Chapter 17

Gokudera Hayato's Apartment, Namimori, Japan

Gokudera sighed as he downed another cup of coffee in his apartment, working on a report Mr. Slave Driver had ordered him to do.

It had been a tiring day, from restraining Tsuna for ordering people to torture Mateo Velasco to death and the other students who talked bad about Ienari and pulling in several favors to get the current headmaster of the academy fired, to making sure that the soundproof room was tightly closed from the colorful words that Tsuna released afterwards.

It had eaten a lot of their time that they were almost late for their next classes, and their lunch boxes forgotten as they rushed out of the headquarters. Hibari seemed like the only one unperturbed, since he owns the school by proxy, so he was the only one rushing to the next class.

Once more, he gazed at the file on his kitchen table. While it was a necessary report, Gokudera couldn't give a damn about it, not after reading the school experience of the Vongola heir. And they were just scratching the surface from the records that Nagi got from their contact.

There was still his hospital records, and records from the Varia and other families to look at, and it was already pushing Tsuna to the point of committing bloody murder.

From behind him, a lean figure embraced him from behind, distracting him from work. "You're not going to bed yet?"

Gokudera sighed. "Hibari wanted me to finish this by tomorrow. I don't really have a choice," he replied as he looked up to meet the eyes of Yamamoto Takeshi who was in nothing but pajama bottoms, leaving his chest exposed for him to see.

"And just when I found the time to sleep over, and he goes on and assigns you more work." He said with a small frown.

"That's the way the bastard is." Gokudera replied, "And I bet he knows that you are the reason why I fall asleep in meetings sometimes."

Laughing, Yamamoto tore away from Gokudera slightly, "Well, he is one of the sharpest tools in the shed next to Tsuna." He stated.

The two had been secretly dating for six months now, and neither had said a word towards the others, preferring it to be a secret. But they knew for a fact that Hibari and Tsuna—who were with them most of the time, knew that they had already hooked up based on the looks that the couple gives them. Thankfully, they decided not to vocalize it.

"If you knew how to keep it in your pants, then I wouldn't be in that situation most of the time." Gokudera growled. "You keep me up into the morning, I barely have enough sleep."

With a chuckle, Yamamoto leered at him, "That's not what you're saying when we're in bed…"

He was met by a hit on the head with a roll of papers. "Idiot. Not today."

Yamamoto pouted childishly, "You're mean. At least cuddle with me for the night."

Taking off his glasses and placing it on the table, he gave up. "Fine. But if you do any more than that, and you're sleeping on the couch and forbidden to touch me for a month." He threatened.

Smiling, Yamamoto nodded and pulled the silver haired teen out of his chair and carried him like a princess, making him blush. "You idiot put me down! I can walk on my own!" but Yamamoto didn't listen to his threats and curses and brought him gently down on the bed.

Pulling the covers, he went under it with Gokudera and tucked him on his chest. "This is good, right?" he asked.

Gokudera, glad that the lights were off, couldn't help but blush at the cuddly situation he is in now. "Just get to sleep. I'll just wake up earlier to finish my report…" he conceded.

"Won't Hibari get mad at you?" Yamamoto asked with a small teasing smile.

"He can complain all he can. I'm not wasting precious sleep with you because of the incident reports on first year punks." He growled. "Are you going to sleep or not? If not, then I'll gladly get back on my work."

The answer he got was the taller teen pulling him close and tucking him under his chin with a small happy sigh and tried to drift off into sleep.

A few minutes later, the two were sound asleep when a ping in Gokudera's laptop went up with the sender being Bianchi.

…

The feel of soft hands running through his hair could be considered as godsend. He found that he didn't want the hands to leave, didn't want the hands to stop unintentionally lulling him to sleep. He felt so good about it that he couldn't help but to let out a purr.

A chuckle came from the person stroking his hair. "You seem to be enjoying this,"

Ienari smiled, "What can I say, you have magic hands. Now I know why you always want me to do this to you."

"A compliment from you? How rare." The voice said.

Ienari reached up to pinch the side of the person's side, who squeaked in slight pain. "Okay, okay, I'll just take it when I can,"

"Good idea." Ienari replied.

"It's been a while since we've had this kind of peace. No students, no noise, and especially, no Byakuran."

Ienari chuckled at that. "Byakuran ticking you off?"

"Cockblocking me, more like." The person replied.

"He has bad timing, I agree, but he doesn't do that to you all the time."

"More like he does it when he wants to be annoying."

"Point taken." Ienari replied. "So, are you up to sneaking out with Byakuran and Irie with me tonight for some fast food?"

"With the thrill of the risk of being caught and greasy American food? Of course. Though I would like to remind you that I still hadn't forgiven you when you and Byakuran tried to imitate The Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene right in front of me."

Ienari rolled his eyes, "Aw come on! That was all in good fun."

"He French kissed you. I was surprised Irie was in on it too."

"Jealous?" Ienari taunted.

The person's legs moved a little, removing any tension but careful not to drop Ienari's head. "More than I could admit."

