Lily: Hi hi minna!

Tsuna: Hi...

Lily: Welcome to a new god damn fanfic.

Tsuna: Ano, you could just finish your other ones.

Lily: I know! But this idea struck me in the head when I was reading poems! Really sad...angsty...poems. So, if you read the summary, this fic is about the relationship between Tsuna and his fath-I mean Iemitsu.

Tsuna: ...

Lily: A bit angsty (which is what I hope) so please enjoy! Based off the poem 'Always My Father but Never My Dad'. Slightest bit of AU.

Tsuna: Lily does not own KHR. Please enjoy...

Lily: There there, Tsuna. There there.

"Tsu-kun~! Are you ready for your first day of elementary school?" Tsuna's mother, Nana asked from below the stares. A tiny cute 5 year old Tsuna with a blue bag strapped on his back and a bright yellow hat put securely on his head ran down the stairs, a big grin on his face.

"Yes mum!" Tsuna said. The brunet frowned, tilting his head in a cute fashion. He noticed something wrong. "Mum, where's dad? Didn't he say he would come home today?"

Nana smiled sadly.

"Your dad had to go to work, honey. He's really busy," Nana said.

"Oh..." Tsuna said sadly.

"Tsu-kun, we're going to the mall today!" Nana said.

"Yay! Mall! Mall!" 6 year old Tsuna exclaimed happily. He ran down the stairs, but not before tripping and falling face first at the bottom. He let out a painful sob, sitting up and sniffing. But he didn't let out the tears.

"Oh, Tsu-kun! Are you alright?" Nana kneeled down next to her son and patted his head.

"I-I'm alright," Tsuna said, smiling weakly. He then blinked. "Hey, where's dad? Wasn't today the day he was coming home?"

"Oh, your father's very busy, Tsu-kun. You know that. Something came up and he can't come home," Nana said.

"Oh, I see," Tsuna said, frowning.

7 year old Tsuna gulped, gripping the bars of his brand new bike.

"Don't worry, Tsu-kun! Mummy is here to keep you safe," Nana said, holding the side of the bike. Tsuna nodded. He started pedalling slowly, Nana still holding on the side and helping to push him along.

"I-I'm riding a bike!" Tsuna said gleefully.

"Yes you are! Okay, mummy's going to let go now, but she's right next to you in case you fall down," Nana said. Tsuna nodded shakily. Nana let go, jogging next to Tsuna as he pedalled down the street.

"I'm doing it!" Tsuna exclaimed. Nana giggled.

"Look at you go! Well done, Tsu-kun!" she said. She clapped a little to congratulate him. Once Tsuna had ridden down the street and back, he got off and put the bike away.

"Hey mum..." he said.

"What is it honey?" Nana asked.

"Well, dad said he was going to come home to teach me how to ride a bike...where is he?" Tsuna asked, already knowing the answer. Nana sighed.

"Tsu-kun, your father is very busy. He had to go to work. He'll come home soon," Nana said, not even believing her own words.

Tsuna frowned.

8 year old Tsuna came home and ran through the doors and into the kitchen, clutching his mum's legs and sniffing.

"Tsu-kun?!" Nana exclaimed. She turned off the stove and kneeled down next to her son. "What's wrong?"

"The guys at school are so mean to me! They keep calling me Dame-Tsuna and laughing at me, but I can't help that I'm clumsy," Tsuna sobbed. Nana sifted her fingers through her son's hair.

"Sh, sh... It's alright, it's okay... Mum's here. She'll try to fix this, okay?" Nana said. Tsuna sniffed. "Be strong, Tsu-kun. We can get over it together. Don't let those mean boys get to you."

"O-okay," Tsuna said, wiping away his tears. He was expecting his father to be home. He wanted to talk to him. To hug him. To tell him how hurt he was and for his father to tell him what his mother had said.

He wouldn't ask this time.

He knew the answer already.

"M-mum!" A 9 year old Tsuna called out. He wasn't a kid anymore. He shouldn't be afraid.

But the light coming through the windows made all the shadows look terrifying.

"Mum!" he called, louder this time. He sniffed. He was scared. Iemitsu was supposed to come home today. But, once again, he was too busy with his work.

"Mum!"

"Tsu-kun...?"

"M-mum..."

Nana came into Tsuna's room and flicked on the lights, rubbing her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Tsuna whimpered.

"I-I heard something... I think it's a ghost!"

Nana sighed, but went over and comforted the brunet nonetheless.

"Tsu-kun, don't worry. Mum's here, and ghosts don't exist," Nana said.

"B-but I heard!"

Nana raised an eyebrow.

"I heard from the other kids! They talk about ghosts haunting people!" Tsuna said. Nana embraced her son in a soft hug.

"Ghosts don't exist, Tsu-kun," Nana said. "But if you really want, I'll sleep in here to keep the ghosts away, okay?"

Tsuna sniffed and smiled slightly.

"O-okay... Thanks, mum," he said. Nana smiled.

