Tsuna sighed. He had thought that after the whole incident in the future, things would settle down for a bit and he'd be able to recuperate before some other worldly disaster decided to strike and somehow only he and his Guardians would be able to stop it. Seriously—why did that seem to be the pattern here? How could a world catastrophe hinge on him? He was just Dame-Tsuna, who was too embarrassed to get a date with the girl of his dreams, who was afraid of small dogs, who failed nearly every test, etc.
And speaking of tests, he was currently holed up in his room (as per Reborn's orders) to study for a history exam that happened in two days. Gokudera was teaching him, as per usual, and Yamamoto would be with them but he was currently at baseball practice, having missed so many days when they were in the future.
Tsuna's eyes glazed over as Gokudera furiously scribbled a series of complicated charts that Tsuna knew he'd never understand. The pencil markings and white paper blurred together in his mind and he resumed his previous thoughts.
So, he thought that things would seem like a piece of cake after battling what had to be the world's most dangerous villain ever. But no—the gods continued to torment him and now Tsuna was faced with the decision of a lifetime and he had to deal with a family he had never heard about! They seemed nice enough, but Tsuna felt a little wary of them. Especially Suzuki. She terrified him even more than Hibari because Tsuna knew for a fact that Hibari was more or less on his side. As for Suzuki . . . Tsuna couldn't be too sure. He usually trusted people despite their appearance, but perhaps in response to everything that had happened in the future, Tsuna found himself more suspicious of people in the mafia than he originally was.
But enough of that. What in the world was he going to tell the Ninth? Tsuna really didn't want to be the Vongola Decimo despite everything he'd been through, but it was because of everything that he'd been through that he was hesitant. He felt torn between trying to live a peaceful life and letting down the friends he had made. What if he—
"—and that concludes the Shimabara Rebellion," Gokudera said, bringing Tsuna back to the present. He gazed up at Tsuna with hopeful eyes. "Does that make sense, Tenth?"
Tsuna scrunched up his face and stared at the confusing piece of paper. When his brain made no remarkable discoveries, Tsuna snatched the paper and held it up close to his face, vainly hoping that if he brought it closer to his brain then he'd be able to make better sense of it. After a few minutes he got a headache and Gokudera's scribbles swam in and out of focus.
He moaned and laid his head on the desk. "I can't do it, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna wailed. "I'm still just Dame-Tsuna!"
"Please don't call yourself that, Tenth!" Gokudera pleaded. Once he had the brunette's attention, the bomber flashed him a wide smile. "We'll just have to find another way for you to understand it! There are many different ways to study or understand something, so we just won't stop until we find the way that's best for you!"
Deciding that Gokudera's logic sounded pretty good, Tsuna sighed and nodded. That sent Gokudera into another frenzy as he wracked his brains for a solution to Tsuna's problem. Tsuna resisted the urge to groan and instead settled for just watching the silver-haired boy. A warm smile made its way onto Tsuna's face as he contemplated how far along Gokudera had come from when they first met.
Before, Gokudera would recklessly place himself in between Tsuna and whatever danger they happened to be facing that day, almost as if he were trying to get himself killed. Then during the Ring Battles Tsuna was able to convince Gokudera to abandon the Storm Ring so he could live, and Tsuna couldn't have been more pleased. But Tsuna was even more pleased when Gokudera redefined his definition of being Tsuna's right-hand man in the future. The brown-haired boy couldn't help but feel a bit of parental pride at Gokudera's words. The bomber had come a long way and Tsuna was happy to have been a part of it.
It was obvious to him that Gokudera had grown up with a lot of problems and shortcomings. And although Reborn had told Tsuna about Gokudera's past relationship with his mother, Tsuna knew that was only the tip of the iceberg. After knowing him for so long, it was obvious that Gokudera was a very complex person, and it sometimes pained Tsuna to think about all that might have happened to his friend to make him like that.
