Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The beginning of the school year had always been a busy time for Kan.

He would have his hands full corralling teens who think they were at the top of the world for managing to get into the most prestigious school on this side of the country.

This year’s batch of intake looked promising and he can already see some who stood out. While Aizawa got the lion’s share of it, Kan still got some diamond in the rough that just need good polishing and nurturing to get them to their full potential.

Kan likes to think he would be able to do it.

Helping to build up the next generation of heroes was why he signed up for the school after all, even if most of the time they drove him mad with their none-ending drama and teenage angst. If it were not for his Quirk to control his own blood, Kan doesn’t doubt that he would have keeled over from stress now.

He had his hands so full of dealing with them that he didn’t bother going back home these past few days. He had taken to checking into the on campus facility to get some much needed rest instead of commuting home every day but he only has so many spare clothes on hand and sleeping in his own bed was not something he would pass off on.

So it was after yet another long day that he finally came back to his quaint one bedroom apartment, shoulders burdened from backpack that he filled to the brim with his used clothes that was in need of washing and some assignments that needed to be graded.

His keys jingled in his hand as he tried to not let it fall while at the same time keeping the stacks of assignment he brought home from slipping away during his juggling to bring the keys out with his hands full of it. Kan knew the best course of action was to put the stack down and open the door first but he doesn’t think he has have the energy to pick it back up again.

Thus it was during a comical juggling of trying to get the correct key in the slot while not looking at it that he finally met his new neighbour.

“You looked like you need a hand there.” Came the lightly amused voice from his right and Kan craned his head to look at the source of it around the stack that weighed his arms.

His eyes landed on the brunette who stood in front of the door to his right with his own plastic of grocery in hand.

“You could say that.” Kan chuckled wryly.

“I can open the door for you if you want.” The man offered, holding up his empty hand to show that he indeed has a free hand to be lent. Kan could not help but laugh at the unspoken joke.

“By all mean. I would be at it for hours if you don’t.” Kan turned around so that the brunette could get the keys from his hand under the stack and he shivered pleasantly when their fingers brushed. The man’s hand was warm, warmer than normal human would be but in this chilly weather, it was a good sensation.

It only took a few second to open the door yet Kan for some reason couldn’t help but linger there despite the papers tiring his arms out.

“As far as first impression goes, I think I like this one best. Sawada Tsunayoshi. It’s nice to finally put a face to my illusive neighbour.” The man- Sawada-’s lips curled into a smile that Kan reflexively returned.

“Sekijirou Kan. I would offer my hand if I have one free to do so but since I don’t, I hope a thank you would be enough.” Sawada laughed at the hand joke that somehow become their impromptu inside joke and it was a nice sound.

“Maybe next time we can shake on that. I think you should put that down first before you dropped it.” It was a wary pair of amber that looked at the stack of papers that Kan carried.

“Hey it’s just papers. It won’t do much harm.” Kan chuckled.

“Then you’re obviously not that well acquainted enough with paper cut yet. It could sting like hell.”

“I am sure it would.” But seeing as his Quirk being what it is, Kan doesn’t hold much fear over something as small as a paper cut.

Sawada snorted, obviously aware that Kan was only indulging him but didn’t call him out on it. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Sawada said solemnly as he handed back Kan’s keys by hooking the key ring onto his thumb. “Anyway, dinner is not gonna make itself. I better get going too. It was nice finally meeting you neighbour. Good night!” He said as he moved toward the door to his own home.

“You too Sawada. See you around.” The brunette gave a jaunty wave as he disappeared behind his own door and Kan shook his head over the odd encounter. What a pleasant man. He hoped that they would cross path more often. Kan won’t mind getting to know his new neighbour better.

Like Sawada said, as far as first impression went, Kan definitely likes this one best too.

But life has a funny way of denying him things apparently.

Sure they crossed path often throughout the next few months but either one of them would always need to rush off to get to wherever they needed to go. Other than passing greetings, they barely hold any conversation between them. Kan only found himself with more responsibility on hand because All Might started teaching at UA.

All Might, the reigning number one hero that he had greatly admired and aspired to be. He was admittedly too star struck at being in the presence of his idol that he didn’t realise just what kind of trouble that followed the Symbol of Peace.

Shit really went down when the USJ facility was attacked by the so called League of Villain.

While most of the students survived it unscathed, every single one of the 1-A students had went through something that his own students would never fathom yet.

They experienced the reality of a Pro Hero’s life and were changed from the encounter. He saw it in the aftermath of the attack, how all of them finally crumbled now that there was no more threat toward them. They had been very brave in holding it together so that each of them could come of it alive.

Kan still remembered the look of utter fear on the Iida boy’s face when he barged into the teacher’s room, the sheer desperation in his voice as he retold the horror they faced. Kan’s own blood boiled in a way that was different than his Quirk’s influence, the anger and worry that equally simmered and froze it in his veins.

