Chapter Text
Tsuna came home after a hard day at the Mafioso's Academy for Maiming Attackers (better known as M.A.M.A .both because it was an acronym and the victims- er, students always ended up screaming for their mother at least once by the time they graduated.) and happened to pass by a flower shop.
It was an ordinary flower shop, but the smattering of yellow and orange flowers out in the front immediately remind him of Reborn. He suspiciously glanced around once or twice - Reborn's disguises ranged from flawless to absolutely fucking ridiculous and he wouldn't put it past his tutor to be using this color scheme to test him - but relaxed when he didn't spot the tell-tale sign of his tutor's presence; that is, Leon.
Out of curiosity, and also because he happened to not be broke today, he ducked into the shop. The aroma of flowers and pollen made him want to gag a little but he braved through it. It occured to him that his mother was coming back tomorrow, so he chatted with the assistant for a moment to pick out a bouquet of pretty pink and light purple roses for her. He would call it cliche, but Nana had always favored roses- apparently, Iemitsu proposed to her with them.
Tsuna personally called it cheesy and gross but alas, the woe of having romantic parents. He was about to buy the bouquet when his eyes lingered on the flowers in the front. It'd been a while since he'd done something nice for Reborn. Granted, Reborn made it very hard to be nice to him, but Tsuna would like to think that they were at least friends...though Reborn would probably beat him into the ground if he heard that thought.
He took one last glance - no, Mukuro, he's not paranoid, this is called self-preservation - and then asked the girl, "What are those called?"
"Oh, those?" She smiled at him gently. "Those are amaryllis's- it's actually very rare for them to be in bloom this season, so I put them out in the front. Would you like a pair? We have some other colors in the back..."
"No, orange and yellow is fine," Tsuna replied. Reborn was never seen in anything else, unless he was in one of his 'disguises.' Offending Reborn's color scheme...Tsuna withheld a shudder. Yeah. No. "Actually, wait- what do they mean?"
"Amaryllis's mean beauty," she told him. Tsuna let out a breath. If he'd accidentally sent something that meant 'I hate you' or 'you're ugly' he'd definitely be in for hell. Suddenly, her eyes gleamed, unnoticed by the brunette. "Are these for someone special?"
Tsuna smiled a little sheepishly. "Ah, yeah- I've been so busy that I haven't really done anything nice for him lately, so..." He flushes a little toward the end of his statement. He sounds so corny. Reborn will probably just set the bouquet on fire and use that to burn Tsuna's house down.
"Amaryllis's are a very precious flower," she told him solemnly, all but dragging him over to the back of the shop. "You should pick out the paper and ribbon yourself. After all, it's for someone very important. Would you like to include a card as well?"
"Uh." Tsuna was getting whiplash. "Sure?"
She beamed at him and continued to smile at him all throughout his venture into the world of flower arrangements and the color wheel. Tsuna was whimpering a little by the end of it. It didn't help that his intuition was screaming at him to not offend this woman. He glanced at her nametag. It read: Ares. As in, the god of war? Definitely someone scary!
He ended up paying triple what he was originally going to and stumbled home three hours past his usual time. It was only because he'd remembered to speed-text Hayato that the city hadn't been set on fire. These days, everyone around him was threatening to burn something. Tsuna didn't understand why they liked to set things on fire so much; they literally had rings that conjured magic fire that they could look at whenever they wanted, why did they have to burn everything in sight?
(He'd issued a ban on letting Hibari Kyoya around lighters. His Cloud pouted in the form of causing mass hospitalizations around the city for an entire month but Tsuna refused to let up. The world couldn't handle Hibari's fire fascination phase.)
Reborn was, of course, waiting for him as soon as he opened the door. Not in front of him. He was behind the door when Tsuna closed it and Tsuna nearly screamed. It was like something out of a horror film. Reborn smirked meanly as soon as he saw his expression and Tsuna grumbled.
"You're late," Reborn said imperiously, striding across the floor and sitting on the edge of the dinner table, crossing his legs in an imposing fashion.
