Fanfic: Dreams with Sharp Teeth, Part 2
“Leo-kun~” Byakuran gave a bright smile as his assistant walked in. “How was your lunch?”
“G-Good, Byakuran-sama. Were you here the whole time? I wouldn’t have gone on break if I’d known.”
Byakuran waved away the concern. “Marshmallows are all I need. And I had some very good entertainment to make up for the lack of food.”
Leo peeked past his employer to the computer screen. “Haa, is that why you haven’t been going to lunch all week, Byakuran-sama? That isn’t good for your health.” On the screen he could see a bed with two occupants, and he recognized the Vongola Guardians of Storm and Rain.
“You have a camera inside the Vongola Base, Byakuran-sama? Why haven’t you told Irie-kun?”
“Ah, I want to get some of my own enjoyment out of this before I give it over to Shou-chan.” Byakuran hummed a little. “Do you know the story of the little mermaid, Leo-kun? I mean the original version, by Hans Christian Andersen.”
“Um…I wasn’t much into fairy tales, Byakuran-sama. And what does that have to do with the two Vongola Guardians?”
“Everything.” Byakuran gave a little laugh. “The little mermaid fell in love with a human prince, and gave up her voice to gain human legs and move into another world. But her prince wasn’t her savior, and she was going to turn into sea foam. Her sisters offered her a way out - if she killed her prince before sunrise, she would be able to come back to the sea. Do you know what the little mermaid did?”
“Didn’t she…I think she spared her prince and turned into sea foam?”
“Yup~ Good job, Leo-kun! You see, in this picture, he” Byakuran pointed to the Guardian of Rain “is the little mermaid, and he” the Guardian of Storm “is the prince. And I am the little mermaid’s sisters~” Byakuran looked smug at his brilliance. “Isn’t it interesting? We should make a bet on how it’ll turn out!”
“I-I wouldn’t presume to wager against Byakuran-sama.” Leo stammered. “I’m sure whatever Byakuran-sama wants to happen will occur.”
“Aww, that’s no fun. But now you know why I can’t attend that meeting with Glo-kun, right? This is so much more exciting.”
“B-But Byakuran-sama, he’s been pushing for a meeting for the past three months!”
Byakuran waved off the objections. “I’m sure you can handle him, Leo-kun. You’re obviously so talented in everything else.” He smiled.
Leo stammered incoherently before stumbling out of the room, frantically trying to think of an excuse that would appease the scary Glo Xinia.
Byakuran watched the screen placidly. Swordsmen were just so fun to manipulate, he thought. So simple.
-----
It was nearing dinner time in Italy, sunrise in Japan, when something changed on Byakuran’s screen. Leo had been in the middle of pleading with his employer to go to at least one meal per day when the Millefiore leader shushed him and turned his full attention to the computer.
The two of them watched as Yamamoto pulled out his handgun, a sleek .22 revolver, and checked that it was loaded and cocked. The Rain Guardian kissed his love, once on the lips and once on the cheek, before the pressed the butt of his gun against the side of Gokudera’s skull and pulled the trigger. The Storm Guardian’s body jerked at the impact.
When it was over, Gokudera Hayato looked the same as he had before. But Byakuran was leaning back in his chair with a pleased little smirk, and then he stood up and stretched. “You know, Leo-kun, dinner does sound like a good idea. Let’s go~”
Leo looked a little sick. “Ah, you go first, Byakuran-sama. I just need to…get my bearings. This is why I was never any good as a hitman.” he confessed ruefully. “Don’t like the sight of death.”
“Aww, poor Leo-kun~” Byakuran patted him on the head, in high good spirits. “I’ll see you down in the dining room then~” He strolled out of the room, whistling.
As soon as the door closed, Mukuro straightened up and the computer screen flickered. The scene didn’t seem to have changed - Gokudera was still lying across the bed, his head in Yamamoto’s lap, but Mukuro knew the crucial difference. Gokudera Hayato wasn’t dead, only sleeping.
Mukuro smiled, and it looked out of place on Leo-kun’s sweet little face. He knew he shouldn’t get cocky - Byakuran was only this easy to deceive because he’d expected this conclusion to the absence of everything else. But it was good to have this little victory.
-----
Yamamoto watched Gokudera wake up like he was the sunrise. The Storm Guardian stirred as Yamamoto stroked his hair, and responded when Yamamoto bent down to kiss him. “Hmmph…”
Yamamoto straightened with a sad smile. “Hey there.”
Gokudera’s eyes fluttered open, and he coughed softly. “Water.” A croak.
Yamamoto laid Gokudera’s head gently on the pillow and went to the bathroom. He came back with water in the cup Gokudera used for brushing his teeth, but it was better than nothing. After propping Gokudera up on his pillows, Yamamoto lifted the water to the Storm Guardian’s mouth and tilted it gently. Gokudera gulped down the water hungrily, ignoring the pain as it flowed down his sore throat.