If the principal hadn’t held him back by choosing Kan as his supposed seat, he didn’t doubt that he would be charging into the fray himself. So he was forced to remain there with the principal as he gathered his calm again and silently regulating the rage in his vein to simmer down. It was an exercise of control to not just chuck the mammal on his shoulder away and go beat down some of the invading villain himself.

It seemed that Nezu was aware of this too if the deceptively light paw he kept on Kan’s neck was anything to go by. It was a silent order for him to stay where he was and let the rest of his colleague deal with the situation.

He remained as the principal’s glorified perch until the mammal decided that Kan was calm enough to be set loose and the pat on his neck told him that he was free to put the white furred creature down.

The rest of the day was a haze of calming down his own students because words of the attack had gotten out. Of course he didn’t tell them about the confidential detail of how the actual attack went down but he just let them draw their own presumption from the state of the surviving members of 1-A.

Other than that Midoriya kid, most of them were unharmed.

The same could not be said for their teachers.

His own mind was occupied over the critical state of two of his friends, constantly checking on his phone to see update on their condition as helpfully supplied by Recovery Girl. Kan had been tempted to stay the night over to help out with the investigation on what allowed for such breach to happen in the first place but the principal was still onto him.

He was ordered home and it was with heavy mind that he trudged back with.

“Oh thank God you’re alive.” The anxious laden voice registered in his mind at the same time his eyes landed on the figure in front of his door. It was Sawada, amber eyes clouded with worry as he climbed up to his feet from where he had been seated in front of Kan’s door.

“I saw the news about the attack. They didn’t tell us much other than it being the class of first year and I remembered you telling me you taught a class there. Are the kids okay? The news didn’t clarify on that and what about you? Are you okay?”

Sawada was blabbering by this point and Kan doesn’t know why, perhaps it was the fleeting yet constant presence of Sawada but he suddenly felt the weight of the day finally crashed down on him. He sagged down in on himself and ever the perspective person he was, Sawada was quick to catch some of Kan’s own weight with his surprisingly strong arms despite its lithe look.

“I am fine. It wasn’t my class. The kids are fine.” Kan was at least grateful for that much because he would be terrified out of his wits if it had been his own kids that were attacked.

Sawada let a breathy sigh of relief and squeezed his arms tight around Kan’s torso, a gesture that Kan returned in kind. He doesn’t know just how much he needed a comforting touch after the day he had until he had Sawada close against him.

“I was so worried you know. I switched on the news and saw it was about your school’s kids being attacked. I really thought it was your class and the injured teacher was you.” Sawada’s voice was muffled against Kan’s chest and it was not for the first time that Kan noticed the major height difference between them as he buried his face in the fluffy hair. He breathed in the light scent of strawberry shampoo that he knew Sawada used because he had seen the brunette buying it and curved his own body around the slighter man.

“You know it wasn’t mine now and it was not me who got injured. I am here, right?” Kan pulled away slightly so that he could look at his neighbour’s face and saw the clear sheen over the amber eyes that gazed back at him.

Sawada chuckled wetly and reached up to rub away the unshed tear. Something in Kan’s chest made a funny little twist and he was already brushing his own knuckles on the brunette’s cheek before his brain could catch up to what his own body was doing. He was quick to pull it away and blood began to rush up to his own cheeks when he realised just how close they were.

While being friendlier with Sawada than he did with his other neighbours, he never thought they had become this comfortable enough with each other to share what amounted to a relieved reunion after a drastic incident.

“How about coming over to my place for some dinner? I was stress cooking while waiting for you to get back. If you haven’t eaten yet that is and I can pack it up for you if you already did.” Sawada offered so easily because if there was anything he had learnt about his neighbour over the months, the man has a bleeding heart of gold.

So don’t look into the invitation too much, Kan. He have to remind himself.

It was a funny turn of event because he finally got what he wanted all those months ago but well he apparently needed a disaster to happen first for it to let him have it. He just hoped this doesn’t become a pattern because he only wanted a normal healthy development between them

Kan had a general feeling he just jinxed himself.

And like a sick twist where he was at the butt end of the universe’s joke, Kan indeed jinxed himself.

He woke up to the sound of something crashing through the wall and his room up in flame. His first instinct was to search for the source of it and also Sawada because the right wall of his own bedroom was right beside Sawada’s and it was crumbling down from whatever that had pierced through it.

“Sawada!” He called out to his neighbour as the flame seemed to triple in size despite barely a second had passed. It looked unnatural as it consumed Kan’s bed and he didn’t hesitate at all to cut up his palm in order to activate his own Quirk and surround himself with hardened barrier of blood. He pushed through the wall of flame with it shielding him from the blazing heat and he shouted Sawada’s name again despite the fear clogging his throat.

