Chapter Text
Six months had passed since Hayato found his Sky; six months of heaven on Earth. No longer were his days filled with anger and desperation; instead he had the glow of Harmony and the routine of life with Tsuna-sama. He still had nightmares sometimes, less often than before but worse, horrors he could never have conceived of in his old life. He dreamed that Tsuna-sama died in a dozen painful ways, and waking alone in his rat-hole apartment was no comfort. He needed to see that his Sky was all right, and after an especially bad night, he couldn’t bear to wait for morning.
Pulling on whatever clothing was in reach, he stumbled out the door and through the darkened streets of Namimori to Tsuna-sama’s house. There, the lingering warmth of Sky Flames was enough to soothe him. He wouldn’t dare to interrupt Tsuna-sama’s rest, and he was no stranger to sleeping rough, so he tucked himself into the doorway to doze away the rest of the night.
He had only been there a few minutes when the door clicked open. Standing there was Tsuna-sama, who had saved his life in more ways than one; his boss, his Sky, his superior in all things. Hayato laid his head on the floorboards. “Deepest apologies for disturbing your rest, Decimo.”
“I don’t mind, Hayato. Come in.” Tsuna-sama turned aside to plug in the kotatsu, then lifted the edge of the blanket. Hayato obeyed the silent order and laid himself under it; Tsuna-sama crawled in beside him. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
He didn’t, but he would not keep secrets from his Sky. “I had … a nightmare. I was at your funeral. You died and I wasn’t good enough to save you!”
Tsuna-sama rubbed his back. “This isn’t the first time you’ve had a nightmare like that, is it?”
“No, Decimo.”
“Hayato, tomorrow you’re going to pack up your things and bring them here. There’s room.”
Hayato gaped at him. “You would permit me …?”
His Sky smiled. “Hayato, you’ve got to stop thinking like a mook. You’re my Storm, my Right Hand, you’re there for me when I’m weak. You deserve a place under my roof. Clear?”
“Clear, Decimo.” Tsuna-sama’s Flames enveloped him, their warmth combined with the kotatsu; Hayato surrendered to them. He belonged to Tsuna-sama, to order as he pleased.
***
Now Hayato slept in the Sawadas’ spare room; Nana didn’t seem to care, or notice, that she had an extra boarder, and so he had three meals a day and a roof over his head, no questions asked. He rose at dawn as usual, to join his Sky in morning training, along with Takeshi and Reborn.
“Good morning,” chirped the tutor from his perch on Tsuna-sama’s head. “I’ve planned something special for our session today.”
Tsuna-sama rolled his eyes. “Is it snakes? Again?”
The hitman just smirked, which was never a good sign. A few minutes into their run, Ryohei the boxing maniac jogged up to them. “Reborn-san! I am extremely grateful for your training advice and for this extreme uniform you have provided!”
Said uniform consisted of a green spandex body suit, yellow leg warmers, and a bowl-cut wig. Hayato clenched his jaw to keep from laughing. Tsuna-sama snickered. “You’re evil, Reborn.”
Takeshi said, “You’re looking very youthful today, Ryohei-kun.”
Reborn, the World’s Greatest Troll, announced, “Ryohei, your assignment today is to run one hundred laps around the school – backwards.”
“I’m extremely ready! Let’s go!” Ryohei dashed off, backwards, and Hayato pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Please tell me he isn’t going to end up as Sun Guardian.”
“That would be extremely exhausting,” replied Tsuna-sama.
***
After training, the Familgia returned to Tsuna-sama’s house for breakfast and more importantly, coffee. Hayato was in charge of the machine, a high-end espresso maker that was Tsuna-sama and Nana’s gift to the household. A spoon-melting Turkish blend for Reborn, a medium roast for himself, mocha for Tsuna-sama and decaf latte for Lambo. Takeshi, I-pin and Nana preferred green tea; a fourth tea cup sat on the windowsill in case Hibari decided to show up.
“You all take your coffee so seriously,” said Takeshi.
“It’s a proud Italian tradition,” Hayato proclaimed.
“Haha, I get it – Italians are mostly Christian, so this must be Holy Communion!”
Oh God, he almost laughed at that; his sense of humor was being corrupted. Hayato sneered. “Idiot.”
