampaging around at how Fon easily charmed his normally shy sister, just as he did to him.
Of course, the Chinese's smirk did not escape Tsuna's vigilant eyes; after all, it was an uncommon sight and a knee-buckling one at that. "Hey, aren't you two getting along way too much?" He deadpanned, shaking his head in amusement as he slipped into the island seat in front of I-Pin, while Fon situated himself on the seat beside the girl.
"Fon and I both have Chinese blood so it's only natural, Tsuna-nii!" I-Pin proudly exclaimed as she took the tableware Fon offered her, smiling at the other brightly in return.
"Alright, alright, point taken." The brunet laughed fondly as he observed Fon help his sister with her dinner, noting how domestic the situation felt right now.
That's when a startling realization hit him, causing something warm and red to violently spread across his cheeks. 'So...am I the husband or the wife in this situation?' Tsuna tried to immediately rid his head of the thought by distracting himself with his food, mentally slapping himself every time it came flying back.
"Can't sleep?" Tsuna inquired in a hushed voice as he smoothed I-Pin's unbraided hair, watching his sister stare through the darkness at the ceiling of the bedroom meant for his younger siblings.
Tsuna's primary consideration when looking for an apartment prior to moving out was the number of rooms. In reality, there was no need for many rooms because he wasn't anticipating any visitors other than his family, Reborn included, as he was nearly one by now.
Giotto had been expected to take over their grandfather's company, so after finishing college, he moved to Italy with Reborn assisting him, so they wouldn't be able to come as often. And their mother was apprehensive about leaving Namimori because of the children at home.
However, because his younger siblings were extremely attached and dependent on Tsuna and hadn't come to terms with the prospect of Giotto moving out, the three of them, including Fuuta and I-Pin, the more rational of the three, made such a huge fuss when the brunet broke the news to them and wouldn't stop finding excuses to prevent him from leaving town.
To make amends, Tsuna assured the three of them that they could visit him at least three times a month or more if their studies and Tsuna's work permitted it.
It was also why, even though the lease was over his financial capacity at the time given that he was just starting his business, Tsuna unhesitatingly signed up for the contract after finding the layout and space satisfactory, entirely willing to risk it all for his siblings.
I-Pin turned to get a better look at her brother, who was seated by the side of the bed and brought the doll their eldest had given her for her birthday last year close to her chest, her gaze overflowing with interest as she asked.: "Tsuna-nii, is Fon like a family to you also?"
Tsuna almost choked on his spit as he tried to scan the younger's face as if to see if she was simply attempting to humor him, but the only thing he observed was the wonder dancing around those innocent black eyes.
"What made you ask that?" He asked, attempting to keep a cool demeanor as he continued to play with I-Pin's silky black hair.
Before she responded, a smile played across her features. "I overheard Giotto-nii mention that you're not comfortable having others in your home unless they're family or someone you like, but you seemed at ease even with Fon around." I-Pin chirped, her grin never wavering as she watched her brother struggle to avoid her gaze.
"I-Pin, stop listening to that idiot brother of ours; what is he even doing planting that kind of idea inside your pretty little head?" Tsuna did not roll his eyes, but it was a near thing as he silently cursed his brother in the back of his head.
Tsuna, who finds everything his baby sister does adorable, had to resist his natural urge to squeeze her into a hug. "You did not answer my question, Tsuna-nii! Gio-nii said that avoiding one's question is a sign of denial!"
There was a twitch in Tsuna's brow, the hand that wasn't on his sister's head curled into a fist as the image of his dumbass of a brother popped inside his head. 'That damn idiot is going to get it!'
Tsuna sighed as he withdrew his hand away from I-Pin's hair before clambering up onto the bed and settling down next to the girl. He propped one elbow on the mattress, rested his head on his palm, and softly patted the girl's side with his other hand. "Fon is a dear friend of mine, I-Pin, and he's helped me numerous times, but I can't tell whether he's a family to me yet since we haven't known each other for that long.
I-Pin hefted her upper body up off the mattress, her elbow pushed up to support her weight as she beamed at her brother. "You like him then!"