Was it a villain’s attack?

Had his apartment been compromised?

Did Sawada got caught in the crossfire?

Kan hoped that he didn’t because he would never be able to live with himself if any harm befell Sawada because of him.

“Sawada!”

He jumped to the side to avoid the lashing flame and managed to force his way through the fire barricade and cross over the crumbling wall to reach Sawada’s room. He found Sawada still in his bed, body writhing on the sheet but eyes still sealed shut.

It took Kan a moment to put things together and realise that this was in fact not an attack but the side effect of Sawada losing control of his Quirk in his sleep.

The fear in his chest ebbed away when he noticed that the flame was not hurting Sawada and despite the literal inferno going on in his own bedroom, Kan only felt relief to see his neighbour safe.

Without dropping his own Quirk, Kan made his way to the bed and sat on it, already feeling lightheaded from the heat and the crash of adrenaline now that his conscious mind deemed the situation to be manageable. He took a moment to watch the furrowed brows on Sawada’s face and the look of utter fear scrunching up his face despite still being deep in the clutch of sleep.

Kan wondered what sort of nightmare the man had. What was so bad that Sawada felt the innate need to activate his own Quirk in his sleep?

It was a bad one for sure and Kan was not cruel enough to let the man suffer with whatever terror that Sawada’s subconscious mind conjured.

“Hey, wake up.” Kan placed a hand on his shoulder to shake him and was slightly surprised at the feeling firm muscle under the clothing. Sawada looked so harmless and unassuming most time that Kan has a difficulty in computing that there was solid strength in his lithe body.

“Sawada you have to wake up.” He gave another firm shake on the shoulder but Sawada only twisted away from him and the previously wild flame lashed out at Kan, which he was quick to deflect with his hardened blood shield.

“Come on man, wake up. It’s only a dream. It’s not real.” Kan knew Sawada would not be present enough to comprehend his words but he doesn’t know what else to do with himself other than trying to coax the brunette out of it with words and firm shakes.

“Wake up Tsuna.” He finally called the brunette with the nickname that his neighbour kept on insisting to be called with and as if it was the special spell needed, Sawada’s eyes snapped open with a soundless scream in his throat. Kan kept himself still as he let Sawada reorient himself, giving the brunette the time to gather himself again and he noticed the exact moment when Sawada finally do because the flame finally died out.

The intellectual side of him could not help but assess the property of his neighbour’s Quirk because despite the raging heat, there was no scorch mark left behind in its path of carnage. The only evidence that it was even there was the ruined wall and the absence of his bed. It has the appearance of fire yet its property was not despite the ability to destroy the things it touched. Kan had seen fire Quirks like Endeavour’s going out of control once it was unleashed by the user but Sawada’s was still fully under his control despite the lacking presence of mind.

It told him that Sawada’s Quirk was more than simply fire and that the brunette has rigid control over it.

But what truly had him thinking was how it was the exact same shade as Sawada’s eyes.

In today’s world where heteromorphic Quirks were pretty common, Kan didn’t question much about Sawada’s appearance because other than the bright amber eyes and gravity defying hair, Sawada was mild in comparison to others with physically altered appearance. Even Kan’s own look with his jutting bottom canines and light hair colour stood out more than Sawada will ever be.

Now thought, he wondered if his eyes were linked to his Quirk because the liquid amber it usually appeared as was more to the shade of the sky as the sun was setting when the Quirk was active, matching its hue to a T.

It was a beautiful colour, Kan secretly admitted to himself.

“Kan? What are you doing here?” Sawada sputtered, finally having the presence of mind to register Kan’s own presence in the room. It was good to see the clear recognition in those eyes instead of the murky lost look when it first snapped open.

“Well you just blasted a convenient hole through the wall. Just wanted to check up if you’re doing fine.” Kan tried his best to lighten it up with some humour but Sawada only looked horrified when his eyes landed on the sizable hole in the wall.

“Not again…” Sawada sighed weakly under his breath, obviously not intending it for Kan’s ears but he heard it anyway. His curiosity speculated on how many time Sawada had accidentally blasted holes in his sleep and the long suffering look on his neighbour’s face told him it was more than plenty.

But Sawada was quick to shed his dilemma when something seemed to click in his head, amber eyes zeroing down onto Kan’s still siting figure on his bed. “Are you alright? Did I hurt you? Should I call ambulance for you?” More questions escaped his lips in rapid fire as he scrambled out from the clutch of his duvet to check Kan over for any presumed injury.

“I am alright–” Kan tried to assure him but his own voice was drowned out by Sawada’s increasingly more worried questions. So he has no choice but to allow himself be prodded by hands that felt burning on his skin, pressing warmth with each careful caress. It finally reached the sluggishly bleeding wound that Kan had created on his palm to gain access to his own Quirk but before Sawada could say anything about it, Kan had willed it to clot over until he could get to a first aid kit.

