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I-Pin watches Hibari intently, her whole body tense as she waits.
Gokudera glances over Lambo’s head with some amusement as Hibari contemplates the bowl of ramen in front of him. I-Pin had landed a job at the ramen shop Rakurakuken a few months ago, and though she’s starting out as a delivery person, she hopes to one day get promoted to chef’s apprentice. As such, she’s getting started early on designing her own ramen.
Hibari had, rather surprisingly, volunteered to be her taste tester. Normally he gives children a wide berth, but he’s always had a soft spot for I-Pin. Gokudera doesn’t know if it’s because she trained with, and was practically raised by, Hibari’s uncle, or just because he likes I-Pin herself, but even back when they were teenagers Hibari would let I-Pin follow him around, buying her toys and candy that she wanted. And with I-Pin always comes Lambo – Gokudera remembers more than one date that had turned into an arcade or amusement park day with the kids.
As much as he’d jokingly complained, he never really minded. He likes I-Pin and Lambo, and knows that Hibari does too, even if he never says it. After reconnecting with his uncle—albeit an uncle in baby form—he, Fon, and I-Pin have become a tight-knit group, one that Gokudera and Lambo are included in by association. That and the Vongola are the closest things Gokudera’s had to a family in many, many years – sometimes he gets so overwhelmed by the warm familiarity of it that he has to excuse himself and cry for a bit in the bathroom.
But it feels nice, too, to be included in something so special.
Even without that, though, he would never say no to a chance to have more of I-Pin’s ramen – he’s tried a few bowls himself, and it’s damn good. The creativity of the ingredients she uses for her broth makes it a flavor experience unlike anything he’s ever had before. He and Hibari are quickly becoming addicted to it, though they have yet to decide whether that’s a good or a bad thing.
Hibari finally starts in on the new creation, using his chopsticks to neatly fold some of the noodles into his spoonful of broth. He puts it in his mouth, closing his eyes as he chews thoroughly.
I-Pin holds her breath as he swallows.
“It’s good,” he says simply, and I-Pin beams.
Gokudera watches them, smiling. Hibari being sweet to I-Pin has always made his insides melt, not that he would ever tell another living soul that.
Lambo though, the damn kid, has no problem with calling him out on it. “What’s with the sickeningly sweet grin, Gokudera-shi?”
Gokudera scowls and gestures at the blank piece of paper that’s supposed to be Lambo’s homework. “Focus on your proofs, brat. And cut it out with that nickname – I accidentally ate your ramen one time and now I’m a complete stranger to you?”
“Only a stranger would do something so cruel and uncaring,” Lambo says, smirking, but his expression falls as he looks back down at his homework. Letting out a huge sigh, he scratches his head with the eraser end of his pencil. “I think this is way beyond the scope of my homework…”
“I know. But if you understand the proofs behind them, the calculations will be much easier.”
Lambo groans and turns to pout at I-Pin and Hibari. “Please save me, I-Pin, Hibari-shi!”
“You’re the one who came over to ask Hayato for help,” Hibari says coldly as he slurps more ramen. “And I’m apparently a complete stranger, too, so don’t come crying to me.”
“Yeah, Lambo!” I-Pin scolds. “Do your own homework!”
“Only smart people can get away with saying stuff like that…” Lambo grumbles as he starts writing out the proof. “And members of the disciplinary committee, I guess.”
I-Pin has also recently taken over as chair of the disciplinary committee at Nami Middle, a fact that has made Hibari both proud and absolutely horrified. She’s much more lax in her policies than Hibari ever was, and she’s even gone so far as to no longer require pompadours as part of the disciplinary committee uniform. Gokudera finds the whole thing endlessly amusing, but he’s proud of her, too. She’s done well for herself.
And Lambo’s done better in school than he gives himself credit for – Gokudera’s proud of him, too. He likes to think he had something to do with it, but it’s hard to be sure if anything he says actually embeds itself in Lambo’s brain.
