"Takeshi," a voice called out from downstairs. "Are you busy?"
Takeshi's hand automatically closed around the baseball as it fell towards him and didn't bother throwing it back into the air again. His eyes darted to the clock on his wall, noting that it was 4:30pm. Oyaji would be setting up TakeSushi around this time for people who wanted dinner, since TakeSushi reopen for the afternoon at 5 pm.
"Nope," Takeshi shouted back after a beat too long, rolling off his bed where he had been laying down for an hour or so ever since he had returned from Tsuna's. He had finished most of his homework there, with Gokudera's nagging and Tsuna's frantic attempt to work, fearful of Reborn should he not finish. It was great hanging out with them and normally that would be the end of Takeshi's thoughts, but the words Tsuna spoke as Gokudera and Takeshi were leaving stuck in his mind.
Takeshi knew Tsuna panicked easily, even before he became his friend. After all, the nickname Dame-Tsuna didn't arise from nowhere. Takeshi didn't mind Tsuna's panicking though, since his panicking showed that he cared and despite everything, the stuff Tsuna freaked out over was usually harmless and fun.
Takeshi's mind unwittingly recalled the look on Tsuna's face as they were leaving his house, still the same panicky look like that time when he realized there was a cool talking skull tattoo growing on him, only this time, much, much darker. There was a haunted and heavy quality in his eyes, weighing him down, and even Yamamoto at his most cheerful couldn't dispel it for long.
"On your way back," he blurted out, eyes darting nervously from Gokudera to Yamamoto – not because he was nervous of them, Takeshi knew, since that fell out of habit month ago, but for them. "Please," he said, the casual grip he had on his front gate tightening, "please be careful."
"Juudaime, don't worry. If Mukuro's people come after me, I'll fight them off," Gokudera said, a confident smirk sliding across his face.
Tsuna gave him an uncertain smile, not because he didn't think Gokudera was strong – he proved that already the other day – but because Tsuna worried incessantly like that. Still, he nodded at Gokudera's words, before turning towards Takeshi. "Yamamoto?"
Takeshi had grinned at the time, wide and carefree, and ruffled Tsuna's huge mob of mess he called his hair. It was as soft as it looked. "It's just like Gokudera said," Takeshi said casually, ignoring Gokudera's protest at himfor flippantly touching Tsuna's hair, "no worries. I intend to win this Mafia game."
Tsuna protested as he always did whenever he called whatever they were doing a game, bringing back the sense of normalcy between the three of them before Namimori students began murmuring the name Kokuyo in hushed, fearful whispers. At both of their reassurance, Tsuna did look little better.
Takeshi kept up his smile when he was with Tsuna, but the moment he began to walk home, the smile fell off his face. Takeshi didn't like the situation at all, not because there was danger involved – and Takeshi didn't consider for a second that not being bothered by the danger was unusual – but because it seemed to bother Tsuna so much. He never liked seeing his friend stressed, which was what prompted him to lie down on his bed and play catch with his baseball instead of finishing the rest of his work once he returned home. He always did find himself thinking better when playing baseball.
Takeshi thought about a lot of things within that hour. He thought about his life before Tsuna, but only briefly because that seemed like ages ago and Takeshi didn't remember the days when he wasn't at Tsuna and Gokudera's side, when he wasn't their friend anymore. He couldn't imagine not being at their side in the future either.
It was undeniable, though, that trouble seemed to follow them, particularly Tsuna. Maybe that was why he wasn't surprised when the little guy Reborn revealed that some Mukuro person was attacking Namimori students to lure out Tsuna. When Tsuna decided to fight back, Takeshi thought that he was incredibly brave and was proud to have him as his friend, which was why he didn't back out of the Mafia game when Tsuna asked them to.
Friendship, the dislike of the Kokuyo students' indiscriminate attacks and the promise of some fun were the things that made him decide to stay in the Mafia game. After his fight with the Bloody Twins, however, there was also something else.
He could still remember the exhilarating feeling of the fight, the satisfaction coursing through his body as he moved out of their range with his every sidesteps, the moments when he managed to retaliate with moves of his own. The taste of victory, as delightful as when he had won his first baseball game back in elementary, if not more, on his tongue, the moment of oh no, I'm not going to make it in time he felt when he realized the second twin was about to hit him - the same feeling he had whenever he was just far enough from the base to be tagged before he could reach it, the flash of surprise when Gokudera appeared out of nowhere and saved him despite not wanting to admit it, and the warm glow in his chest when he managed to return the favor and protected Gokudera with his bat.
It was fun, Takeshi realized, as fun as playing baseball.