Sitting on the counter beside the machine, Reborn pulled his fedora over his eyes. “Amen.”
***
It was the first day of Tsuna’s second year of middle school, and not much had changed. He had a sheaf of papers about upcoming school events; after last year’s fiasco, Sports Day was being replaced by a cultural festival, to be held jointly with Namimori High. Calligraphy was on the list of clubs again, and so was music. He, Hayato and Takeshi were in the same class again; Tsuna suspected that Hibari had pulled strings (or thumped heads) even though he was now in high school. The school bullies had apparently decided they were safe from the Cloud’s discipline, and tried to corner Tsuna by the shoe lockers. He was momentarily alone; Takeshi had been held up by the baseball coach, and Hayato was in the lavatory.
“Hey, Dame-Tsuna. Looks like your friends finally ditched you. They get tired of having a loser tag-along?”
Tsuna remembered Hayato laying his head on Tsuna’s knee; Takeshi proudly introducing him to his father; both of them standing vigil while he battled the seal on his Flames. “I doubt that, Honda-senpai.”
His calm confidence took them aback for a moment; they were too used to his old, shy self. The other bully, Kuno, visibly dismissed the change. “A no-good like you doesn’t have real friends. What’cha gonna do when Blondie dumps you? Cry?”
Attend his funeral, probably; it was the only way Hayato would ever leave him. A sad smile crossed Tsuna’s face. Hayato was willing to die for him and that was a lot to live up to. These two thugs would never understand. It was only now sinking in that Tsuna wasn’t afraid of them.
“I think we oughta remind you of your place around here,” Honda sneered. His place? Oh, if only they knew.
Hayato emerged from the washroom. “Are these two bothering you, Decimo?”
“Not really.” Tsuna looked past Honda’s shoulder. “Hello, Hibari-san.”
Kuno scoffed. “Like we’re going to fall for that, you – ”
“For harassing the Small Omnivore, I shall bite you to death!” They shouldn’t have been so surprised; the high school was right next to the middle school. Tsuna left Hibari to it and strolled out through the school yard, Hayato at his elbow as usual.
“My deepest apologies, Decimo, for being out of position.”
“It couldn’t be helped, Hayato. And I wasn’t about to let them do anything to me.”
“Che. Those worms aren’t worthy to feel your fists.”
Tsuna scratched his neck, embarrassed. Outside the school gates, he spotted another familiar face. “Irie-san! How are you? I thought you went to school in Kokuyo!”
“I do; we’re on an earlier schedule. And Shoichi is fine. I came over to ask Gokudera about a project.”
Hayato scowled. “Have you been messing with that stupid bazooka?” And really, who thought it was a good idea to turn a bazooka into a time machine? And then give it to a preschooler?
“No,no,” Shoichi assured them. “I don’t want to cause a paradox. But I was thinking, if time travel is possible, why not perpetual motion?”
Just like that, Hayato’s mood flipped from grouchy to enthusiastic. “Really? How are you going to get around the thermodynamics?”
“With machinery alone, it would be impossible – but this one’s going to run on Flames!”
Hayato lit up. He looked between Shoichi and Tsuna, torn between duty and curiosity; Tsuna smiled. “Takeshi will be here in a minute, he can take me home. Go have some fun, Hayato.” Hayato still didn’t move from his side until Takeshi arrived.
***
Takeshi listens to the coach politely; he’s not surprised to be approached, though he’s left baseball behind. He declines; his place is elsewhere now. “Maa, I would be holding the rest of the team back.” Without him to cover their lack, the players must train themselves. Train their skills. And still the coach doesn’t see.
“Surely your arm is fully healed by now, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, Sensei.” He’s not; he is free, with only the boundless Sky to rule him. He leaves; the school is empty around him. Tsuna is waiting, and Takeshi has a duty. “I’m sorry for taking so long, Tsuna-kun.”
“It’s about time, baseball idiot!”
“That’s all right, Takeshi-kun.”
Storm yields to Rain, his eyes to guard, his arm to shield him. It’s for Tsuna that Takeshi took up the blade; when he holds steel, he feels real. It’s too much for this ordinary place, so he hides; only the Sky knows his true face. “Training tonight, Tsuna-kun.”