A 10 year old Tsuna walked into the kitchen, where his mother was cooking something that smelled absolutely heavenly.

"What are you cooking?" Tsuna asked enthusiastically. His mother smiled.

"I'm making Irish stew! I wanted to make something different today!" Nana announced.

"Irish stew?" Tsuna asked.

"Yep! It's very tasty! I'm sure you'll like it," Nana said.

The truth was, Nana was only making this because she thought-no, she hoped Iemitsu was coming home today. But once again, he had called her to let her know he was too busy.

'Maybe he just doesn't care about me? Maybe he just doesn't care about Tsu-kun?' Nana thought. She shook her head. 'Iemitsu isn't like that. He must be very busy...I don't know anything about construction...'

"Mum? Is something wrong?" Tsuna asked, noticing the pained look on Nana's face. She smiled.

"No, it's nothing. Ah, I think the stew is ready! Let's eat!"

Nana had been telling the truth. It was tasty.

"This is amazing!" Tsuna said. Nana giggled.

"Really? Thank you, Tsu-kun!" she said. "Oh I know! How about I teach you how to cook it? It's very simple for beginners and it'll give us a break from all the Japanese food!"

"That's a great idea!"

Maybe not a great idea, as Tsuna had almost set fire to the house the first time. The second time was a bit better, but he didn't cook the meat and vegetables enough. The third time was much better. Although it wasn't as good as Nana's, it was pretty good and at least no one was hurt. Over the years, over the months, Tsuna got much better at cooking-in fact, he was on par with Nana.

She couldn't have been more proud.

A 13 year old Tsuna was making some home-made yakisoba for the first time, stirring the noodles and ingredients in the pan. Suddenly, the doorbell rung.

"Ara? Who could it be?" Tsuna wondered. Nana was up stairs reading a book (hence why he was cooking the yakisoba-he wanted to make his mother some lunch) and as far as Tsuna could remember, he didn't have any friends. At least the bullying had stopped. Nana actually had done something about it. And now people were more friendly with him. Though no one was very close to him.

Tsuna turned off the stove, as the yakisoba was done, and took off the apron he was wearing. He walked over to the door and looked through the peephole as the doorbell rung again.

His eyes widened.

This wasn't possible.

This couldn't be happening.

It was his father.

His. Father.

The father who hadn't come home in more than a year. The father who never had the chance to see him grow up. And he was here now.

When Iemitsu had actually visited Tsuna when he was a kid, Tsuna had been naive. Delighted. Happy that his father had came home.

But he wasn't a kid anymore. He wasn't naive anymore.

He opened the door, only to tilt his head in confusion.

"Who are you?" the brunet asked. He could see a look of pain flash across his fath-Iemitsu's eyes, but it was covered by a grin.

"It's me, Tsuna! Your dad!"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what my father looks like. I'll have to confirm it with my mother," the brunet said. "Mum! Some guy's here!"

Nana came down a few moments later.

"Who is it, Tsu-kun-"

She froze when she saw the man. But not long after, she broke into a grin. She ran over to Iemitsu and engulfed him in a hug.

"You're home!" she exclaimed.

Tsuna looked at them with slight indifference.

"So this really is Iemitsu, then?" Tsuna asked.

"Yep, it's your papa!" Iemitsu said. Tsuna frowned.

"I'm sorry," he said, not sorry at all. "I'm not comfortable with calling you my 'father'. After all, you're a stranger to me. I've only seen you a few times before...I'm sorry, but I'll stick to calling you Iemitsu."

Iemitsu looked slightly hurt, but he knew he deserved it. But Tsuna wasn't done.

The brunet turned to leave for his room, but turned his head to face Iemitsu.

"After all," he said, "you may be my father, but you will never be my dad."

I'm sorry you missed out when I went to school for the first time,
And you didn't have me to tell you that you were all mine.

I'm sorry you weren't there to take me to the mall,
And you weren't there to tell me I have to stand tall.

I'm sorry you weren't the one who taught me how to ride a bike,
Or the one who took me on my first ride.

Sorry you weren't the one I saw when I came home that day,
Or the one I'd run to when I had a bad day.

Sorry you weren't there to tell me there's nothing to fear,
But then again you should have been here.

I'm sorry you weren't the one to hold me when I cried,
Or to tell me I did great when I really tried.

I'm sorry you were never there to teach me how to cook,
Or there at night to read me my favourite book.

But I'm not sorry this is what you did to me,
Because you showed me exactly who I don't want to be.

I'm sorry I'm the son you never had,
You will always be my father, but never my dad.

Lily: So, how was it? Did you cry? Yeah, probably not.

Tsuna: ...

Lily: Tsuna's in a state of shock right now, so let's be gentle. Anyway, please please PLEASE leave a review and please please PLEASE favourite. It helps me out a lot, and even 1 or 2 reviews make me the happiest gal ever. Well, hope you enjoyed and I'll see you (hopefully) on my next fanfic. Bye!