"Yeah, yeah," Tsuna grumbled, heart still thundering in his chest. Even after all these years, Reborn could think of new ways to scare him out of his wits. "I got some flowers."
"I can see that," Reborn said condescendingly. "For Mama?"
Tsuna nodded, setting the bouquet of roses in an empty vase and putting it on the counter. Now that he was older and attending M.A.M.A. Nana wasn't around as much. They'd moved to Italy to continue his education, and Iemitsu took the opportunity to spend more time with his wife.
"And these are for you," Tsuna said, lifting up the other bouquet and setting in Reborn's arms. He rubbed the back of his neck upon receiving a blank look from the hitman and said, "I mean, it's just, things have been busy lately and we haven't seen each other much so..."
Reborn's eyes were still blank. It was getting a little scary. Tsuna coughed and hastily fled after spewing out some excuse. Upon doing so, he happened to bump into the other freeloader.
Mukuro was staying with them for...reasons. Mostly it was because his usual gang had been allowed to stay with Lancia. Excluding Mukuro. So basically Mukuro was the only one without a place to stay. Reborn, as usual, had made up some nonsense about being a good boss and somehow Tsuna ended up having to deal with it.
"You got the hitman flowers?" Mukuro said, lowering his voice as if they were discussing a dirty secret, his tone gleeful. "How scandalous, Tsunayoshi-kun."
Tsuna looked at him in confusion. "Did you want some too?"
Mukuro stared at him for five seconds straight - Tsuna would know, he was counting - and then burst into peals of laughter. Tsuna endured it for three seconds - again, counting - but as it persisted he just gave up and went to his room. Mukuro was still laughing when he closed the door. Tsuna could still hear him laughing ten minutes later, through the closed door.
Honestly. Tsuna should have let Hibari take him.
~~~~
Mukuro was following him.
He hadn't even bothered with illusions. These days, Mukuro seemed to be getting lazier and lazier when it came to using illusions around Tsuna. The cited reason was because Tsuna's "cheat of a bloodline" made it "no fun" though Tsuna knew that it was only because he had taken to carrying around a bottle of lemon water and spraying all of Mukuro's illusions when he saw them.
"Chrome said it was the most effective way to deal with pesky stray cats," Tsuna told him with a straight face. Mukuro's resulting expression had been absolutely beautiful. The fact that it was Chrome's words, and that the girl looked bashfully honored when she saw Tsuna carrying the bottle around, made it impossible for Mukuro to say anything particularly insulting in return.
Without illusions, Mukuro couldn't, at least, follow him around 24/7. Not even he had that much free time. Though Tsuna wondered if maybe he hadn't underestimated Mukuro's passion to be as annoying as humanly possible. These days, his and Hibari's relationship was growing stronger purely from shared annoyance toward the Mist.
"Why are you following me?" Tsuna finally asked, exasperated.
"I can't even walk on the street?" Mukuro retorted, pressing a hand over his chest with a faux-hurt expression. "You wound me, Tsunayoshi-kun! My poor murderous heart can't withstand the blow of your words-"
"Did Reborn kick you out?" Tsuna asked, a little incredulously. It was the only reason he could think of. Mukuro was a complete homebody- he didn't like leaving the room he'd been given unless he had to. When Mukuro's expression twitched and Tsuna's intuition rang, he guffawed; and then had to narrowly avoid getting his head cleaved off.
"I'm glad you find my plight so amusing," Mukuro drawled, retracting his trident as if nothing had happened. "But yes, I may have bothered your little hitman too much last night. Which is why I've come up with a new plan."
He looked at Tsuna expectantly. Tsuna crossed his arms. Mukuro stared. Tsuna sighed. "What new plan?"
Mukuro smirked as if he hadn't just forced Tsuna to ask and drawled, "Why, bothering you instead, of course. You wanted to do something 'nice' for the hitman, did you not? I can-"
"No thanks," Tsuna automatically replied.
"But-"
"No, really."
"I think-"
"No thank you."