"Then the trap worked."

"You're a little minx, aren't you?"

"And you're too naïve for your own good."

…

The morning shone bright and clear on Ienari's window, and he hated it. Whose big idea was it to put his bed directly in front of the widow anyway? He wanted to think that it was Reborn's. He was having a good night's sleep, one of his good ones in weeks, actually. Usually, it would be a trip down memory lane like he was being lost in a thick fog, or sometimes, he could find himself lost in a maze. He used to have a very peaceful mind, but ever since that time, he could tell that something was wrong with his head.

The memory that he had recalled this time, however, was somewhat warm and nice. He remembers the place where it happened, but just like all of his dreams, the boy with him remains to be a mystery for him.

And he never knew why.

All he knew that he was a very important person in his life, even more than Byakuran, Irie and Yuri. A relationship above friendship. Ienari wanted more than anything to remember what he looked like and who he was, but his mind always rebels as if saying, 'You can't know.'

He glanced at his clock. It was still half past five. He wasn't supposed to get up until quarter to six. Shaking his head, Ienari got up and decided to start his day early.

Heading to the bathroom to prepare for the day, he decided that he would at least get dressed before going to breakfast. He could already hear the kitchen roaring to life as his mother was preparing breakfast.

When he got down though, he sensed something strange. And by strange, he meant scary. What was more, Tsuna was the center of it. The worst part? He's been like that since yesterday.

Ienari didn't know why he felt so uneasy upon seeing Tsuna after classes that day when he was waiting with Reborn for him to come. He could tell that Tsuna was in a slightly sour mood, no matter how much he tries to mask it. It may be a byproduct of being taught by Reborn, but he had been able to sense the feelings of people around him, no matter how much they try to put on a face to mask these things. Auras had always been Ienari's strong point in sensing most of the time.

And this time, Tsuna's aura was a bit scary, as if he was thinking of different ways of maiming someone in particular in his head which would prove to be traumatic to the target. Seriously, even when they were kids, a purely angry Tsuna was a scary Tsuna, and it was making Ienari run for the hills.

And it was the same thing he is sensing right now.

"What's gotten you so sour since yesterday?" Reborn commented as he saw Tsuna take his usual seat at the breakfast table.

"Racist pigs." Tsuna replied, not really elaborating.

"That's a general issue. Care to be more specific?" Reborn asked as he continued to read the morning paper.

"Racists pigs who can't accept the fact that someone of a different heritage is above them both intellectually and politically."

Reborn raised his brow. "Politics or the underground?"

"A school system." Tsuna shared.

"Ah." Reborn let out.

Not really getting what his brother and tutor were talking about, Ienari decided to tune them out and greeted his mother as she gave him his share of breakfast. "So, what are the two discussing?"

"Something about another school." Nana supplied for him.

Ienari was not oblivious to the fact that most schools tend to discriminate foreign students, and even some of them were scorned by the faculty that was supposed to supervise them while they were at school. His face darkened slightly as he remembered his time in Italy. He never liked the way the headmaster looked at him as if he was scum on the bottom of his five figure leather shoes.

He sighed as he simply ignored the two others in the room and proceeded to eat his breakfast.

…

After the boys and Reborn had left for school earlier than was usual, Nana was left to clean the breakfast table. Her manager was going to open up the restaurant today, so she could rest easily these days. She sighed as she remembered the sour mood that her eldest son had projected since yesterday. Reborn had hinted her that Tsuna had gotten some information regarding Ienari's time in Italy, and that he must have found something he detested in them.

There were a few things that could push Tsuna to awaken his anger, and one of them was harming his younger brother in any means possible.

Nana had never seen her son truly mad, until the news of Ienari's attempted suicide reached them as soon as Reborn had heard it. She had never seen her eldest so livid and ready to kill. Even she had been angered at the fact that someone had driven her son to do that, but she was more worried about Ienari than angry at the cause at that time. Looking back, she had been a second away from taking the flight to Italy just to see him had it not been for the fact that her husband was there to monitor him.

Sighing, she straightened herself up and went on to fix what she needed to do before going to the restaurant before the lunch rush, but before she could start, the home phone started to ring.

"I wonder who it could be…" she wondered as she answered the phone. "Sumeragi-Niserio residence," she answered.

"Drop the formalities. It's me." the voice of the man she hated the most said blithely at the phone. Her hand gripped the receiver in irritation at the voice of the man who left her and Tsuna hanging on by a thread.

"What do you want? I'm busy." Nana growled.

The man on the other line scoffed. "Busy? What? Living in the lap of luxury that came from the pockets of your hitman husband?"

"Excuse me, I'm not some gold-digging bitch." Nana retorted. "Unless you called here just to insult me, I suggest you refrain from talking to me."

"Where's Ienari?" he demanded.

"At school, where all children are supposed to be at this hour." She replied.

"Does he have his phone with him?"

