Title: Run Away
Characters: Enma, Tsuna,
Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Angst"
Summary: When Tsuna and Enma meet online, their lives change for the better.

Word Count: 2,173

Look at her. She's been alone her entire life and she probably doesn't understand it yet; she probably never will, because she doesn't understand anything else. Her mother's distant, her older brother is so much better, and her father's never home; her family's so fucked up that it's no wonder she turned out like this. Silent, reserved, stupid, clumsy, No Good. No Good. No Good. No Good Tsuna.

She's an easy target. A good stress reliever. No one really cares about what happens to her and she's already stopped trying to change that. She stops caring. She keeps her head down, shoulders slumped, and eyes downcast the day drags her along.

Someone always shoves her down on her way to school, people laugh at her when she arrives, and someone who should've helped her hurts her instead. Ietsuyoshi, her older twin brother by five minutes, doesn't hesitate to trip her as she walks into the classroom.

He's better than her in every way possible. That's why everyone likes him more; why no one cares to hurt him, why everyone wants to be around him, and why everyone treats her unfairly. How many friends does he have? Tsuna's run out of fingers and toes and strands of hair to count. Why did Mama and Papa love him more? Tsuna's stopped counting the reasons.

She picks herself up from the ground easily. It doesn't faze her.

The teacher alienates her. Calling on her because he knows that she doesn't understand, because she has a hard time with things. She gets shy and nervous and embarrassed and so red in the fact that he can't help but laugh alongside the class when does she does something wrong.

Tsuna always knows when the bell's going to ring; it helps her get out of the classroom before everyone else. Today the bell rings two and a half minutes late, but she's the first one out anyway.

It'd be pointless to stay. She doesn't really want to spend her lunch listening to the other students bad mouth her as if she weren't there. She doesn't feel like dealing with Hibari, so she doesn't head upstairs. If she goes down, she'll probably bump into Ietsuyoshi.

With no other choices, she heads for the nurse's office. It's her own personal hideout. The tiniest smile breaks out on her face as she pulls out her phone, turns it on, and talks to the only person who doesn't mind wasting their time on her.

Enma: How's your day going?

Tsuna: Same as always. How about you, Enma?"

Enma: The same.

Enma: But hey, you don't need them. They're not good enough for you.

Tsuna: Thanks. You don't need them either. As long as Enma's my friend, I'm happy.

Enma: Me too. :)

Tsuna: :)

She locks her phone and slides it into her pocket after their conversation ends; it was short, but it made her happy anyway. It's calmed her down; her shoulders aren't so stiff anymore, and the expression on her face isn't so miserable. She's a bit giddy now, actually.

She lets it die out while hiding in a corner until lunch break ends; when it finally does, she dreadfully returns to class. It might be because of Enma, but somehow the day moves about a bit faster.

Tsuna just waits for it to end.

When it does, she can't be happier.

If there was one place that Tsuna loved about school, it had to be the swimming pool. After school she had it all to herself because she was one of the few people Hibari still trusted with the keys; it wouldn't be the same if she suddenly wasn't allowed to be here anymore.

She stares up at the ceiling as she floats on her smell of chlorine fills her nose, and the cold water sucessfully covers her in countless goosebumps. None of which Tsuna cares for.

It's fun to swim in the pool. She swims laps until she's exhausted when she's frustrated or angry and she floats when she's trying to relax. It makes her happy. That and swimming is really the only thing she's good at.

Sports require too much coordination. Coordination that she doesn't have.

When she's swimming she doesn't have to worry about falling on her face, breaking her bones, skinning herself, or anything else at all. The only thing she has to be cautious about if somehow finding a way to drown herself; but that's highly unlikely.

For some reason it sounds nice; to be englufed in nothing but water and drowned until the only thing filling her lungs is water and a burning sensation that slowly fades out. It lets her know that it's over, it's over, it's over.

She zones out. Then, her eyes wander over towards the clock hung above the doorway; it's seven thirty. School has been over for a couple hours now; it's late, and probably dark outside. If she doesn't go home soon then her mom will probably lock her out of the house again.

With a heavy sigh, she swims over to the side of the pool and pulls herself cold air hits her immediately and causes nearly every hair on her body to stand straight up. Yet even though she's obviously freezing; she puts her clothing on over her bathing suit, swings her bag over her shoulder, and heads home.

It just goes to show how much she cares for her own physical health.

If no one else does, then why should she? She's stopped asking such questions completely.

Tsuna's still dripping when she finally gets home; Ietsuyoshi and Nana are enjoying the television together while eating a snack on the couch. Tsuna walks by them wordlessly and heads straight for her bedroom.

The fact that Nana isn't worried about her pale, shivering, dripping daughter shows how much she cares for her youngest child.