Mukuro sulked. Tsuna was entirely unapologetic. Maybe when he was fourteen and still innocently naive he would have accepted, but he'd only made that mistake once.
"I see where I'm not wanted," Mukuro said dramatically, turning and using an illusion to make his jacket flutter in the wind behind him. Tsuna silently mouthed 'drama queen' at his back. "We'll end things here, Tsunayoshi-kun. It was good while we lasted..."
Tsuna sighed. He made sure to make it as long and exaggerated as possible. Mukuro immediately perked up, because that was Tsuna's tell-tale 'fine I give up just don't do [that]' sigh.
"How are you going to help me?" Tsuna asked patiently. All-Encompassing Sky. Yeah, right. More like glorified babysitter and punching bag.
"Kufufu, it's come to my attention that there are a variety of holidays approaching," Mukuro announced, pulling out an illusionary calender from his pocket that was clearly too small to fit out something like that. Tsuna idly wondered if he should enter his Mist for Oscars. Upon seeing Tsuna's look of doubt Mukruo purred, "Oh ye of little faith- don't you recall last year's Valentines?"
Tsuna shuddered. He didn't think he'd ever be able to forget that traumatic incident. He quickly said, "Okay, okay, I can hear you out at least."
Mukuro's smile was smug and satisfied, like a well-fed cat. "First, what were you planning to do for him?"
Tsuna rubbed the back of his neck and said awkwardly, "Uh...I don't know? Maybe get him some espresso? It was just a passing thought, Mukuro, you didn't have to make a big deal out of it..."
Mukuro whacked his head. "Too weak. If you're going to appreciate someone, Tsunayoshi-kun, you should do it properly. Take my Chrome. If you did something so half-hearted, I would immediately peel off your skin and let the goats taste your rotting flesh."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Tsuna groaned. "Okay, okay, so...no espresso?"
Mukuro considered this. "Don't just get him espresso. Get him a factory."
Tsuna gaped. "A factory. For espresso?"
Mukuro nodded, apparently finding nothing wrong with this idea. "If he has his own factory he can have as much as he wants whenever he wants," the Mist pointed out 'logically.' "It'll be sure to knock him off his feet, kufufu..."
"Riiiight..." Tsuna slowly backed away. He'd almost forgotten Mukuro was only 0.0001% as normal as pretended to be, not that he pretended to be very normal in the first place. "I'll go and...get a factory then..."
Mukuro smirked and nodded, dissolving into Mist, presumably to go and stalk someone else. Tsuna very carefully did not go and buy and factory. He went to the shop on the other side of town that was hidden behind a very inconvenient tattoo shop, and then picked up two coffees and some pastries.
He was going for convenient appreciation, not...whatever Mukuro had in mind. He'd made sure to spend time with all of his Guardians to get to know their likes and dislikes, but in the process he felt like lately he hadn't been spending much time with Reborn. Tsuna resolved to put a little more care into their relationship. He wasn't fourteen anymore; he could do his own part.
It was an off day, so when he came back, he didn't get a bowling ball thrown at his head for skipping. Reborn was lounging on his hammock by the balcony when Tsuna found him. The brunette set the coffee onto Reborn's chest. The hitman cracked open an eye and then sipped it.
"...the cafe across town?" Reborn inquired. Leon was already digging through the bag for pastries.
Tsuna nodded. He couldn't help a smile when he saw the espresso disappear between one blink and the next. "I remembered you really liked their espresso. I brought some strudels too, but I think Leon's finished them all."
Leon blinked his orange eyes at them as he crawled out of the bag, crumbs all over his mouth. He tiled his head innocently as if to say 'Who, me?' and then promptly turned into a blanket and draped over Reborn's lap.
"Christmas is coming up," Tsuna said after a beat, meeting Reborn's eyes with a soft smile. "I wanted to ask if you were free."
Reborn's eyes briefly blanked out, the way they had when Tsuna gave him the flowers. Tsuna felt a little sad inside. Had he really been neglecting their relationship so much that Reborn was shocked just to spend time with him? This just wouldn't do. His will hardened.