The Storm Guardian didn’t say anything when he finished drinking, but Yamamoto got up and refilled his cup. Gokudera took it gratefully and took a small sip as Yamamoto sat on the edge of the bed. Then, Gokudera raised a hand to stroke Yamamoto’s cheek. “Hey. I’m proud of you.” he said quietly.
“What?” Was there something to be proud of?
Gokudera hid his expression behind his cup. “I know about Byakuran’s offer.”
Yamamoto couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. He was frozen, dumbstruck, until Gokudera put his water down on the nightstand and kissed him. Gokudera’s hands cupped Yamamoto’s face, rings clinking against each other and pressing into Yamamoto’s skin. Their lips stayed closed, but the contact warmed Yamamoto to the core. Still, he didn’t know what to say when Gokudera pulled back.
“So- you-”
“I set this up.” Gokudera’s eyes were full of guilt, and he gave a ragged laugh. “I knew Byakuran would go for you if presented with the opportunity, so I made you miserable and thus vulnerable to his persuasion. He took the bait. I’m glad you didn’t.”
Yamamoto still didn’t speak.
“It’s all because of this war.” Gokudera said bitterly, his eyes darting away from Yamamoto, his hands falling away. “I wouldn’t have deceived you otherwise, but we desperately need an advantage against Byakuran. And now, he thinks I’m dead.”
“But, I didn’t-”
“I know, but he thinks you did. It’s a chance for me to disappear and clean up some messes we’ve got in both Italy and Japan.”
Gokudera threw off the covers and went to their closet, picking out a leather briefcase and starting to pack. Yamamoto watched as he threw in his reading glasses, wallet, cigarettes and lighter. Gokudera also took off all his rings except for Storm and sealed them in holder boxes, but he only put in one weapon box.
“You’re not taking Sistema C.A.I.?”
“No, it’d be suspicious if I used it. But I’ve got my skull cannon and Storm ring, so that’s all I need.”
Yamamoto disagreed, but he didn’t voice the thought. He watched as Gokudera wrote a note in what appeared to be G-script, which the Storm Guardian then folded up and tucked into the briefcase.
“It’s the name of my contact in Italy and instructions about how to find him.” Gokudera explained. “My memory’s as bad as Ryohei’s these days.” He seemed to be done with packing, because then he sat down on the bed next to Yamamoto.
“Hey, Takeshi.”
“Yeah?” Gokudera’s hand snuck into Yamamoto’s, but he still didn’t look over.
“I know that…you don’t belong here.” Gokudera swallowed and went on. “I mean, some of it is because I’ve been treating you like shit, but not all of it is.” Blunt as always, and Yamamoto winced. What was Gokudera going to do now, tell him to suck it up?
“So I thought, maybe, after the war, we could try becoming civilians. We’ll get married and rebuild Take Sushi, and you won’t have to pick up a sword again.” Gokudera paused, nervous. “I mean, if you want to. I thought that maybe you’d want to go into the Minor Leagues, because you’ve always loved baseball. If you don’t want to be in Namimori because of your fath- your memories, we could go somewhere else. I can cook. Become a lawyer or something else normal.”
Yamamoto still didn’t reply, and Gokudera was too scared to look up. “O-Or maybe, if you’ve gotten sick of me - and I wouldn’t blame you - you can just go by yourself and find a nice girl and-”
Yamamoto engulfed the Storm Guardian in a tight hug. “I’ll never get sick of you. You can’t imagine how many times I’ve dreamed of a life like that.”
Gokudera hugged back, taking huge, shuddering breaths against the fabric of Yamamoto’s suit. “Actually, I can. I want that life just as much as you do.” Yamamoto looked at him in surprise, and Gokudera laughed harshly. “What, you think being born in this life means that I want to stay? But we’ll get out. I promise.” They could’ve stayed in that embrace for hours, but eventually Gokudera pulled away.
“I need to go. I’m going to visit the Tenth’s coffin this morning, before I leave for Italy. Will you carry me to the forest? The last thing we need is for one of the Millefiore informants to see me walking around alive.”
“Ok.” Yamamoto waited as Gokudera said his goodbyes to Uri, putting the little cat back in his box a flash of his Storm ring.
When Gokudera was ready, Yamamoto gathered him up in his arms like a husband with his bride. “You’re too thin.”
Gokudera punched his arm softly, his eyes neither drunken nor cold. “I’ll take better care of myself in the future, dummy. Now start walking, the shift’s about to change.”
Yamamoto shifted his grip one last time. Then he carried Gokudera out of their bedroom and out of the base, not stopping until he was deep into the forest around Namimori. When he let Gokudera down, his arms were trembling with exertion. “So this is goodbye?”
“For now. I’ll come back, Takeshi. No matter what.”
“Ok.” Yamamoto pressed in for one last kiss and left.
-----
When Yamamoto saw the Gokudera and Tsuna from ten years ago, he gave a wry laugh inside. Maybe his Gokudera had known about this, maybe he hadn’t. It could be another plan Gokudera had known about and didn’t reveal. But Yamamoto didn’t feel bitter about it. He had a promise from Gokudera, of a peaceful life after the war if they both survived. Until then, he would keep on fighting.
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A/N: Thanks for reading!