There were times Tsuna would lay awake in bed, thinking about what he could do to help the bomber. Tsuna knew that despite what Gokudera said, his relationship with their "Family" that Reborn had created was the most important thing to him. Upon returning to the future, Tsuna had taken to watching Gokudera very closely. He noticed that although Gokudera fought just as loudly with Yamamoto, Lambo, and Ryohei as he always did, there was an underlying fondness that wasn't there before. Tsuna had even caught a glimpse of Gokudera's smile as he watched the others when he thought no one was looking.
It even seemed like their experiences in the future had heightened that feeling, because Tsuna just knew that Gokudera was training harder than before. Try as he might to hide it, Tsuna could see the bruises and band aids that appeared every so often. It was a little alarming at times, but Tsuna knew that this was Gokudera's strange way of expressing his affection, and so he kept quiet about it.
And so after much pondering, Tsuna came to the conclusion that the best he could do for Gokudera would be to continue to smile and send him a few more compliments every now and then.
Gokudera paused in speaking to himself and looked at Tsuna suspiciously. " . . . Tenth? Is something the matter?"
"Hm?" Tsuna blinked. Then he realized he must look really stupid staring at Gokudera like that and his face heated up with a furious blush. "Oh, I—that is . . . um . . . what were you saying?"
It didn't look like Gokudera was properly appeased, but thankfully Tsuna was saved by someone slamming the door open.
"Gyahahahaha! Here comes Lambo-sama!"
On second thought—perhaps he was better off trying to explain himself to Gokudera. Tsuna already knew how this would turn out.
Cue Gokudera. "Shut up, you damn stupid cow! The Tenth is trying to study!"
Now Lambo. "Study? Let me help! Lambo-sama knows a lot more than stupid Stupidera!"
The retort. "Yeah right! You're just a stupid cow who still wears diapers!"
Lambo gets embarrassed and figures fighting is the best way to cover it up. "That . . . that was only once, Stupidera! Lambo-sama wasn't feeling good that day!" Lambo then reached into his hair and started pulling various weapons out. First came the Ten-year Bazooka followed by a few grenades. Lambo tossed aside the bazooka and positioned himself with the grenades, which was actually a rather scary image if one thought about it enough. Here was a five-year-old child who knew how to use a grenade and had an unknown amount of them stashed in his hair. Really, how had Tsuna's life come to this?
And now they trash my room and I end up never getting any studying done, Tsuna thought to himself with a sigh. He glanced up and sighed again. And then a Ten-Year Bazooka bullet comes falling down on me and—WHAT?
Time seemed to slow as the enormous bullet came whizzing towards him almost as if it had a homing device installed in it. Lambo must have accidentally pulled the trigger when tossing the bazooka off to the side.
This was certainly a new development in Tsuna' daily routine, and he could only sit in paralyzed fear as it got closer and closer. Tsuna was never really one to swear, but when the bullet was mere centimeters from his face he uttered the one word that seemed appropriate.
"Shit."
----------------------------------------------------------
As Tsuna traveled through the time vortex or whatever it was called, his stomach churned in apprehension and fear. Would things be better upon his return? Were their older counterparts able to put everything back together? Would Tsuna replace his older self in a battle? Or a meeting? How many things could go wrong here?
Too many to count. Tsuna just prayed he ended up somewhere simple and that the Bazooka actually worked this time and he wouldn't be forced to spend months in the future again.
His landing was less than satisfactory. Tsuna landed butt-first on cold, hard cement. After checking to make sure there was no one trying to kill him, Tsuna gingerly picked himself up off the ground and rubbed his painful backside.
It looked like he was in a sort of abandoned alleyway. Tsuna involuntarily shivered at the eeriness of it and the cold breeze that brushed against him. Tsuna spared another second to make sure that there was absolutely no one dangerous near him then rushed towards the street.
