Hatsume Ayami enjoyed her job as a first-grade teacher. She helped nurture and educate students she was sure would grow up to change the world.
She was older in years, one of the most experienced teachers in Namimori, and she was certain she had seen everything. She had seen one of her students grow into a bloodthirsty tonfa wielding monster that even grown adults were afraid of. She once had a young boy, obsessed with fighting, even as a young first-grader, yell in a voice he considered normal for the smaller school to form a boxing team. So yes, she had seen a lot of odd children in her time.
And then came Sawada Tsunayoshi. The boy was a riddle wrapped in an enigma. He entered her class at the age of six, happy, eager to learn and quite a bit smarter than most of his classmates. He made friends quickly and easily, roping even the most shy and socially awkward of children into his games. And then, the boy stopped coming to school for a week, which, in and of itself did not concern her very much. Children were prone to catch illnesses.
Then he came back and it was like the entire dynamic of the classroom changed. He was shy and would stutter, quickly fell behind even though she could see that the boy was trying to understand as hard as he could. Then came the bullying, from seemingly nowhere, and it didn't even stop when she punished the children.
And thus Dame-Tsuna was born.
"Hatsume-Sensei?"
Ayami blinked out of her thoughts as the young child pulled on her skirt.
"Hatsume-Sensei, are you ok?"
Ayami smiled warmly at the boy that had pulled her into those thoughts to begin with.
"Yes, Fuuta-kun. I was just lost in thought is all. Do you need anything?"
"May I draw instead of writing Hatsume-Sensei?"
Ayami blinked in surprise. Fuuta de la Stella was older than her other students, held back due to circumstances not revealed to her, but he kept up very well, always answering questions and interacting with the others, but writing is what he excelled in. His handwriting was better than most adults and his vocabulary was much higher than a first graders. It was what made Ayami think of her old student Sawada, in fact. The similarities between the two (At least, the Sawada from before) were astounding.
The young boy must have noticed her surprise, because he blushed and began fiddling with his shirt.
"I… I don't have a mommy, so I would rather draw."
Oh.
The project was a simple one. It was the Friday before mother's day, so the school was having the younger years write letters to their mothers.
"Of course, Fuuta-kun." The boy gave a bright smile (Another similarity to Sawada Tsunayoshi.) and ran back to his table before beginning to draw happily.
He didn't look particularly upset about the fact that he had no mother. Was he simply to young to remember her? Or was she never in his life to begin with.
Ayami quietly observed her students as they worked happily.
Fuuta was slowly becoming another student she would most definitely remember in years to come.
The school was celebrating father's day now, letters being written once again.
"Oh wow Fuu-kun! That's so pretty!"
Ayami let her attention be drawn to the small table the exclamation had come from.
Fuuta was happily showing his small card to the other two in his assigned group. From where she stood, Ayami could see the work the child had put into the cover, showing off his loopy handwriting and artistic abilities, rather good for an eight year old.
Ayami smiled and went back to her work, glad the boy was enjoying himself.
"Hatsume-Sensei?" A hesitant voice made her look up. It was Fuuta once again, looking both happy and nervous at the same time, a look she felt was much to mature for someone his age.
"May I have another paper please?"
Ayami would have simply said yes, sent him on his way, and never thought twice about the situation, but something made her stop and consider the boy.
"Of course you may, Fuuta-kun." She paused, wondering how she might continue. "Did you mess up your last one?"
The boy tensed slightly, but shook his head slowly.
"N-no. I already made one for my Papa…"
"Oh! Would you like to draw then?" Some part of her knew that wasn't the case, but it was the only logical answer she could think of.
When Fuuta spoke again, his voice was quiet, like he didn't want the rest of the class, who she knew was looking at the boy, to hear. (Children were naturally curious, and seeing a classmate walk up to a teacher peaked their interest, every time, every class she ever had.) "No… I need to made one for my dad now."
Oh.
She seemed to have a lot of those moments with Fuuta. Moments where the boy took what she expected and flipped it on its head.
She was silent for a few moments before she opened her mouth, freezing when he flinched.
He expects me to react badly. Someone said something to this poor boy to make him think I am going to say something hurtful.