Tsuna slipped from his position and gaped at the small child, his face erupting into several shades of red. "H-How did you even come to that conclusion?"He couldn't help but stutter as he placed the tip of his finger on I-Pin's forehead and gently pushed her back down into the mattress. "Anyway! It's late and you have to get up early tomorrow! Save that energy for when Maman gives you an earful after I've sent you home."
At the mention of their mother, I-Pin promptly obeyed, despite the pout pinching her lips, nevertheless, the delight on her face lingered as she observed her thoroughly embarrassed and jittery brother. "Good night, Tsuna-nii..."I-Pin remarked softly, a yawn slipping her lips as she scrubbed her eye, exhaustion finally getting the best of her, which was unsurprising given everything she'd gone through today.
Tsuna let out a soft smile and nodded, "Sweet dreams, I-Pin." he uttered, leaning in to drop a light kiss on the sleeping girl's brow before tucking the cover over her shoulders.
"Great work; is she already asleep?"Fon inquired, before slipping next to the brunet who had slumped onto the couch and offered him the cup of tea he had prepared.
Tsuna cradled the tea in his hands, bringing it close to his nose, and breathed the steam wafting up the cup, the aromatic fragrance of the oolong tea invading his senses as he whispered a soft 'thank you'. He realized, after months of friendship with Fon, that the tea the Chinese prepare is undoubtedly the greatest among the best, never failing to calm his tight nerves, precisely what he needed after a long tiring day.
"Yeah, she's probably tired from traveling all on her own here," Tsuna cracked a smile as he took a small sip of the green liquid, lowered it to the coffee table afterward, and glanced at Fon who was drinking his own tea leisurely. "I apologize for having to make you look after her on your day off, Fon."
"It's no trouble, Tsuna; I-Pin is a lovely kid, plus I've had a great time spending the day with you two," The Chinese inclined his head to the brunet to get a better view of him, offering him his usual tender smile, and if Tsuna hadn't grown accustomed to it by now, he may have misinterpreted the motive behind it, but Tsuna knew better.
Tsuna unconsciously sighed but quickly snapped out of it when he noticed Fon's curious expression. "You know, at this rate, it's not just I-Pin who'll get spoiled," He chuckled nervously, averting his gaze from the Chinese and turning it elsewhere.
The sound of ceramics colliding with the glass surface of the coffee table rang throughout the area, a hand much larger than his delving into his gravity-defying mop of brown locks, fondly ruffling it, prompting him to glance back to Fon, shooting him a scowl that appeared more like a pout. "Oh, believe me, you've been greatly spoiled in front of me for quite some time now," Fon couldn't help but laugh merrily at the blush creeping across the brunet's cheeks, more so when he playfully swatted the Chinese's hand away. "But I wouldn't have it any other way, you know."
Tsuna tilted his head curiously, watching as Fon shut his eyes, and couldn't help but note the fond tone in his voice as he said those words as if he was talking about something precious. Although he wished it was so, the brunet knew that if it truly was, it would most likely be as a friend.
His fate had already been decided for him, that he would live his entire life without ever experiencing what true love was, and he hadn't planned on opposing it; as a matter of fact, he'd long accepted it.
It was believed that persons who inherited the ability to manipulate strings would lose sight of their own; and, while this was not acknowledged, preceding generations of string manipulators in their family had not been able to properly connect with their fated. The reason was not only because they could not perceive their own threads, but their ability was so loathed by destiny that they were thrown aside with a miserable fate set upon them, and that is being unable to have their strings connected.
Unlike him, Fon was bound to come across his mate sooner or later; he just knew it even though he was unable to perceive any traces of strings around him, but it was there.
Tsuna smiled and shook his head, deciding to simply relish every single moment he got to share with the man beside him, even though it would never bear fruit. He was content just having him by his side, even if only as friends.
Things are going to be hectic on my side again in the next following weeks because of uni so I'm trying to update this as much as I can. And boy don't you just love an unconsciously smitten Fon lol. Poor Tsuna, hang in there, I won't let anything sad happen between the two of you (hehe)
Also, here we go with our cupid little I-Pin. I had a lot of fun establishing her character in this, so I might write another fic that explores more of her sibling relationship with Tsuna, Lambo, and Fuuta later on.