Especially as he looks over Lambo’s pathetic attempt at a geometric proof. “…Lambo, there are multiple gaps in your logic here.”
Lambo groans again. “I know, okay? But that’s the best I can do! My head’s going to explode!”
The moment the words leave his mouth, he’s suddenly enveloped by a giant cloud of pink smoke. For one, dumb second, Gokudera almost thinks that his head did explode, but then he notices that I-Pin is enshrouded in the same smoke. Realizing what actually happened, Gokudera groans and smacks his forehead.
“Not the goddamn Ten Year Bazooka again – why did we never take that fucking thing away from him?”
Hibari shoots him a disdainful look, as if all of this is his fault. “I don’t want children here.”
“Well you’re not going to have much of a choice!” Gokudera snaps, eyeing the two small figures standing where Lambo and I-Pin had been.
When the smoke clears, the five-year-olds blink in confusion, obviously disoriented. They both look at Gokudera, and then at Hibari, who’s looking back at them with an absolutely murderous expression. It’d be funny if Gokudera didn’t know how awful the situation was going to get in about point five seconds.
Right on cue, Lambo starts screaming. I-Pin gasps, a look of utter adoration in her eyes as an ominous countdown appears on her forehead.
“God, I don’t miss this,” Gokudera mutters before lunging for I-Pin, launching her out the open sliding door, and smacking his fist down on Lambo’s head. “Would you be quiet?! Everything’s fine!”
This just makes Lambo cry harder, clutching his head as he starts babbling incoherently, “Meanie! Stupidera’s a big fat meanie!!”
“What’d you say, you little—?!”
Hibari suddenly looms over both of them, his intense gaze boring into Lambo. “Be. Quiet.”
Lambo stares up at him with wide eyes, his entire body trembling, but he does finally stop screaming. He just sits there with his mouth dangling open, not daring to move even a centimeter. A few seconds later, the distant boom of I-Pin’s explosion rocks the house.
Gokudera rubs his temples, trying to dispel a sudden headache. He did not get enough sleep last night for this. “Don’t murder the kid, Kyouya. Temporal preservation rules, and all that.”
“You’re the only one who even understands those rules,” Hibari sniffs, but turns away and returns to his spot on the floor.
“Which is exactly why I’m enforcing them.” Gokudera scowls at Lambo, who’s still frozen in place. “As tempting as it is to break them.”
Seeing that he’s no longer in imminent danger, Lambo slowly reanimates, turning to face the kotatsu where his future self had been doing his homework. His eyes immediately catch on the paper, and he stands on the tips of his toes to stare at it.
“What’s this?” he asks, picking up the nearby pencil. “Drawing paper?”
“No, it’s your future self’s homework, and he wouldn’t appreciate you doodling on it!” Gokudera snaps, hurriedly shoving Lambo’s homework back into its folder.
“Homework? Lambo-san can do homework!” Lambo declares, puffing out his chest and raising the pencil triumphantly.
Gokudera snatches the pencil out of his hand. “If your future self couldn’t even do this, you definitely can’t.”
“What?! Lambo-san’s smart!” Lambo insists in that annoyingly shrill voice of his. “Lambo-san’s way smarter than you, dumb-dumb!”
Gokudera narrows his eyes at him. “Can you even read?”
“Of course!!” Lambo picks up the folder, his eyes scanning over the text printed on the front. Then, he eventually starts reading, “This house belongs to Lambo-san. Any doo-doo adults living in it must leave immediately, or face the wrath of—”
Gokudera takes the folder away from him, too. “This is Kyouya’s house, brat. You can try and fight him for it, if you want.”
Lambo glances at Hibari nervously, but he’s merely sipping his tea. After a moment, Lambo notices the half-eaten bowl of ramen that Hibari had left on the floor beside him. He stares at it, mouth watering as his stomach growls loudly.