It was at that moment when she felt so proud of this child. This child who, though he expected to be reprimanded for simply having two fathers, came and asked for more paper, just to make another card.
A smile came over Ayami's face before she could stop it, not that she would, and when she handed the boy another piece of paper, she couldn't stop the words that came from her mouth.
"You're a good kid Fuuta-kun. I'm sure your parents are very proud of you."
Fuuta smiled another sunny smile before heading back to his group, who began to thoroughly question him.
Fuuta gave a quiet answer, always the honest one, and the energetic girl he sat with, Fukuhara Mariko, lit up in surprise and excitement.
"You have two dads? THAT'S SO COOL! I didn't know you could do that! When I'm a mommy, I want my kids to have two mommies!"
Ayami blinked at the backwards way of saying Mariko wanted to marry a girl before smiling.
"You can do that if you want Mariko-chan, but right now, we need to focus on making cards, ok?"
"Ok!"
Fuuta was the most popular kid in her class during indoor break, but at the end, he was smiling.
"Hello, this is Sawada Nana, who is this?"
"Hello, this is Hatsume Ayami, teacher of Fuuta de la Stella at Namimori Elementary school. I was hoping I could speak to a parent to arrange a Parent-Teacher meeting."
There was silence on the other end when it was promptly cut through by the muffled sound of arguing before a young sounding male's voice came through the phone.
"Yes?"
Surly Ayami's ears were playing tricks on her. This voice was so young!
"I-Is this a parent of Fuuta's?"
"That's me. You wanted to arrange a Parent-Teacher meeting?"
"Is Friday after school fine?"
"I'm free twenty minutes after Elementary lets out, if you're okay with that."
"That would be perfect. Thank you."
The other end clicked and Ayami let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. Something about the voice on the other end made her nervous. Not in a bad way. Like something was going to change the moment she met him.
No. Calm down. It's just a parent meeting.
And yet, it didn't really feel like it would be.
Ayami straightened the things on her desk once again, trying not to let the nerves get the best of her.
Fuuta was sitting at his desk, the only noise coming from his direction being the scratch of pencil on paper.
"Hatsume-sensei? Don't be worried. My papa isn't mean. I think you'll really like him."
Ayami knew the smile she sent the boy was not convincing, but for whatever reason her subconscious had decided, her chest felt like it was going to collapse in on itself.
There was a knock at the door and Ayami felt her insides jump.
"Come in!"
The door opened slowly and a young teenager with impossibly fluffy brown hair poked his head inside.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi?"
Her face betrayed her shock, she was sure, and the boy stepped the rest of the way in.
Why would he choose now of all times to visit? Was her day not odd enough, without an old student dropping by?
"I apologize, Sawada-san, but I have a meeting in a few minutes. We could always catch up Monday or-"
"Ah, actually Hatsume-sensei, about that…"
"Papa!"
The young eight-year-old ran forward and tackled Tsunayoshi with a hug, the older of the two barely keeping upright.
The duo seemed to forget about the teacher for a moment, though she couldn't bring herself to mind. Not with the happy faces both of them wore.
"Fuuta! How was school today?"
"We worked on out multiplication tables today! And then Mariko showed me how to make a little flower out of papers!"
"Really? I can't wait for you to show me!"
Ayami cleared her throat, catching the attention of the two.
Tsunayoshi gave a nervous smile before putting Fuuta down. "Go back to drawing, okay?"
Fuuta's grin lit the room up as he rushed back to his desk.
Tsunayoshi sighed and brought a hand up to his neck, rubbing nervously.
"I suppose you want an explanation?"
"I…" And what was she supposed to say? Yes? Because she was certainly confused.
Tsunayoshi sighed and suddenly he looked much older that any teenager had the right to be. The boy walked forward and sat down in one of the chairs situated across from her desk.
"Hatsume-sensei-"
"I'm not your teacher anymore, Sawada-san."
The small smile her comment won was a relief to see on the nervous boy's face.
"Okay, Hatsume-san. Call me Tsuna then, please."
She could see the muscles in Tsuna's shoulders relax.