“Yeah, after we pick up the kids.” Tsuna smiles; at his side, Takeshi is all of himself.
***
Tsuna’s Elements had been mother-henning him ever since winter break, when they had witnessed him tackle the seal on his Flames. From their reactions, it must have looked as awful as it felt, but it was working. The seal was mostly gone now, and Tsuna could feel the difference; he could pay attention in class today. He might even get good grades this year. Maybe he could learn to swim!
It was a short walk to the elementary school, where the younger children were running around in the yard with a couple of teachers watching them.
“Tsuna-nii! Tsuna-nii!” Lambo pelted across the grass, I-pin close behind him, and tackled Tsuna’s shins. Takeshi’s hand on his back stopped him from toppling over.
“Hi there, Lambo, I-pin. How was your first day of kindergarten?”
“It was great!” Lambo crowed. “There are so many kids here! But none of them are as awesome as Lucky Lambo, bwa-ha-ha!”
I-pin elbowed him. “Your head is broccoli! I-pin had a good time.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Tsuna let I-pin climb onto his shoulder – by now he was used to the weight – and got a firm grip on Lambo’s hand. One of the teachers strolled up to them.
“Pardon me, are you Sawada-kun?”
“I am,” Tsuna replied. “I hope these two weren’t any trouble.”
“Oh, none at all,” the teacher assured him. “I wanted to thank you for informing us about I-pin-chan’s epilepsy and the device in her hair clip to treat it. It’s important for a school to have that kind of information.”
Tsuna scratched his neck. “Well, her seizures are pretty alarming.” And that was putting it mildly. “We didn’t want her having one in the middle of class.”
“You’re such a thoughtful boy. Your mother must be so proud.”
“Yes, well …” Nana loved him, he was sure of that, but proud of him? She was convinced of his no-good reputation; that bothered him less than it used to, now that he had his Elements and his Famiglia around him. “Come along, you two, let’s go have a snack.”
“Lucky Lambo wants grapes! Can we play catch with Takeshi-nii?”
“Ahaha, as long as we’re away from any windows!”
***
Watching his students dodge bullets always gave Reborn a warm fuzzy feeling. He was hot on their heels, chasing them through the woods around Kokuyo Land; Fluffy-Tsuna had no trouble dodging – he was capable of catching bullets, if he exerted himself – and his Right and Left Hands were taking their cues from him. Already, after only weeks of group training; such was the strength of their Guardian bonds.
“At least he’s using rubber bullets this time,” Fluffy-Tsuna called out.
Little did they know he was doing so because the less dangerous rounds were more difficult for Hyper Intuition to detect. Reborn had seen many things in his long Mafia career, but seeing his fluffy student progress to quickly still sent sparks of excitement along his nerves.
He paused to reload. The three teens kept moving; good. The other point of this exercise was to learn the terrain of the area, such as the creek they were about to fall into. The splash was music to his ears. By the time he caught up to them, the boys had climbed onto the bank and were wringing out their shirts. Amusement bubbled up in his chest; Tsuna and Hayato were sneaking glances at each other’s bare skin. When they inevitably caught each other looking, both of them turned bright red. Takeshi appeared oblivious, but Reborn could sense his hidden grin.
He waited a few moments before rescuing his students from embarrassment. “You shouldn’t be so quick to let your guard down, Fluffy-Tsuna.”
Tsuna just gave him a flat look. “Are we done?”
Reborn suppressed a pout; it was no fun when his student could sense that he didn’t intend to shoot. He couldn’t even startle Tsuna into flaring his Flames anymore. He hopped onto Tsuna’s shoulder. “Get back to the café and dry off. On the way you can tell me what the point of this exercise was.”
Tsuna rolled his eyes. “Apart from dodging bullets without tripping over each other?”
“We learned that there’s a creek there,” said Takeshi.
“Idiot,” snorted Hayato, but the tone indicated he agreed.
“Better to learn that now than in a real emergency,” said Tsuna. “Also, we need to stock the secret base with towels. And changes of clothes.” Ah, he was getting wise to Reborn’s teaching methods; time to take things to the next level.
“Since you know my methods so well, Fluffy-Tsuna, you’re going to create the training plan for the next stage of your training.”
“Hieeee?!”
Reborn smirked; he still had it.