Normally he wouldn’t need to injure himself in such way to use his own Quirk but seeing as he doesn’t have his hero costume on and with the presumed dire situation, he felt justified in ripping his palm up to allow his blood a channel out.

But Sawada’s creased brows and downturned lips told him otherwise.

“Hey.” He whispered softly to gain Sawada’s attention but the amber eyes never left the thick clot that ran through Kan’s left palm, as did the pair of hands that carefully cradled the injured hand. “It’s alright, Sawada. It would be healed up soon enough. I’m not gonna be bleeding out on your bed any time soon.” Kan knew he should tread this carefully because whatever that haunted Sawada’s dream didn’t leave his eyes yet. So he turned his left hand down to break Sawada’s gaze away from the injury and chooses to curl both of his hands around Sawada’s lightly trembling one.

They sat in silence, with Kan gently caressing Sawada’s hands in what he hoped was soothing manner because he doesn’t know what else to do with himself now that there was no more apparent danger to both of them. He wanted to ask many questions to Sawada, most of it about his nightmare since it was bad enough to activate his Quirk but Kan knew that it was not the right time to make Sawada refresh his terror so soon after what happened.

Besides, who was Kan to force his neighbour to talk about something that clearly terrified him so much?

With some coaxing, he managed to get Sawada to lie back down on the bed and Sawada heeded his urging as wordlessly as he had woken up. He followed every nudge like some fragile doll on string and Kan found that he hate seeing his usually free spirited neighbour like this. Even with his lithe figure, Sawada had unfathomable strength that were bursting through the edge, barely contained under his skin yet none of those were present right now, as if the nightmare had sapped it out of him.

Kan tucked the surprisingly unscathed duvet around Sawada and waited for him to doze off before he moved to stand up. A strong hand snatched his wrist and Kan found himself face to face with Sawada, his amber eyes seemingly glowing in the darkness of the room.

“Stay.”

It was not a question, more like an order despite the silent plea in his eyes and Kan found himself unable to deny it, not with his own heart still rattling over the presumed close call they had tonight. Besides, his own bed was ruined after all.

“Okay.” Kan gave in easily and Sawada lifted the duvet in invitation, which he slipped under in acceptance.

They shifted around to find comfortable position and only settled when they both lied down on their side to face each other. Sawada was still drowsy from when he had dozed off before and it was not long before his half lidded eyes slipped shut once again. Kan took the chance to observe him more closely, something that he was never able to before since they never got to sit down and talk after that one time in the aftermath of the USJ attack.

His face was angular and leaning more to a heart shape with some remnant of his teenager years still clinging stubbornly to it. Sawada had always appeared young and if the man hadn’t told him his age, Kan would have thought he was still in his teens because Sawada’s lithe and petite stature was not helping convince people of his twenty four years of age. There was no sign of facial hair, only smooth sun kissed skin that bores no blemish. Even on a bad day, Kan never saw him with anything other than fresh faced and wondered if Sawada could even grow any in the first place.

The lashes was long as it fanned his high cheeks, longer than what he would see most guys have and it looked thick up close. With a cute button nose, Sawada looked positively androgynous if Kan didn’t know any better. It wasn’t long before Kan’s own eyes wandered down to the part of Sawada’s face that he had been avoiding to stare at yet still found himself looking.

Sawada’s lips was plump and rosy in colour and not for the first time Kan wondered how it would feel like against his own. Would it be as soft as he imagined it to be or as sweet as the candy that he often found Sawada munching on?

Kan readily admitted that he was attracted to Sawada because how can he not when Sawada was good both in and outside? Kan was only a man and he was not strong enough to resist the natural attraction that Sawada gave off. It didn’t help that Sawada made it hard for him to not be interested when everything the brunette do just appeal to Kan.

But right now, he was being a creep by staring at his sleeping crush.

He would undoubtedly scare him off if Sawada found out what he just did. So Kan forced himself to close his eyes and calm down his racing thought and heart. He did everything from counting sheep to doing breathing exercise to get himself calm enough so that sleep would finally come to him.

His last thought was how nice it was to have Sawada near him.

Waking up that morning was a whole another issue because Sawada was apparently a cuddler. Not the simple cuddle of merely pressing close but a literal full body cuddle where Sawada tried his best to wrap his slighter body around Kan’s own bigger form. Kan was on his back with Sawada practically lying on top of him and their legs tangled together under the sheet.

It would have been a good situation to wake up in if they were together but seeing as they were still firmly in the passing acquaintance slash friend zone, this would be a big no. Kan doesn’t even know if Sawada even swing that way to discern if the brunette would be okay with waking up like this.

