(no subject)
Title: Ten Years and Lemon Drops
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Pairing: Lambo/I-pin
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1700
The first time Lambo falls in love with I-pin, he is five and she is fifteen.
He'd just been running from another failed attempt on Reborn's life and he'd yanked the ten-year bazooka from his thick hair and pressed it flush to his face. The smoke cleared just in time to see I-pin's face, close and coming closer, her eyes pressed shut and her lips puckered out. She was going to kiss him.
Correction: She was going to kiss him, ten years later.
His heart beat hard and fast in his little cow-print pajamas and, as her face neared, he did the only thing his panicked brain could think of.
"Poo," he said, firmly, confidently, and her eyes flew open.
I-pin looked startled, then embarrassed, and then she shrieked. Lambo feared that she would beat him up on reflex. She didn't, but Lambo still swears that it was pretty close.
"Um, Lambo, I..." she mumbled and trailed off.
Lambo watched her for a moment: the big, dark eyes, the braids, the stupid forehead. I-pin swallowed her embarrassment, and looked at him firmly.
"Not a word," she said like she was used to bossing him around at this point, "not one."
Lambo looked at her, blinked his large eyes.
"You like Lambo," he cried in a sing-song voice, dropped the video game controller in his hands, and started running around the house, trying to knock down as many things as possible, "you like Lambo!"
I-pin growled in frustration and chased after him.
When Lambo poofed back, I-pin-the-child was staring at him, her eyes squinted nearly shut in concentration and myopia. Lambo looked at her, a slow grin spreading over his sticky face.
"Broccoli monster," he yelled, waving his arms over his head and chasing her down the corridor.
He couldn't wait for the next ten years to buzz by.
***
The second time he falls in love with her, they are both thirteen.
The Vongola compound was nearing completion. Everyone was busy and excited and a little nervous. They were building the compound for a reason, after all.
I-pin had given up on her quest to become an assassin at that point, despite becoming the second-ranked hitman in Fuuta's book. Lambo, still ranked somewhere near the middle of that list (though significantly lower than before on the "Most Annoying" ranking) was still working at it. His grudge against Reborn still came and went.
He popped a piece of candy in his mouth and watched her. She watched the older men of Vongola, all of them lean muscle and purpose then. She thought they were handsome and impressive, especially Sasagawa-san, who sparred with her almost everyday and she didn't yet understand why. And Lambo didn't want to tell her that it was because he thought she was cute, because then maybe she'd get to thinking. Sasagawa was a gentleman, of course, and far too old for her, but Lambo was a gentleman too, and far too shy to ever ask her out himself. So he kept quiet and listened with warmth and a smile when she talked about how impressive Sasagawa had been during their latest match.
When Sasagawa passed by, talking quietly with Gokudera, he gave I-pin a wink and a smile. A credit to her well earned discipline, she waited until the men were out of range before she squealed and grabbed Lambo's hands.
"He winked at me!" She mouthed it, didn't say it, and Lambo smiled with empathy. He knew how good those small scraps of attention could feel.
But even then, I-pin gave more than scraps. She smiled at him, full-on and bright, and hugged him. She thanked him for always listening; she knew she could be such an annoying girl. Lambo hugged her back and said he liked listening.
He did. He just wished it didn't hurt so much.
***
The third time, it isn't so much a falling as it is an affirmation.
They were fourteen and sitting on her floor, her homework spread out around them -- notes, drafts, textbooks. Lambo had left a few candy wrappers here and there. He promised to clean them up later.
"I'm thinking of going to visit Master after finals," I-pin said, plucking a lemon drop out of Lambo's shirt pocket and slowly unwrapping it, "you should come, too."
Lambo watched her through his shaggy bangs for a moment, watched the warm blush touching her cheeks. "Why," he asked, not daring to hope for any answer in particular.
"Well," she said, looking down and smiling, "I talk about you all the time. Master's curious."
"Ah," he said and smiled despite his attempts to look cool. He'd never been especially good at that whole "cool" thing. "What, um, what do you tell him?"
