When I Fail, You'll Still Be Here

KHR fic by infraredphaeton

A little bit of awkward H/C with my faves. Can easily be read as pre-Tsuna/Gokudera, if you're so inclined. I am so inclined, and therefore assume that the after school visit includes making out. title from We Don't Believe What's On TV, by Twenty One Pilots. An excellent song that I associate very, very heavily with this pairing.

Tsuna dawdled outside the hospital door, examining the grain of the pressed orange wood that made up the door to ward 15C. It was quiet inside, and he had woken up early to stop by before school- maybe it would be better if he just skipped the visit? It would be good to let him rest, right? And it was Tsuna's fault he was hurt…

Tsuna nodded, and turned on his heel, coming eye to eye with an oversized green pistol.

"Hiiiiiiiiiie-" Tsuna stumbled back, falling against the wall by the door, scrabbling backwards and away from the Leon-gun. Reborn smiled his strange, 'I'm an innocent child but also a demon from hell' type smile, and Tsuna's eyes widened fearfully.

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna. Don't leave your subordinate in this kind of condition, it's embarrassing. If you leave it much longer without visiting, he'll think you don't care. A good boss looks after his family," Reborn chirped.

"I-I-I care! But it's my fault he's in hospital, anyway…" Tsuna scratched at his cheek, "I can wait until he gets out to say thank you, right?"

"Coward," Reborn said, cocking the pistol, "go talk to your 'right hand man'. Or I'll shoot you, and you can do it naked."

"I'll go!" Tsuna said quickly, straightening up and heading for the door.

"Che. What a slow student," he heard Reborn say, as he opened the room and stepped in, closing the door behind him.

The ward was mostly empty, with an old lady one side, and a young man on the other. In the prime bed, next to the window, was Gokudera. Seeing him...hurt, Tsuna thought, wincing, and padded up next to the bed, where the silver haired teenager was glaring out the window at the scattered sparrows on the roof below.

Nobody had come to visit him yet.

Tsuna wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew, for a fact, that he was Gokudera's first visitor, two days after the fight which had put him in hospital. There were no flowers or well-wishing cards on his bedside table, just a small overnight bag- dropped off by Shamal, said the same little voice in his head- and a glass of water, which was almost empty. The bandages around Gokudera's head were fresh and clean, hiding the terrifying cut that had covered his face with blood, which had made Tsuna entirely, entirely sure that the Italian had finally died, right in front of him. His left arm was in a sling, and the other was wrapped in bandages from his fingers to his elbows, from explosives blow back. Tsuna knew that under the hospital issue pyjamas, there were more burns on Gokudera's back, from his explosive speed technique, and there were probably ones on his legs too.

"Ah...Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said softly, trying not to stutter, and the other boy's head whipped around fast enough to cause whiplash. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera grinned, "Don't worry about me, I'll be back on my feet in no time."

"That's….good," Tsuna said, fiddling with the strap of his school bag, "I'm sorry I didn't visit sooner."

"You've been busy," Gokudera said, waving his less injured arm dismissively, "I'm just happy that Jyuudaime took time out of his busy day to drop by at all."

He was telling the truth, Tsuna knew, and that made him frown, putting down his bag and taking a seat at the foot of Gokudera's bed. It was presumptive, and a little daring, and probably rude, but Tsuna had his reasons, even if part of his soul was curling up and dying at his actions.

"Of course I would, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna said firmly, meeting Gokudera's eyes.

"Well, yeah, Jyuudaime's a great guy like that-"

"No. Of course I would, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna repeated, "because you're my friend."

Gokudera's eyes went wide and shiny, and Tsuna cleared his throat awkwardly when it seemed like the other boy was just going to sit and stare at him in awe all morning.

"A-anyway! I wanted to drop off this bento my mum made," Tsuna said, breaking eye contact to rummage around in his bag, eventually pulling out a black furoshiki wrapped package, "I know it's not much, but hospital food sucks," he demurred, putting it on the bedside table.