There were no familiar landmarks of which to orient himself, and so Tsuna tried to look around for someone who could help him. It looked like it was nearing the end of mid-day, so there were a fair amount of people walking about. There were two women coming his way, and despite the fact that one of them had a small dog (which appeared very scary to Tsuna) he nonetheless gathered up the courage to speak to them. Hopefully they would be able to answer his questions.
"Così, il mio marito è andato fino a lunedì."
"Davvero? Che l'uomo è così impegnati. Come pensate?"
Tsuna's enthusiasm vanished. Could this day get any worse? Tsuna's Hyper Intuition told him that they were speaking Italian, which actually made sense because if his future self was the Vongola Decimo, it was to be expected that he'd visit Italy every so often. Not that it did him any good in this situation. He didn't know any Italian. Oh well—all he'd have to do is wait out the next five minutes and pray that nothing went wrong.
He sighed and started walking, his hands in the pockets of his dark-blue sweatshirt. His figured that the best way to occupy his time would be to see if he could find any of his Guardians. They couldn't be too far off, right? Tsuna couldn't imagine being able to go anywhere by himself without his Guardians knowing first, especially what with the incident with Byakuran and all. Tsuna briefly wondered how everyone reacted once they learned that Tsuna hadn't really died. Would they be furious? Of course they would. He—
Tsuna's thoughts were interrupted when he felt the unmistakable poke of something sharp and metal in his back. He froze at the feeling and mentally swore at his luck.
"Dammi il tuo denaro!"
Well, Tsuna certainly wasn't versed in Italian, but he did recognize that "denaro" meant money (it was the only word that had gotten through during a brief lesson in Italian from Reborn) so this was most likely a mugging. Just his luck—he goes to the future in a country where he has no idea what's happening and he gets robbed! Tsuna found himself grateful that Reborn had made it mandatory for him to have his mittens and Dying Will Pills on him at all times. Hopefully he could just give the robber all the money he had on him and there wouldn't be any unnecessary violence. Tsuna was prepared to get away with his flames if he needed to, but the attention it would garner wasn't something he really wanted.
The knife dug a little deeper against his back and Tsuna lifted his arms up slightly in a symbol of surrender. He then slowly turned around so he could more easily give his money to the mugger. Yet when he saw who the person threatening him was, Tsuna couldn't help but let his mouth fall open in shock.
"Siete mi darà i soldi o mi guarda come un idiota, bastardo?"
Tsuna could only stare. How . . . what . . . There was a mini-Gokudera growling at him with a knife in his hands. The kid couldn't be any older than ten, and Tsuna was beyond confused. What were the odds that he'd run into a kid that looked just like his friend?
"Che cosa sta fissando?"
This just had to be a coincidence. That was the only explanation, right? The Gokudera look-alike pushed the knife against Tsuna's chest and the brunette swallowed.
"Uh . . . I'm really sorry but I don't understand what you're saying." Perhaps if he feigned ignorance with this kid he could get off without having to hand over his money.
The kid (whom Tsuna now realized was wearing rather dirty clothes and looked a little too thin for his age) frowned and looked a little contemplative.
"So you're from Japan?" the kid asked in flawless Japanese.
Tsuna could only gape at the kid. What were the odds? Realizing he should answer, Tsuna nodded. For some reason the boy smiled a little and looked a little . . . hopeful?
"What's your name then?" he asked.
"Uh . . . Mochida," Tsuna said. "Toshinobu Mochida." It wasn't the best cover name, but Tsuna couldn't use his own name or the name of any of his Guardians since they most likely were in the city. That could cause many problems for him.
"Oh." The kid looked a little disappointed.
"Well . . . what's your name?" Tsuna asked. The kid had lowered the knife, but it was high enough to still be considered a threat.
The silver-haired kid gave him a glance over then reluctantly admitted, "Hayato Gok—I mean, Gokudera Hayato."
This couldn't be real, could it? I got hit by the Ten-Year Bazooka which means I had to go to the future. And even if I was sent to the past, I'm pretty sure I've never gone to Italy in my life. Even if I did, I would have my parents nearby, right? Then Tsuna got an idea. "Hey um . . . Gokudera-kun? What year is it?"