"So, would you mind… explaining?" She asked weakly, gesturing like it would help her point come across.
"Ah. Right." Tsuna sighed. "About a year ago Fuuta came into me and my mom's life. He was on the streets, running from some… bad people… but he found us and we took him in."
Ayami heard Tsuna's feet shuffle under the desk before he continued. "It started out innocently enough. I would remind him to eat his vegetables and drink his milk. I would play ball with him whenever I was free, reading him stories before bed. Things like that." Another long sigh. "But it got to the point where I guess he started to see me as the father figure he never had, because he called my papa once and I decided to never let him go through what I went through. If he saw me has a father you can bet your life that's what I was going to be."
Tsuna grinned at her softly. Happily. "Not that I mind. He had become a son to me before I even realised it."
Ayami felt something inside her break as she listened to the sad yet happy story. These young children have been through so much, and the boy in front of her had taken on more responsibility than most adults willingly accepted.
Wait.
"What you went through?"
He chuckled nervously and twiddled his thumbs. "Ah, yeah. My father, well, he's never home. I think I've seen him for a month total, even after all these years."
Everything made sense now. A young boy who never had a father is suddenly seen as a father figure and decides he would give his kid the childhood he never had.
Tsuna seems to snap out of his nervous daze and smiles at the now stunned silent Ayami.
"After my mom found out she insisted I take up more roles as a parent, providing for him and, well, parent-teacher meetings, I suppose." He brought his hands to the desk in front of him. "But we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about Fuuta!"
And after that the meeting continued like most parent teacher meetings she participates in do. She shows Tsuna some of Fuuta's work, complementing his handwriting and vocabulary, watching as pride gleams in the young parent's eyes.
She flipped through and found the latest piece the child had done. A drawing of his family along with a short paragraph about them, all in preparation for the upcoming parent's day.
As she looked at the picture, she paused. While in many of Fuuta's family related works, ranging from pictures to short essays, he always mentioned either a 'Papa' a 'Dad', or both, Tsuna had said nothing about another father figure.
"And what about Fuuta's… Dad…"
"What?"
"His Dad. He mentions a Papa and a Dad whenever family is the subject, yet you didn't mention anything about…" Ayami trailed off as she noticed the look on Tsuna's face. Quiet contemplation with a small amount of concern showing in his eyes.
"Do you have any drawings by any chance?"
Ayami slowly pulled the last bit of work out of the folder, sliding it to the teenager before watching a large smile overtake his features.
Tsuna muttered "So I was right." happily before turning his happy grin to her. "That's my boyfriend." Was the simple answer he gave.
"I gave him a card on father's day." The two turned to face Fuuta, who had seemingly snuck up while they were discussing Fuuta's school performance.
Tsuna gave him a soft smile before kneeling next to the boy. "And I assume you didn't stick around to see his reaction?"
Judging by Fuuta's ashamed face and nervous shuffling of his feet, Ayami assumed the answer was no.
"And you've been avoiding him since?" A small nod was his response.
Ayami blinked in surprise when the smiling teen pulled out a phone and quickly dialed a number.
Whoever Tsuna was calling must have picked up quickly, because soon enough he was speaking.
"Are you busy? ... I'm at a parent-teacher meeting. …. They usually like for both parents to be there." It was then that Ayami realised what Tsuna was doing, and going by the shocked and somewhat terrified look Fuuta wore, he had as well.
Silence stretched before Tsuna hung his phone up with a click and a smile.
"Give it two minutes. He wasn't too far away from here."
"Does he know where to-"
"Don't worry Hatsume-san." The sunny smile was back. "He knows where we are."
The three sat in comfortable (Or in Fuuta's case, terrified) silence for a whole minute before the door was pushed open with surprising force.
And there stood Hibari Kyouya.
Ayami's heart rate soared through the roof. What was the demon of Namimori doing in her classroom?
"Kyouya!"
"Tsunayoshi."
It was all Ayami could do not to gasp, scream and/or possibly faint as the pieces fell together. She did none of these however and simply watched as Tsuna gave Fuuta a gentle shove in the direction of the prefect, prompting the boy to walk the rest of the way until he was within arms reach.