"No! No, it's great!" Gokudera said, still starry eyed, "say thank you to your mother for me?"

"I got you a card, too…" Tsuna said, still going through his bag. "I put it with my homework, so I wouldn't forget it…"

He stopped suddenly, slapping his forehead, and Gokudera blinked.

"Jyuudaime?"

"I forgot my homework…" he sighed heavily, "anyway, I'll bring it tomorrow, when I visit."

"You're visiting tomorrow too?" Gokudera asked, "You aren't too busy?"

"I'm visiting tomorrow too," Tsuna nodded. "I'll get some flowers or something...your table looks kind of empty."

"Not anymore! Now I have this," Gokudera said, jerking his thumb at the bento, "thank you, Jyuudaime."

"No, don't," Tsuna said, eyes falling to his lap, "it's my fault you're in here...it's my responsibility to make sure you don't get bored, or sad. I'm so sorry, Gokudera-kun..."

"Ah. Right. Your responsibility." Gokudera sounded a little downcast, and Tsuna looked up again.

"Gokudera-kun…"

"Don't worry about me, Jyuudaime! I'll be back at school in no time. Don't let that baseball idiot mess you around while I'm here, okay?"

"I didn't mean it that way," Tsuna said earnestly, catching Gokudera's eyes. "I mean...you're my friend. One of my best friends. But you're injured because I wasn't fast enough to dodge on my own, and Bianchi isn't in town, and I didn't even think that the others would be too busy to drop by-"

"I'm fine!" Gokudera scoffed, looking out the window again, "I don't need babysitting, Jyuudaime."

"I came to visit, because you're one of the people I care about," Tsuna said, after an awkward moment of silence. "part of the family."

"Jyuudaime…"

"So I'll come back, after school," Tsuna said, standing up, "to pick up the box for washing," he nodded at the bento. "And we can do something fun."

"Like what?" Gokudera asked, but he had regained his usual slightly starstruck look at the idea of being alone with Tsuna again.

"Whatever you want," Tsuna said, "I'm not good at thinking of these kinds of things."

"I'll come up with the best plan, Jyuudaime, leave it to me!" Gokudera nodded firmly, and Tsuna laughed nervously.

"Anyway, before I go...is there anything you want? Anything at all? I owe you...for that day."

"Anything?" Gokudera asked, flushing again. He was as bad as Tsuna, a matching pair of overly emotive faces, draining grey or green with despair, turning firetruck red at any embarrassing thought.

"Anything. I promise, it's just between us," Tsuna nodded. "We can completely forget about it, afterwards, if it's something embarrassing."

"Ehh. Come over?" Gokudera asked, blush intensifying as Tsuna edged up on the bed until he was sitting at Gokudera's side.

"What is it, Gokudera-kun?"

"...This is too much," Gokudera said, looking from Tsuna to the wall behind him and back.

"No! It isn't!" Tsuna said, "What is it?"

"Ah. Will Jyuudaime call me… Hayato? Instead of Gokudera?" After a moment's silence, Gokudera stiffened, looking away, "It's fine. It's too much-"

"No! No, it's not!" Tsuna grabbed Gokudera by the uninjured part of his shoulder, keeping him still so he could look the other boy in the eyes. "It's not at all. I keep saying we're friends…We should be on a first name basis, right?"

"You say that to all sorts of people," Gokudera said, sniffing, "even people who don't deserve it."

"You're really picky about who I hang out with…"

"It's my job! You need a strong family, and it's my job to help you!"

With the window slanted open, both boys could hear the first bell ring from Nami-chuu, only a few blocks away.

Tsuna shrugged, picking up his bag. "I'm going to be late."

"Sure, sure." Gokudera waved a hand, "Thanks for visiting, Jyuudaime."

"So I'll see you after school, Hayato-kun," Tsuna said cheerily, ignoring the cherry red shade that Gokudera went. The bandaged boy raised one hand, using the other to hide his face.

"S-s-see you then, Jyuudaime!"