I-pin thought for a moment, then closed her book. She slid a bit closer to him, pulled another piece of candy from his pocket, and took off her glasses.
"That you're my best friend," she said, "and that I like you."
Lambo fought to keep his eyes from going wide.
"He's like a father to me, you know," she continued sincerely, "and he wants to approve of you."
"Ah," Lambo repeated and couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, "wait - what?"
I-pin smiled. "You know, for being a big Guardian and all, you're pretty slow on the uptake."
And she kissed him.
Lambo's mind reeled. He squeaked. He thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Then I-pin giggled, threaded her fingers through his hair, and he managed to kiss her back.
At that moment, I-pin smelled and tasted like lemon drops, and afterward Lambo would be sure to always have a steady supply on hand for when he got to feeling lonely.
***
The next time, they are both fifteen, the world is a dangerous place, and it feels like a very frivolous thing to be kissing all the time like that, so they stopped that some months earlier, not long after they'd started.
It had been a close call. Several of the Guardians were injured, tired, regrouping as quickly as they could, but everyone knew that it was never quick enough. I-pin helped out in the infirmary, swabbing wounds, changing bandages, delivering food, retrieving the empty trays. Lambo helped, too, when his minor wounds had healed, and he always insisted on being the one to work with Sasagawa-san. I-pin didn't question it.
He asked her once, when they were finished for the day, when everyone else had gone to bed and they were hanging out in his room in the compound, the place she slept when she stayed there. He asked her when they were playing a video game, staring at the television screen, destroying pixelated villains, as if they didn't get enough of that in real life during the day. He asked if she was seeing anyone yet, because he wasn't.
She'd said no, watched him watch the screen; noticed that they did a lot of watching each other ever since they were little. She wasn't seeing anyone. She could elaborate on the crushes she had, but didn't because she knew that wasn't why Lambo was asking. She just listened to Lambo say, "Huh," and go back to his turn at the video game.
There hadn't been anyone after Lambo. Not for silly sentimental reasons; it was just that no one really caught her eye. Aside from the daily sparring sessions with Sasagawa, she noted to herself, though he always seemed to go a little easy on her and she really wished he wouldn't.
She watched him some more: the pretty hair and eyes and the way he was always beside her. It would be so easy to kiss him right then and start it all over again. It would be so comfortable. So she leaned in, eyes shut, lips puckered.
"Poo," the smoky, pajama-clad figure in front of her said.
After she chased ten-years-earlier Lambo through the compound and her Lambo had poofed back just in time to have his face shoved rather forcibly into a couch cushion, she didn't bother to follow up on that planned kiss. It was really just silly. They were friends. When did that ever work out?
***
The last time is the day after Tsuna's funeral and they sit together on Lambo's bed, crying.
The others were off mourning in their own ways: Yamamoto kneeling before his father's grave, Gokudera polishing off the last shots of his expensive single-malt whiskey, Sasagawa pulverizing a sandbag. But he and I-pin cry. It was all they had the heart to do.
Lambo told her about how kind and patient Tsuna had been to take him in, the way Tsuna had offered him an escape during the battle for the Vongola rings. I-pin said that the Sawada household had always felt like her second home. All of their shared history stems from Sawada Tsunayoshi, tenth boss of the Vongola family, and they hardly needed to say anything at all because they'd only be repeating the same things over and over. So they were quiet after that.
When Lambo cried, I-pin lifted his hands to her mouth and kissed them. When I-pin's body shook with sobs, Lambo held her tight and pet her long, skinny braids because she was his I-pin, his dearest friend since he was wearing his little onesie pajamas.
He held her because he'd known her for over a decade. She'd been his companion, his short-lived girlfriend, and eternally the love of his life. He held her because no words could fix what was broken and he'd never been very good at that anyway. Lambo let their nearness do the comforting that his words couldn't.
And when the sobbing had died down, she tilted up her face and closed her eyes, and he leaned down and kissed her mouth, and they kissed each other on that bed for hours, but he never went any further because she was still his I-pin, whatever that meant.