Nana didn't like the tone that her ex-husband had given her. How dare he demand things from her especially concerning her son? "You have no jurisdiction on what Ienari has and doesn't have. It was your upbringing that drove him to this mess."

From the other end, Nana heard his frustrated growl. "Just tell me if he has his phone or not!"

"Don't take that tone with me Sawada Iemitsu. I am no longer obliged to answer to your demands. Good. Bye." She said in anger as she slammed the phone, cutting the call. "Bastard." She growled, her hand itching for her gun at the moment. Had she known she would once be married to an asshole like him, she shouldn't have kept her gun under lock and key all those years ago.

Shaking her head to alleviate her annoyance, she turned to the door in order to go to the restaurant, not really wanting to mull over the reason why Iemitsu had the guts to call her and demand things like that.

…

Tsuna has never lost his temper so easily unlike what had happened yesterday, and it was scaring Ienari. Even during their childhood, he never really saw a very angry Tsuna who would snap at anyone who dares come in his way with less than acceptable intentions. He suppose, even the best had their bad days. He was still thinking this when he felt someone tap his shoulder.

"Hey," a girl's voice called out.

Ienari was taken out of his thoughts and his head snapped up to see Sagara Rin, his seatmate from the Reform Faction. "Ah…Sagara-san, good morning," he greeted weakly.

"You seem a bit out of it. Did anything happen between you and Sawada-senpai earlier?" she asked, her piercing brown eyes looking at him with concern.

"What makes you say that?" he wondered.

Sagara pointed outside the classroom, "Everyone in the school knows when Tsuna-san is in a bad mood. It's rare for him, but it happens. He has this air about him that says 'Danger, do not cross' around him." She explained.

That was when Ienari picked up her words carefully, "Wait, you mean this happened before?"

The girl shrugged as she sat down beside him. "Yep. I think that was during the issue between the school and Kokuyo Middle School when some of them attacked our students. He was really angry at the students there and also the authority under it. Everyone was treading on eggshells towards him, especially the DC Chairman." She explained.

"What happened after that?" Ienari was now curious.

A laugh escaped her lips. "Not a month later, the school was shut down."

"What?!" Ienari exclaimed.

"Well, they had it coming anyway. The last straw came from an accident that involved two Reforms and a Rehab getting hospitalized because of serious injuries. Sawada-senpai simply put the last nail in the coffin." She said with a shrug. "If he's mad to that point, then that means that someone or something had offended one of our own. Frankly, I don't really pray for their souls since they probably deserve it. His ire will go away when he settles everything, so just sit back and watch." She assured.

"If you say so…" Ienari said as he sighed. It seems that he still has a lot to learn regarding Tsuna. "I wonder what could be so trivial that could rile him up?"

…

"I never realized Ienari's school life could be so trivial that Tsuna-sama had to pull strings…" Gokudera said with a sigh as he walked beside Yamamoto on the way to the cafeteria that afternoon.

"Tsuna doesn't forget slights to his family. You know that." Yamamoto said as he had his hands behind the back of his head. "To be honest, I'm surprised Tsuna just didn't have him fired. He revealed all his deep dark secrets and threw him in the lions' den. He's vindictive like that."

"Yeah." Gokudera agreed. "Something is a bit fishy in the other information regarding Ienari though." He added.

"What?" Yamamoto dared ask.

"I discussed this with Tsuna-sama, but it seems that Ienari has not yet talked about his time in school other than Yuri Giegue and what happened between them. What happened after that is still a mystery." Gokudera scratched the back of his head, "We should have asked Byakuran and Irie if they knew anything about Ienari's plight, but even they are tight lipped about it."

It was then when Yamamoto recalled something from the day Byakuran and Irie had stopped by the family restaurant, "Say, didn't Irie mention someone named Enma, and when Ienari asked who he was, but it seemed like Irie said something he shouldn't have? Maybe you could start with that?"

"Enma huh." He muttered. All of a sudden, he stopped walking.

Yamamoto noticed this and looked behind him, only to find his boyfriend's eyes wide in realization hit him. "What is it?"

Gokudera snapped out of it immediately. "I'm skipping lunch. Tell Hibari I'll be in the office until break is over!"

Yamamoto watched as Gokudera ran back to the direction of the DC Headquarters, not knowing that he has given a vital clue as to what happened to Ienari.

TBC

So, in this fic, I rewrote the entire storyline. There will not be much action here and I will be paying more attention to the mystery that is Ienari's school life that not even Byakuran and Irie know of much. It seems Ienari has a lot of secrets of his own that not even the snoopiest Byakuran could uncover…for now.

I still have a lot of plot holes to address and make, but for now, I wanted to post this in order for you guys to at least know I'm still alive and kicking.

Sorry for the months of silence in the site, but now, I'M FREE! Thesis and Practicum training had gone so well, I now have time to write until graduation~! Oh, one more thing, I have some announcements in my profile, if you hadn't seen it yet or if you aren't reading my Fem Soma Oneshots. I updated it just yesterday but I'd like to inform those non-readers of that fic.

See you guys next chapter!