"Don't be presumptuous," Reborn finally snorted, glancing out the window. "I'm a very busy man. You should go spend Christmas with a girl you like. Isn't Kyoko coming to town to visit Ryohei?"
Tsuna looked at him with a little bewilderment. "Reborn, I had a crush on Kyoko ages ago." He added, a little bit upset at himself and the situation, "And anyway, you're more important than any girl or whatever."
Reborn looked at him with deep, deep eyes. Tsuna looked back, trying to project as much honesty and sincerity as he could into his own eyes. After a beat, Reborn looked away again, and then said, "There's a meeting for the ex-Arcobaleno that day. I can't go."
On Christmas? Tsuna felt a little indignant in his heart. He knew that Reborn loathed working on holidays for endless reasons - the traffic, the crowds, the prices, the general huss and fuss - and so he couldn't help but be disappointed on the hitman's behalf.
"Oh," he said, briefly ducking his head so he could wipe any traces of sympathy off his face before Reborn could kill him for it. When he looked back up, he mustered up a smile and said, "Okay. I'll wait for you to come home, then."
"I thought you were going to Hibari's place this year? To prevent him from beating up all the crowds." Reborn inquired.
"I'll figure something out," Tsuna replied dismissively. Mukuro seemed to have enough free time anyway. "This year, I really want to spend Christmas with you. Lately, I've been realizing a lot of things..." Like how much he'd been neglecting to spend time with Reborn. "...and so I've finally made up my mind."
There was a brief pause. Then Reborn said, his voice almost soft as he probed, "Made up your mind?"
Tsuna closed his eyes and then smiled warmly. "Yeah. And even if it doesn't work out-" Even if that closeness they once had was lost (though just the thought made his heart ache with regret) "-I won't stop trying. Just like you taught me, I'm not going to give up what really matters. I can't."
A hint of orange flashed through his gaze. It was gone as quick as it came. When there was a strange lull of silence, Tsuna blinked and looked at Reborn.
Reborn whacked his head. Tsuna yelped and gawked. The hitman smirked back, but the expression felt a little hasty. "Don't get cocky, Dame-Tsuna. I'm not that easy to win over."
Tsuna laughed, pure starlight bursting in his heart. It felt like they'd gone back to that familiar time. He grinned and said fondly, "I wouldn't expect you to be."
Reborn whacked him again and Tsuna yelped. "What was that for?"
"Your expression was stupid," Reborn informed him.
Tsuna gaped, then started laughing again. Reborn smacked him again, this time on the forehead, but Tsuna smiled anyway. Eventually the hitman just huffed, leaving to take a shower. Tsuna watched him go, and then smiled to himself again. It was his fault that they'd become so distant- so it was only fair that Tsuna work just as hard as Reborn had worked in the past.
~~~~
Mukuro was being unusually helpful about the favor Tsuna had asked. He'd even agreed to stay with Hibari for the night and prevent their Cloud from storming to the steps of the U.N. to force them to retract all known holidays in the world.
Or at least, that was what he thought, until there was an hour left before Reborn was due to come back from his meeting with the ex-Arcobaleno. The original gift he'd prepared had been replaced with a pair of rings.
Tsuna immediately stormed the Mist's room and turned it upside down, inwardly cursing Mukuro in his head. No wonder he'd looked so smug. Tsuna flew out of the house and into the city, checking with every place his intuition whispered looked even slightly suspicious. He uncovered and beat up no less than three drug rings, and stopped two kidnappings.
He told all of the victims that his name was Mukuro, just to spite the Mist.
There were only ten minutes left. Tsuna focused on his intuition and let it guide his steps, but to his dismay, he couldn't find his original present. He had, however, gone around the city at least three times, and picked up some things along the way.
There wasn't much time left. He speed decorated in Hyper Dying Will Mode, and then set out the collection of Italian dishes and the cake on the table. The presumably expensive bottle of wine he'd stolen from Drug Ring #2 was set on the counter and tied with a little bow.