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Pairing: Lambo/I-pin
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1700
The first time Lambo falls in love with I-pin, he is five and she is fifteen.
He'd just been running from another failed attempt on Reborn's life and he'd yanked the ten-year bazooka from his thick hair and pressed it flush to his face. The smoke cleared just in time to see I-pin's face, close and coming closer, her eyes pressed shut and her lips puckered out. She was going to kiss him.
Correction: She was going to kiss him, ten years later.
His heart beat hard and fast in his little cow-print pajamas and, as her face neared, he did the only thing his panicked brain could think of.
"Poo," he said, firmly, confidently, and her eyes flew open.
I-pin looked startled, then embarrassed, and then she shrieked. Lambo feared that she would beat him up on reflex. She didn't, but Lambo still swears that it was pretty close.
"Um, Lambo, I..." she mumbled and trailed off.
Lambo watched her for a moment: the big, dark eyes, the braids, the stupid forehead. I-pin swallowed her embarrassment, and looked at him firmly.
"Not a word," she said like she was used to bossing him around at this point, "not one."
Lambo looked at her, blinked his large eyes.
"You like Lambo," he cried in a sing-song voice, dropped the video game controller in his hands, and started running around the house, trying to knock down as many things as possible, "you like Lambo!"
I-pin growled in frustration and chased after him.
When Lambo poofed back, I-pin-the-child was staring at him, her eyes squinted nearly shut in concentration and myopia. Lambo looked at her, a slow grin spreading over his sticky face.
"Broccoli monster," he yelled, waving his arms over his head and chasing her down the corridor.
He couldn't wait for the next ten years to buzz by.
***
The second time he falls in love with her, they are both thirteen.
The Vongola compound was nearing completion. Everyone was busy and excited and a little nervous. They were building the compound for a reason, after all.
I-pin had given up on her quest to become an assassin at that point, despite becoming the second-ranked hitman in Fuuta's book. Lambo, still ranked somewhere near the middle of that list (though significantly lower than before on the "Most Annoying" ranking) was still working at it. His grudge against Reborn still came and went.
He popped a piece of candy in his mouth and watched her. She watched the older men of Vongola, all of them lean muscle and purpose then. She thought they were handsome and impressive, especially Sasagawa-san, who sparred with her almost everyday and she didn't yet understand why. And Lambo didn't want to tell her that it was because he thought she was cute, because then maybe she'd get to thinking. Sasagawa was a gentleman, of course, and far too old for her, but Lambo was a gentleman too, and far too shy to ever ask her out himself. So he kept quiet and listened with warmth and a smile when she talked about how impressive Sasagawa had been during their latest match.
When Sasagawa passed by, talking quietly with Gokudera, he gave I-pin a wink and a smile. A credit to her well earned discipline, she waited until the men were out of range before she squealed and grabbed Lambo's hands.
"He winked at me!" She mouthed it, didn't say it, and Lambo smiled with empathy. He knew how good those small scraps of attention could feel.
But even then, I-pin gave more than scraps. She smiled at him, full-on and bright, and hugged him. She thanked him for always listening; she knew she could be such an annoying girl. Lambo hugged her back and said he liked listening.
He did. He just wished it didn't hurt so much.
***
The third time, it isn't so much a falling as it is an affirmation.
They were fourteen and sitting on her floor, her homework spread out around them -- notes, drafts, textbooks. Lambo had left a few candy wrappers here and there. He promised to clean them up later.
"I'm thinking of going to visit Master after finals," I-pin said, plucking a lemon drop out of Lambo's shirt pocket and slowly unwrapping it, "you should come, too."
Lambo watched her through his shaggy bangs for a moment, watched the warm blush touching her cheeks. "Why," he asked, not daring to hope for any answer in particular.
"Well," she said, looking down and smiling, "I talk about you all the time. Master's curious."
"Ah," he said and smiled despite his attempts to look cool. He'd never been especially good at that whole "cool" thing. "What, um, what do you tell him?"