Gokudera gave him a look that clearly said he thought Tsuna was an idiot, but nonetheless answered. "2005."
Tsuna's eyes widened. So that meant he was five years in the past, but as for why he was in Italy he still had no idea. He only hoped that the time frame the Bazooka gave him was relatively the same.
Then the fact that he was dealing with a nine-year-old Gokudera truly hit Tsuna and he mentally freaked. What should he do? Should he run away? Should he try to help Gokudera? Would his mere presence change the future?
Unable to answer his questions, Tsuna then focused all his attention on the younger Gokudera in front of him, who was looking at Tsuna like he was insane. Tsuna's heart clenched as he really took in little Gokudera's appearance. His clothes were ripped and dirty, hair was matted and unruly, and his cheeks were a little sunk in. Tears nearly came to Tsuna's eyes as he realized his five-year younger friend was most likely starving and living in alleyways like the one he had appeared in. Gokudera had only been on his own for a year now, and it didn't look like he was faring very well.
The little Gokudera took a few steps backwards and tightened his grip on the small knife. "Wh-What are you looking at me like that for, weirdo?"
Tsuna blushed slightly as he realized how strange he probably looked at the moment. "I'm uh . . . sorry I just got some dust in my eye or something," he said as he quickly wiped his eyes.
Gokudera didn't look all that convinced. "Um . . . okay. Well—I'll just let you off for now 'cause I doubt you have any real money I can use anyway." He pocketed the knife and started walking away.
In that moment, Tsuna knew that repercussions on the future or not—he had to help Gokudera. Even though they wouldn't meet for another five years, he couldn't live with himself if he let the starving boy leave without trying to help him out. Tsuna rushed forward and grabbed Gokudera's arm. "Hey, wait!"
Gokudera looked up at him in absolute fear and tried to squirm out of his grasp. Tsuna winced as he realized that he was most likely scaring the kid half to death, but if he let go now then Gokudera would take off faster than he could run and it'd ruin his chances.
"Listen, Gokudera-kun—I swear I don't want to hurt you. I just thought you might like some candy." Gokudera stopped squirming for a moment and stared up at Tsuna with disbelieving eyes. "No, really! I'm sorry I don't have any Italian money, but I do have some Japanese candy." When Gokudera continued to stare at him, Tsuna sighed and reached into his sweatshirt pocket. "Look, how about I taste it first, and then you can have it."
Tsuna pulled out a handful of candies (which, coincidentally were given to him from Gokudera before they started studying) and held them out for Gokudera to inspect. Gokudera alternated between looking at Tsuna and then looking at the candy, in which time Tsuna put on his warmest, most trustworthy smile.
Eventually, it seemed like Gokudera's hunger wore out and he nodded. Beaming, Tsuna let go of Gokudera's arm and unwrapped one of the pieces (which he knew to be one of Gokudera's favorites) and popped it in his mouth. He sucked on it for a few seconds then spit it out.
"There . . . see?" Tsuna said as he held out the candy. "It's perfectly safe." After a few seconds of reflection, Gokudera snatched the candy and put it in his mouth. He did so with such a ferocity that Tsuna fought back the tears again as he realized just how hungry Gokudera had to be. He pocketed the rest of the candy for the moment before he had a brilliant idea. It might not work, but he could try.
Tsuna reached into his pant pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and was unable to quiet the small cheer he gave when he realized it was still there. "Hey, Gokudera-kun?" The boy glanced up at him, one cheek puffed out from the candy. "Okay, so I don't know if this will work, but I might be able to buy you a nice big meal. Only thing is that I'll need your help to see if it will work, okay?"
" . . . What's your plan?" Gokudera asked.