A part of her was screaming to get Fuuta away from the teen. To pull him back to the safety of her and Tsuna's grasp. And then she saw the look in the usualy stoic eyes of Hibari. Fondness?
Now, she knew that not many people could see emotion in the demonic teen, but she prided herself in her own ability to read people. It came in handy when a child pretended like they were happy when in fact they were having a hard time at home. Or especially when a child was trying to hide the fact that they had to pee. It also didn't hurt that she had know Hibari before he became known as a demon. A monster. She had watched him become what he was in her own classroom.
So she pushed down the terror and watched as a young Fuuta waited for rejection.
A pale hand was suddenly in Fuuta's blond hair in some version of a hair ruffle.
"Little cub."
As Ayami tried to understand what the words meant, Fuuta's face lit up like he had been handed the moon and stars.
And then she understood.
Fuuta rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the prefect's waist, forcing her to suppress an unprofessional giggle when Hibari looked to Tsuna with a slightly lost look, like he didn't understand what was happening.
Tsuna stepped forward with a snort. "He's hugging you Kyouya."
"How herbivorous."
"Even carnivores embrace their young, Kyouya."
And after a moment's hesitation arms wrapped loosely around Fuuta's shoulders, securing their hug.
After a second of proud observation, Tsuna walked the rest of the way forward and let himself lean into his boyfriend's shoulder, his own hands resting on Fuuta.
Ayami felt like she was intruding. Watching the moment between the three, it was like she was looking through a window at someone else's life, spying.
Hibari apparently felt so too, but Tsuna stopped the steel tonfas from breaking any bones.
And it was like earlier all over again, but this time, while showing Fuuta's work to the two, Fuuta was sitting on Tsuna's lap, commenting on this and that, and Hibari Kyouya was there, looking as proud and happy as Ayami thinks he is able. At least, with an outsider looking in. And now, it felt slightly happier. More like a complete family.
And that made Ayami very happy.
Ayami both dreaded and looked forward to the parent day coming up. Dreaded because there were going to be so many adults in the classroom, and who knew what they would do, but also looking forward to, because she had received confirmation from Tsuna that both he and Hibari would be at the school. (Though Hibari would only be there for the second half of the day, coming around lunch time.)
She had met almost all the parents of her students, only a few have evaded coming to meetings, so that was another thing making her nervous. She did not know who was going to be coming into her classroom, and that was bad enough on normal circumstances
Ayami sighed, deciding to just resign herself to her fate.
So the time left until that fateful day flew by.
The excited whispers of her students warmed Ayami's heart. How could she be dreading this day, when all the children were so excited to introduce their friends to their parents.
The door opened and she let the parents file inside. They had been here for a while, but it always seemed like an unspoken rule for the children to go in and make themselves comfortable first.
The adults went to sit in the chairs that had been set out next to their children's desks. She looked around, smile fading when she saw Fuuta looking at the door frantically. He was sitting alone.
"Don't worry Fuuta-kun. He should be here soon."
"Yeah Fuu-kun! You're Papa will be here real quick!"
And with that the door crashed open and a panting Tsunayoshi is standing there, slightly red faced.
"Sorry Hatsume-san. I ran into some trouble on the way here."
"That's fine Tsuna-san. I'm glad you cou-"
"PAPA!"
And then the whispers started.
She knew it would happen. She had been the only one who knew of Tsuna's father-son relationship with Fuuta. But hearing the women gossip like the two were freaks of nature, well, it made her feel slightly sick.
"Isn't that Dame-Tsuna?"
"My son is in his class. Apparently he's failing everything."
"As to be expected. I hear his Father is never around."
"Why do you think that kid said-"
Ayami cleared her throat.
"Fuuta-kun, please take your father to your desk. Class is starting soon."
Tsuna sent her a thankful smile over his shoulder as he was drug toward Fuuta's desk.
"Now, we will be reviewing out two times multiplication tables today. Why don't we start with Shinsou. What is two times seven?"
And so they went around the room, reciting multiplication, showing off to their parents just how much they learned.