Tsuna takes five minutes to shower before returning to he room and locking the door. Her hair is tied in a ponytail that stops just as her back begins. There's a towel around her neck that protects her white shirt from getting wet, and she pulls on a pair of blue boxer shorts before jumping onto bed.

It's dark, but with the glow of the computer light it doesn't really matter.

( ﾟДﾟ)

The next day isn't any different and Tsuna doesn't expect it to be. There are the same people using the same insults and the same bullying tactics; if they really want to get to her, they need to find some new material.

Anyway, even though she brushes through the day just the same as she always does, somehow she ends up on the roof with a boy who has far too many friends to count.

His eyes remain downcast as he stands on the ledge just over the fence, nursing his broken arm- the same arm he uses to play baseball with. Tsuna never actually talks to Takeshi, but she knows from watching him that he's the type that burdens himself with things that could be solved otherwise.

In fact, he probably overworked himself. He was the star player of the baseball team and he's always practicing; baseball was everything to him, and now because broke his arm he thought it would be okay to give up. All because of a minor inconvenience that will be fixed over time.

Doesn't he know he has family and friends who love him?

Doesn't he take the time to think about how this would hurt his father, who has already lost his wife?

No.

She tightens her fists as her normally brown eyes flare up with orange fire. "Even Dame Tsuna pities me..." He looks down, holding onto the rail with as if he were making his choice already. He sees the other students, gathered on the ground and begging for him not to jump. A lot of them were even crying for his sake!

At first, Tsuna just stares- but then Takeshi takes another step forward and she has no other choice but to grab him. Grab him and keep him from making a mistake that would never be forgiven. Her other hand holds so tightly onto the rail that her knuckles turn white. "Pity?" She asks, blinking her eyes in disbelief.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Someone like me who's only good at baseball... Breaking an arm might seem like nothing to you, who's good at nothing, but..."

"I don't pity you." She replies, her voice no longer cracking and her words don't trip on one another anymore. In this moment, she looks stronger. She sound sure of herself, and it's enough for Takeshi to see her in a whole new light. "I think you're an idiot."

"An idiot!?" He asks, baffled. This tiny little girl who was bullied by everyone, who couldn't seem to take care of herself; had just called him an idiot.

It was almost funny. Almost. "Your friends rely on you so much because you let them. You make them think it's okay to put so much pressure on you, and that you can handle it all by yourself. So you ended up breaking your arm because you worked yourself too hard. A team, Takeshi, consists of more than one person."

He narrows his eyes. "Don't talk like you know everything, Sawada. You don't understand."

"And your teammates don't understand why you're always trying to take everything on by yourself. You don't understand why they're letting you do so much. What you and your team misses, is something called communication. Just talk it out, and things will get better." She sighs. "If that doesn't work and if your teammates aren't actually your friends, does it matter?"

He opens his mouth to yell at her, but nothing comes out. The look in her eyes is too much for him to fight against; so all he can do is stand there and listen.

"It doesn't. You wouldn't be alone. You have a father who loves you very much, and I believe he would be devastated if you decided to jump." She sends him a warm smile. "Besides," She points down at the crowd of people all begging for Takeshi to come down safely. "Look at all the people who care about you."

Yamamoto drops to his knees and buries his head in his hands; his eyes turn pink as he starts to cry. Tsuna puts a hand on his shoulder and pulls him back to his feet, "Let's get off of this roof before Hibari makes us."

He sends her a shaky smile, but he trips as he moves back over the fence. With amazing reaction time, she pulls him back up and switches places with him before he can even understand what's going on. "Tsuna!"

He jumps to his feet again; this time he's fast enough to hear the cries and worries of their classmates turn to cheers and shouts of encouragement.

"DameTsuna's gonna jump!"

"She's finally realized how useless she is!"

"Things will be so much better without her..."

"Jump! Jump! Jump!"

He feels his heartbreak as they encourage Tsuna to jump; even her own brother has a crude smirk on his face. How could they be so cruel? He looks down to Tsuna who's hanging from the edge with a sad smile on her face.

"If I'm strong enough to keep living, then I'm sure you are too."

He reaches down and pulls her up with his left hand; it's a lot easier than he thought it would be, she's practically weightless. Weightless and bony and small, just like a baby bird. A very lonely baby bird that's abandoned by it's mother, and left all alone in it's nest to die.

He doesn't understand why he feels the need to hug her, but he does. She doesn't say anything as she wraps her arms around him in a way that makes it feel like she's trying to comfort him instead of the other way around.

He cries, and she just rubs his back calmly.

"You're okay." She says.

Takeshi wishes he had been able to say the same thing to her.

oOo

A/N: Questions, comments concerns? Leave a review. :)

Nothing to see here...

~Berries