#275980

Tsuna freezes. Behind him, Gokudera growls deep in his chest, the sound vibrating against Tsuna’s ear in such a way that it sends a thrill down his spine, even as his stomach drops at Kyoko’s words. Long, firm fingers grip him by the shoulders and gently move him out of the way. A different hand, so calloused Tsuna can feel its roughness through his shirt, pulls him back until he collides with another warm chest.

“Best stay out of his way, eh Tsuna?” Yamamoto wraps his arms around Tsuna, resting his chin on Tsuna’s shoulder. His dark hair tickles Tsuna’s nose, and Tsuna’s eyes widen. A pink blush begins to dot his cheeks. HIE! This isn’t any better! Except, it kind of is because Yamamoto’s hugging him, and he doesn’t want him to stop!

Meanwhile, Gokudera has already lined the edges of the door with blast wire and set eight mini-bombs equidistant from each other in the corners and along the sides. His cigarette lighter already in hand.

“HIE!” Tsuna tries to break out of Yamamoto’s arms, but the other boy holds him fast with a cherry laugh. “Gokudera-kun! Maybe that isn’t a good idea when-”

Click goes the cigarette lighter. Hiss goes the blast wire as it catches orange flame. Gokudera throws himself away from the door, covering Tsuna and Yamamoto with his body. The bombs go off with a BA-BOOM! And the closet shakes, sending a shower of dust down from the ceiling and knocking boxes off shelves.

When the dust settles, they find the door still standing.

Gokudera laughs awkwardly. Then he tears himself away and sticks his nose into a back corner, like he’s trying to become one with the wall. He shoves his hands deep in his pockets and bunches his shoulders high around his ears. The back of his neck flushes in a fiery red.

Kyoko’s voice sing-songs through the door again. “Reborn-chan helped reinforce the door, so the only way out is if someone unlocks it. He’s so very clever, isn’t he?”

This, Tsuna decides, is his last straw. He is driven out of Yamamoto’s grasp by the image of Reborn’s self-satisfied smirk after he frees them from the closet and Tsuna tumbles out thoroughly debauched after a passionate confession (or worse, washed away in the floodwater of his tears after being rejected). He begins running his fingers over each and every inch of wall, prying at every crack and muttering dark curses on Reborn’s name. He refuses to be Reborn’s daily entertainment today. Not like this.

“Mah mah,” Yamamoto laughs. “You two stress so much.” He drags a box over to the center of the room and overturns a bucket to sit on. “Like Kyoko said, someone will come and unlock the door for us at some point. We just have to be patient.” Reaching a hand into his shirt pocket, he pulls out a deck of cards and holds it up with a smile. “Anyone up for a game of strip poker?”

Tsuna is quickly stripped down to his boxers, much to Takeshi’s apparent amusement as he watches each piece of clothing disappear with dancing eyes. By contrast, Hayato looks increasingly more panicked from his sprawled position on the floor. He sneaks glances at both Takeshi and Tsuna more and more often and for shorter and shorter amounts of time as the game goes on, like he’s afraid they’ll bite him if he looks for too long.

Shifting awkwardly on his overturned bucket, Tsuna stares down at his cards, the latest example of the World’s Worst Poker Hand. He refuses to entertain the idea that both his friends won’t stop looking at him because they’re interested in him. Nope. He’s not opening that can of worms.

He wishes he still had his shirt though. Even ignoring the way he burns beneath their gazes, the closet has grown rather stuffy, and he’d be fanning himself with his shirt collar if he still had it.

“Cheer up, Tsuna! I’m sure you’ll win this round!” Takeshi winks. His eyes dart conspiratorially towards Hayato, who is annoyingly only missing a single sock and his bracelets. The latter stacked in a precarious tower on the corner of their box turned card table.

“Oi! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, baseball idiot.” Hayato presses his cards flat against his chest, green eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Up to what? I’m not up to anything.”

Hayato turns a beautiful shade of red beneath the rays of Takeshi’s innocent smile. He looks away with a, “Tch. Whatever.” Instead, he nods toward the door and asks, “How long do you think they’ll keep us stuck in here anyway?”

Tsuna nervously laughs, rubbing the back of his head. “Surely it can’t be too much longer right? Kaa-san will be wondering where we are sooner or later, and it’s not like they have any real reason to keep us locked in here. It’s probably just a prank Reborn roped Kyoko-chan into. Ahahaha.” Because rambling like that isn’t suspicious at all, baka.

Naturally, Hayato and Takeshi stare him.

He hates that he finds their twin expressions cute.

Someone’s stomach growls, and the lateness of the hour descends upon them. Suddenly, Tsuna finds all he wants to do is go home, eat dinner, and pretend Reborn isn’t once again smirking triumphantly at him. In for a penny, in for a pound, he tells himself and takes a deep, bolstering breath in:

“I REALLY LIKE BOTH OF YOU AND NOT JUST AS FRIENDS!”

He clenches his eyes shut and waits for the inevitable rejection. The gentle demurs of ‘Oh well… I just see you as a friend…’ and the closed off smiles and sudden awkwardness to fill the room.

Except, Takeshi laughs and says, “Aw, I like you too, Tsuna.”

Tsuna opens his eyes, barely daring to hope; and Takeshi leans overs, cups Tsuna’s cheek with a warm, calloused hand, and-

It’s not quite fireworks. The kiss is too soft for that. It’s more like sitting beside a fireplace in the dead of Winter, snow piling up outside and drinking hot chocolate with friends. Warmth bubbles down from his lips until it’s spread through every part of his body, and Tsuna floats like a feather on the wind.

Takeshi pulls away, his brown eyes soft.

Pressing a hand to still-tingling lips, Tsuna looks at Hayato who stares back with wide eyes and glowing cheeks. “Jyuudaime,” Hayato whispers. The word reverent and pining and so much more than a title all at once.

Suddenly, Tsuna no longer knows where Hayato’s breathing ends and his begins. Suddenly, his hands braid through fine silver hair. Suddenly, he can taste smoke on his tongue as he presses his lips against Hayato’s and-

This kiss isn’t like fireworks either. It’s too hungry for that. Hayato’s fingers curl into Tsuna’s hair, and he pulls himself up, deeper into Tsuna’s mouth. It’s a like a sunflower bending towards the sun or gunpowder feeding a spark. It burns and grows until they break apart, gasping for air.

Takeshi wolf-whistles, giving them a double thumbs up. Hayato rolls his eyes. “Oh shut up,” he grumbles, settling back into his seat on the floor, but his eyes dart back towards Takeshi all the same.

Rocking back on his bucket, Takeshi stretches his arms high above his head, arching his back. Tsuna knows his eyes flow the muscles up through the movement, and he suspects Hayato’s do as well. Takeshi smile turns smug as he raises an eyebrow. “Something wrong, Hayato?” he teases.

Hayato huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “What if I wanted a kiss from you too? What then, baka?”

“Oh well, that’s an easy fix! Why didn’t you say so?” Before Hayato can say another word, Takeshi darts in, cups Hayato’s cheeks in his hands, and kisses him as well. Hayato’s eyes bug out, and somehow his blush deepens even further. Tsuna puts his elbow on the box and rests his chin in his hand, smiling at them like a fool.

Then, the door unlocks. “Congratulations on acquiring your consorts, Tsuna,” Reborn’s smug little voice says.