While a small part of him was reluctant to pull away from Sawada’s welcoming warmth, the more logical part of him doesn’t want to ruin any chance of friendship between them. Even if Sawada wasn’t interested to have more with him, Kan still liked the brunette well enough as a person to want to keep him close as a friend.

Breakfast, as vehemently insisted by Sawada, was an awkward affair since Kan himself felt guilty over what he had done when Sawada was asleep while Sawada was guilty over the ruined wall and bed. They both tried to come up with an arrangement that could work between them and it was the first time Kan was introduced to Sawada’s brand of stubbornness.

His offer to foot half of the bill in fixing the wall was immediately shot down by Sawada, who claimed he should be the one to pay every dime of it since he was the one to destroy it in the first place. Kan had a different idea on that and the two of them soon dissolved into an argument over who should pay it. Sawada was a surprisingly good negotiator and was not above using dirty trick because he has no qualm in holding Kan’s favourite tomato salad as hostage until Kan agreed to sleep in his bed until he buy a new one.

Kan got ready for the day with a feeling he had been played like a fiddle.

Apparently this new arrangement had caused a shift in their friendship because whereas before they barely had the time to talk with each other, they now would sit down at Sawada’s table and eat breakfast and dinner together upon Sawada’s insisting.

It was not the only thing that changed and Kan didn’t realise it until Hizashi had commented about his bento in the teacher’s longue.

“Yo Kan. You had been bringing boxed lunch lately instead of going to Lunch Rush. You finally got a partner big guy? Are you holding out on us? Who’s the lucky gal? Or guy?”

Kan just tuned the rest of his questions out as he stared down at his bento, the one that Tsuna had prepared for him this morning and the many other morning since the beginning of last week. Hizashi was right. He usually just go to the cafeteria and eat food prepared by Lunch Rush but here he was with a boxed lunch that had been so carefully prepared that he can see every effort and care that Tsuna put into making it.

Did he missed a memo here?

And wait –Tsuna?

When did that happened?

When did Sawada become Tsuna in his head?

Kan was lost in his thought for the rest of the day until he finally got back to the apartment. It was then did he realise he was entering using the key Tsuna had given him instead of going through his own door.

“Oh Kan, you got off early too today? Welcome back.” Tsuna’s smile was as radiant as ever as the brunette greeted him like this had been their normal routine since forever instead of being barely two weeks ago. Kan greeted him back dazedly and was going through autopilot as he went with his usual routine of getting ready for the evening.

And is that his own toothbrush in Tsuna’s cup?

Did he just see his aftershave and razor in Tsuna’s bathroom cabinet?

Kan was still in a daze when he exited the bathroom. Since when had his stuff moved to Tsuna’s side of the apartment? He knew most of his own apartment were thrashed from Tsuna’s accidental lost control of his Quirk two weeks ago but why did he keep on finding most of his stuffs migrating to Tsuna’s? Had he really not realise it until now?

“You’re gonna get sick if you don’t dry yourself properly, you know.”

A fluffy towel was dropped onto his still dripping hair and Kan didn’t even have to look to see it was Tsuna standing in front of him with a clearly fond expression on his face. It was the same expression that Tsuna wore this morning when they waved each other off at the train station and also when they said goodnight to each other every single night since this started.

Should Kan ask him if they were dating?

But would he really be willing to risk what they had for his own selfish desire?

Would Kan dare to risk Tsuna’s easily given affection for something more that he doesn’t know if Tsuna would be willing to give?

The answer was no.

Kan was not brave enough to take the risk.

So he kept his mouth shut and pushed all the resurfacing hope away. Let him drown out this feeling of his. He doesn’t want to betray Tsuna’s friendship with his attraction. He was satisfied with what they had now.

But it was hard for him to not notice things after that.

How could he not when they were basically living together in a domestic bliss, only with no romance attached to it. Hizashi was not the only one who realised the small changes in his life and Nemuri had taken it upon herself to dig up more into Kan’s supposed mysterious lover.

Her investigation apparently included forcing herself and some of their other colleagues into his home.

Tsuna never ceased to amaze him with his ability to think on his feet because he didn’t so much as twitch when he opened the door to a sheepish Kan trying to corral the group of supposedly adult Pro Heroes from sniffing around the place. The brunette merely go along with the introduction and didn’t bat an eye at all when Hizashi practically smothered the life out of him with sheer enthusiasm alone.

He even invited all the unwanted guests for dinner, which Nemuri and Hizashi was quick to accept on behalf of Aizawa and Taro*. Those two took the chance to grill Tsuna over dinner despite Kan’s best warning but the brunette humoured them good naturedly. When the conversation moved over to how they moved in together courtesy of a simpering Nemuri, Tsuna merely rolled along with it and told he accidentally knocked down the wall in his sleep.