I-pin thought for a moment, then closed her book. She slid a bit closer to him, pulled another piece of candy from his pocket, and took off her glasses.
"That you're my best friend," she said, "and that I like you."
Lambo fought to keep his eyes from going wide.
"He's like a father to me, you know," she continued sincerely, "and he wants to approve of you."
"Ah," Lambo repeated and couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, "wait - what?"
I-pin smiled. "You know, for being a big Guardian and all, you're pretty slow on the uptake."
And she kissed him.
Lambo's mind reeled. He squeaked. He thought he'd died and gone to heaven. Then I-pin giggled, threaded her fingers through his hair, and he managed to kiss her back.
At that moment, I-pin smelled and tasted like lemon drops, and afterward Lambo would be sure to always have a steady supply on hand for when he got to feeling lonely.
***
The next time, they are both fifteen, the world is a dangerous place, and it feels like a very frivolous thing to be kissing all the time like that, so they stopped that some months earlier, not long after they'd started.
It had been a close call. Several of the Guardians were injured, tired, regrouping as quickly as they could, but everyone knew that it was never quick enough. I-pin helped out in the infirmary, swabbing wounds, changing bandages, delivering food, retrieving the empty trays. Lambo helped, too, when his minor wounds had healed, and he always insisted on being the one to work with Sasagawa-san. I-pin didn't question it.
He asked her once, when they were finished for the day, when everyone else had gone to bed and they were hanging out in his room in the compound, the place she slept when she stayed there. He asked her when they were playing a video game, staring at the television screen, destroying pixelated villains, as if they didn't get enough of that in real life during the day. He asked if she was seeing anyone yet, because he wasn't.
She'd said no, watched him watch the screen; noticed that they did a lot of watching each other ever since they were little. She wasn't seeing anyone. She could elaborate on the crushes she had, but didn't because she knew that wasn't why Lambo was asking. She just listened to Lambo say, "Huh," and go back to his turn at the video game.
There hadn't been anyone after Lambo. Not for silly sentimental reasons; it was just that no one really caught her eye. Aside from the daily sparring sessions with Sasagawa, she noted to herself, though he always seemed to go a little easy on her and she really wished he wouldn't.
She watched him some more: the pretty hair and eyes and the way he was always beside her. It would be so easy to kiss him right then and start it all over again. It would be so comfortable. So she leaned in, eyes shut, lips puckered.
"Poo," the smoky, pajama-clad figure in front of her said.
After she chased ten-years-earlier Lambo through the compound and her Lambo had poofed back just in time to have his face shoved rather forcibly into a couch cushion, she didn't bother to follow up on that planned kiss. It was really just silly. They were friends. When did that ever work out?
***
The last time is the day after Tsuna's funeral and they sit together on Lambo's bed, crying.
The others were off mourning in their own ways: Yamamoto kneeling before his father's grave, Gokudera polishing off the last shots of his expensive single-malt whiskey, Sasagawa pulverizing a sandbag. But he and I-pin cry. It was all they had the heart to do.
Lambo told her about how kind and patient Tsuna had been to take him in, the way Tsuna had offered him an escape during the battle for the Vongola rings. I-pin said that the Sawada household had always felt like her second home. All of their shared history stems from Sawada Tsunayoshi, tenth boss of the Vongola family, and they hardly needed to say anything at all because they'd only be repeating the same things over and over. So they were quiet after that.
When Lambo cried, I-pin lifted his hands to her mouth and kissed them. When I-pin's body shook with sobs, Lambo held her tight and pet her long, skinny braids because she was his I-pin, his dearest friend since he was wearing his little onesie pajamas.
He held her because he'd known her for over a decade. She'd been his companion, his short-lived girlfriend, and eternally the love of his life. He held her because no words could fix what was broken and he'd never been very good at that anyway. Lambo let their nearness do the comforting that his words couldn't.
And when the sobbing had died down, she tilted up her face and closed her eyes, and he leaned down and kissed her mouth, and they kissed each other on that bed for hours, but he never went any further because she was still his I-pin, whatever that meant.