Takeshi didn't know what to think of that revelation. Baseball was his favorite thing to do since he was a child, back when he saw a baseball game for the first time and immediately said he wanted to play like that. Oyaji supported him in his choice, so years later, Takeshi still played because he enjoyed it.
He liked the way his bat and baseball would always follow his command and even if they initially wouldn't, as long as he worked hard enough, they eventually will. He liked the feeling of uncertainty, the hitting the baseball and then the rush to just throw everything down and run, moving as fast as he can with all his might as flurries of motion whipped around him from both teams. He liked playing surrounded by his teammates and the knowledge that he could trust them to have his back, the shared pride swelling in each of their chest, unspoken but not unacknowledged that without you all, I would have never been able to come so far on my own. Victory never tasted as sweet with his team by his side, and defeat, although never welcomed, was always made less bitter and more bearable with his teammates and their tear-filled declarations of next time, we'll win!
On the other hand, fighting was a whole another thing. Like all kids, Takeshi had been in fights before, but that was years ago back when kids his age reacted with chubby fist whenever they couldn't find the words within their limited vocabulary to talk it out. Takeshi rarely found himself in fights after first grade, well-liked as he was with his easy smile and casual atmosphere. Takeshi had some classmates that he talked to, none whom he was really close to, but no enemies either. It was when he joined the baseball club that he suddenly became popular, and with fans came some enemies.
When his parents came to pick him up from school the first time he fought in elementary, none of them spoke on their way home. It was only when they reached home and his mother was digging through the cabinet to find their first-aid kit that Oyaji took a seat opposite of Takeshi and asked very seriously, "What happened?"
Takeshi sniffled to hold back his tears. Even though he was all grown up and only little kids fight over the smallest things, he was still fearful of getting in trouble. Reluctantly he recounted how a classmate took his notebook and when he asked for it back, he refused to return it and threw it out the window, laughing all the while. Takeshi impulsively punched him and the fight just escalated from there.
Takeshi had watched his father for his reaction then, waiting to see what his father would do. Just as he couldn't take the heavy silence anymore, Oyaji finally lifted his head and with his lips quirked minutely at the corners and eyes sparkling with mirth, he asked, "Did you win?"
"Tsuyoshi, don't encourage him," Kaa-san scolded when she returned with the first-aid kit in hand. Then she turned to Takeshi and said, "You won, right, Takeshi?"
Oyaji laughed aloud at Kaa-san's question then, before both of his parents turned to look at him questioningly, waiting for his answer. When Takeshi didn't speak, stunned as he was at the realization that his parents weren't angry at him from fighting, Kaa-san bent down to his level.
"Takeshi," Kaa-san said, gently turning him to face her. "You know that we're not angry about you fighting, right?"
"B-but Hikaru-sensei said fighting is bad," Takeshi said at the time, not understanding the looks his parents exchanged at his words.
"Takeshi, we don't ever want you to fight to harm," Kaa-san finally settled with saying, after doing the silent communication she sometimes did with Oyaji over his head. "But fighting to protect is something else. In this world, there are people who won't listen to words and sometimes, the only way to get through them is through some violence."
"We're not saying that fighting is ever a good thing," Oyaji said, taking over. "Avoid fighting if you don't have to fight, but don't shy away from violence either when something important to you is threatened."
That day, neither his father nor his mother scolded him for fighting. Instead they both taught him to that it was okay to fight, as long as he did not abuse the strength that they had borne him and use it for purposes they won't approve.
After that, on the rare occasions that he did return from a fight, his Oyaji would take one look at him, take out the first-aid kit and ask two questions. One was "What happened?" and the other was, without a fail, after Takeshi explained the circumstance, "Did you win?" accompanied with a grin that silently told him that he approved the choices that Takeshi made.
Takeshi didn't tell Oyaji about him agreeing to fight against the Kokuyo students with Tsuna, but he knew his father wouldn't disapprove. It was only that Takeshi had never considered himself prone or drawn to violence, not the way Hibari obviously was, so to suddenly realize that he considered fighting fun was a little surprising.
Takeshi silently wondered what that said about him, as he ran downstairs to TakeSushi. "Oyaji, what's up?" Takeshi asked, looking at his father.
"Takeshi, we're almost out of cucumber. Go to the market and buy some for me, alright?" Oyaji said.
"Sure," Takeshi replied cheerful, banishing his previous train of thought from his mind. "Just enough for this evening?"
"Yeah. The batch I ordered will arrive tomorrow."
"Okay," Takeshi said, slipping on his shoes. "I'll be right back then."
Xxx
It didn't take Takeshi long to reach the market, since they lived pretty close to it. As he ambled past the stalls to find cucumbers to buy at a relatively low price, he distantly became aware of someone's eyes on him.