This of course spurred the two troublemakers into wanting to see the hole for themselves. Kan was too slow to stop them from barging into their–Tsuna’s room and could only hide his reddening face when his friends gawk at the damage and what was left of his previous bedroom.

“So you haven’t fixed the wall yet for months?” Aizawa drawled lazily but Kan was not fooled by it. He could see the shit eating grin that he shared with Hizashi.

It took a lot of subtle threat that he issued behind Tsuna’s back but he managed to get the lots of them out of the apartment before Nemuri could make things anymore worse with her not so subtle lewd implications. Kan took great joy in slamming the door in their face.

“Your friends are nice.” Tsuna commented as Kan sank into the seat beside him.

Kan snorted. “They’re anything but that.” All of them were little shits that he would be glad to pummel.

Tsuna laughed and it was almost instinct at this point to lift his arm up when Tsuna pressed close to his side so that the brunette can snuggle closer. “Ah but you still cares for them.” His teasing voice was accompanied by a poke at his side and Kan tightened the arm he has over Tsuna’s shoulder in warning. It was an unfortunate day in his life when Tsuna found out he was ticklish.

He was merciless.

Things sort of fallen into a routine after that.

He woke up to find Tsuna becoming a limpet on him and the two of them would get ready for the day together before they sit down for breakfast. They would walk to the station together and Kan would stop at the first one where he will wave Tsuna off. There would be occasional text messages during the day, most of it about Tsuna reminding him to take care of himself and his kids and sometimes to tell him to pick up an ingredient on the way back. The rest of the day would be spent telling about their days to each other over dinner and do some of their own work in the living room before getting ready for sleep.

It was an easy routine that Kan began to love over the months and doesn’t mind having to push his feelings away for. This was more than he could have asked for, so he won’t do anything to jeopardise it.

Kan didn’t realise how much in a good mood this development had put him into until Hizashi had first pointed it out to him.

Even his own students had picked up on the addition of Tsuna’s presence in his life because most of them would not so subtly try to eavesdrop whenever Tsuna happened to call during his class with them. As usual, Monoma was the most vocal in his inquiries but Kan thanked the God that he was gifted with Kendo. She was a God sent amongst the lots of them.

The school year passed in a blur and the first semester ended before Kan even realised it. The wall was not fixed yet and Kan was finding more and more of his stuff being moved into Tsuna’s apartment. At this point they were practically living together and he wondered if he should cut off the lease for his own apartment and just share with Tsuna instead but he had not brought it up to him yet.

Preparing for the summer training camp took up most of his time and focus that Kan forgot to bring it up with Tsuna until he was already packed and ready for the camp itself. He didn’t voice it when Tsuna dropped him off at the school because he thinks it was a conversation that needed to be had thoroughly while both of them are free to do so.

Kan ignored the ogling eyes of his own students when Tsuna hugged him in front of them and tried his best to not let them get to him when the brunette kissed him on the cheek saying he would be missing him for the duration of the camp. He stood there until Tsuna disappeared from his sight and his kids were quick to duck under the window when he turned around to glare at them.

None of them met his eyes when he got into the bus but he saw the money being traded around.

Cheeky little shits.

He loves these kids so damn much.

The training camp proved to be a disaster in the making. While they had been warned of the possibility of it being attacked due to All Might’s presence, they had been naïve in thinking the villains would stay away from it now that their target was not there.

This was their first mistake and the minutes that followed Mandalay’s first telepathic warning was the most gruelling time of his life. Kan forced himself to stay where he was at and protect the remedial students even if his very instinct was to go out and rescue the rest of them. Most, if not all of his kids were out there, fighting for their life against villains who have no qualms in killing them.

Kan hated every minutes of it and a small part of him was glad when one of the villain appeared before him because he finally have an outlet to let all of his rage out. He took sick joy in slamming the black haired villain into the wall and would have proceed to tear him apart if Aizawa hadn’t barged in to reveal it was a fake.

He won’t admit that he was disappointed the villain was fake because he was more ashamed in himself that he wanted a real threat to appear so that he could pound it to pulp, not thinking of the danger it could possibly possess toward the remedial students that he was supposed to protect.

So he forced himself to remain where he was stationed at, calling in the every back up and emergency numbers. He even yelled at some of them to get here faster because a number of the students managed to get back to the base camp with varying state of injury and unconsciousness. While he was glad to see most of his own kids escaped it relatively unharmed, his heart still broke over the splintered mess that was Class 1-A.

The injuries sustained by most of them were far worse than his own kids and Midoriya managed to beat all of them combined if the mangled remain of his limbs was anything to go by.

But what made it far worse was the loss of Bakugo to the villains.

One of the kids got taken away.