Gokudera watches in amusement as Lambo slowly starts creeping towards Hibari. He’s probably trying to be stealthy, but he’s so obviously heading for the ramen and there’s nothing to hide behind in the living room that Hibari still refuses to refurbish. Despite the fact that Hibari must be able to tell what he’s doing, he doesn’t react until Lambo’s just about reached the bowl, slowly stretching a tiny arm out for the chopsticks.
Hibari suddenly turns to stare at him. “And what do you think you’re doing?”
Lambo flinches and falls on the floor, nearly capsizing the bowl of ramen. “N-n-nothing!!”
He pulls himself to his feet, then stands in front of Hibari, fidgeting nervously. “Can Lambo-san have some ramen? He hasn’t eaten in days…”
This is obviously not true, as anyone living in Nana’s house eats three full course meals a day, but it’s the most polite way Gokudera’s ever seen Lambo ask for something. He watches Hibari, curious to see how his prickly partner will respond.
For a long time, Hibari just stares at Lambo, to the point where Lambo starts to take a few shaky steps back. But then he simply hands the bowl to him. “Eat as much as you want. I-Pin made it.”
Lambo beams, eagerly grabbing the bowl with both hands. He doesn’t even thank him, just digs into the ramen with vigor, splashing the broth all over the floor, his own shirt, and Hibari’s clothes. Hibari’s expression is slowly getting flatter and flatter, his deadly irritation so obvious that Gokudera has to stifle a laugh.
He better interject before Hibari actually does murder the kid.
He moves to sit beside Hibari, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in the back of his neck. This way, if Hibari tries to move, Gokudera should at least have a chance of stopping him.
“You’re sweet,” Gokudera murmurs into Hibari’s hair.
Hibari scowls at him and half-heartedly shoves him away. “I am not.”
“You are.” Gokudera presses a kiss to his temple and Hibari relaxes just slightly.
Lambo stops eating for a moment to stick his tongue out at them. “Gross! Kissing is gross!”
Gokudera glares at him – ungrateful little shit. “What’s gross is the way you’re eating – look at your shirt!”
Lambo glances down at his shirt, the ramen stains already so extensive that it’s like another cow-print superimposed over the original. “What? It’s fine!”
“How is that fine?!”
Lambo opens his mouth, likely to start shouting again, but he can’t get anything out before he’s suddenly enveloped by another cloud of pink smoke. Gokudera lets out a huge sigh of relief. “That was the longest five minutes of my life.”
Hibari scowls as he stands and carefully peels off his yukata, leaving him in just his briefs. Lambo really had made a mess – practically the whole thing is coated in splatters of broth. “I should’ve just beaten him up.”
Gokudera snorts out a laugh. “Sorry, Kyouya. I’ll drag him away somewhere next time.”
Hibari doesn’t respond, busy inspecting the stains. The smoke around Lambo finally dissipates, revealing his fifteen-year-old self. Everything back to normal, at last.
Except Lambo’s staring at Hibari with wide eyes, his face contorting in horror. “Why are you undressed?! What did you do in front of my younger self—?!”
“We didn’t do anything—!” Gokudera snaps, his face bright red.
“Your younger self splattered ramen broth all over my favorite yukata,” Hibari says, deadly quiet. He glares at Lambo and tosses the yukata at him. “You better get cleaning. I expect the floor and my yukata to be spotless.”
The yukata hits Lambo square in the face – Gokudera winces in sympathy at the fact that it must still be dripping wet. Pulling it down, Lambo gapes at it and then up at Hibari in disbelief. “But—!”
“No buts,” Hibari interrupts coldly, turning away. “I expect you to be done by the time I finish my shower.”
Lambo pales and rushes off to the laundry room, smartly deciding to work on the yukata first. Gokudera shakes his head in exasperation. He doesn’t know how his life got so chaotic, but at least it’s a good kind of chaos, for once. He wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Eyeing the discarded ramen bowl on the floor, Gokudera picks it up and tastes some of the broth. He has to hand it to I-Pin – she really has a knack for this.
As if his thoughts had summoned her, I-Pin pokes her head back around the sliding door. “How did I get outside?”