"I might be able to use this!" Tsuna said, flashing the golden credit card. It looked like any normal credit card, except for the small Vongola crest in the bottom right-hand corner. Reborn had given it to him upon returning from the future, claiming it was a gift from the Ninth Boss. When asked why, Reborn explained that Tsuna needed to start getting used to the benefits of being a future Boss of the Vongola Family, and that began with the money.
He could go anywhere in the world and the amount charged would instantly be converted to whatever the currency in that particular country used. At the time Tsuna had been freaked out by the power that simple card held and declared he would never use it. Reborn then kicked him and said that he had to keep it anyway. Now he was grateful.
There was no guarantee that it would still work five years earlier, but Tsuna figured he might as well give it a shot.
Gokudera raised an eyebrow. "But you don't even know Italian—how can you have a credit card with Italian money?"
"My uh . . . Italian uncle gave this to me and so um . . . I'm hoping it will work." Tsuna glanced around. "How about we test it out on something? Is there anything around here you'd like?" As Gokudera looked at all the shops around them with a contemplative look on his face, Tsuna couldn't help but smile fondly.
Perhaps he was just getting old, but Tsuna couldn't help but think that this younger Gokudera looked . . . cute. He felt weird for admitting that, but he couldn't deny it. As close as he was to his Gokudera, Tsuna still found the bomber to be a bit scary at times. Not that it was a bad thing though, because he knew that it was just who Gokudera was, but the fact remained. But this Gokudera, this small little kid was—for lack of a better term—adorable. Tsuna's heart ached as he realized his friend most likely wouldn't stay this way for long, because in order to live on the streets he had to act tough.
But Tsuna could give him a little chance of happiness before all that happened. He had to do all he could.
"Can . . . can I have some watermelon?" Gokudera mumbled. His face was bright red and he stared at the concrete.
Tsuna burst into a wide grin and fought the urge to laugh. So, watermelon was one of Gokudera's favorite foods then, huh? "Of course! Whatever you want, Gokudera-kun! Just lead the way." The boy glanced up at him in shock then he gave the tiniest of smiles before taking off. Tsuna followed right behind him and stopped when they reached what Tsuna figured had to be a supermarket.
"All right. Sure hope this works—huh?" A small tug on his sweatshirt made him look down and to his surprise Gokudera was red-faced again. "What is it, Gokudera-kun?" The boy just shook his head and Tsuna knelt down to face him. He followed Gokudera's gaze to see what was making the boy so embarrassed.
It was a young mother with her own small child. She was looking at Gokudera with a bit of a condescending expression. Tsuna gasped as he realized what was wrong with Gokudera and he fixed the woman with the harshest glare he could. It appeared to have worked, because all the color drained from the woman's face and she picked up her child and nearly ran. What Tsuna wouldn't have given to have Reborn see that!
With that taken care of, Tsuna refocused his attention to the young Gokudera who looked about ready to cry. "There, there," Tsuna said softly. He licked his thumb and started wiping away some of the dirt on Gokudera's face. "How about once we find out this card works, I'll get you some new clothes and we can get you cleaned up, okay?" Gokudera merely nodded and Tsuna quickly finished cleaning the little boy's face as best he could. Then he ruffled Gokudera's hair in an attempt to tame it. As a final thought, Tsuna took off his dark-blue sweatshirt and put it on Gokudera, taking care to roll up the sleeves so it fit a little better.
"There. How's that?" Tsuna found that the over-sized sweatshirt upped little Gokudera's cuteness meter. Again, he felt a little weird admitting to it because guys just weren't supposed to think those kinds of things (and then there was the whole issue that this was one of his best friends) but Tsuna couldn't deny the truth. The boy just looked so small and cuddly in the sweatshirt, and if the whispered giggles of the passing mothers was anything to go by, then Tsuna's plan was a success.
Gokudera merely shuffled his feet and nodded. "All right, let's go get some watermelon!" Tsuna proclaimed loudly before walking into the store. To his surprise, he heard the quick shuffling of feet and then someone tugged on his shirt. Tsuna glanced down to see a blushing Gokudera who reached for his hand. Tsuna merely smiled and took the smaller hand in his.