Kan gave his own statement to the events that occurred, even with the limited information he had and stayed close to the students while Aizawa handled the most of it since he was the one calling the shot during it. He knew he should be taking the burden off Aizawa since the man would no doubt be beating himself up for Bakugo’s kidnapping but he also knew his friend needed this to help himself function through the rage and grief.

So the duty of watching over the kids fall onto Kan’s shoulders so that Aizawa can focus his attention more on retrieving his own kid instead of having it divided toward the rest of his injured one. He helped coordinate their movement toward the nearest hospital and also contacting their parents. Contacting their parents was the hardest part of the job because he had to push aside his own feelings to help these frantic and terrified adults calm down and assure them that their kids were fine.

But Aizawa still insisted on calling Bakugo’s parents himself. That foolish glutton for punishment would never learn when to lean on other people.

Kan lost himself in the rush of things that was going on in the aftermath that he forgot he now has someone who would worry over him too. He actually forgot that he now has Tsuna in his life right until the brunette himself showed up at the hospital.

“Tsu–” Kan barely got his name out before he was being kissed senseless right in front of his students.

His mind short-circuited and he totally forgot about his surrounding as he melted into the kiss. Tsuna’s lips didn’t even give him a moment of reprieve as it ravaged him and Kan was more than a little light headed when Tsuna finally pulled away to look at him in the eyes.

There were tears already falling from his eyes and Kan suddenly felt like the biggest douche in the world. “Don’t ever do that again.” Tsuna managed to grit out through his clenched teeth but didn’t bother wiping his tears away. “I had to find out through the news! You weren’t answering my calls and I didn’t know if you’re alive or not!” Tsuna curled his hands into fists and at first Kan thought he was going to get punched by him, which he totally deserved after the utter hell he put him through but Tsuna only uncurled it again to pull Kan down to his level so that he can press a more lighter kiss to Kan’s face.

This felt worse than the punch he expected because the trembling hands on his cheeks felt like lashes against his heart and the teardrops like acid against the guilt in his chest. Kan had indirectly hurt Tsuna with his own negligence and how could he wish for more when he forgot what he already had? He would only hurt him more in the future if he allowed this through because the life of a hero will always be full of situations like this.

What to say that Kan won’t give Tsuna more grieve in the future? He should cu–

“Stop.” Tsuna’s voice was barely a whisper but Kan heard it still. “I know that look on your face. Don’t even think about cutting me off from your life now. I finally got you and you’re not getting rid of me so easily.” His voice grow firm as did the hands on his cheeks. The heat of the palms warmed his face more than the blood rushing up to it ever could.

“You’re stuck with me until the sky falls” It was an odd promise but Kan barely had the time to think it through when Tsuna devoured him once again with his lips. If it were not for the chair Tsuna backed him into, he would have fallen down from how weak kneed Tsuna managed to make him with his mouth alone.

Of course they didn’t manage to get far with it since the mood was ruined by his kids making their presence known with their loud clamouring. While he was frustrated at the interruption, he was glad to see them on high spirit despite the terror they had went through, even if it was at his expense. The boy crowed over Kan ‘getting some’, giving him increasingly shit eating grins that could not be wiped off no matter how many noogie he gave them while the girls fawned over Tsuna, easily charmed by Tsuna’s general, well, Tsuna-ness.

The introduction went as well as it could have and Tsuna allowed himself to be bombarded with questions good naturedly, keeping them occupied as Kan dealt with the issues that had risen up about medical attorney for some of the kids.

He came back to find all of his kids enamoured by Tsuna’s charm, even the one who had initially swore to gaslight Tsuna and give him shovel talk on Kan’s behalf. In fact, it was Kan who was at the receiving end of their shovel talk.

It was a bizarre turn of event but he was honestly not surprised at all because even he would do the same too. He could not believe that Tsuna actually likes him too. Him. Kan doesn’t have special redeeming feature about himself that he think Tsuna would even like.

“We will talk more about it later.” Tsuna had whispered in his ear before dumping a bag in his hand, pressing a chaste kiss on his lips and leaving the hospital for his own work. Kan looked into the bag and saw a change of cloth along with some hygiene products and some containers of foods from the smell of it.

If possible, he fell all the more in love with Sawada Tsunayoshi.

They didn’t get to have the talk yet because Kamino Ward battle happened and Kan was busy handling the press conference over the disaster that was the training camp. He had initially thought he would be having his hands full with handling Aizawa, who he thought as ticking time bomb since the press would no doubt circle in on him like vultures since he was Bakugo’s teacher but Aizawa surprised him by keeping his cool in the face of hungry predators out for blood.

He was not there when the battle happened but his heart nearly stopped when the location was announced.

Kamino Ward.

Tsuna worked there as a chef at one its local restaurant.

His workplace was near the ground zero of the confrontation. In fact it was even in the blast range because both the villain and hero were so ridiculously overpowered that their battles spanned for kilometres and Tsuna’s restaurant was within their range.