Takeshi turned in that direction without thinking and found himself facing a girl that looked familiar. Upon noticing his gaze, the girl blushed slightly.
Ah, Takeshi thought, recalling why she looked so familiar. She's in the same class as me. I don't remember her name though.
"Hello," Takeshi greeted with his customary grin. "You're in my class, right?"
The girl's eyes widened with surprise when Takeshi spoke to her, before nodding after getting over her surprise. "Yeah, I am," the girl said. Her eyes darted to the way Yamamoto's body was partially facing the stall that he was in front of, which said that he was buying something from it and not just passing by. "Yamamoto-kun is here to buy your grocery?"
Takeshi found his hand drifting to the back of his head unconsciously and let out a laugh. "Eh, kinda? TakeSushi is running low on cucumber, so…"
"Oh, right, your family owns a sushi bar," the girl said. A few awkward beat passed. Takeshi thought he should probably say something, but talking to a girl had never been his forte. In school, his fan girls always go to him in groups, so one of them would always keep up the conversation. Without that, he suddenly found himself at loss at what to say. "Um… I probably shouldn't hold you then."
Takeshi gave the girl another of his natural smile. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then," Takeshi said.
His classmate blinked a beat later and nodded. "Right. See you tomorrow, Yamamoto-kun," she said. She made a move to leave, before pausing to turn back to him. "And Yamamoto-kun," she said haltingly. "If you want to buy cucumber, there are some on sales three stalls down."
Takeshi blinked in surprise, before nodding. At the exact moment, his brain finally seemed to had placed the girl's face with a name. "Thank you, Natsume-chan."
Takeshi turned in the direction Natsume indicted before he could see her reaction. He was running a little late. As he was walking, Takeshi wondered if he had imagined the little noise that escaped from her direction when he thanked her, but shrugged it off.
Takeshi didn't make it past the first stall before he felt a pairs of eyes on him again. "Natsume-chan?" Takeshi said as he turned, wondering if the girl needed something, only to freeze when he spotted the person who he felt the gaze originated from.
The person's lips curled back sharply upon seeing Takeshi's reaction. "You were the guy that defeated the Bloody Twins, weren't cha?" the guy said as he stepping forward and revealing his green Kokuyo uniform.
A strange calm settled into Takeshi as he took stock of the situation. Although he didn't choose to reveal himself yet, there was also another guy still in the shadows wearing the same Kokuyo uniform and a pair of glasses.
"Yeah," Takeshi replied with a carefree grin, as some kind of adrenaline bleed through his body. "What's up?"
"We would like you to tell us the location of your leader," the other guy said, revealing himself so silently that it was creepy.
They were talking about Tsuna, Takeshi eventually realized and tried his best to not react for fear of giving something away.
Instead, Takeshi pulled out his most guileless look and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, but the Kokuyo students didn't look fooled in the least.
The wind drifted towards them then, bringing light-weighted leaves caught in the draft and a hint of the everyday conversations people in the open market were having, and abruptly, Takeshi became all too aware of the people around him.
"Hey, does it mean that I can fight him?" the first guy said, a bloodthirsty gleam sliding into his eyes like it was its proper place.
"Wait, Ken," the second guy said, not appearing surprised at Takeshi's reply or Ken's response. He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and continued to address Takeshi. "I would rather we not make a scene here," he murmured, "especially since you wouldn't be able to win against both of us." He looked at Takeshi and in that moment, his glasses gleamed with some sort of unspoken threat. "It would be best if you don't resist."
Takeshi could tell both the Ken guy and the glasses guy were being serious. There was no way he could win against both of them, and even if he somehow made it possible, it was impossible to do so without getting some of the Namimori inhabitants involved.
In the corner of his eyes, Takeshi noticed Natsume in the background, looking between the Kokuyo guys and Takeshi with wide-eyes. Takeshi pulled his eyes away from her and forced his tense shoulders to shrug at the Kokuyo guys instead. "Alright," he said casually, inwardly hoping she wouldn't go after them.
The glasses guy nodded like he expected his answer, while Ken actually looked disappointed. "Aw," he said with a somewhat demented pout. "No fun."
The glasses guy ignored him and turned to Takeshi. "Let's go," he said monotonously. Ken started walking and Takeshi, knowing they wanted him to follow, reluctantly did that. The glasses guy started walking a beat after Takeshi, taking the back and successfully trapping Takeshi between them.
xxx
Takeshi made a move to break free the moment they stepped away from the busy market and into an empty park with plenty of trees to cover the happenings of the inside from the outside world, but it seemed like the two Kokuyo students read his mind.