Ayami smiled and gave the class a five minute break before moving subjects. SHe knew many of the children wanted to talk to their parents.
"This is your Papa Fuu-kun? That's so cool! Fuu-kun is my bestest friend Fuu-kun's Papa."
Ayami smiled when she hears Tsuna's chuckle. "Then you must be Fukuhara Mariko. I've heard a lot about you."
"Really? Awesome! I knew it! Where's Fuuta's other daddy though?"
And the adults in the room froze.
She had to give some of them credit. They quickly moved on from their surprise and continued talking to their children or the other adults, but the reactions of the others are what worried her.
The children had already moved on when Fuuta had confirmed his Dad would show his face, but Fukuhara Kaho, mother of Mariko, immediately stormed over to Ayami's desk and demanded her child be moved seats.
Mariko, hearing her mother's demands began to tear up and cling to Fuuta.
"Kaa-san, no! Fuu-kun is my bestest friend! I can't sit somewhere else!"
"You will not be sitting next to someone of his… kind."
"I'm sorry Fukuhara-san, but I will not be moving these children's desks without good reason."
"And is that not a good reason?"
"It is not. Please return to your daughter. We are about to begin literature."
Fukuhara stalked back to her daughter, who looked somewhat heartbroken and torn about the whole situation. The woman (Grown woman!) leaned over as she passed Tsunayoshi. "Fag."
"Miss Fukuhara! Do I need to ask you to leave the room!" It was the voice Ayami used on young children breaking the rules, but honestly, that's how she felt she the woman was acting.
The room quieted and Ayami gave a sigh of relief.
"Now, the wonderful students here have each prepared a paragraph about their family and we are going to have them read it aloud. Now, Sato-kun, come up here."
Incident over, the class continued, each student reading their sweet paragraphs about their family. Each sounded similar, speaking about parents and sometimes siblings.
A glare or disgusted glance was occasionally sent at Tsuna, but the teen (She knew he was aware of them) ignored them like they were as common to him as someone asking about the weather, though it might be, considering his circumstances.
And then she was looking at her watch and there was only one minute to lunch, mandatory to be eaten in the classroom that day.
"Finnish up, Mariko-kun. Fuuta will have to present after lunch."
And honestly, she couldn't have planned it better. She had wanted to find a way for Fuuta to read for his Dad, so having him read after they eat is perfect.
The class settled down for lunch, Adults and students alike pulling out bentos to eat.
She heard Fuuta gasp in delight as he pulled his out.
"Papa made mine today!"
"Stop calling the boy your papa. He's not fit, nor is he anywhere near old enough." A father, Eiji Ito's father she gathered, spat.
And the peace before the storm ended.
"I'm sorry, do you have a problem?" Tsuna's voice was cold. Indifferent.
"I do." The man glared. "You're fooling that boy into looking up to you. You can't even take care of yourself, much less a child."
"My life is not for you to critique. I provide for my family and keep us safe, so do not butt into something you can't understand."
"Why you insolent little-"
"You can insult me as much as you want, but you bring my son into this and I cannot promise anything."
"Don't act like you can do anything boy."
"Stop fighting! My Papa took me off the streets and makes sure I'm happy and fed! That's what a Papa does right?"
The man had no response other than a scowl to Fuuta's cry, so he turned to Tsuna and opened his mouth.
"You don't get to say anything."
"Hatsume-san!"
"The Sawada family may not be traditional but that does not give you an excuse to act like a five-year-old. Any of you! Now sit down and eat your lunch quietly while I prepare for our next lesson!" Ayami was breathing hard towards the end of her rant, but she was pleased to see that the rude adults stunned into silence.
"Thank you Hatsume-san."
"Of course dear."
Lunch after that was rather quiet, the adults all silent and the children engaging in quiet conversation with each other, Tsuna the only parent speaking.
It was five minutes until lunch would end and Fuuta was getting restless, whispering to his Papa every few seconds.
"I could call him if you're really that concerned Fuuta."
Fuuta's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. "No!" He squeaked.
"Lunch ends in a few minutes." Ayami called to the class."Please begin cleaning up."
It was a minute until lunch ended when the door was pushed open and Hibari stalked in.