--
Back in the past, five-year-old Lambo and I-Pin reappear in front of the group. I-Pin glances around in confusion, like she’s lost something; Lambo’s chewing on something, his hand automatically raising the chopsticks that aren’t there to his mouth.
Startled, he glances down at his lap, then bursts into tears. “Where’s Lambo-san’s ramen?!”
Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Kyouko, and Haru all exchange bewildered glances. They’re sitting on a hill overlooking the summer festival, taking a break from the chaos as they pool their resources to figure out how much food they can afford. Tsuna was obviously planning on getting something for Lambo, but he hasn’t gotten a chance to yet, so Lambo must’ve been eating ramen while he was in the future.
But Lambo has very little understanding of temporal mechanics—not that Tsuna understands it, either—so he tries, “You weren’t eating any ramen, Lambo…”
“Yes, he was!” Lambo screeches, throwing a tantrum as he rolls around in the grass. “Lambo-san wants ramen, he wants yummy ramen—!”
He stops suddenly, jumping to his feet and sprinting off before anyone can even react.
“Wh—?!” Tsuna shouts, only for his heart to drop into the pit of his stomach when he sees who Lambo’s running towards. “Lambo, no—!”
But Lambo doesn’t stop, continuing to make a beeline for Hibari, who’s walking up the hill counting the disciplinary committee’s festival cut. Lambo screeches to a halt right before he slams into him, and then, surprisingly, stands in front of him rather politely and asks, “Can Lambo-san have some more ramen?”
Everyone gapes at Lambo. Hibari stares down at the tiny child in a cow costume suddenly blocking his path, his expression sour. Everyone’s frozen in shock for a moment, but the thought of Lambo being in imminent danger kicks Tsuna’s brain into gear. He races over, scooping up Lambo and rambling some apology at Hibari as he quickly backs away.
Hibari doesn’t say anything, just watches them retreat with narrowed eyes before eventually continuing on.
Back in the safety of the group, Tsuna lets out a sigh of relief as he sets Lambo back down on the ground. “Lambo!! Why would you do that?!”
“Lambo-san was just at Hibari’s house,” Lambo says nonchalantly, clearly not even aware of the potential danger he was just in. “He gave Lambo-san ramen.”
“In the future?” Tsuna asks, still confused. “Why would your future self be at Hibari’s house…?”
“But Stupidera was just a big bully!” Lambo shouts, shaking his tiny fists at Gokudera. “He hit Lambo-san! And said he couldn’t read!!”
Gokudera stares at him, puzzled, and then glances at Tsuna and Yamamoto. “Why would my future self be at Hibari’s house?”
Yamamoto shrugs as Tsuna shakes his head in bewilderment. They try to get more information out of Lambo, but he’s obviously not interested in answering their questions, focused instead on the thought of ramen. Tsuna’s attention is soon drawn away too by something tingling in the back of his mind. He turns and screams, Gokudera and Yamamoto whirling around to see what he’s looking at.
In the confusion, they’d forgotten about I-Pin, who’d obviously seen Hibari – her eyes are lit up with hearts, and the counter on her head is down to two.
Tsuna hurries over and tosses her with all of his might. As she explodes above their heads, the people down below at the festival ooh and aah over the beautiful fireworks.
Later, when everything’s calmed down, the group buys Lambo and I-Pin a bowl of ramen. They happily dig in, but as soon as Lambo tastes it, his face drops.
“This tastes like poo-poo,” he says, immediately abandoning the bowl.
This infuriates Gokudera, who’d paid for the ramen, and he pulls out his dynamite as he shouts child-friendly curses at Lambo. I-Pin also shakes her tiny fists at Lambo, scolding him for not properly appreciating his food. Tsuna and Yamamoto hurriedly leap up to hold them back, Haru yells at Gokudera, Kyouko tries to calm an increasingly upset Lambo, and the scene quickly dissolves back into chaos.
By the time everything settles down again, everyone has completely forgotten about Lambo’s strange ramblings and the confusing glimpse into the future that he’d revealed.