As they made their way over to the fruit and vegetable section, Tsuna couldn't help but feel a little giddy. He had always liked hanging out with younger kids because they (generally) didn't see him as Dame-Tsuna and treated him like a normal person. But lately, the only kids he hung out with were Lambo and I-pin, and while the young girl was much easier to deal with, Tsuna couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by her fighting prowess. He suddenly had an urge to pick Gokudera up and carry him around, but seeing as how Tsuna was rather short to begin with it probably wouldn't be that great of an idea. Gokudera wasn't a five-year old shrimp. That, and he might frighten Gokudera away.
Luckily, there weren't many people shopping at this time and so Tsuna was the only one in line. He gulped as he scanned the card, hoping it would work. Once Tsuna figured it asked for the pin, he nervously punched it in, all the while praying that it would work out. To his relief it did.
"Grazie e buona giornata," the woman said. Tsuna merely nodded and left the store with an excited Gokudera right at his side.
"Thanks a lot, Mochida!" Gokudera said as they sat down on a nearby bench. Tsuna smiled and then used Gokudera's knife to split the halved watermelon into thirds. He took one for himself and told Gokudera to eat the other two. The little boy looked a little surprised at this, but quickly devoured the first one before Tsuna had even finished four bites.
"Uh . . . aren't you worried about the seeds?" Tsuna said. "I've heard that if you swallow them a watermelon will grow inside you." He nearly shivered at the thought. Ever since he was told that he took extra care to make sure he never swallowed any seeds.
Gokudera looked at him skeptically. "But that's stupid! It's impossible for a seed to grow inside your stomach because of the acid and not to mention the fact that a seed needs nutrients from soil and water and sun to grow."
Tsuna's eyes widened. So Gokudera was this smart even at this age? It made Tsuna feel a little embarrassed actually. Instead he chose to laugh it off. "You're right—I was just trying to trick you, I guess."
"Hmph." Gokudera reached for the second one, took a large bite, then paused.
"Gokudera-kun? Is everything all right?" Tsuna glanced down at his own watermelon. Did it taste funny? Had it gone bad? It looked perfectly normal, but Tsuna wouldn't put it past himself to buy a spoiled watermelon.
Just as he was about to adopt one of the older Gokudera's principles and smash his head against something, Tsuna felt something hard and sticky hit his cheek. He shrieked in surprised and nearly fell off the bench.
To his surprise Gokudera erupted in giggles. Tsuna reached up and found—a black watermelon seed? He glanced back at Gokudera who took another bite and spat at him again. This time Tsuna found two black seeds on his forehead and Gokudera laughed even harder. A warm feeling washed over Tsuna as he listened to the young boy's laughter. He knew it was cliché, but it sounded so pure and innocent.
It was at that moment that Tsuna came to the realization that he had never heard Gokudera laugh before. Like—really laugh. Sure, he had heard him laugh when someone made a fool of themselves or got hurt, but he never heard Gokudera laugh so freely. Tsuna then decided it would be his mission to get Gokudera to laugh once he returned to his time.
But now there was some payback to be done. Tsuna quickly took a bite of his own watermelon and separated the seeds from the actual fruit, then took aim. To his delight, they all landed on Gokudera's face. The young boy squealed in delight and jumped off the bench. He dramatically pointed a finger and Tsuna and declared, "Time to die, Mochida-nii!" It then turned into an all-out war.
Tsuna was able to land a fair amount of seeds on Gokudera but he was no match for Gokudera's accuracy. All of his seeds landed directly on Tsuna's face, causing him to spend a lot of their time fighting just brushing them all off.
Once they had no more seeds to spit, the two of them sat back down on the bench to catch their breath. "Well that was fun, huh?" Tsuna said, turning to look at the younger Gokudera. The boy smiled then glanced down at the sweatshirt.