"Wolf Channel," was all Takeshi heard before claws aimed to sink into his back. Takeshi instinctively moved backwards, but was a split second too late. While Takeshi had his inborn athletic and instincts on his side, Ken moved with finely tuned, animalistic reflexes backed by numerous past battles.
Takeshi let out a cry as pain unfelt before entrenched itself into his vulnerable back, and fell without meaning to. The claws weren't as deep as they would have been had they made direct contact, but the wound was still pretty painful.
Takeshi gritted his teeth and forced himself roll to the right, just as a yoyo courtesy of the glasses guy slammed into his previous spot. Takeshi didn't even have time to think something carefree like lucky, before the animal guy Ken was on him, heaving him up by the shirt. He leaned in close and peered at him, a predatory smile across his face.
"C'mon," he taunted, "no more fight in ya, byon?"
Takeshi breathed heavily through his nose, struggling to control his breath after their brief tussle. His muscles screamed at him, reminding him of the battle he fought just the day before against the Bloody Twins, and his back twinge with pain in reminder of the wound he just received. Takeshi tried to redistribute his weight so he wouldn't aggravate the open wound, but gave up soon enough because that little injury was the least of his problems now. "You guys were attacking our school's students, weren't you?"
"Hey, so you do know what we were talking about before," Ken said with a wide grin. A dark, heavy gleam entered his eyes. "I hate people who lie," he said dangerously.
"Ken," the glasses guy called, placing a hand on Ken's shoulder. Takeshi had a feeling that had it been anyone else, Ken wouldn't have hesitated ripping that arm off. "If you harm him too badly, he wouldn't be able to talk."
"And we don't want Mukuro-sama to use his power any more than necessary," Ken said, voice turning serious as he finished what the glasses guy left unsaid. A beat passed before the shadows in his eyes receded. He shrugged off the glasses guy's arm and got off Takeshi. "Okay, fine, fine, Kakipi."
Takeshi watched as Kakipi nodded his head briefly, before turning his gaze on him. There was something unnerving about his blank, yet intense eyes.
"Where's the Vongola heir?" he said, short and to the point.
Takeshi blinked at the question, tension leaving his body at once as bemusement took over. "Who?"
Takeshi didn't expect the fist that slammed into his stomach or the strength that accompanied the punch. He let out a gasp as air left his lungs in a whoosh.
Kakipi bent down to Takeshi's level and grabbed his hair, pulling Takeshi who was sprawled on the ground up to his level. Takeshi winced as pain assaulted his senses, yet even through all the pain, he was acutely aware of the blank eyes that bore into his person. "Just because I didn't let Ken beat you to a pulp," he said softly, yet no less dangerously, "it doesn't mean that I won't hurt you."
"Ya better listen to him," Ken piped up with what Takeshi considered as an inappropriately amused grin, considering Takeshi's currently situation. "He is a four-eyed kappa, but he can be damn scary when he wanna be, byon."
"Which is whenever you're being an idiot," Kakipi replied rather automatically.
They're close, Takeshi noted randomly from the Kokuyo students' interaction and ah, he could somewhat understand why Gokudera called him an empty-headed idiot now. He really should think of a way to get himself out of the situation instead.
"Hey!" Ken protested at Kakipi's words, only to suddenly look towards the entrance of the park. Kakipi mimicked his action a moment later.
By the time Takeshi wondered what had caught their attentions, Ken was already in front of the group that marched in. Takeshi's eyes widened when he spotted the multiple separate pompadour. It was a group of the disciplinary committee that usually patrolled around.
"Hey, this area is patrolled by Namimori's Disciplinary Committee," one of them said. "Get outta here now if you know what's good for you, and" – his eyes flickered to Takeshi for a moment – "let him go. That's our Namimori student."
In the back of his mind, Takeshi wondered how he knew when he wasn't wearing his Namimori uniform. It wasn't like the Disciplinary Committee recognized all its students, after all.
A cruel grin spread across Ken's face as he ignored what the Committee member said. "You're not important," Kenidentified, and that was all the warning he gave before he struck out at the group.
"Hey!" Takeshi instinctively protested, trying to get up, but Kakipi suddenly slammed Takeshi's head by the hair he still gripped into the ground. Takeshi's head spun as pain spiked.
"Shut up," Kakipi said dispassionately. Takeshi's vision blurred as Kakipi raised his voice, presumably in Ken's direction and shouted, "I'm bringing him back first, Ken."
"Sure. See ya back at Kokyou Land," Ken's eerily happy voice replied, piercing deep into Takeshi's brain, and that was the last thing Takeshi heard before he blacked out.