Tsuna took the rings Mukuro had left - why rings, anyway? Reborn didn't wear jewelry - and tossed the box under his bed. Then he changed out of his winter jacket and slipped on a white turtleneck and waited at the table for Reborn to come.
Reborn didn't come.
Tsuna waited past midnight, but the hitman was nowhere to be found. He checked his phone for any missed texts or messages, but there was nothing. He only lasted an hour before calling Fon in a panic, ready to burst into Hyper Dying Will Mode to find Reborn. The last time Reborn had disappeared, after all, he'd been spirited away to a parallel future that was chock-full of radiation specifically tailored to kill him.
Fon picked up after a beat. "Tsuna-kun? What is it?"
"Do you know where Reborn is?" Tsuna asked, his voice strained with worry. "He said he'd be at the Arcobaleno meeting until eleven, but it's half past midnight and he hasn't come back."
"I...see." Fon coughed. "Don't worry, Tsuna-kun, I'm sure he'll be back soon. The...meeting place...this time was a little far. I can guarentee he'll be back in a few hours."
For some reason, Fon's voice sounded a little dark. Tsuna didn't pick up on it, too relieved to have confirmation. He let out a breath and then said, "Okay- thank you, Fon-san. And I'm sorry for calling you so late at night."
"Don't worry about it," Fon said warmly. "Why don't you head to bed? I'll make sure Reborn gets back."
Tsuna agreed and they ended the call there. Of course, he wasn't going to sleep. He busied himself with putting away the food and re-packaging the cake. He had more time to look for his original gift to Reborn now. He really hoped Mukuro hadn't broken it or thrown it out.
Actually, no. Hope was for fourteen-year-old Tsuna. Tsuna swallowed a pill, narrowed his eyes, and promptly flew over to Hibari's place to interrupt the two trying to kill each other.
He smiled fakely, his irritation bleeding into his expression. Mukuro laughed nervously and slowly backed up. Hibari arched a brow and let out a quiet "Wao."
"I hope you're prepared," Tsuna told his Mist, fists slowly clenching, "because this is going to hurt."
After beating up Mukuro, offering Hibari a courteous goodbye, and successfully getting the location of his gift, he flew back to the house and plopped onto the table. It had taken him a while to put this together, and aside from the fact that it was meant for someone very important to him, it held a lot of very precious memories.
He felt justified in lending Natsu to Hibari to help beat Mukuro up some more. Mukuro probably wouldn't die anyway. Probably...
He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he woke up. There was a familiar jacket around his shoulders, and an even more familiar visage sitting on the edge of the table, flipping through Tsuna's gift.
The brunette immediately sat up, only to wince when all the blood rushed to his head. Reborn let out a huff of a laugh at his expense and drawled, "All these years, and some things about you just never change, Dame-Tsuna."
"I could say the same for you," Tsuna retorted, but a yawn interrupted the would-be sass. "How was the meeting?"
"Fon was terribly rude," Reborn said, sounding like he was sulking. "He threatened to disintegrate my hat."
"I'm sure you deserved it," Tsuna said solemnly, laughing when Reborn attempted to kick him. He rolled out of the way, and ended up sprawled out on the floor, too lazy to get back up.
Reborn snorted at the sight of him and nudged his foot. "I'm hungry."
Tsuna brightened up and he curled up onto his feet. "I was a little worried you might have eaten- Yuni always seems to have food ready wherever she goes. I got some cake too, but it's a little early for that..."
"It is what I say it is," Reborn said imperiously. "What, did you run around the whole city, Dame-Tsuna? There are at least five different brands here."
Tsuna rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Mukuro hid your present so I was searching for it. Oh yeah- do you like it? Okaa-san had already started putting it together a month ago, but I added some stuff she didn't. You know, mafia...stuff."
Reborn shut the scrapbook carefully and set it aside. "It's not bad. I don't remember some of these pictures being taken."
"I had Mukuro go through my memories and imprint them into real illusions," Tsuna said, bouncing on his heels.