He glanced back up at Tsuna in fear. "Um . . . Mochida-nii? I um . . . got some watermelon juice on your sweatshirt." Tsuna followed the boy's gaze and sure enough there was a trail of juice that must have dribbled down his chin. And now the boy looked ready to cry.
"It's okay, Gokudera-kun. I'm not going to get mad," Tsuna said. He smiled and picked up part of the bunched up sweatshirt sleeve and used it to wipe off some of the watermelon juice on Gokudera's face. The little boy blushed in embarrassment, then reached up and brushed the sleeve against Tsuna's face.
Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise and Gokudera quietly said, "You had some on your face, too."
The older boy's face turned beet red. "And here I was trying to act all cool in front of you," he mumbled.
Gokudera giggled. "I still think you're cool, Mochida-nii." For some reason, Tsuna's chest felt all warm and it was hard to stop the wide grin that appeared on his face. The only thing he wished was different would be to hear his real name be used, but Tsuna knew that could be disastrous.
Tsuna jumped off the bench and stretched. "Well, Gokudera-kun—how about we go and get you cleaned up now? We can go to a hotel and rent a room." The little boy nodded and reached up to take Tsuna's hand again. "Now, I'm gonna need your help with the receptionist, okay?" Gokudera nodded. "We're going to rent a room for the night, so be sure to tell them that."
As Gokudera led him to the nearest hotel, Tsuna asked him questions about his favorite things, being careful to steer around anything relating to his family. Tsuna did his best to log away each answer in his mind, in the hopes that it would help him later in his interactions with the older Gokudera.
It was actually rather hard to get his Gokudera to talk about himself. Whenever Tsuna tried to ask him a question, Gokudera would get flustered and try to evade it, instead directing it at Tsuna. Now he was presented with a perfect opportunity and Tsuna wasn't going to waste it.
Getting the hotel room wasn't as bad as Tsuna thought it would be. The receptionist gave him a bit of an odd look seeing as how he had a little child order it for him, but that look was gone when she was overcome with Gokudera's cuteness. She gushed over him and even handed him a small lollipop. When Tsuna handed over the credit card, the little Gokudera sent him a small smirk and winked. Tsuna sighed and ruffled the boy's hair, giving his own smirk in return. It seemed Gokudera was quite the schemer even at this age. When talking to the receptionist, Gokudera had adjusted his voice so it sounded more baby-like, and he puffed out his bottom lip every so often. The woman never stood a chance.
As they made their way up to their room, Gokudera filled him in on their cover story. "Mochida" was Gokudera's cousin who was visiting from Japan for a few days with his father. Mochida's dad was currently shopping at the moment, and he had instructed the boys to go and get a hotel room. Tsuna had to admit it was a good cover story.
The room they were in was much nicer than any hotel Tsuna had ever stayed at, and he briefly wondered just how much the room cost. But seeing as how it wasn't his money he couldn't really care. When they walked into the bathroom, Tsuna suddenly became rather self-conscious.
"Um . . . you know how to take a shower, right?" he asked sheepishly. Gokudera gave him one of those looks again.
"Of course I do! I'm nine you know!"
Tsuna laughed nervously. "Right! Of course—silly me!" He gave a sigh of relief. Normally he wouldn't have any qualms about helping children bathe (he did it all the time with Lambo and I-pin) but seeing as how this was the younger version of his best friend . . . that would definitely get a little awkward.
"Well—while you're in the shower I'll work on fixing the sweatshirt, okay?" Gokudera nodded and Tsuna pulled the sweatshirt up and over Gokudera's head. Things were silent for a while, with the only noise being the steady rush of water from the showerhead behind the closed curtain. Tsuna busied himself with getting the stain wet and scrubbing it with soap. To his delight he was able to get nearly all of it out. Good thing the sweatshirt was such a dark color. Once he was done with that he took the hair dryer and set about drying it.