"Probably here to take that fag back to where he belongs."
Ayami would have yelled and possibly sent Fukuhara out of the room if Hibari hadn't been there. Honestly the woman just dug her own grave, saying that.
Tonfas appeared on the prefect's arms as he scowled and walked forward.
"Herbivore."
"Kyouya, stop! Not with the kids here!"
Hibari glared at the teen in front of him. "Move Tsunayoshi."
"Not with the kids here."
Hibari was silently fuming for a moment before the tonfas left again. "Fine."
Tsuna let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Fuuta sits over here."
The class stared in shock (Children included this time. Even they knew who the Demon of Namimori was. And what he did.) as the prefect pulled a chair over and sat down next to Tsunayoshi, glaring at Fukuhara the entire time. At least, until his son got his attention.
"We wrote a paragraph about our families! I get to say mine now!"
A hand was once again in Fuuta's hair. That must be how Hibari showed affection.
"That's right. Would you like to read it now, Fuuta-kun?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Fuuta smiled and grabbed the paper, running to the front of the room.
Fuuta had his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he began to mumble to himself. Psyching himself up, it looked like.
He then looked up and Ayami watched as his muscles relaxed and his face adopted a small smile.
He was looking at his parent's proud faces. (She assumed that was proud. It could also be Hibari signaling for Fuuta to get on with it, but it made the boy happy, whatever it meant.)
"I have a big family, and I'm not related to any of them. I think that's very special."
Ayami let an eyebrow raise at the odd introduction.
"It means that we chose each other. My uncles chose to be friends and follow my Papa. And my Dad and Papa chose to be together. And then my Papa chose to be my Papa! And my Dad chose to be my Dad. I don't think family has to be about blood. And I think that is great, because I love my Uncles and Aunts and my brother and sister and my Grann and my Gandpa and especially my Dad and Papa, and even though most of us aren't related by blood, we're still family. The best one ever."
Fuuta ducked his head and said the last part in a quieter tone. "We all chose each other to love, and that's what makes us family."
Fuuta scurried back to his parents where Tsuna pulled him into a hug.
She watched as Tsuna whispered something into Fuuta's ear, making the boy give a watery smile before burying his head into the teen's shoulder.
"Alright class." Ayami said after a minute. "We're going to review what makes up the cell now."
Ayami wrapped her last lesson up ten minutes before the bell to release class rang. It had been rather quiet since Hibari had entered the classroom, even the children being smart enough to be quiet in the prefect's presence.
"Please talk quietly until we are dismissed."
Even with her permission to talk, silence reigned in the room.
For a whole two minutes.
"So… Fuu-kun," Mariko began slowly. "Now that our parents have met, could we play together after school?"
"Mariko!" Fukuhara snarled. "You will not be-" The woman seemed to choke on her words as Hibari sent a cold stare her way.
"Dad…"
Fukuhara eyes widened as they flickered between Fuuta and Hibari. She must not have made the connection. Or maybe she was ignoring it.
"Sure you can Mariko." Fukuhara's voice was shaking slightly when she responded, turning around quickly and began to rustle through her purse, though Ayami doubted there was no reason for her to do so except to leave the conversation.
The bell rang a minute later and most of the children were quickly ushered out of the room by wary parents, soon leaving only Fuuta's family.
Tsuna sent her a kind smile as he walked out. "Thank you Hatsumi-san."
"You too, dear."
The Hibari-Sawada family was made up of memorable people. She was sure no one would forget the day they met them.
Crossposted on Ao3 under the same username.
Yeah, so I am not a huge fan of how it ended, or the summery really, but hey! You clicked on it, so I guess it wasn't horrid. Anyways, I love parental Tsuna and 1827, so I figured I'd put them together and write from the point of view of a stressed out and confused teacher. And this is what came of it. This is my first KHR fic, I just recently finished the show (Not the manga. Haven't gotten a hold of that yet) and I fell in love with the characters but I wished for more Tsuna and Fuuta interactions. Like, I-Pin and Lambo get a whole bunch of screen time, but Fuuta is just so cute! He is perfect and good luck trying to convince me otherwise.