"I like it," Reborn said, his voice softer than usual and a little warm. "Thank you."
The words were so unexpected that Tsuna froze, and then ducked his head, cheeks pink. He chatted with Reborn into the early morning, and after they finished eating, fell asleep with his tutor beside for the first time in years.
(It was strange, but he hadn't realized how much he'd missed that warmth until he had it again. It was the best sleep he'd had in a long time.)
~~~~
Bianchi came to visit him for the first time in a while.
"I didn't know you were in town," Tsuna said as he let her in, smiling. "Hayato still has three days left at the boot camp with Lal Mirch; are you planning to stay here until he comes back?"
She shook her head. "I came to talk with you."
Tsuna blinked. "Me?"
Bianchi nodded. Tsuna was a little confused but sat down at the table anyway. She held the cup in her hands and stared into it for a long moment. Tsuna waited for her to gather her thoughts.
"After I broke up with Romeo, I had several Famiglia's after me," Bianchi said, her voice distant as she spoke. "It just so happened that I'd known Reborn since I was little. Hayato had Shamal; I had Reborn. A few days after I earned my title, the Poison Scorpian, he came and offered to let me pose as his lover."
Tsuna's brows couldn't help but furrow. He hadn't realized...but then, thinking about it, it made sense. He knew a little bit more about the mafia now, and Reborn had mentioned before that Romeo had been the heir to a Famiglia. Bianchi's standing wasn't high enough to be able to kill an heir without serious repercussion.
"Do you know why it worked?" she asked him softly, staring into his eyes, searching for something.
He looked back at her in confusion. He wasn't sure what kind of answer she was looking for, but the question seemed rhetorical anyway.
"Reborn is the World's Greatest Hitman," Bianchi murmured, eyes demanding him to not look away. He didn't. "Do you know what it means, Tsuna, to be the World's Greatest Hitman? His title is undisputed, unchallenged, and unparalleled. There is a reason that the mafia worships him. God and the devil can easily switch places."
A chill ran down his spine. Tsuna licked his chapped lips , eyes narrowing. "What are you trying to say?"
"I care for Reborn, deeply," Bianchi said. "But there are things that he deliberately hides from you, Tsuna, and I don't want to see him hurt trying to keep them secret. I say this not because I am trying to tear you away from him, but because I think that if it's you...you'll be able to stand by him regardless."
The wording was a little odd, but it was beyond the point so he didn't focus on it. Tsuna looked down at his cup. Yes, he had an inkling of what she was talking about. But she wasn't wrong.
Tsuna never claimed to be selfless, or good, or even kind. The only thing he had ever promised was that he would protect the people precious to him, come hell or high water. That was the only thing. Even if protecting them was the wrong thing to do.
"Reborn is Reborn," Tsuna said without hesitation, his voice seeming to echo in the small room, his eyes bleeding orange with proof of his resolve. "No matter what."
Bianchi watched him, and then finally, she smiled. "Yes. He is."
He saw her off and then wandered back to his room seemingly in a daze. There was something different about distantly knowing something and seeing it, and hearing it ring true in your ears. Tsuna paused in front of his door, and then impulsively turned and knocked on Reborn's instead.
It opened after a beat. Reborn looked at him with those familiar, familiar eyes and Tsuna felt a symphony stretch across his mind, making his lips lift into a smile. No matter what, Reborn was home, the ground beneath his feet, the pillar of his conscience.
And no matter what, I will love him.
Tsuna froze.
"Tsuna?" Reborn scrutinized him. "What is it?"
Oh.
"I-" Tsuna's face burned red. He let out a garbled noise and then promptly fled, racing out the hall and jumping out the window, his heart thundering in his chest. What? What was that? What had he just thought? Wait, no- that was normal, right? He loved his friends, and Reborn was his...friend?