Kan’s call to Tsuna’s phone went unanswered no matter how many time he tried to call it, it always went to the mailbox.

“Hey, you have reached Sawada Tsunayoshi but I am currently too occupied to answer you. So leave the message after the beep, I’ll definitely call you back!”

The cheery voice greeted him after each failed call and the principal was the first to notice his agitation. The mammal took one look at him and quickly dismissed him. Kan raced down the hall to get to his own hero costume because he was not foolish enough to get into a battle zone without one. He even brought along some first aid kits if worst case scenario happened and the aid was too far away.

He hoped he won’t even need to use it.

He hoped that Tsuna would be alright because there was so many things he wanted to do with the brunette, so many things he wanted to share and talk about. Kan wished with all his might that he would find him because he can’t think of a life without him.

He can’t imagine waking up to an empty bed anymore without the familiar burning weight tangled on his chest or eat at the table alone with no one to talk to or even no one to bump to in the bathroom as they got ready for the day.

Kan can’t imagine a life without Tsuna by his side.

So with fervent desperation, Kan forced his way through the throng of people who no doubt came scurrying forward to help no that the battle was over. He followed whatever that was left of the street that lead to Tsuna’s workplace and his heart became heavier and heavier when only destruction greeted him the deeper he went looking.

How could he possibly find him under all these rubble?

Would he even still be alive?

What if he was crushed?

Doubts swam in Kan’s head as he lifted one rubble after another, screaming Tsuna’s name as he goes.

He helped anyone that he found, still doing his duty as a hero even if he wanted nothing more than to find Tsuna. He gave away the first aid kits to the volunteers that tapered in so that he can focus more on searching instead of performing first aid.

As minutes stretched into hours and there was still no sight of Tsuna, Kan’s hope gradually diminished. He found the restaurant but what was left of it was its bright sign mangled beyond recognition. There was no one around it.

Had he been too late?

Tears came unbidden to his eyes as he sank onto the nearest rubbles, unable to stand with the grief weighing down on his shoulders. He finally got a taste of what he had been wanting but his own fear and doubts had stopped him from having it sooner. Now he would never have the chance to see just how far this relationship could grow between them because Tsuna was snatched away from him far too soon.

Tsuna promised him that they would be together until the sky falls but it had fallen. All Might, who had been the pillar to support it had fallen and now the sky fell, so did Tsuna.

Was it some sort of sick joke?

A cosmic irony where he was at the receiving end of it?

“I should put a ring on you so you won’t run away again.” The voice had him turning toward it so fast that he would have given himself a whiplash but all of that didn’t matter when his eyes landed on the head of fluffy hair.

There stood Tsuna but he was not standing on the ground.

In fact he was hovering with bright flame supporting his levitating figure through his hands and the same flame made up the crown on his brows. He looked simply breath-taking in all his glory, glowing bright in the darkness of the carnage around them but Kan only saw that he was alive.

Kan was already rushing toward him before he even made a conscious thought and Tsuna met him halfway, throwing himself out of the air but Kan easily caught him with his arms. He spun around to reduce the momentum and both of them ended up crying and laughing at the same time, tears of joys and relief falling down freely.

Kan held him tight, burying his face in the fluffy hair that always defied the law of gravity and was beaten to the punch when Tsuna kissed him senseless yet again. He has no complain at all because he was lucky enough to be able to receive it in the first place and they spent what felt like eternity sharing their breath with each other.

Pulling away from the kiss, Kan gazed into Tsuna’s eyes. “I am buying you a ring and a house after this. One with a lawn where we can have dogs.” He doesn’t know from where all of this coming from but he knows for sure he won’t be letting Tsuna out of his sight anytime soon.

“FINALLY!” Tsuna shouted before he kissed Kan again. “I have been waiting for months. Did you seriously never notice my intention? I mean we even slept in the same bed!” Tsuna punctuate each word with a kiss on Kan’s face before sealing one on his lips.

Kan had to sit down because he suddenly felt lightheaded from this information. He had always thought his feelings was one sided. Had he been deliberating over nothing all this time? How many wake up kisses had he missed when he was wallowing over his presumed unrequited love?

“Are you telling me we had been dating all this time?” Kan asked weakly.

“Freaking yes.” Tsuna said it against his lips and Kan could only submit into it because he was starting to develop a weakness for Tsuna’s kisses. He wondered what else of Tsuna that he would grow addicted to but thinks he will have all the time in the world to find out about that in the future.

“Then I want refund and up the price.” This time, Kan seized Tsuna’s face with his own hands so that he could stare into the liquid amber eyes that never stopped pulling him in.

“Sawada Tsunayoshi, will you marry me?”

“Absolutely yes.”

And they sealed it with another kiss.