He was basically done when younger Gokudera emerged from the shower, already fully clothed. "Look, Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna said. He held up the sweatshirt proudly. "We were able to get it out in time." Gokudera looked rather relieved. Tsuna then took in Gokudera's appearance and beckoned him over.
"How about you let me dry your hair?"
The small boy quirked an eyebrow at Tsuna and eyed the hair dryer with veiled apprehension.
"Don't worry! It's not going to bite," Tsuna said with a laugh. "It's getting late and I don't want us walking around with your hair all wet. You might get a cold." It took a little more coaxing, but eventually the nine-year-old Gokudera walked over and let Tsuna dry his hair.
A few minutes later, the silver hair was all dry (and probably much cleaner than it had been for a while) and Tsuna ruffled it teasingly. "I like your hair, Gokudera-kun. It's nice and soft." He smirked as Gokudera sent him a distasteful look.
"I'm not cute," he said with a pout. Tsuna bit back the urge to laugh.
"I never said you were cute." Even though he was. "In fact, if I had to say—you're hideous. Absolutely disgusting," Tsuna teased as he lightly tickled Gokudera. The little boy shrieked and giggled against the torture, then to Tsuna's surprise the little boy pounced on him and soon the attacker was the attacked.
Tears came to Tsuna's eyes and he shrieked as he was tickled relentlessly. How was little Gokudera so strong? "Bwahahahah! Please—stop! Goku—I can't—stop—GOKUDERA!" Thankfully he was released but the boy looked a little too smug to Tsuna.
"Geez," he sighed, settling into a more comfortable position on the floor. "I try to help you and this is the thanks I get?" He had meant it as a tease, but apparently Gokudera didn't take it that way. The little boy looked at Tsuna in horror and backed away a bit before bowing while still on his knees.
"I-I'm so sorry, Mochida-san! I didn't mean . . . I wasn't—" Tsuna's eyes widened at the small tears that hit the bathroom tile and he quickly scrambled over to the little Gokudera.
"Hey," Tsuna said softly. He placed a hand under Gokudera's chin and directed the fearful boy's gaze to himself. "I was just teasing—I didn't mean any of it. I guess I wasn't clear so . . . I'm really sorry."
Gokudera sniffled and rubbed his eyes with a small fist. "R-Really?" Tsuna nodded. "So . . . so we're still . . . friends?"
"Of course," Tsuna said. He wiped away the remaining tears and pulled the little Gokudera into a hug. "You're my very special friend." As Gokudera hugged him back, Tsuna's heart ached yet again. It hurt to know that even at this age Gokudera was so desperate to have friends. Part of him wanted to stay here forever and shield his younger friend from all the hurt and grief that was yet to come. It was impossible though, so he had to make the best of the time he did have.
"Um . . . Mochida-nii?" Gokudera asked as they pulled apart. "Why . . .why are you being so nice to me?" He looked up at Tsuna with those big, green eyes of his and Tsuna could see the justifiable confusion in them.
Tsuna sighed and ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair. How was he going to explain this? Because you'll become my best friend in five years and I want to give you some happiness before everything gets much worse?
"Well . . . let's just say you remind me of someone very dear to me," Tsuna said.
"Really? Who?"
Tsuna smiled and ruffled Gokudera's hair. "My best friend," he said softly.
Gokudera gazed up at him in awe, and Tsuna fought the urge to laugh when he saw those infamous puppy-dog eyes. (They were more potent at this age) He was surprised when Gokudera gave him a quick hug.
"And you're my best friend, Mochida-nii!" Tsuna fought very hard not to laugh at the irony of the situation.
"So are you," Tsuna said as he ruffled Gokudera's hair once more. "All right—let's go get you some new clothes and then dinner, okay? I know I'm starving." Gokudera enthusiastically agreed and he rushed towards the door. Tsuna stayed behind to turn off the bathroom light, but paused when he saw the still drying sweatshirt. He picked it up and fingered the fabric, then laid it back down. He had many more at home and this could keep Gokudera warm.