He let out a squeak when a hand caught his wrist and his shoulders slammed into a wall. Reborn loomed over him, and Tsuna suddenly realized how much taller the hitman was. Reborn wasn't an infant anymore. He was a grown man that Tsuna had slept beside-
"Bawesgh-" Tsuna could feel more and more heat rushing up to his face. "I-I, u-uh, r-remembered that I have to do something! I've gotta- gotta go-"
"Go where?" Reborn asked, leaning in closer until their foreheads were almost touching, and Tsuna could see the pupils of his dark, dark eyes. He couldn't breathe. He didn't dare to breathe.
"I- I-"
"Hm?" Reborn's hand snaked behind his neck, embarrassingly cool compared to Tsuna's skin.
Tsuna shut up. They were mere centimeters apart now. He felt like he was in a dream, or floating. Reborn was waiting. He wouldn't take that extra distance unless Tsuna moved first, he realized. He was waiting for him to decide.
Tsuna missed Reborn. He didn't have to think twice. He tentatively pressed his lips against Reborn's, and Reborn descended on him like the tide. Tsuna savored the warmth, savored the thousands of butterflies scattering in his stomach, savored the way he was held. Reborn's grip was both crushing (don't let go, don't look back, don't even think about leaving now that you're here) and achingly careful (you are precious to me).
"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said breathlessly when he pulled back, a rare, beautiful smile spreading across his lips, "you have no idea how patient I've been."
"I love you," Tsuna blurted out.
Reborn's eyes softened and darkened at the same time; Tsuna was on the verge of saying it again just to taste the truth of it, but Reborn kissed him again as if to quiet him. That didn't stop Tsuna from whispering it between kisses anyway, and Reborn's grip on him grew tighter for it.
Tsuna didn't care. He laughed when he had the breath for it, happiness pouring down on him like a beam of sunlight. He hugged Reborn, and the ache, the uneasiness, the regret- all of it disappeared the instant it was returned.
"I love you," Tsuna repeated, his smile brighter than a flower in bloom.
Reborn pressed his forehead against his and whispered the words in his ear. Tsuna cherished every second of it. What shocked him was not the revelation; but how familiar and unfamiliar it was. When had he started loving Reborn? When had he hadn't loved him?
Tsuna didn't care to know. He leaned up and kissed Reborn one more time, before letting out a small yelp he was hoisted into the air and all but teleported back to the house. He laughed as they tumbled into Reborn's room, and was still laughing when Reborn kissed him.
Happiness was fleeting; but Tsuna was certain that this happiness, and this warmth, would last forever.
OMAKE:
Bianchi stepped outside the house, and slowly, her face melted away to reveal one Rokudo Mukuro, smiling smugly. He was certain that the hitman had been eavesdropping.
He'd had to convince Kyoya through much persuasion to use his Mist Flames to disguise - as both Reborn and Tsuna were far too familiar with his own - and ironically, it was Tsuna's own appearance that had sealed the deal.
Mukuro shook his head ruefully and mused, "I really am too good to Tsunayoshi-kun."
A loud scoff made him glance up. Kyoya sent him an incredibly unimpressed look and said, "You did nothing but ask a few questions; don't look so smug."
"Oya oya, and here I thought I did quite well," Mukuro replied, smirking.
Kyoya still looked unimpressed. "You did it for your own convenience."
"You might be annoyed at all their dancing, but I have to live with them," Mukuro defended. "Isn't this what you had in mind when you refused to let me stay with you?"
"You had to live with them," Kyoya drawled. "I endured the sight of their pining since Tsunayoshi was in high school."
Mukuro chuckled and playfully stepped into the prefect's space, lowering his eyelashes in that way that never failed to provoke a reaction. "And they're still alive? Here I thought you were the noble defender of public decency."
"Then should I erase you right here?" Kyoya replied softly, a dangerous gleam in his eyes that sent pleasant shudders down Mukuro's spine.
"I think..." Mukuro lowered his head to ghost his lips along Kyoya's neck, "...that we should move before Tsunayoshi-kun attempts to flee his house."
Kyoya snorted and dragged him away by the collar. Mukuro chuckled and let himself be led along. Still. Good riddance. Now, how to dispel the annoying tension between Yamamoto and Gokudera...